Super Mario Bros. is a Physical Pinball Table based on the popular Super Mario Bros. video game franchise. It was designed by Jon Norris and released by Gottlieb in 1992, and is the first of two Mario-themed pinballs from Gottlieb.
In spite of the name, the pinball takes most of its inspiration from Super Mario World. True to the video games, the player must help Mario become S-U-P-E-R, then shoot for and destroy seven of Bowser's castles to rescue Princess Peach. Warp pipes quickly move the ball across the playfield, while Mario can enlist help from his brother Luigi and Yoshi the dinosaur. Even better, hit three koopa shells, then grab a key and start one of six Bonus Rounds for more points.
Aside from the license, Super Mario Bros. is notable for being the first pinball game from Gottlieb to use a dot matrix display.
This game and Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World both marked Charles Martinet's first performance as Mario. According to Martinet, Gottlieb and Nintendo used his voice clips without paying him and remained uncredited as a result.
This pinball machine demonstrates the following tropes:
- Adaptation Distillation: The pinball game mixes artwork from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, with around 95% of the music based on the latter.
- Betting Mini-Game: One of the sinkholes would pull a three-reel slot machine that might yield various bonuses.
- Consolation Prize: A 200,000-point bonus is given if you lose the Betting Mini-Game.
- Cowardly Sidekick: Not only does Luigi look nervous on the playfield, but his target is in a cave. (It also features the Big Boo, unintentionally foreshadowing Luigi's recurring nemesis from the Luigi's Mansion series.)
- Epileptic Flashing Lights: Done after the player gets a Starman.
- Invincibility Power-Up: The Starman allows you to become invincible, as is the norm. However, here it's given an interesting take.
- Progressive Jackpot: The number of castles destroyed is carried over from one game to the next.
- Ratchet Scrolling: Done in the Video Mode.
- Spectacular Spinning: Bowser's castle spins. There's no reason for it to do so, other than because it can.
- Spelling Bonus: Spell S-U-P-E-R to make Mario... well, super.
- Timed Mission: Some of the Bonus Rounds, most notably "Yoshi's Countdown".
- Video Mode: Appropriately enough, the Video Mode is a simplified version of Super Mario Bros. While Mario moves automatically across the screen, he must dodge Bullet Bills and Bottomless Pits along the way. Use the right flipper button to jump, and the left flipper button to run. Reaching the flagpole at the end yields 10 million points, or 30 if Mario ran the entire way.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!
