The original Super Mario Bros. game is playable on a plethora of Nintendo consoles outside of its original NES release. Now, the iconic platformer is available to play not on any Nintendo console, but directly on YouTube itself. A creative pair of YouTubers have created a version of Super Mario Bros. that can be played within a YouTube video without the need for any video game console.
A new mainline Mario game has been rumored for years at this point, but Nintendo has yet to confirm any new platformer entry in the series. The last mainline Mario release took players back to the 2D era of the franchise with Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the Nintendo Switch. While Super Mario Bros. Wonder did get a Nintendo Switch 2 edition complete with the Meetup in Bellabel Park expansion earlier this year, 2D Mario fans have a new way to experience the game that started it all while they wait for an official new Mario game announcement.
Super Mario Bros. is Now Playable on YouTube
YouTubers Atlas Arcade and Ubonga have created an interactive video that allows viewers to control Mario in a version of the original Super Mario Bros. game. Unlike other playable YouTube videos from Atlas Arcade, this version of Super Mario Bros. is only playable on a desktop browser and won’t work on the YouTube mobile app. For this playable video to work, users need to make sure that they have enabled captions for the video.
While this isn’t a true 1:1 conversion of the NES Super Mario Bros. game, the video does feature iconic levels such as World 1-1, World 1-2’s underground level, World 2-2’s underwater level, and World 8’s Bowser’s Castle. It also includes the Warp Zone skip featured at the end of World 1-2 in the original game. Players can even swap between playing as Mario and Luigi by changing the subtitles from English to Italian.
Difficulty can be adjusted by increasing the video’s playback speed.
This playable video works by having players hover their cursor over the video so that YouTube’s playback timeline appears, which forces Mario to jump. Moving the cursor off of the video causes Mario to duck back down, so that players can avoid oncoming obstacles like falling Spiny enemies or flying Koopa Paratroopas. Players who make it all the way to the end of the video will face off against Bowser in the classic showdown from the original game, where Mario destroys the bridge he’s standing on and rescues Princess Toadstool.
While it’s not the most difficult playable YouTube video and doesn’t even appear to have a death state, the fact that Atlas Arcade and Ubonga were able to make a version of Super Mario Bros. that works within a YouTube video is an impressive feat on its own. Mario‘s 40th anniversary this past year was relatively quiet outside of the release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, but fan projects like this have been a great way to celebrate the plumber as the wait for his next official adventure continues. With leaks pointing toward a new 3D Mario game coming in 2027, fans likely won’t have to wait much longer for a new official Mario announcement.
- Released
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November 17, 1985
- ESRB
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E For Everyone
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo R&D4
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
