Release Dates: SMB: October 18, 1985; SMBDX May 4, 1999
Developers: Both Nintendo
Publishers: Both Nintendo
System: SMB: NES; SMBDX: GBC
SMB: *No Rating; SMBDX: E

My very first Comparison. Yeah, I know it's great, isn't it? Is the remake THAT much different than the original version, or is it not that good at all? We'll see. 1-10 is the old grading scale for an old game, and, well, a sort of old game.

Story: SMB: 6; SMBDX: 6
Both stories are exactly the same. Bowser goes out and kidnaps Princess Peach. Then Mario must save her. Really, being the very first Mario game ever, it's decent. Nothing much else to say.

Gameplay: SMB: 7; SMBDX: 9
In the original game, you play through various levels collecting coins and collecting 1-Ups as you try to beat Bowser. The game cart also included Duck Hunt, which is a game where you try to shoot ducks and get points. SMBDX has more to offer. First  of all, you have the original game, plus modes, plus SMB: The Lost Levels which is twice as difficult as the original version. The modes include Challenge Mode, which allows players to traverse the courses of the original 1985 version searching for a hidden Yoshi egg and five red coins to collect as well as a high score to achieve in each course. Versus Mode is a two-player competition that takes the form of a race. It features white and red blocks that are flipped when the player hits a block. White blocks are transparent, with only a single outline, while red blocks hinder and impede the player. Players attempt to flip the blocks red to impede their opponent. The race ends at the flagpole. The Toy Box includes various minigames and extra features, such as a title screen editor and various printouts for the Gameboy Printer. These printouts can range from black Nintendo and Mario logos to the full logos; these are all in black and white. The Toy Box also has a Photo Album in which pictures are unlocked pictures as the player reaches certain achievements in the game. These pictures can also be printed via the Gameboy Printer. After earning 100,000 points in Original 1985 mode, the player unlocks "You Vs. Boo" mode (titled "You Vs. Ghost" in the Japanese release), which resembles a one-player version of the Versus mode. It is a race against a computer-controlled Boo through eight different levels. After scoring over 300,000 points in Original 1985 mode, the player unlocks the 1986 Japanese sequel to Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros. 2. With all these extra modes, this gets a lot better score of course.

Graphics: SMB: 6; GBC: 7
The original game was ok for a NES game. It wasn't that bad, really. The GBC version was better because it was on a more detailed system. I thought the graphics on the GBC could have been better, but they were still good.

Difficulty: SMB: 8; SMBDX: 9
Ok. SMB is very hard to beat all eight worlds without warp zones or anything, don't get me wrong. But in SMBDX, you have to beat that game, plus The Lost Levels, which is way too hard, plus Challenge Mode and You vs Boo, which isn't easy either. This takes you a while to do, and is one of the hardest games you'll beat, too. Don't get me wrong, though: SMB is still a hard game, just not as hard as its remake. Anyway, hope you enjoy hard games altogether.

Characters: SMB: 7; SMBDX: 7
They were the same. SMB had the original Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, and Toad, and so did the remake. Although the new version did have Boo to race, he wasn't actually in the game. He was just part of a mode, so he really doesn't count much.

Music: SMB: 8; SMBDX: 8.5
Once again, exactly the same. It's the great, old times when the music was nice. Here is the original Mario theme, underground theme, underwater theme, and Bowser's Castle's theme. It's all good stuff, but just maybe a little more music would have done better.

Originality: SMB: 7; SMBDX: 8
At the time it was made, there weren't many games like SMB. It brought things  like going through levels, beating bosses, and secret warps. SMBDX was even more unique. It has the extra modes you get to play. The reason I took points off were because there was already a remake for the SMB game: Super Mario Brothers All Stars, which was on the SNES. So that's the reason for the 8.

Controls: SMB: 10; SMBDX: 6 They technically were exactly the same. A is jump, hold B to run. Easy. Well, not quite. I had no problem with SMB, but some with SMBDX. It's on GBC, which makes it harder to see, and the buttons are very small also. So this is a very cramped session of controlling, which makes it difficult. Really, it's the GBC system that ruins the controls, because if they had just spread the buttons out more it would get a 10. Anyway, basically, the GBC controls gets a 6.

Items: SMB: 7; SMBDX: 6
They were almost the same. SMB offers the Fire Flower, Starman, Super Mushroom. SMBDX offers all of those, and in Lost Levels, a Poison Mushroom as well. In both, the Super Mushroom of course makes Mario bigger , and if he gets hurt, he can still go on to finish the level only small. Fire Flowers turn Mario into Fire Mario, which enables him to shoot fireballs at enemies from a distance. Starmen make Mario invincible for a short time. The reason SMBDX got a lower score was because there's one problem in the Lost Levels: Poison Mushrooms. This makes you smaller if you're big, and if you're small, you're dead! Yeah, this was added, but it was a bad idea because sometimes you will accidentally consume it. This causes problems and adds major difficulty to the game. Believe me, it's not a good thing.

Secrets: SMB: 2; SMBDX: 7
In SMB after beating the game, you get one extra playable character that I think we all know. In SMBDX, you get that plus extra bonus modes to beat also.  This is what really made the game here. Enjoy your modes! If you want SMB, well enjoy your clone of an extra playable character.

Replayability: SMB: 6; SMBDX: 9
SMB you'll just want to play just to have fun. In SMBDX, you'll want to play and beat the extra available modes to play. Sure you'll play the original game from time to time, but you'll be playing those modes more than anything. Anyway, I pretty much already explained this.

Overall: SMB: 7; SMBDX: 8.5
Both are good games. If you've already played SMBDX and want to buy the original SMB, don't, the remake already has everything the original version does. But if it's vice versa, go out and still try to get SMBDX while you can. It's a great game, you'll want it! It DOES cost more, but I think it's worth getting it for the extra game modes. Believe me, they're fun! That's all I have to say.