Super Mario Bros. is inarguably one of the most important games ever created, yet after 38 years it's never really gotten the definitive edition it's deserved. One fangame is aiming to change that.
Originally released in 1985, Super Mario Bros. didn't give us the first appearance of Mario or the first instance of a side-scrolling platformer, but it was so instrumental in popularizing both of those things that it's tough to imagine video games as they exist today without it. The NES and Famicom game has been rereleased endlessly over the past four decades in more or less its original form, but Nintendo has taken only a couple of stabs at improving it.
The most notable of those attempts is Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, a 1999 Game Boy Color game that offered a dramatic expansion over the original, with a world map, improved platforming physics, and new challenge modes offering loads of additional collectables to track down. The remake was broadly beloved upon its original release, but it had one fatal flaw that's only become more noticeable with age: as a Game Boy game, it offers only a tiny window through which to view the action.
That's where Super Mario Bros. Ultra Deluxe comes in. This fangame is a total remake of SMB Deluxe for PC, though it does require the original game ROM to work - likely as an effort to avoid DMCA attention. It offers the added features and modes of SMB Deluxe, but with a proper viewing window so you don't have to deal with the screen crunch. Over on the developer's Discord, an FAQ notes that the game will support widescreen, too.
The developer, aloelucidity, is also working on Super Mario Shockwave, a seriously-impressive looking 2D project that offers platforming mechanics in the style of the 3D games and even a proper level editor. I can't wait to see more of both of these projects.
If you're looking for more fan projects, check out this Zelda 64 mod by an anonymous developer.
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