Version Differences

This is a sub-page of Mario Bros. (NES).

The NES port of Mario Bros. has received two enhanced versions.

The first enhanced version, titled Kaettekita Mario Bros., was released exclusively for Famicom Disk System through the Famicom Disk Writer in Japan, featuring graphical improvements to look closer to its original arcade counterpart, it also swapped Mario & Luigi's shirt and overall colors.

The second enhanced version, was released exclusively in Germany and Italy, with the former under the "Classic Serie" label. In addition to retaining graphical and gameplay improvements from Kaettekita Mario Bros., it also adjusts the music and gameplay speed to match the 50Hz PAL refresh rate. (The previous original PAL version didn't adjust the music, but adjusted the speed)

Note: None of enhanced versions were used in later emulated versions, such as e-Reader card and Famicom Mini series for the Game Boy Advance, the game included in Animal Crossing for the GameCube, Virtual Console for the Wii, the 3DS and the Wii U, the hidden Luigi Bros. included in Super Mario 3D World, and NES Remix for the Wii U and the 3DS, as well as Nintendo Switch Online, are based off the original version with minor changes or modifications.

Title Screen#

Original	Kaettekita Mario Bros.	"Classic Serie" re-release

• The Mario Bros. logo is red in both the original and "Classic Serie" re-release, and white in Kaettekita Mario Bros.; the banner also extended a bit to fit the newly added hiragana above the logo.
• Copyright disclaimer is different between versions, "Nintendo Co., Ltd." was shortened to just "Nintendo" and "Made in Japan" was removed in later versions, with Nagatanien being added in Kaettekita Mario Bros. as the sponsor for featuring their products in advertisements during cutscenes.
• The mode select menu is moved from the title screen to a separate menu screen in Kaettekita Mario Bros., with "Push Start" placed in the title screen.
• Only the original version uses title music on the title screen, it is still present in both re-releases but unused. Kaettekita Mario Bros. has unique music for the title screen, while the "Classic Serie" re-release uses just a coin sound instead. (References the original arcade version playing a coin sound when you insert a coin)
• In Kaettekita Mario Bros., the "Classic Serie" re-release and the original version included in Animal Crossing for the GameCube, the controls were modified so Up and Down can be used to switch between options.

Gameplay Changes#

• Mario & Luigi can change the direction during mid-air in both Kaettekita Mario Bros. and the "Classic Serie" re-release, while the original NES version can't change directions mid-air, just like the arcade original.
• Icicles, which were missing in the original NES version, are now featured and fully working in Kaettekita Mario Bros. and the "Classic Serie" re-release.
• Both PAL versions (Original and "Classic Serie" re-release) have adjusted movement and falling speed of players and enemies to be the same as NTSC in 50Hz PAL refresh rate.
• Kaettekita Mario Bros. doesn't have Game B difficulty mode, but has another mode called "Nagatanien World" which is based off Game A difficulty mode.
• During the attract mode, the original version doesn't play sound effects, while the "Classic Serie" re-release does. Kaettekita Mario Bros. removed this attract mode entirely.
• The stage intermissions from the original arcade version were restored exclusively on the "Classic Serie" re-release, with ability to skip them by pressing B.
• The level order is different between the original and the re-releases:
  • In the original NES version, phase 2 with four Shellcreepers is absent, like the Japanese older and US versions of the original arcade game. Phase 2 in this version (actually phase 3 from the Japanese revision C version of the original arcade game) also reduces the number of Shellcreepers from 6 to 5. In both Kaettekita Mario Bros. and the "Classic Serie" re-release, the level order is based off the original arcade game, including phase 2 from the Japanese revision C arcade version.
  • Phases 13 and 14 (same as 9 and 10 but with faster gimmick frequency, also 12 and 13 in the Japanese older/US arcade version due to the phase 2 is absent here) from the original arcade game were also removed in this version, leaving phase 15 (14 in the Japanese older/US arcade version) to phase 12 here, phase 14 here is the same as phase 9 but changes Fighter Flies to Sidesteppers.
  • The original NES version has a total of 14 levels (12 if you don't count repeats of previous levels; phase 12 is the same as phase 11 here, and phase 13 is just phase 8 due to no invisible platforms). After clearing phase 14, the game will loop between phases 10 and 14. While both Kaettekita Mario Bros. and the "Classic Serie" re-release have the 29 levels from the original arcade version, and the game will loop between phases 23 and 29.
• Only Kaettekita Mario Bros. allows you to continue the game without resetting the score by getting a number of extra lives on the slot machine minigame in the "Nagatanien World" mode.
• The original version doesn't save the high score when pressing the reset button (soft reset) or powering off then on (hard reset). Kaettekita Mario Bros. allows you to save high score through the disk, while the "Classic Serie" re-release only temporarily saves the high score when soft resetting the game, it's not saved when turning off the console.
• Invisible platforms in the third bonus phase are restored in both Kaettekita Mario Bros. and the "Classic Serie" re-release.

