Characters and Items

Heroes

Who would be willing to battle endless waves of subterranean baddies? Why, the Mario Bros., of course! No job is too big or too dangerous for these two brave heroes.

Mario

Armed with only his jumps, punches, and kicks, Mario is tasked with clearing out the pesky critters plaguing the sewers. Mario is the only hero that appears in a 1-Player game. In a 2-Player game, the player using Controller 1 controls Mario.

Luigi

Like Mario, Luigi is responsible for keeping the sewers clear of crafty critters. Fortunately, he’s every bit as capable as his brother. Luigi appears only in 2-Player games, and is always controlled by the player using Controller 2.

Critters

Turtles, crabs, and fighter flies are mandatory targets—a phase ends only once all of these enemies have been cleared from the area. Critters can be touched only while they’re flipped on their backs; making contact with an upright critter damages Mario (or Luigi), causing the unfortunate hero to vanish from the area.

Flipping a critter onto its back leaves it temporarily stunned and vulnerable to attack. If you fail to kick a flipped critter before it recovers, the irritated enemy hops back to its feet and moves at a noticeably faster pace; a critter that recovers from being flipped a second time moves even faster. When only one critter remains in a phase, it becomes instantly enraged, moving at top speed until it’s defeated.

Different critters move in unique ways, and at different speeds. Like Mario and Luigi, these pesky critters can move past the border of the area, after which they appear on the opposite edge of the screen. It’s also important to note that a critter changes direction whenever it walks into a character or coin.

Turtle

Making their debut in Phase 1, turtles are the first critters you encounter in the sewer. If left alone, a turtle will walk straight ahead at a relatively low speed, dropping between platforms until it finds its way to the ground. Land a single punch on a turtle to flip it over and leave it vulnerable to a kick.

Crab

Crabs first appear in Phase 4. Like turtles, these scuttling foes travel straight across flat surfaces. However, crabs move considerably faster, and you must punch a crab two times before it becomes vulnerable to a kick. The first punch simply angers a crab, causing it to move more quickly; the second punch flips the crab, leaving it stunned for a short time.

Fighter Fly

Fighter flies first appear in Phase 6. Rather than moving along flat surfaces, these tricky enemies use their wings to hop short distances. To flip a fighter fly onto its back, you must punch the critter just as it lands.

Additional Enemies

Turtles, crabs, and fighter flies aren’t the only enemies you encounter in the sewers. Freezies and fireballs are every bit as dangerous as roaming critters—a single touch from one of these enemies will cause Mario (or Luigi) to disappear from the area.

Unlike critters, freezies and fireballs don’t need to be defeated to complete a stage. However, each of these additional enemies can be defeated with a well-timed punch, making the area a bit safer—and netting you some extra points in the process!

Freezies first appear in Phase 9. Fireballs show up whenever you spend a significant amount of time in a single phase—the longer you take to complete a phase, the more fireballs you can expect to encounter.

Freezie

Once a freezie emerges from a pipe, it slides across flat surfaces, dropping down along the platforms until it stops at a randomly selected spot. Soon after this happens, the target platform is covered in ice and the freezie vanishes. Ice-covered platforms offer far less traction than standard surfaces, increasing the time it takes for Mario (or Luigi) to come to a stop or change direction. Punch a freezie before it vanishes to clear it from the area and keep the platforms ice-free.

Green Fireball

Green fireballs can appear at either edge of the screen—usually in-line with a hero’s current position. These enemies utilize an uneven twirling motion as they travel horizontally across the area. A green fireball vanishes when it reaches the edge of the screen, but it usually doesn’t take long for another fireball to appear.

In most cases, the best way to avoid a green fireball is to move vertically: drop down from the edge of your current platform or jump up to the platform above you. You can destroy a green fireball with a well-timed punch, but it’s often safer to simply avoid the roaming hazard and wait for it to disappear.

Red Fireball

Red fireballs always appear near the pipes at the top of the area. They’re considerably slower than green fireballs, but they travel diagonally, changing direction as they bounce off platforms or reach the edge of the screen. This means that a single red fireball can roam throughout the entire area. To destroy a red fireball, punch it just as it lands on a platform. Otherwise, keep your distance as you work to complete the phase.

Items

Although you face your share of dangers underground, you also discover a few useful items. Collect coins to boost your score, and use POW Blocks to help even the odds in the fight for the sewers.

Coin

Each time you kick a critter into the water, a coin emerges from one of the pipes near the top of the screen. During a standard phase, a coin behaves similarly to a turtle or crab: it travels along flat surfaces, moves beyond the area’s border to reappear on the opposite edge of the screen, and changes direction whenever it comes into contact with an enemy or object. However, coins move fairly quickly, and they never return to the upper platforms. Once a coin enters a ground-level pipe, it’s gone for good.

Collect coins by touching them or by punching them through platforms. When you defeat a phase’s last critter, any remaining coins vanish from the area.

POW Block

Punching a POW Block essentially delivers a punch to every enemy and item on every horizontal surface in the area. This means that a well-timed punch of a POW Block can flip multiple critters, collect available coins, and eliminate roaming freezies and fireballs. However, it’s important to note that the impact will have no effect on enemies that are airborne (or falling), and that punching a POW Block will flip any stunned critters back to their feet.

A POW Block can be punched only three times before it vanishes. With the exception of the first bonus phase (Phase 3), each one begins with a new, fully charged POW Block.

Scoring

Mario Bros. is an endless adventure—no matter how many phases you complete, there’s always more work to be done. This means that achieving the highest possible score will likely be your focus. Fortunately, you have plenty of opportunities to earn points during your time underground.

Flipping Critters

Each time you flip a turtle, crab, or fighter fly on its back, your score increases by 10 points.

Kicking Critters

Kick an upturned critter to clear it from the area, gaining 800 points in the process. You can also clear vulnerable critters in quick succession to earn bonus points. For example, kicking four overturned enemies in a row yields 800 points for the first critter, 1600 points for the second, 2400 points for the third, and a whopping 3200 points for the fourth critter in the series.

Bonus Coins

Collect a coin before it vanishes to earn an extra 800 points.

Defeating Freezies

Punch a freezie before it overtakes a platform to earn 500 points.

Extinguishing Fireballs

Land a punch on a roaming fireball to boost your score while making the sewers a little bit safer. Extinguishing a green fireball is worth 200 points, while destroying a red fireball grants 1000 points.

Perfect Bonus

Collect all 10 coins during a bonus phase to earn some serious bonus points. Successfully clearing the first bonus phase grants you 3000 points; all subsequent bonus phases offer Perfect Bonuses worth 5000 points. Best of all, these bonus points are granted in addition to the points you earn from collecting the available coins.