Get your hands on a new piece of Super Mario history with a
collectible Game & Watch system. Tap into Nintendo’s robust
history with this special Game & Watch system that includes the
original Super Mario Bros. Game, a digital clock, and more! Play
Super Mario Bros. —Game & Watch style. Jump over bottomless pits,
stomp Goombas, and enter warp pipes with the same tight controls
you remember from the ‘80s. Play solo or pass Game & Watch: Super
Mario Bros. to a friend for alternating two-player fun. Even more
Mario. Challenge yourself in the included Super Mario Bros.: The
Lost Levels game, check the time with an animated Super Mario
inspired digital clock, and play a special Game & Watch: Ball
game with extra Super Mario flair! Game & Watch: Super Mario
Bros. is a new interpretation of the original Game & Watch design
that’s updated to include a +Control Pad so you can jump, leap,
and stomp with precision and ease. In addition to Super Mario
Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels offers even more
gameplay…and some extra challenge to boot! When you’re not saving
Princess Peach, check out the included digital clock. As time
passes, 35 different animations may play…including some guest
appearances from Mario’s friends and foes! Play a special version
of Game & Watch: Ball with a Super Mario Bros. makeover for a
true blast to the past. The Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros.
system will continue to be shipped to retailers through
approximately March 31, 2021, and will be available for purchase
while supplies last.
Review: Only for those hardcore Game & Watch / Super Mario Bros
fans - If you didn't grow up in the 1980s with the old school
Game & Watch devices and/or Super Mario Brothers, I'd find it
hard to believe that you'd enjoy this device. In fact, even if
you're a Super Mario Brothers fan, but didn't own one of the
original Game & Watches, you might have a hard time enjoying this
device. However, I personally did own a Game & Watch (Parachute)
and played it to death when I was 7 years old (the buttons
stopped working because I played it so much). I also spent
countless hours on Super Mario Brothers starting at age 9.
Because of these two experiences in my past, I knew I had to buy
this Game & Watch when I first heard they were going to release
it. Now that I've had it for about a week, I can say, for a fan
like myself, it was worth the $50. Holding the Game & Watch in my
hands when I first opened it brought a HUGE RUSH of memories of
me playing Parachute as well as the memories of my grandparents
searching all over the place to buy and gift it to me almost 40
years ago. Not gonna lie, I cried. This alone confirmed it was
worth the purchase. And while I haven't been playing SMB1 too
much, I've been addicted to the SMB2 as I never had a chance to
play it when I was younger. The physics of Mario moving are
exactly as I remember, which is something that can't be said for
the versions of SMB1 and SMB2 included with Super Mario All Stars
for the SNES/Wii, you know the brick breaking "bug". Ok enough of
the nostalgia, let's quickly go over the device itself and the
games. First of all, the LCD isn't bad. It's not great, but not
bad. It is clearly a TN panel as the vertical viewing angles are
pretty horrible. Luckily, it's so small that you probably will
never be viewing it off angle in the vertical axis. Horizontally,
it fares much better off angle. It is small, but not too small at
2.36". I haven't noticed any ghosting, but if I look closely, I
definitely can see the pixels, so the DPI isn't the best either.
However, it's perfectly reasonable for games that weren't high
resolution to begin with. The display does seem to be stretched
horizontally just a little bit, the screen probably isn't the
exact aspect ratio of the original game as the blocks on the
screen aren't perfectly square and the mushrooms look a little
fat to me; this is a little annoying but does not affect game
play at all. My 40+ year old eyes aren't what they used to be,
but the display is big enough for me to play without any
hindrance. The only thing I can complain about are the parts of
SMB2 where there are leaves blowing on the screen to suggest
there is wind; the leaves are very hard for me to see. But the
audio gives cues that there is wind as well so it wasn't a huge
drawback. Besides that, I have nothing to complain about with the
display. The controls are great. While the DPAD isn't as big as
the original NES controllers, it's plenty big for me and feels
solid and responsive. The B and A buttons, in addition to the
game/time/pause/set buttons, feel just like how I remember from
my Parachute G&W. The unit was a little light on weight, but that
feeling could be because I'm not 7 years old anymore. The biggest
complaint I have is that the unit does not come with a kickstand
like Parachute did so it cannot sit upright on my nightstand
while in watch mode. The games, as mentioned before, seem to be
exactly like the originals except for a couple really welcome
additions. 1) While you can't save the state, you can pause a
game and come back to it at anytime. This is on a per game basis,
so you can have a paused SMB1, SMB2, and Ball all at the same
time and switch between them to play any of them. 2) SMB1 and
SMB2 has an option to have infinite lives. This feature was
absolutely necessary for me to play and beat SMB2 as it is
exponentially harder than SMB1 The watch is a fun addition, you
can cycle through different backgrounds of the clock by
repeatedly pressing the time button. There are also some other
easter eggs for the watch with various button presses I'll let
you figure out. And finally Ball, while it's not as exciting as
SMB1 and SMB2, I love hearing the "tick tick tick" sounds each
time an "LCD" animation moves, just like the original G&W games.
The battery lasts FOREVER. Their estimated 8 hours of gameplay is
not exaggerated. I charged it full, played for 2 - 3 hours and
the battery meter still showed over half. Keep in mind, I kept
the volume and brightness low. Speaking of volume, if you're
alone in a quiet room, the lowest volume setting is already
plenty loud IMO. And at the highest volume, it's still very
clear. The inclusion of a high quality USB-A to USB-C cable was a
nice touch, and it chargers pretty quickly. Overall, I can't
recommend this little device enough, even at $50, BUT, with the
big caveat that the Game & Watch plus Super Mario Brothers must
hold a very dear place in your childhood.
Review: Cool Novelty/Collector's Item - This thing is just pure
novelty for collectors. Sure, you can play Super Mario Bros,
Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels and the Mario version of Ball
on it, but there are plenty of other (legit) ways to play those.
Ball is the more difficult one to get hold of, but both Mario
games are available for the Switch, as well as other platforms.
But, this is still a fun unit with a really nice, although tiny,
screen. This is the size of a Game & WAtch, so the screen is 2
inches by 1.5 inches. So, that makes Mario really tiny. But, it's
still playable. The buttons and D-pad are nice, and the emulation
is spot on, but that's what we expect from Nintendo's emulation.
Aside from the games, you also get a nifty clock function with
some cool animation. My only criticism is that it doesn't have
the stand that the old Game & Watch units had, so you have to
prop it up somehow to use it as a clock. Also, I don't believe it
has an alarm function. The "instructions" it comes with are just
how to charge it and then a bunch of warnings and warranty stuff.
But, the functions are pretty much self explanatory. I had the
clock set and had played all 3 games before I even looked at that
sheet. Obviously, this is a bit pricey for a kid, but for an
adult collector who just wants a cool novelty unit that works as
intended, this is perfect. If you remember Game & Watch or just
love Mario or collect Nintendo stuff, then this is for you.
