In 2025, the Super Mario Bros franchise celebrates 40 years of history. Many of the mustached plumber’s earlier games still influence platformers released today. Titles like Celeste, Silksong, and Ruffy and the Riverside draw inspiration from key elements and playstyles first introduced in Mario’s 2D and 3D adventures over the past four decades. Now, a dedicated developer has created a fully open-source remastered version of the original title (and more) that adds some modern flavor to the iconic series.
While Super Mario Bros. remains the quintessential entry among Mario’s 2D platformers, it’s also very much a product of its time. That’s not to say it plays poorly or feels outdated, but rather that it serves as a clear snapshot of how gaming was presented when the NES first arrived. Linear progression, a single playable character, and gameplay built entirely around running and jumping at specific moments.
Everything is Super Mario
Super Mario Bros. Remastered is an honorary celebration of the series by lifelong fans. Its goal isn’t to rewrite the history of the franchise, but to pay homage to the originals by updating them to meet modern standards while keeping their heart intact. The art style remains faithful, no wild new mechanics are added, and the focus is on subtle presentation tweaks that reflect how the games originally played, but with slightly enhanced.
Some green pipes are red or blue now
For example, levels now use a shadowbox-like design, adding depth to what were once flat backgrounds. It also borrows from later games, such as Super Mario Bros. 2 USA, by allowing players to select different characters, each with unique jump heights, run speeds, and midair float times.
Beyond gameplay changes, the project also uses a single Super Mario Bros. ROM to “rebuild” the various offshoots of the first game.
The First, The Second, The First Again and Again
In the US, Super Mario Bros. 2 was released as a reskin of Doki Doki Panic, swapping in Mario characters and making small adjustments. Meanwhile, in Japan, the true Super Mario Bros. 2 more closely resembled the original, but with much higher difficulty. When it finally came to the US as part of the SNES Mario All-Stars collection, it was rebranded as The Lost Levels.
Four games and a level editor. Oowee.
Japan also saw other unusual offshoots. All Night Nippon, created to celebrate the Nippon Broadcasting System’s 20th anniversary, swapped character sprites with radio personalities of the era and made minor tweaks to level design. Nintendo also licensed Super Mario Bros. Special to Hudson Soft, who tweaked the game by removing scrolling levels and altering character behavior in subtle but noticeable ways. Ultimately, it made the game a tad bit harder, but still, it’s Mario.
All of these variations are playable in Super Mario Bros. Remastered. Since they share the same sprite and art foundation as the original, all that’s needed to play is the World ROM for Super Mario Bros, not to be confused with Super Mario World. The “World” reference generally just means it’s the worldwide release, the one found on store shelves around the world, as opposed to a localized release for a specific region.
Remastered also introduces new modes of playing the classic games. As of right now, the game features a You vs Boo mode that is simply a race to the finish against, you guessed it, Boo. Some of the games are second nature to any longtime platform fan, but others throw you for a loop, like the aforementioned Special variant of the first game.
Boo won’t win any of these.
Outside of the You vs Boo mode, there’s a Challenge Hunt mode that has you hunting for multicolored coins throughout the levels you choose. While some are hidden in otherwise unknown areas, others are simply in positions that require you to jump and maneuver your way into places that may have snuck under the radar during any past playthrough.
Three different colored items to collect.
And More
Even that alone would make for a worthwhile upgrade, but Remastered goes further by introducing a level creator in the spirit of Mario Maker. The simple sprite work and design of the NES games naturally lend themselves to player creativity, inspiring custom levels much like the ROM hacks that have circulated for years, and ultimately paving the way for Mario Maker itself.
The level editor lets you edit potential levels. It’s in the name.
While Nintendo is busy porting both Mario Galaxy titles to the Switch with modern updates, fans are using projects like this to express their appreciation for Mario in their own way. Historically, Nintendo has been cautious about letting others use its characters without a license, but it usually reserves DMCA takedowns for fan projects that might overlap with upcoming official releases.
Super Mario Bros. Remastered is available exclusively on PC through GitHub. To play, you’ll need to provide your own Super Mario Bros. (World) ROM. Again, not to be confused with Super Mario World. From there, it’s a small drag-and-drop within the game to get started. Since it’s a PC game, it also runs on retro handhelds that support Winlator fairly easily. Just be sure to do the whole importing of the ROM beforehand. As for Portmaster support, that may come eventually, but it’s not available yet.
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