The Games of My Life: Mario Bros

Yes! Another post series. This one doesn’t have a set schedule and I might just post often on these during this month to celebrate that I have a birthday at the end of June. I’ve spent most of my life gaming. Thought this would be the best way to also engage people around me to talk about the games in their life. Games that molded them as they grew and went through their gaming journey.

I’m going to start this off with a game that is a classic for a lot of people around my age. I’ve been playing games ever since I had the dexterity to hold a controller(or a dad’s Game Boy) in my hands. Once that was in my hands, pushing the buttons wasn’t that hard.

Especially when my dad would play Mario Brothers almost every night around my bedtime. We had the usual shows we’d watch around and after dinner. Supermarket Sweep was a staple in my household.

Moving on! I have really particular memories of this and another game I’ll be writing about too, California Games for the NES, from my childhood. Since I knew how to play Mario from watching my dad play it so much, I developed a way to play it and clear it up until 1-3. Then I would pause the game, go about the rest of my afternoon with whatever I felt like doing.

Then dad would come home at night, he’d settle in, and then I’d start bothering dad to play Mario for me because I’d made it to Bowser’s castle and I wanted him to beat it because it was too hard for me. Most of the time he’d actually do it. I’d just lie back on the couch and watched him play. Usually I’d fall asleep from what mom tells me.

I didn’t really beat Mario until later in my life. It was a different mix of reasons. I believe I beat it when I finally had dad beat 8-3 on my Game Boy Color because I had the hardest time getting past the long jump in that level. I was about 10 years old I think when I finally beat that Mario Game in some form. It wasn’t the first Mario game I beat though. That was Super Mario Land…

…I don’t remember much about my history with that game, which is why it probably won’t get a post.

Playing Mario Bros was also the first game I shared with my sister. I also remember playing with dad as Luigi. The pipe in 2-1 which is how he would beat the game to try to get me to go to bed faster if I didn’t fall asleep on the couch as I watched him play.

It’s funny to think about it now. With ‘Let’s Players’ being one of the things that I enjoy when I browse YouTube, dad was first.

What about you? What was the first game you remember playing?