Super Mario Bros. Special
The title of this article is official, but it comes from a Japanese source.
If an acceptable English name is found, then the article should be moved to the new title.
- Not to be confused with Mario Bros. Special.
| Super Mario Bros. Special | |
|---|---|
 For alternate box art, see the game's gallery. | |
| Developer | Hudson Soft |
| Publisher | Hudson Soft (Japan) Static Soft (South Korea)[1] |
| Platform(s) | NEC PC-8801 Sharp X1 / Samsung SPC-1500[1] |
| Release date |  August 1986[?] 1987[1] |
| Genre | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Format | 5.25-inch floppy, Tape |
Super Mario Bros. Special (Japanese: スーパーマリオブラザーズ スペシャル, Sūpā Mario Burazāzu Supesharu) is a platform game that was developed by Hudson Soft and released in 1986 for the NEC PC-8801 and Sharp X1 series of Japanese computers, and later for the Samsung SPC-1500,[1] a South Korean clone of the X1. Super Mario Bros. Special was the second Nintendo-licensed follow-up to Super Mario Bros., released around two months after Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.[2]
The game scrolls between scenes similarly to the Zelda games. The PC-8801 version handles this by turning the display black briefly while loading the next screen. The Sharp X1 handles it more smoothly by visually sliding to the next lock point, though the transition does have some overlap.
Super Mario Bros. Special has changes in difficulty similar to Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. The jumping and dashing physics from the Family Computer release are different. The stage time also ticks slightly faster. There is also no multiplayer mode and not even the choice to play as Luigi like in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.
Super Mario Bros. Special has inferior graphics and audio in both the PC-8801 and X1 releases because both systems do not have as great of hardware specifications as the Family Computer, but still try to replicate the graphics of Super Mario Bros. nonetheless. The X1 version contains partial scrolling and slightly more colorful graphics, featuring all eight colors possible with 100% and 0% RGB, including lime-green, cyan, magenta and white. The PC-88 release of Super Mario Bros. Special uses only black, red, yellow, and blue, including dithered results with those four colors, and it does not use internal eight-color palette of the PC-88. Further, sprites exclude the use of blue to allow transparency in the sprites. This leads to yellow being used as a stand-in for white and swapping with red for recolored enemies, notably causing the "green" enemies to appear with red eyes.
Gameplay[edit]
- See also: Super Mario Bros. § Gameplay
The object of the game is to get to the flagpole to advance to the next level. While on his way to the goal, Mario encounters many enemies and power-ups.
Power-ups[edit]
| Name | X1 image | PC-88 image | Points awarded | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magic Mushroom | 
|
|
1000 | Grab this to change into Super Mario. |
| Fire Flower | 
|
|
1000 | Grab this to change into Fiery Mario. |
| Starman | 
|
|
1000 | Grab this to briefly change into Invincible Mario. |
| Hammer (Hummer) |
|
|
1000 | Mario rapidly swings a hammer in front of him, just like in Donkey Kong. Found in Worlds 3-4 and 5-1. |
| Wing | 
|
|
1000 | Collecting this makes Mario fly in the air, but he looks like he is swimming. Found in Worlds 3-2 and 4-1. |
Items[edit]
| Name | X1 image | PC-88 image | Points awarded | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 up Mushroom | 
|
|
0 | If Mario collects one, he will get an extra life. |
| Coin | 
|
|
200 | Collect 100 coins for a 1 up. |
| Hachisuke | 
|
|
8000 | The bee from the Hudson Soft logo. If Mario finds this item, he will be awarded 8000 points. Found in World 1-1. |
| Clock | 
|
|
1000 | Upon picking this up, Mario will get an additional 100 seconds added to the timer. Found in World 8-3. |
| Lucky Star | 
|
|
1000 | Resembles an atom. If Mario collects it, all the enemies on-screen will be defeated and award their normal point values as if hit by a Starman. It is similar to a POW Block except it also affects airborne foes, like a POW Block in Super Mario Bros. 35. Found in World 4-1. |
Enemies[edit]
