Cool Products: Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros.
A quick review of the renewed version of the Game & Watch for the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.
In 2020, honoring the 35th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game, Nintendo released the renewed version of the iconic Game & Watch featuring the game. Being a limited edition product, it got discontinued at the end of March 2021 though thankfully it didn't sell that well in my country and I managed to get one for the normal price. It was kind of an impulse buy but I don't really regret it. Plus I can write about it here so that's great.
The Packaging
The box has a clear plastic overlay with some Mario-themed details printed on it (plus the region appropriate ratings) which nicely complement it, even though it’s purely for aesthetics. Taking it off, we see a replicated design of the original packaging with the big and bold ‘Color Screen’ text and a shot of the console itself. In the box there’s just the console wrapped in some plastic, the (rather short) USB-C to USB-A cable and the brief instruction manual. I’d say I quite like the packaging. It’s not anything fancy but it still feels like a collectible with all the little details on the box.
The Design
The console isn’t a perfect replica of one model of the Game & Watch. The game is based on is the Ball variant though it has a gold front plate like on the later models produced in 1981-1982. The button arrangement is also the most similar to those ones though the anniversary model features a d-pad which wasn't introduced until the Donkey Kong model. Obviously that was added because of the Super Mario Bros. game.
The console feels pretty light and small though still premium with the aluminum front plate. The buttons all feel nice and clicky and the screen looks surprisingly good. The viewing angle isn’t the best but it can get pretty bright and the colors look quite nice. There’s also a power button on the side next to the charging port. The console isn’t that comfortable to hold but I think staying true to the original design was more important here.
The Software
The system includes basically 4 modes which I’ll talk about in some detail. The games are basically what was expected. Super Mario Bros. is just the classic game. It runs perfectly fine though it’s still as unforgiving as always. The speakers do actually a really good job of playing the classic chiptune sounds - they sound loud and clear. It’s not that comfortable to play it on such a small screen though. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is included here as well for more levels and difficulty. This one controls just the same.
There’s also the original Game & Watch Ball game. Despite the new model of the console not longer having a monochromatic LCD display, it replicates the look quite well. The character was change to look like Mario, continuing the Super Mario anniversary theme but besides that it's all the same as on the original Game & Watch. Like on the original you can choose between the Game A and Game B which are slightly different variants (Game B features more balls to juggle and a time limit.)
There’s also the clock feature. By pressing the ‘time’ buttons you’ll go to a screen which features a Mario-themed digital clock. The easter eggs, animations and the fact that the scenery changes based on the current time of day are nice but I really don’t know who would use the console as a clock. I guess it’s meant to be put on your desk, plugged with the clock on as a display piece but if I’d use it as something to display on my desk or shelf I’d rather just have it turned off. There’s also no way to change the setting to a 24 hour clock…
Summary
Honestly, the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. is such a cool gadget. It’s obviously not the best way to play the original Super Mario games. For that I’d suggest the Nintendo Switch Online service but the fact that they decided to make it an actual functioning console and not just a replica for display is really cool. The console is built quite well and it’s quite faithful to the original design. If you manage to still find it somewhere then go for it because it’s a cool thing to have.
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