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September 11, 2026Short & citedBlog
Civic Viewpoint.
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How It Works • Games & Tech

Mario Bros.

Mario Bros.

Updated September 11, 20261 min readCited sources

Mario Bros. is a 1983 arcade platform game by Nintendo that introduced the Mario brothers as plumbers in New York City sewers. It is the first spin-off of the Donkey Kong series and an early entry in the Mario franchise.

Gameplay

Players control Mario and Luigi as they clear sewer stages by defeating enemies that emerge from pipes. The core mechanic is to flip enemies onto their backs and then kick them off the platform.

Development

The game was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi and released by Nintendo in 1983. Its later Famicom/NES version is notable as the first game developed by Intelligent Systems.

Why it matters

Mario Bros. helped establish Mario and Luigi as recurring characters and is treated as an early entry in the broader Mario franchise. It also serves as the first spin-off of the Donkey Kong series.

In short

  • Released in 1983 for arcades by Nintendo.
  • Features Mario and Luigi as Italian plumber brothers.
  • Gameplay involves knocking enemies onto their backs and kicking them away.
  • First spin-off of the Donkey Kong series.
Canadian angle

Mario Bros. has been widely distributed and re-released in Nintendo collections and digital services available to Canadian players, making it part of the long-running Nintendo catalogue familiar to Canadian video game audiences.

Quick questions

What is Mario Bros.?
Mario Bros. is a 1983 Nintendo arcade platform game featuring Mario and Luigi clearing sewer stages.
Who developed Mario Bros.?
It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi and developed and published by Nintendo.
What is the objective of the game?
Players defeat enemies that emerge from the sewers by flipping them over and kicking them away.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Bros.
    Supports: Release year, arcade platform, designers, gameplay premise, New York sewer setting, and franchise relationship.
  2. Wikipedia (Spanish) — https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Bros.
    Supports: Release year, arcade platform, gameplay premise, Intelligent Systems note, and re-release history.