Hudson Soft's staff brought over enemies from Super Mario Bros. as well as earlier Super Mario games. All are referred to by their Japanese names in-game, with a typo in one case (or called by new names in the case of the earlier games' enemies), and ordered per their listing in the cast and credits:
| Name | X1 image | PC-88 image | Origin | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Goomba (Kuribou) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | The most basic enemy, they can be defeated with a jump on top of them, bumping them from below, hitting them with a fireball, hammer, or shell, or running into them while invincible. Found in Worlds 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 5-1, 5-2, and 8-1. |
| Koopa Troopa (Nokonoko) |
 
|
 
|
Super Mario Bros. | Walking turtles, the green of which walk off ledges and the red of which turn at ledges. Jumps and bumps cause them to hide into their shells (which can be knocked around), and fire, a hammer, a shell, and invincibility defeats them instantly. Green found in Worlds 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1, 4-2, 5-1, 5-2, 6-3, and 7-3. Red found in Worlds 1-2, 1-3, 3-3, 4-3, 5-2, 6-3, and 8-1. |
| Koopa Paratroopa (Patapata) |
 
|
 
|
Super Mario Bros. | Winged Koopa Troopas, the green of which jump and the red of which fly up and down. Stomping on them makes them lose their wings, and fire, a hammer, a shell, or invincibility defeats them instantly. Green found in Worlds 3-1, 3-2, 4-1, 5-1, 5-2, 7-1, 7-3, and 8-1. Red found in Worlds 1-3, 5-3, 7-3, 8-1, 8-3, and 8-4. |
| Buzzy Beetle (Met) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | Hard-shelled turtles that act similar to Koopa Troopas. They can be knocked into their shells with a jump or bump, and can be defeated with invincibility or a hammer or shell. Found in Worlds 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-1, 8-1, and 8-4. |
| Hammer Brother (Hummer Bros) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | Turtles that jump and throw arcing hammers. They can be defeated with a stomp, fireball, shell, bump, or invincibility. Found in Worlds 5-2, 8-2, and 8-3. |
| Lakitu (Jugemu) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | A cloud-riding turtle that drops Spiny's eggs. It can be defeated with a stomp, fireballs, or invincibility, after which it does not respawn. Found in Worlds 4-1 and 6-1. |
| Spiny (Togezou) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | Spiked turtles that hatch from eggs dropped from Lakitus. They can be defeated with fireballs, invincibility, or being bumped. |
| Piranha Plant (Pakkun Flower) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | Biting plants that go up and down in pipes. They can be defeated through fireballs or invincibility. Found in Worlds 2-1, 2-4, 3-1, 4-1, 4-3, 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, 7-1, 7-4, and 8-4. |
| Spiny's egg (Paipo) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | Eggs dropped by Lakitu that hatch into Spiny when they land. |
| Bullet Bill (Killer) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | Bullets shot from cannons in infinite amounts. They can be defeated with a stomp or invincibility. Found in Worlds 5-2, 5-3, and 7-1. |
| Cheep-cheep (Pukupuku) |
 
|
 
|
Super Mario Bros. | Fish that swim in groups at the same speed regardless of color, with a few at a time bobbing slightly. Red ones also hop from the water in land levels. When underwater, they can only be defeated with fireballs or invincibility, but on land they can also be stomped or hit with a shell. Green found in Worlds 2-2, 3-1, 7-2, and 8-2. Red found in Worlds 2-2, 2-3, 3-1, 5-3, 7-2, 7-3, and 8-2. |
| Bloober (Gesso) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | Bobbing squid found underwater. They can be defeated with a fireball or invincibility. Found in Worlds 2-2, 3-1, 5-1, 5-2, 7-2, and 8-2. |
| Podoboo (Bubble) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | Hopping lava balls that can only be defeated with invincibility. Found in Worlds 2-4, 3-4, 5-4, 7-4, and 8-4. |
| Sidestepper (Chokichoki) |
|
|
Mario Bros. | Crabs that walk in a straight line and can be defeated with a fireball, invincibility, or a bump. Found in Worlds 4-2, 5-2, 7-3, 8-1, and 8-3. |
