➤ Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. Review: between glitch and ester egg 🎮

Il Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. takes us to the review of one of these legendary consoles almost 30 years after the last model released by Nintendo. Game & Watch is one of the many games, digital and otherwise, born from the genius of Gunpei Yokoi, which with this series of pocket systems has practically given rise to the portable consoles that would come later, from the GameBoy to the Nintendo DS, up to the hybrid Nintendo Switch. Today these small screens with a few buttons and a single preloaded game have become a cult object for collectors and it was therefore right, in the absence of a specific mainstream enough anniversary that could celebrate them, to take advantage of the 35th anniversary of Super Mario to release a latest model. , the Game & Watch SM-35. A small, adorably compact console full of easter eggs.

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Unboxing and Design

The Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. comes with a package treated in detail. The golden cardboard box with black lettering recalls the colors of the Famicom controller (the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES) and is protected by a transparent plastic slipcase with printed the game's home screen and some level details. A nice idea, as are the thanks that we find on one of the cardboard tabs when we go to access the inside. Here the equipment is minimal: the flyer with safety information, a small USB-A to USB-C cable 30 cm long and the Game & Watch. Even the console wants to look like a Famicom controller equipped with screen, a 2.36-inch LCD that can boast very good colors, brightness and viewing angle for such a product. However, the red color of the A and B keys and the gray one of those for selecting the different modes detach from the complete black of the keys of the old pad. In this regard, the directional cross returns discreet feedback during use, while we would have expected a less toy feeling from the A and B keys.

On the left side there is a single speaker but no headphone input, while on the right we find the power button, positioned flush to avoid inadvertent presses, and a USB Type C input for charging. This takes about 3 hours and guarantees aautonomy between 8 and 9 hours. As per tradition, the power supply block is missing, but honestly it is not missing. Very few dimensions: With its 68 grams, 12.5mm thick and 67 x 112mm sides, the Game & Watch is really big as a pocket watch, even if it is not a champion of ergonomics.

Software and Functionality

What clearly distinguishes the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. from the models of the past is undoubtedly the presence of more software within it: in addition to a Super Mario and Luigi themed overhaul of Ball, the first game released in this format, the console also includes roms for Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2 (known in the West as Super Mario Bros .: The Lost Levels) and a clock. The concept of ball it's pretty simple: a juggler has to prevent balls from falling. That's all. Except that in this version the juggler is Mario, unless you decide to hold the A key for more than 5 seconds on the title screen to have Luigi. Super Mario Bros. is the classic platformer that we all know and love: it runs well and even the audio does its duty, while not particularly standing out. Here if you press A for more than 5 seconds in the menu you get infinite lives: goodbye Game Over! Furthermore, if you complete the game, you unlock a surprise that we do not want to anticipate: be careful, however, because it will remain available only until the console is turned off. Similar speech applies to Super Mario Bros .: The Lost Levels, including the issue of infinite lives. L'clock is the least useful but prettier function, as well as the reason why you are about to buy the Game & Watch: in this mode Mario repeats a portion of the level by himself indefinitely, but with backdrops that change depending on the time of day and a sea of easter eggs that occur at specific times.

Nintendo has talked about 35 of these "events", ranging from changes in the structure of the blocks to the appearance of characters such as Mole Mole. To see them all, you can stare at the screen for hours or have fun traveling in time by changing the time manually to find the nicest ones. Pressing the keys then accesses various extra customizations: the TIME key changes the level theme; pressing A and B at the same time makes the blocks shine; finally, pressing and holding the A key allows you to play the song Draw Mario Cantando, sung in English but with subtitles in several European languages.

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The Lyrics Bug

The song "Disegna Mario Cantando" was the subject of a rather peculiar problem: the text reproduced is wrong if German, French, Spanish or Spanish are selected in the title menu. English, Dutch and Japanese are not affected by the problem. Specifically, if you select French you will have text in German, with Spanish in French and with Spanish in Spanish. Finally, to have the text in Spanish, you must select German. The console cannot be updated and Nintendo has not talked about replacement procedures: it will be kept this way and, who knows, maybe one day this error will dramatically increase its value. And this is another reason why you will buy in Super Mario Bros.

Comment

Price 50,98 €

Resources4Gaming.com

8.0

Available from November 13, 2020, the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. is the usual dip in the past in Nintendo sauce, a useless collector's item, but which is really difficult to resist. For fifty euros (you can also buy it here and here, with a couple of nice bundles) we would have expected perhaps a better quality of the keys, but after all there are so many ways to play Super Mario Bros. in a more comfortable way that the whole question is sterile. What matters is that we are looking at a nice looking product, well packaged and full of nostalgic Easter eggs. To celebrate Mario's 35th birthday you can also give up: on the other hand, there are worse ways to throw your money away (and this is the least of the reasons why you have now decided that you will buy it).