Graphic Changes#

Enemies#

• The most noticeable change is the enemies graphics in both Kaettekita Mario Bros. and the "Classic Serie" re-release. Enemies are much more faithful to the arcade original. Shellcreeper's second and third forms use different palettes in the re-releases.
• Sidestepper and Fighter Fly use flickering to display the full sprite in the original version due to limitations at the time. Kaettekita Mario Bros. uses the disk and the "Classic Serie" re-release uses 41kb rom size, allowing the full sprite to be displayed directly.
• Due to enemies graphics being redone in both versions, Shellcreepers now have a reentering shell animation and a biting sprite when Mario or Luigi touch them.
• The fireball sprites were changed in the re-releases. It grows large when appearing and shrinks to a small size before disappearing. The large sprites for the fireball are very similar to the unused, more arcade-accurate ones in the original NES version.

Mario & Luigi#

Original	Kaettekita Mario Bros.	"Classic Serie" re-release

• Mario & Luigi's shirt and overall colors were swapped in Kaettekita Mario Bros. to match Mario's outfit on the disk cover art, which is more accurate to his appearance in Donkey Kong rather than the original arcade game. In the "Classic Serie" re-release, the colors were reverted to the same as the original NES version.

Kaettekita Mario Bros.	"Classic Serie" re-release

• Mario & Luigi's unique death sprites when touching fireballs or ice were restored in both re-releases.

Background Graphics#

Original	Kaettekita Mario Bros. / "Classic Serie" re-release

• In both Kaettekita Mario Bros. and the "Classic Serie" re-release, pipe graphics were updated to add more outlines.

Other#

• Sprites disappear when the game is paused in the original version, but don't disappear in the re-releases.
• Sprite palette sets were changed in the re-releases. The first set (Red, for Mario and Fighter Fly) and second set (Green, for Luigi, Shellcreeper's first form and Sidestepper's second form) changed slightly, while the fourth set (Blue, used for the water splash effect and Splice) was changed completely.

Original	Kaettekita Mario Bros. / "Classic Serie" (Actual)	Kaettekita Mario Bros. / "Classic Serie" (Intended)

• The changes to the enemy sprites in the re-releases caused a graphical error to occur. Part of Sidestepper's sprites were placed on the location of Slipice's freezing effect from the original version, and the object was not updated to use the new location of the effect sprites, so the Sidestepper parts are used instead of the proper ones. The freezing platform sprites are still included (in a different location to the original) and even feature a new third frame like the original arcade game, but all three frames are unused due to the mistake.

Original	Kaettekita Mario Bros. / "Classic Serie" re-release

• The Mario & Luigi's respawn moving platform color is blue in the original version and red in both re-releases.

Original	Kaettekita Mario Bros. / "Classic Serie" re-release

• The water splash effect's color changed from blue in the original version to white-light blue due to the different fourth palette set.