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One day, the kingdom of the peaceful Mushroom people was invaded by the Koopa, a tribe of turtles famous for their black magic. The quiet, peace-loving Mushroom people were turned into mere stones, bricks and even horse-hair plans, and the Mushroom Kingdom fell into ruin. The only one who can undo the magic spell cast on the Mushroom people and return them to their normal selves is Princess Toadstool, daughter of the Mushroom King. Unfortunately, she is presently in the hands of the great Koopa turtle king.

So goes the introduction to one of the most famous videogames ever. For the benefit of the seven people in the world never to have played this, here's how it pans out. Mario (or Luigi in two-player mode) can run, jump, stomp on most enemies to defeat them, collect coins (a hundred rewards the player with an extra life) and acquire both mushrooms to increase in size, and fire flowers to shoot fireballs. Enlarged Mario can also destroy blocks and duck to avoid projectiles. Getting hit by an enemy when large reduces you to small size, and getting hit when small equals one life lost.

Thirty-two levels stand in your way, in eight groups of four, with each fourth level being a castle guarded at the end by said Koopa King (now known as Bowser). Blocking your pogress to him are a variety of enemies such as Goomabs, Koopa Troopers, Hammer Bros (clue is in the name), Lakitu and his Spiny, chucking obsession, fireballs, Cheep Cheeps, Bullet Bills, Bloopers under water, and Piranha plants hiding in pipes. There are plenty of secrets to uncover, hidden rooms full of coins, undocumented techniques, shortcuts, and maybe even ways to jump forward many levels at a time... are you Mario enough to rescue the princess?!

Super Mario Bros 64 packs an awful lot into its 64K size, providing not only correct PAL and NTSC ROM and speed adjustments, two SID functionality and two-button joystick support, but will also detect and utilise the C128 CPU or plug-ins such as SuperCPU and Turbo Chameleon to boost performance and reduce slowdown.

The original logic code has been utilised as the NES runs a 6502 CPU, meaning that practically all the tricks possible on the console can be achieved here, even Minus World. However this does produce the most noticeable difference because the NES and C64 have different video resolutions. The programmer ZeroPaige chose not to left/right border the C64 display to compensate, so eight more columns are shown, but you cannot interact with them, thus you can see some enemies at the edge of the screen but cannot hit them.

Mmmmm, now this is an interesting one to dissect. Some would argue why bother with it when you can emulate it on the NES. To me, that's like saying no one should climb Everest again as so many have already conquered it. Why do anything already achieved then?

As a port it goes above and beyond what you would expect - it looks, sounds and plays almost like the original, and it lacks for nothing. That's the most important part, that everything that made the game what it is has been faithfully translated, lock stock and two addictive barrels. Yes, it slows a bit, especially on a stock C64 because the NES 6502 runs 70% faster than the 6510, the wider screen takes a little getting used to (see main text), and you really need a two-button controller to get the most from it.

However, it demonstrates that a game so much designed around the capabilities of the NES can work equally as well on the Commodore.

Giana who? Now, excuse me while I go stomp some more Koopas...

Yes, the gameplay and music occasionally slow down when things get busy on screen. Sure, the graphics don't always match the colours of the original NES game. However, to all intents and purposes, this is about as close to the original Super Mario Bros. release as you could possibly wish to see on the C64.

What makes it a winner for me is that the game just feels right. The programmer of this port has managed to accurately capture the beautifully balanced controls of the original game, and that's what makes it such a joy to play. The way Mario runs, jumps and slides his way across the landscape feels totally authentic, which is absolutely what you want from a conversion of what is one of the all-time greatest platform games.

Hidden worlds? Yep. They're in there too. Classic glitches and bugs? Many of those have been faithfully incorporated into the code.

The end result is a terrific platformer that is highly rewarding and fun to play.

Ultimately, it's not quite as good as its source material, but Super Mario Bros. on the C64 is nevertheless a remarkable achievement.

I enjoyed Great Giana Sisters because it was the closest we'd ever get to Super Mario Bros. on the C64. With a proper conversion impossible, we happily settled for the next best thing. Now, incredibly, Super Mario Bros. is on the C64 and it really shows those unruly sisters how it's done.

Put simply, it's a far better game in every respect. What's been achieved here borders on the miraculous and it's fantastic to now be able to play it on my favourite machine. Amazing!

What an amazing conversion! Super Mario Bros. 64 is a near perfect conversion. It's such a famous game that you'd have to have pretty massive spheres to consider converting it in the first place, given that, right from the word go, World 1-1 retro gamers have experienced every nuance of the gameplay for decades. But the game stands up to the scrutiny so well. It slows down on occasion which disrupts the momentum slightly, but it's only brief and it's a small price to pay for the chance to marvel at how well Mario has been reproduced on the C64.

I'm impressed at how the inertia matches the original so well, and the smooth scrolling doesn't miss a beat. It's all there as you'd expect: warp zones, the secret coin rooms, the music, those annoying hammer throwers (unfortunately in the case of the latter). Total respect for what's been achieved in terms of getting maximum visibility for their talents in the retro world. I look forward to their next project which hopefully will be an original title that won't get removed in the blink of a plumber's eye.

Presentation 95%
Attract mode, two-player mode and the game automatically detects PAL or NTSC and C64 or C128.

Graphics 94%
An extremely convincing replication of the arcade/NES version.

Sound 96%
Almost indistinguishable from the original's, with every tune and sound effect in place.

Hookability 96%
It's very exciting to be able to play Super Mario Bros. on the Commodore 64.

Lastability 97%
Eight increasingly-difficult worlds to conquer before you save the princess, with tons of secrets to find along the way.

Overall 96%
One of the best games of all time feels perfectly at home on the C64. Stunning.