Super Mario is a Nintendo property and the chances of Nintendo letting it onto other platforms is pretty much less than zero.  Why would Nintendo let their leading man out to work on say, Sega Genesis or PC’s?  It makes no sense for them to do so.  They are not in the same position that Sega is in so they have more power over their intellectual properties.  That has not stopped fans from doing it though.  Here, we take a look at several ports of Super Mario games that you don’t know about.  Previously I looked at several ports of Street Fighter 2, available here on Retro Gaming Magazine.

1. Super Mario World, really a new game

This is a Korean title that was officially released but, well, it does use a lot of Nintendo owned stuff.  The first thing that will probably strike you here is the animation, or lack thereof.  Mario and the enemies all animate decently but for one thing.  Mario’s standing stance is completely based on when you stop moving him.  There is on decent, correct looking, default standing frame.  Also, in this one, you are collecting diamonds rather than gold coins- apparently the Princess’s tastes have matured a bit.  When he picks up items you do get a slightly modified animation rather than just the item on top of his head.  The bosses are different too, other than the single battle with Bowser, they are all new.

2. Super Mario Bros 2 All-Stars Japan Version

This one is based on the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros 2.  One thing that you will notice here is that the speed is set on “Sonic” levels.  Graphically, things are fairly well done and close to the source material- obviously colors have taken a hit.

3. Super Mario Bros, as we all know it

Okay, is there some Nintendo NES to Sega Genesis converter out there that slightly improves the colors?  This is pretty much the original Super Mario Brothers running on Sega Genesis hardware, apparently there is a converter out there.  The animation, lack of flicker and generally cleaner looking graphics are rather nice.  The audio is kind of screwed up though.

4. Super Mario 2 1998, looks like the first SMB game to me

This one is similar to Super Mario Bros 2 All-Stars edition in that the speed is set way too high to be much fun.  Graphically we are looking at, what looks like to me, Super Mario Brothers 1 but on the Sega Genesis.  It seems that the graphics were lifted from, or inspired by, the All-Stars release on Super Nintendo.

Honorable mention goes to Sonic Jam 6 where Sonic takes a crack at the world of Super Mario Bros.

Man, some of these are definitely in the “what the hell” category but that one version of Super Mario Bros is rather interesting.  Imagine if we got more games off the NES (ones that pushed the hardware too much) through that magic trickery and on the Sega Genesis?  What is your favorite port of a game, legal or otherwise?

Carl Williams

It is time gaming journalism takes its rightful place as proper sources and not fanboys giving free advertising. If you wish to support writers like Carl please use the links below. https://www.paypal.me/WCW https://www.patreon.com/CarlWilliams