| Fighterfly (Nakaji) |
|
|
Mario Bros. | Flies that move by taking small hops, pausing in between and able to change directions whenever on the ground. Can be defeated with a fireball, hammer, invincibility, or a bump. Found in Worlds 5-1, 5-2, 8-1, 8-2, and 8-3. |
| Barrel (Tarusar) |
|
|
Donkey Kong | These barrels roll down ledges and can be defeated with a hammer or a bump. Found in Worlds 3-4, 4-3, 6-2, 6-4, 7-1, and 8-2. |
| Fireball (Sigebou) |
|
|
Donkey Kong | Fireballs that move horizontally, tumbling down ledges the same as barrels. Found in Worlds 7-4 and 8-2. |
| Icicle (Tsurara) |
|
|
Mario Bros. | Falling icicles that can be defeated with a fireball. Found in Worlds 4-2, 4-4, 5-3, 6-4, 7-4, 8-3, and 8-4. |
| Bowser (Kuppa) |
|
|
Super Mario Bros. | The villain, he appears in every castle level (as in, the ones ending in -4). For the first five worlds, he breaths fire, and for the next two, he throws hammers, and for the final, he does both. He can be defeated by touching the nearby ax or by hitting him with five fireballs. |
List of levels[edit]
| World | Level | Setting | Enemies found |
|---|---|---|---|
 World 1 |
World 1-1 | Overworld | Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa |
| World 1-2 | Underground/Overworld | Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa | |
| World 1-3 | Athletic | Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa | |
| World 1-4 | Castle | Fire-Bar, Bowser | |
 World 2 |
World 2-1 | Overworld | Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa |
| World 2-2 | Underwater/Underground | Bloober, Cheep-cheep, Little Goomba | |
| World 2-3 | Athletic | Cheep-cheep | |
| World 2-4 | Castle | Fire-Bar, Podoboo, Piranha Plant, Bowser | |
 World 3 |
World 3-1 | Underwater/Overworld | Bloober, Cheep-cheep, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Little Goomba |
| World 3-2 | Overworld | Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa | |
| World 3-3 | Athletic | Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa | |
| World 3-4 | Castle | Fire-Bar, barrel, Podoboo, Bowser | |
 World 4 |
World 4-1 | Overworld | Piranha Plant, Lakitu, Spiny, Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa |
| World 4-2 | Underground | Icicle, Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Buzzy Beetle, Sidestepper | |
| World 4-3 | Athletic | Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, barrel | |
| World 4-4 | Castle | Icicle, Bowser | |
 World 5 |
World 5-1 | Overworld | Piranha Plant, Koopa Troopa, Little Goomba, Bloober, Fighterfly |
| World 5-2 | Overworld | Piranha Plant, Koopa Troopa, Fighterfly, Buzzy Beetle, Bullet Bill, Sidestepper, Bloober, Little Goomba, Hammer Brother | |
| World 5-3 | Athletic | Cheep-cheep, Koopa Paratroopa, Bullet Bill, Piranha Plant, icicle | |
| World 5-4 | Castle | Fire-Bar, Podoboo, Bowser | |
 World 6 |
World 6-1 | Overworld | Lakitu, Spiny, Piranha Plant |
| World 6-2 | Overworld | Piranha Plant, Buzzy Beetle, Lakitu, Spiny, barrel | |
| World 6-3 | Athletic | Piranha Plant, Koopa Troopa | |
| World 6-4 | Castle | Fire-Bar, icicle, barrel, Piranha Plant, Bowser | |
 World 7 |
World 7-1 | Overworld | Bullet Bill, Buzzy Beetle, Piranha Plant, Little Goomba, Koopa Paratroopa, Hammer Brother, Koopa Troopa, barrel |
| World 7-2 | Underwater/Overworld | Bloober, Cheep-cheep, Fire-Bar | |
| World 7-3 | Athletic | Cheep-cheep, Koopa Paratroopa, Sidestepper, Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother | |
| World 7-4 | Castle | Piranha Plant, Podoboo, Koopa Paratroopa, icicle, Fireball, Bowser | |
 World 8 |
World 8-1 | Athletic | Koopa Troopa, Little Goomba, Koopa Paratroopa, Fire-Bar, Sidestepper, Fighterfly, Buzzy Beetle |
| World 8-2 | Underwater/Overworld | Bloober, Cheep-cheep, barrel, Fireball, Hammer Brother | |
| World 8-3 | Underground/Overworld | Icicle, Fire-Bar, Fighterfly, Koopa Paratroopa, Sidestepper, Hammer Brother | |
| World 8-4 | Castle | Fire-Bar, Koopa Paratroopa, Buzzy Beetle, Piranha Plant, Bowser |
Glitches[edit]
- Main article: List of Super Mario Bros. Special glitches
Due to both the PC-88 and X1 being weaker compared to the NES/Famicom, as well as working off a largely different engine, some glitches and tricks that were previously not present in the original appear here.
