Mario on Atari
I’ve always been a Nintendo fan. These days I’m happy to stay a few generations behind (Yes I own a Wii U), but their exclusives have always been fun to play particular with younger family.
Of course preferring retro games over modern the Super Mario Series is something I’ve gone back to many times.
Always though these games are locked behind that Nintendo hardware. Want to play Mario, Zelda or Donkey Kong then you need a Nintendo of some description.
Well that wasn’t always the case.
In 1983 The Atari 2600 got the legendary Nintendo arcade title Donkey Kong. Here in the UK it was from CB electronics but this stemmed from an American deal Coleco (As in Colecovision Atari’s rival from the 1st console war).
This 2600 port only featured 2 levels of the Arcade. It’s blocky and Donkey Kong doesn’t look properly like Donkey Kong (yet) but it’s playable and it must have been a hell of an effort considering the 2600 hardware limitations
We got Donkey Kong Jnr from CB Electronics in the UK under that same licence deal. This time only one stage was missing. Yes it was primitive and missing power ups. But it was another Nintendo title that was introduced to players during the Atari run.
Then in 1983 the Arari got the Mario Bros. Four years before Super Mario Bros on the NES would redefine the platforming landscape the coop platformer the Mario Bros was on Atari. This coop platform game. For anyone who jumped on from Super Mario Bros this game might seem unrecognisable. For those who jumped on at Mario Bros 3 this will feel like someone made a full game based on that mini game battle mode in that game.
Actually, Nintendo were making callbacks as early as 1988.
Mario Bros on the Atari was not a rare game by any stretch. Researching for this blog I can’t find the actual sales number. But most people I know who had an Atari had the Mario Bros it was almost as common as Pac Man.
Was the port any good. Well, again given the limitations of the 2600, yes the port was very good. Much better too in the 2 player mode.
There you have it. The Nintendo characters that did appear on a non Nintendo console.
So what about us home computer fans…
Well I’m getting to that. Catch you in the next one.