# Super Mario Bros.

19 Hacker News commenters recommended Super Mario Bros. and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend the NES original for its fun, simple design and lasting influence on games. Critics mention Nintendo repeatedly re-selling the same ROM.

## Why people recommend it

- Defined the genre and revived consoles (5 comments): "The only thing anyone needed to aid their perception and reboot the video game market in north America was 15-20 minutes with super mario bros." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45872518)) "so much better than everything that came before them that they became the face of the genre" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46825222)) "Nintendo came out with originals like Super Mario Brothers and Zelda" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48845073))
- Simple, fun and instantly playable (4 comments): "You turn the NES on, press start, and there's Mario on the left side of the screen." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45857262)) "Surprisingly Mario has essentially no plot, yet it turned out very fun." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49472648)) "For a super casual game, such a mechanic is great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49228146))
- Still holds up on modern systems (2 comments): "Mario for NES doesn't need updates - yet it's perfect game by many." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46904191)) "still work great on Linux" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45794862))

## What people warn about

- Hard jumps and lost lives (2 comments): "I’ve had initial attempts at an emulator set-up where I was losing lives on friggin’ Mario 1:1 though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47813055)) "trying to get the jumps right on Super Mario Bros level 8-2" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47485250))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Helldivers 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/helldivers-2.md): 50 recommend
- [Triple-A Minesweeper](https://hackerapproved.com/p/triple-a-minesweeper.md): 40 recommend
- [Quake II](https://hackerapproved.com/p/quake-2.md): 33 recommend
- [Red Dead Redemption 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/red-dead-redemption-2.md): 28 recommend
- [Grand Theft Auto (1997)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grand-theft-auto.md): 28 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Super Mario Bros.", https://hackerapproved.com/p/super-mario-bros/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).