S2E07: Super Mario Bros and the Lost Levels -or- Hooked on the Brothers

Mike and Jaymo are joined by Margo (aka TikTok’s Mrs.Librarian) as they go down the tubes playing Super Mario Bros (NES, 1985) and The Lost Levels (NES, 1986) as part of their epic quest to research and review every retro game in the Nintendo Switch Online catalog!

In this episode, we try to figure out if the Super Mario Bros box art is a snuff graphic, Mike and Margo go toe-to-toe in Super Mario trivia with Mario Mythbusters, and we trace the origin of the Kaizo Mario craze back to a rare floppy-disk-based Nintendo console not released in North America! Then stick around for NintenDISorDAT, as we debate if these games are better played in the original NES format or their glammed up re-releases from the 1993 SNES compilation Super Mario All-Stars.

Thanks for listening, and a very special thanks to Kristal Fields of The Lazy Circles for our catchy new theme song! Subscribe to The Old SwitchAroo to get more retro goodness delivered straight to your feed! You can also join the fun on ⁠⁠https://theoldswitcharoo.com⁠⁠, where you'll find access to our Discord, voicemail, and so much more!

Game on, everyone.

PS: Think you’re Jump Man enough to take on Jaymo’s Kaizo-level? Enter the course code 6H4-GWQ-SDG in Super Mario Maker 2! Plus, if you upload a screenshot to the Mini-Game Minute section of our Discord proving you reached the flagpole, you might win a special prize (if you’re fast enough, that is!)

(0:00) Intro  

(1:07) Welcoming Margo  

(3:19) Super Mario Bros.  

(10:53) Mini-Game Minute: Mario Mythbusters

(18:23) Super Mario Bros. Cont’d

(37:51) Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels  

(56:02) NintenDISorDAT  

(1:01:21) NintenDO or NintenDON’T  

Follow Margo on TikTok: @mrs.librarian: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrs.librarian

Super Mario Bros. Manual: https://archive.org/details/Super-Mario-Bros-Manual-NES-1985

Super Mario All-Stars Manual: https://bdjogos.com.br/manuais/870-super-mario-all-stars-super-nintendo-manual-usa.pdf

Super Mario Bros 2 The Lost Levels Japanese Commercial - VG Legacy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWsZCoGFLwg

Super Mario Bros. Any% Speedrun in 4:54.631 *WR* - Niftski: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khu9BB2g4Ks

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels Any% 8-4 Speedrun in 7:51.956 (without loads) *WR* - Niftski: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL0Lcei_nio

World Record Progression: Super Mario Bros - Summoning Salt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdAkY7RfajY

4-2: The History of Super Mario Bros.' Most Infamous Level - Summoning Salt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1AHCaokqhg

Super Mario Bros: The Human Limit - Summoning Salt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rIJNT7dCmE

Super Mario's Invisible Difficulty Settings - Game Maker's Toolkit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkvyYTSKTQY