Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. (2020) [Nintendo]

“How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home.”

-William C. Faulkner

Released to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the iconic Super Mario franchise, Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. is a new Nintendo handheld gaming device that contains a compilation of three games: the original Super Mario Bros., the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 (frequently called The Lost Levels in the West), and Ball, an old 1980 Game & Watch game. Yeah, the kind that you used to play as a kid on those LCD wristwatches or Tiger Electronics doodads.

Oh and it also tells the time.

This device has been branded “limited edition”, similar to a more controversial recent Mario re-release (aka 3D All-Stars), so you may have a bit of difficulty finding one later rather than sooner. Pro-tip: Walmart is selling these as in-store purchases only, which, coupled with the fact that you have to stand in line to get inside a Walmart now in California, could be one big reason why Walmart still has them in stock whereas retailers like Target and Best Buy do not. Yeah, I had to get out of my car and put on pants, but this is a neat little device and a fun piece of history.

I decided to pick it up on a whim with a long road trip ahead of me this week (going to visit an injured family member). Since I’ll be taking turns driving with my wife, Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. is going to be a useful distraction. I can even use it to placate my kids (hopefully). It will likely be the last and best opportunity in my life to attempt to beat Super Mario Bros. 2 JP, which I think just might be the hardest Mario game ever made.

Packaging

There’s a tightly packed, distinctly Japanese aesthetic to the box and its contents, which I actually had a bit of trouble opening without doing damage since everything was so snug. The coolest thing is this plastic sleeve with Mario level elements printed on it. Looks fun given its transparency, although it has few practical applications.

Under that is a golden box which, I’ll be honest, panicked me for a single second. Printed on the front is the title of the game Ball and a picture of that game. Admittedly, that was the game I was least interested in playing and I wondered if I had to collect each game separately. That’d be a steep hill to climb with each of these costing $50!

Of course, that wasn’t the case. All the games come bundled on one device. Still, thanks for the heart attack, Nintendo.

Exterior

First thing’s first, this thing is tiny! As you can see, it’s much smaller than my hand (or maybe my hand is just overtly ginormous?).

However, it is a loving recreation of the original Game & Watch devices, at least at face value. I never owned a Game & Watch device before and I don’t do much handheld gaming these days. It looks the part, though. The gold and red is a welcome palette that seems to speak of luxury. What else could a $50 re-release of an antiquated handheld with one of the most frequently ported games in history be if not a luxury?

I was asked today if the A and B buttons are rubber like the original Game & Watch units. I can verify that they are, or at least they seem to be, which is indicative of the attention to detail Nintendo lavished on this device.

One such attention to detail, which directly impacts accessibility, is the backlit color screen and the amount of brightness you can increase or decrease. The screen can get bright enough to play outside on a sunny day. Coupled with how quickly it charges and how long it holds a charge (no batteries here), this means I can take Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. just about anywhere. Like on a road trip.

Note that this screen, for all its brightness, is very small. 2 inches and some change. Because it is so small, it can be hard to see the action on the screen. I don’t have the best eyesight in the world, or the worst, but the fact that you’re holding it in your hands means there’s some jostling just from pressing buttons. It’s not the ideal way to play, in my opinion, but then, I don’t think that was really the point of this novelty collectible, anyway.

SMB1

The original Super Mario game is as brilliant and well-designed a platformer as ever, affording new players opportunities to learn before it gets really hard and providing older players a chance to revisit what was for many a formative title. Watching my 5-year-old complete 1-1 and then 1-2 for the first time, seeing his triumphant excitement after having learned from his mistakes, that’s priceless, a window back into my own past and distance memories. This is this system’s killer app.

SMB2JP

Lost Levels is in many ways antithetical to the first Super Mario Bros., to my mind. Where the first was accessible, patient, tutelary, featuring balanced difficulty and straightforward level design with consistent gameplay, the second is almost the opposite. Super Mario Bros. 2 JP is like a decked out kaizo level on Mario Maker seemingly designed to trick you and make you feel like an idiot more than welcome you into its world, what with its backward warp pipes, poison mushrooms, and odd jumps.

The Japanese were wise in their assumption that this brutal outing would be too much for American audiences. If I just had a dime for every time somebody told me they couldn’t get into the game because it was too hard. Still, if you’re going to ever beat SMB2JP, this is the device to take with you and do it.

Ball

And then there’s Ball. This is the one that really feels like a kid’s game, more of a pastime than anything else.

There are two game modes in which Mario has to juggle either 2 or 3 balls, catching them as they fall toward the ground. Of the three games on the system, I don’t think this one will get the most playtime, at least out of me. Coincidentally, of the three games on the system, this is the only one I didn’t already own.

Is Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. worth it? Only you can answer that. If you’re a collector, retro gamer, Super Mario fan, or all of the above, you’ll likely jump at the chance to pick this little blast from the past up. If you can find one, that is. Best of luck!

Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage, Mage Cast, or Story Mode.