# I'm crying "shenanigans." Grumble: Stupid Mario Brothers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709 "2007-05-11T16:11:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/1 "2007-05-11T16:11:57Z")
I’m an avid gamer. Usually computer games, mostly strategy. A huge dork. Anywho, I should not be having so much trouble with “Super Mario Brothers” for Nintendo DS. I mean, c’mon, it’s friggin Mario. I should be going through the levels like…something really sharp and hot through something really, like, soft and stuff. I shouldn’t be dying every thirty seconds. Grumble. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/2 "2007-05-11T18:08:19Z")
Is this the “New Super Mario Brothers”? If so, I can empathize. I am not as big a gaming dork as you claim to be, but I got to 1-4 and constantly kept getting killed. Making it even worse, it seemed obvious to me that it wasn’t really that difficult, but I kept getting killed over and over again. Slight hijack, I rented “Super Paper Mario” for the Wii the other day, and I absolutely loved that game. It definitely is my next purchase for the Wii. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/3 "2007-05-11T18:09:26Z")
[QUOTE=MentalGuy] Is this the “New Super Mario Brothers”? If so, I can empathize. I am not as big a gaming dork as you claim to be, but I got to 1-4 and constantly kept getting killed. Making it even worse, it seemed obvious to me that it wasn’t really that difficult, but I kept getting killed over and over again. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that’s where I’m stuck also. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/4 "2007-05-11T18:41:57Z")
The older NES games can actually be insanely difficult at times. Mega Man 1 is among the hardest, if not the hardest, game in the series. I read an article a while back about the overriding Japanese philosophy (the journey is the worthier part) in the earlier video games versus the overriding US philosophy once video games caught on here (the goal is the worthier part). The goal wasn’t to reach the end, but to actually play the game, so dying over and over and over wasn’t such a discouraging thing. The difficulty was supposed to be that high so you spent more time playing. (I don’t know anything about this New Super Mario, so if it’s substantially different than the original, I dunno.) Super Paper Mario is indeed a wonderful game. I’m thrilled that it’s a platformer instead of an RPG, yet it keeps all the elements of the previous RPGs that made them such winners. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/5 "2007-05-11T18:56:16Z")
You will be amused to know that I recently got in the habit of playing the original very first Super Mario Bros. on a NES emulator. Last night I played through all 32 levels and _finally_ beat the damn thing with no warps or cheats. (But the Get-a-whole-buncha-1-ups-on-3-1 trick helped. A lot.) And what do they do? They send me back to the beginning except now it’s harder than before! Fucking Princess. Why doesn’t that bitch have some royal body guards or something? Oh, no. You’re only the Princess of an entire Mushroom Kingdom but whenever some mutant dinosaur guy kidnaps you, you grab the Yellow Pages and flip to “P” for some reason. I weep for your kingdom’s future. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/6 "2007-05-11T19:07:27Z")
New Super Mario Brothers is a classic NES game. It’s a stone cold bear, in a colorful candy shell. It’s not… hard. It just relies on split second timing. Damnit. I got past 1-4, eventually. You will too. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/7 "2007-05-11T19:29:16Z")
I just defeated Super Mario for the DS! Level 8 was easy, now I get to go through the whole thing again as Luigi. It’s cool. I’m now on a quest to get all those damn star coins. I bought the special edition Nintendo Power magazine that has all the tips and locations of all the coins. Do you want to know how to get to worlds 4 and 7? Do you want to know how to get extra lives in level 1-4? My 10yr old thinks I’m awesome because I beat this before she could. I haven’t told her I used to play Super Mario all the time as a kid. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/8 "2007-05-11T19:29:54Z")
What’s the best way to get past that giant turtle boss guy? I can’t figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/9 "2007-05-11T20:04:35Z")
You just jump on his head. Either two or three times. You can’t jump on him when he’s in his shell though. Or you could shoot him about 5 times with fireballs (only when he’s not in a shell). ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/10 "2007-05-12T00:05:54Z")
I don’t want to hear you bitch. Bitch when you track down[this](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6204903272262158881) mod and play it. THEN you may bitch. On a side note, I remember years ago talking to buddies and acquaintances that said that when they first got the NES, they beat Mario Brothers in the first day. I happily called bullshit on them and made them come to my house and play in front of me. That was the first video game that most of us had played. They didn’t beat it in a day, it’s almost not physically possible, not if you don’t have any video game resume before you play it. So yeah ,I’d make kids come over and play it at my house and watch them get pissed when they’d give up on it. Bitches. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/11 "2007-05-12T00:43:45Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] they beat Mario Brothers in the first day. [/QUOTE] Nitpick: _Super Mario Bros_. _Mario Bros_. was a [arcade game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Bros.), later ported to the NES, featuring Mario and Luigi (in his first appearance) fighting baddies in the sewers. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/12 "2007-05-12T01:57:19Z")
The worst part is that I vividly remember playing that arcade game in Orlando Florida, right outside of the condo complex I was at. God, I played that game a lot. In any case, reports of people beating Mario Brothers the first day because it was easy were complete silliness! I’ll have none of that! ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/13 "2007-05-12T02:39:47Z")
Apparently, [Mario and Peach don’t have the best family life anyway](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBGRA6HHtY) ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/14 "2007-05-12T04:59:45Z")
Are posting we [Mario videos](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziP7_0rHLOI)? I played the New Super Mario Brothers for a little bit. I beat the first world easily. Level 8-1 was a little difficult but I beat that in five minutes. Is it really that difficult? I would like to buy it, but there is really no point if it is going to be too easy. Also, where can I get this NES emulator people are talking about? ---
**Author:** ![motomoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@motomoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motomoon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-crying-shenanigans-grumble-stupid-mario-brothers/403709/15 "2007-05-12T10:13:41Z")
[The People’s Mario](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeVcj0bWZR8) Super Paper Mario is great, although there is WAY too much text.