NintendoNintendo Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. - Not Machine Specific

If you didn't grow up in the 1980s with the old school Game & Watch devices and/or Super Mario Brothers, I'd find it hard to believe that you'd enjoy this device. In fact, even if you're a Super Mario Brothers fan, but didn't own one of the original Game & Watches, you might have a hard time enjoying this device. However, I personally did own a Game & Watch (Parachute) and played it to death when I was 7 years old (the buttons stopped working because I played it so much). I also spent countless hours on Super Mario Brothers starting at age 9. Because of these two experiences in my past, I knew I had to buy this Game & Watch when I first heard they were going to release it.Now that I've had it for about a week, I can say, for a fan like myself, it was worth the $50. Holding the Game & Watch in my hands when I first opened it brought a HUGE RUSH of memories of me playing Parachute as well as the memories of my grandparents searching all over the place to buy and gift it to me almost 40 years ago. Not gonna lie, I cried. This alone confirmed it was worth the purchase. And while I haven't been playing SMB1 too much, I've been addicted to the SMB2 as I never had a chance to play it when I was younger. The physics of Mario moving are exactly as I remember, which is something that can't be said for the versions of SMB1 and SMB2 included with Super Mario All Stars for the SNES/Wii, you know the brick breaking "bug".Ok enough of the nostalgia, let's quickly go over the device itself and the games. First of all, the LCD isn't bad. It's not great, but not bad. It is clearly a TN panel as the vertical viewing angles are pretty horrible. Luckily, it's so small that you probably will never be viewing it off angle in the vertical axis. Horizontally, it fares much better off angle. It is small, but not too small at 2.36". I haven't noticed any ghosting, but if I look closely, I definitely can see the pixels, so the DPI isn't the best either. However, it's perfectly reasonable for games that weren't high resolution to begin with. The display does seem to be stretched horizontally just a little bit, the screen probably isn't the exact aspect ratio of the original game as the blocks on the screen aren't perfectly square and the mushrooms look a little fat to me; this is a little annoying but does not affect game play at all. My 40+ year old eyes aren't what they used to be, but the display is big enough for me to play without any hindrance. The only thing I can complain about are the parts of SMB2 where there are leaves blowing on the screen to suggest there is wind; the leaves are very hard for me to see. But the audio gives cues that there is wind as well so it wasn't a huge drawback. Besides that, I have nothing to complain about with the display.The controls are great. While the DPAD isn't as big as the original NES controllers, it's plenty big for me and feels solid and responsive. The B and A buttons, in addition to the game/time/pause/set buttons, feel just like how I remember from my Parachute G&W. The unit was a little light on weight, but that feeling could be because I'm not 7 years old anymore. The biggest complaint I have is that the unit does not come with a kickstand like Parachute did so it cannot sit upright on my nightstand while in watch mode.The games, as mentioned before, seem to be exactly like the originals except for a couple really welcome additions.1) While you can't save the state, you can pause a game and come back to it at anytime. This is on a per game basis, so you can have a paused SMB1, SMB2, and Ball all at the same time and switch between them to play any of them.2) SMB1 and SMB2 has an option to have infinite lives. This feature was absolutely necessary for me to play and beat SMB2 as it is exponentially harder than SMB1The watch is a fun addition, you can cycle through different backgrounds of the clock by repeatedly pressing the time button. There are also some other easter eggs for the watch with various button presses I'll let you figure out.And finally Ball, while it's not as exciting as SMB1 and SMB2, I love hearing the "tick tick tick" sounds each time an "LCD" animation moves, just like the original G&W games.The battery lasts FOREVER. Their estimated 8 hours of gameplay is not exaggerated. I charged it full, played for 2 - 3 hours and the battery meter still showed over half. Keep in mind, I kept the volume and brightness low. Speaking of volume, if you're alone in a quiet room, the lowest volume setting is already plenty loud IMO. And at the highest volume, it's still very clear. The inclusion of a high quality USB-A to USB-C cable was a nice touch, and it chargers pretty quickly.Overall, I can't recommend this little device enough, even at $50, BUT, with the big caveat that the Game & Watch plus Super Mario Brothers must hold a very dear place in your childhood.

This is the perfect gift for nostalgic adults who love Mario! I got it for a friend turning 40, and it was an absolute hit. The retro design and classic gameplay brought back a lot of great memories.Both adults and kids had a blast playing with it at the party. It’s a fun, timeless gift that appeals to a wide range of ages. If you're looking for a gift that brings joy and a bit of nostalgia, this is definitely the one to go for!

This is a great game that everybody should have. My 4 years old plays it like a pro for the most part it does get more challenging as you past the stages. I have a great time playing this game. Unfortunately it gotLost and I have to purchase another one.

This thing is just pure novelty for collectors. Sure, you can play Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels and the Mario version of Ball on it, but there are plenty of other (legit) ways to play those. Ball is the more difficult one to get hold of, but both Mario games are available for the Switch, as well as other platforms. But, this is still a fun unit with a really nice, although tiny, screen. This is the size of a Game & WAtch, so the screen is 2 inches by 1.5 inches. So, that makes Mario really tiny. But, it's still playable. The buttons and D-pad are nice, and the emulation is spot on, but that's what we expect from Nintendo's emulation. Aside from the games, you also get a nifty clock function with some cool animation. My only criticism is that it doesn't have the stand that the old Game & Watch units had, so you have to prop it up somehow to use it as a clock. Also, I don't believe it has an alarm function. The "instructions" it comes with are just how to charge it and then a bunch of warnings and warranty stuff. But, the functions are pretty much self explanatory. I had the clock set and had played all 3 games before I even looked at that sheet. Obviously, this is a bit pricey for a kid, but for an adult collector who just wants a cool novelty unit that works as intended, this is perfect. If you remember Game & Watch or just love Mario or collect Nintendo stuff, then this is for you.

These things are cool. I got Zelda first, then just had to get Mario. I wish the watch had an alarm clock, but that's alright. Nintendo needs to make more of these old school single game handhelds --Metroid, Contra, Punch-Out, Tetris