Background:
- I was not a NES kid. Not by choice, just lack of exposure given where I grew up.
- I loved and beat Mario Bros on the Game&Watch. No easy feat.
- I loved and beat Super Mario Land 1 and 2 several times.
- The first time I played any NES or SNES Mario game with my girlfriend, now wife. She remains an absolute top-tier Mario platformer.
- Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 have both been GOTY game for me. I think they are among the most perfect games ever made.
So the first few hundred times I have tried to beat a 2D Mario game on a home console have not been pleasant. In fact, they still are not pleasant -- at least for anyone who could observe me hopelessly crawling my way through a game. I am very, very poor at controlling Mario. I routinely, seemingly for no reason, jump into a hole killing myself. I will jump on a koopa, then jump on his shell, then land on the shell. I will catch projectiles that kill me, but miss 1UP's and mushrooms. EDIT: VIdeo provided below at Foolz request.
But, I figured. What the fuck. I am a grown man, I am capable of beating games, therefore, I will beat Mario Bros for the NES.
Today, after several hundred attempts in the last 2 weeks, I made it past 3-4 and started level 4. Now I get it. When I hit 3-3 for the 60th or so time, something stuck me -- this is what it felt like when I'm playing Super Mario Galaxy. I'm dieing a lot, but I'm not frustrated. I'm the problem, not the game. And as I replayed level 3-1 through 3-3 endlessly I was getting better. Not mastering, but not dieing either. Then I turned it off. Then a few seconds later I'd turn it back on and give it "one more go". Just as I did with Super Mario Galaxy.
Then it occurred to me that Mrs. Aspro didn't come out of the womb mastering Mario. She probably, at the age of 5 or 6 or whatever, was going through what I was going through now, to the point where today when she picks up the controller it's all muscle memory.
Onto world 4!
Would you be able to film yourself playing Mario?
I have considered it many times.
I will give it a try this afternoon and put up an edit some time next week.
EDIT: The reason I have never gone thruogh with it in the past is that I figured people would assume I was deliberatly trying to be bad.
Keep it up, aspro!
When I first played Super Mario Bros in the late 80s, I died a lot . . .and I do mean a LOT. It takes time to master a challening game. Now I can get to World 8 playing only as little Mario, going through every level in order; no power-ups, no warp pipes. Someday, I will beat the game as little Mario. I probably could have by now if I weren't so lazy.
Thanks! I find it easier as little mario -- probably because most of the time I am little mario, so the big mario physics throw me off.
We know you're not deliberately doing it which is why it would be entertaining! We believe in you!
Yes, please do a video playthrough, aspro. That would be cool to see.
EDIT: Uploading now, shouldn't be long.
Sweet, can't wait.
I am very proud of you. But a part of me still has such a hard time comprehending how this is so hard for you, the video should help.
Since taping this I have now made it through to 5-1.