Review Date: February 16, 2021
Release Date: October 18, 1985
Platform: NES
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Creation
Anecdotes: It took us a while to get this game, as we didn’t have it at launch, but we did get it something like three years later. Of the 18 NES launch titles, Mario appeared in five of them: Golf, Pinball, Super Mario Bros., Tennis, and Wrecking Crew. We pretty much treated this as filler material; when we got bored, this game went it even though we never really saw a point to it.
By the way, this is the last review of the NES launch games. I’m skipping 10 Yard Fight because there’s a better football game I want to review, Gyromite and Stack Up wouldn’t be fair without access to the robot, and amazingly, I have NEVER played NES Tennis. Never; not once in over 35 years.
Description: Mario and Luigi are given an area. Each area requires them to knock down walls through direct hammering or bomb chains. Meanwhile, Mario will be chased by enemies and annoying fireballs, losing a life if one hits him. Occasionally, a bonus stage will appear. In those, a coin is dropped behind a random wall. Break down the wall with the coin within the time limit to get the bonus.
Positives: As pictured below, some rooms have bombs in them. Hitting a bomb will be like landing a hit on everything next to it, but it gets even cooler when a bomb at the other end causes another hit to everything, and it can take out whole rows of walls quickly. Be careful, though; get out of the way quickly or Mario falls to the bottom and may not be able to get back up.
Negatives: There are a lot of traps in this game. There will be plenty of times when Mario will be trapped in such a way that he will either be fed to the enemies or he will stuck without access to the necessary parts of the room. The former is the better option, as it only costs a life. The latter will lead to a reset. A big part of that is bad level design, but the fact that Mario can’t jump only makes it worse.
Grade: D