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Picture: Nintendo (official site)

Super Mario Bros.

Released 13 September 1985 Developer Nintendo R&D4 Publisher Nintendo

You run and jump through eight worlds as Mario, stomping enemies, grabbing coins and power-ups, and racing to reach Bowser's castle and rescue Princess Toadstool. It is a short, side-scrolling game that is easy to start and hard to finish, and it suits all ages.

Money health FairPay clearly, know the ceiling
Addictive design None0 of 5 — counts the hooks designed in
Average price —no price listed yet
Spending ceiling Has a ceilingYou can buy it all

How it makes money

Fair: pay clearly, know the ceiling

Super Mario Bros. began as a cartridge you bought once, and Nintendo no longer sells that cartridge new. Today the official way to play the original NES game in Australia is the NES library in Nintendo Switch Online: A$29.95 for 12 months, or A$5.95 per 30 days, for an individual membership. It is not sold separately, and you lose access when the membership ends. The game itself has no ads, timers or in-game purchases.

How you pay

  • Editions

    Re-sold repeatedly: the remake in Super Mario All-Stars (1993), Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (1999), a Game Boy Advance release (2003), Virtual Console on Wii, 3DS and Wii U, the NES Classic Edition and now Switch Online.

    minor part of the game
  • Game library

    Today the only official way to play it is the NES - Nintendo Classics library, included with a Nintendo Switch Online membership (A$29.95 for 12 months or A$5.95 per 30 days, individual). It has been in the library since the service launched in September 2018.

    minor part of the game
  • Pay once

    A one-off cartridge purchase (Famicom September 1985; Australia July 1987). It isn't sold new today, and the one-off Virtual Console downloads (Wii, 3DS, Wii U) were on stores that have closed; the 3DS and Wii U eShops stopped sales on 27 March 2023.

What it costs

Price: —

WhatWherePriceChecked
Individual membership, 12 months (NES library)
Standard Nintendo Switch Online tier; the game is not sold separately and is only playable while the membership is active.		 Nintendo Switch Online (AU) A$29.95/year Oct 2026
Individual membership, 30 days
Renewal price shown on the Nintendo membership page after the free 7-day trial.		 Nintendo Switch Online (AU) A$5.95/30 days Oct 2026

Store prices change often and sales are common; we record the regular price on the date shown.

Reviews from across the web

What the critics said

  • 9/ 10

    Nintendo Life

    Philip J. Reed · 13 September 2013 · Wii U eShop (NES)

    Called the game one of gaming's great masterpieces and welcomed it onto the Wii U Virtual Console.

Scores belong to the outlets that published them; follow the links to read the full reviews. Summaries are ours.

Age ratings & content

What's in it

Classification

No classification recorded yet.

Safety & parental controls

Who can talk to your child, and what can they buy?

  • No chat
  • No contact with strangers
  • No user-made content
  • Needs an online account

Cartoon-style action (stomping enemies, dodging fireballs) with no blood. On Nintendo Switch Online the NES library has no in-game chat. Online play is set up with friends ("join with friends online and share your screen" on Nintendo's page), and on Switch 2 the separate GameChat feature adds voice and screen sharing with friends. A Nintendo Account and a paid membership are needed to play it at all. I could not find an individual Australian classification for the NES game; the NES library app as a whole carries a PG classification, which is not specific to this game.

Who makes it

The company behind it, and its track record

Nintendo

Developer and publisher · Kyoto, Japan · founded 1889

  • Labour dispute

    Labour dispute

    US National Labor Relations Board, 2022: unfair-labour-practice charge by a fired contract tester settled for $25,910 plus union-rights notices.
  • Shut down paid games

    Shut down games people paid for

    Nintendo, March 2023 and April 2024: closed the Wii U and 3DS eShops, then ended online play for 3DS and Wii U software.
  • Competition law

    Competition-law action

    European Commission, October 2002: fined Nintendo €149 million for colluding with distributors to block cheaper cross-border sales (1991 to 1998); reduced to €119.2 million by the EU Court of First Instance in April 2009.
  • Publishes odds

    Publishes drop odds

    Nintendo, August 2019: said it would require drop-rate disclosure for paid random items in Switch games.

Latest on the record

  1. Court case

    Brazilian first-instance court ordered R$5 million in loot-box damages, subject to appeal

    Brazil Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Technical Note 55/2026)
  2. Game preservation

    Nintendo replaced Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp with a paid offline version

    Eurogamer
  3. Game preservation

    Nintendo closed the Wii U and 3DS eShops and later ended their online play

    Nintendo

Nintendo: full profile and track record →

A company's history doesn't change this game's money verdict, which rates only how the game itself makes money. About company track records

Platforms & release

Where you can play it

PlatformReleasedStore
Nintendo Switch 2
NES - Nintendo Classics also runs on Switch 2.		 — Store page
Nintendo Switch
NES - Nintendo Classics, included with Nintendo Switch Online.		 September 2018 Store page
NES / Famicom
Famicom (Japan) 13 September 1985; Nintendo Entertainment System in North America from late 1985, Europe 1987 and Australia July 1987.		 13 September 1985 —

Further reading

Facts last checked 22 October 2026. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.nintendo.com, www.nintendo.com, ec.nintendo.com, en.wikipedia.org, www.nintendolife.com, www.museumofplay.org. Spotted something wrong? Send a correction.