AWOL objects[edit]
On occasion, failing to either defeat select enemies or otherwise despawn objects will cause other enemies or objects later in the stage to not appear. This glitch occurs in both versions of the game, and is wildly unpredictable. Most notably, the second Flimsy Lift in the wide pit in World 4-3 will fail to load if the second Scale Lift is not destroyed, causing the pit to become impossible to cross and requiring Mario to lose a life.[3]
References to earlier games[edit]
- Donkey Kong - The hammer is a power-up item, and Barrels and Fireballs return as enemies.
- Mario Bros. - Several enemies like Fighter Flys and Sidesteppers are from this game.
Staff[edit]
- Main article: List of Super Mario Bros. Special staff
- Programmed By
- Yukio-Takeoka
- Course-Designed By
- Ichirou-Sakurada
- Sound Effected By
- Fumihiko-Itagaki
- Megumi-Kawamata
- Produced By
- Takashi-Takebe
Gallery[edit]
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Super Mario Bros. Special.
Hachisuke
Wing
Hammer and barrels
Lucky Star
Icicles and Sidesteppers
Fighterflies
Fireball
Clock
Media[edit]
- For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Super Mario Bros. Special media.
 Ground Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Underwater BGM | File info 0:30 |
| Starman | File info 0:30 |
| Castle BGM | File info 0:20 |
| Lost a Life | File info 0:03 |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Hudson Mario Trilogy. Hardcore Gaming 101 (English). Archived from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Tori of the Star Palace (March 26, 2025). Super Mario Bros. Special (Sharp X1) - AWOL 4-3 Flimsy Lift Glitch(?) (0:00). Youtube (English). Retrieved March 26, 2025.
External links[edit]
- Bad Games Hall of Fame (various Hudson Soft Mario games and the South Korean Samsung SPC-1500 ad)
- Universal Game List entry for Super Mario Bros. Special
- More information on the X1 version
- Instruction manual
| Super Mario Bros. Special | |
|---|---|
| Protagonists | Mario • Mushroom retainer • Princess Peach |
| Worlds | World 1 • World 2 • World 3 • World 4 • World 5 • World 6 • World 7 • World 8 |
| Items and objects | 1 up Mushroom • Clock • Coin • Fire Flower • Hachisuke • Hummer • Island • Lucky Star • Magic Mushroom • Starman • Wing |
| Enemies | Bloober • Bullet Bill • Buzzy Beetle • Cheep-cheep • Chokichoki • Fire-Bar • Hammer Brother • Koopa Paratroopa • Koopa Troopa • Lakitu • Little Goomba • Nakaji • Piranha Plant • Podoboo • Sigebou • Spiny • Spiny's egg • Tarusar • Tsurara • Turtle Cannon |
| Boss | Bowser |
| Miscellaneous | Ax • Beanstalk • Coin Heaven • Coral • Fireworks • Flagpole • Gallery • Glitches • Horsehair plant • Jumping board • Media • Staff |
