Editing VS. System

{{image|more=yes|VS. System logo}}
{{system infobox
|image=[[File:VS Super Mario Bros Arcade Machine.jpg|250px]]<br>''[[VS. Super Mario Bros.]]'' in a VS. Table cabinet
|release=February 1984<ref name=February84GM>{{cite|author=ゲームマシン|date=February 15, 1984|title=VS.システム発表|format=Magazine article|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|language=Japanese|website=|isbn=|page=3|accessdate=January 31, 2025|archive=archive.org/details/game-machine-magazine-19840215p/page/n1/mode/1up|archivedate=2019-11-19 21:50:59|archiver=Internet Archive|deadlink=y}}</ref>
|discontinued={{flag list|Japan|Late 1985<ref name="gm"/><ref name="pm"/>|USA|July 31, 1992<ref name="cb1"/><ref name="cb2"/>}}
|successor=[[Nintendo PlayChoice-10]]
}}
The '''{{wp|Nintendo VS. System|VS. System}}''' is a collection of coin-operated VS. DualSystem or VS. UniSystem arcade systems, and the games were designed for competitive play. The VS. DualSystem comes with two screens and four sets of controls, meaning it had support for four simultaneous players, which only the launch title, ''[[nwiki:Tennis (NES)|VS. Tennis]]'', takes advantage of, not any games of the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]]. The first model is the red sit-down type that lets players face each other and was later renamed VS. Table.<ref>{{cite|url=archive.org/details/vsdr.mario/mode/1up|title=''VS. Dr. Mario'' installation manual}}</ref> The upright type looks like two machines conjoined at an angle. The VS. UniSystem is like a conventional upright arcade cabinet with two sets of controls and a single screen, and it can either come as a dedicated gray cabinet or be a conversion from ''[[Donkey Kong (game)|Donkey Kong]]'',  ''[[Donkey Kong Jr. (game)|Donkey Kong Jr.]]'', or ''{{wp|Popeye (game)|Popeye}}'' cabinets. It is not possible to convert the dedicated wide-body ''[[Mario Bros. (game)|Mario Bros.]]'' cabinets or the ''{{wp|Punch-Out!! (arcade game)|Punch-Out!!}}'' cabinets. In Japan, there are conversion kits for cocktail cabinets.<ref>{{file link|VS. Golf Pinball Japanese flyer back.jpg|Cocktail conversion kit flyer}}</ref>

The VS. System was designed in response to the {{wp|video game crash of 1983}} and the collapse of a proposed deal with [[Atari, Inc.]] to distribute the [[Family Computer]] in the United States. Knowing that arcade gaming was still commercially successful in North America, [[Nintendo]] president [[Hiroshi Yamauchi]] conceived the VS. System as a way to gauge consumer interest in Nintendo's home console games.<ref>{{cite|author=Stark, Chelsea|date=October 19, 2015|url=mashable.com/archive/nintendo-nes-launch-atari|title=How Nintendo brought the NES to America -- and avoided repeating Atari's mistakes|publisher=Mashable|accessdate=January 20, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite|author=Horowitz, Ken|date=July 30, 2020|url=books.google.com/books?id=Y3D0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA119|title="The Vs. System (1984)" - Beyond Donkey Kong: A History of Nintendo Arcade Games''|publisher=McFarland & Company|page=119–128|isbn=978-1-4766-4176-8}}</ref> The precursor to the VS. System line is the Nintendo-Pak conversion kits. ''Mario Bros.'' was the first to be available as a Nintendo-Pak, in addition to selling the dedicated wide-body cabinets.<ref>{{cite|url=archive.org/details/mariobrospak/mode/1up|title=''Mario Bros.'' Nintendo-Pak'' manual}}</ref> ''[[Donkey Kong 3]]'' was available only as a Nintendo-Pak, which spared operators from having to buy the cabinet.<ref>{{cite|url=archive.org/details/donkeykong3/mode/1up|title=''Donkey Kong 3'' Nintendo-Pak manual}}</ref>

The VS. System games were the last arcade games Nintendo of Japan released before leaving the business in late 1985. This was despite the high demand of ''[[VS. Super Mario Bros.]]'', which never had a physical arcade release in the country.<ref name="gm">{{cite|url=onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19860301p.pdf#page=13|title="Coin-Op "Super Mario" Will Shop To Overseas" - Game Machine|publisher=Amusement Press|date=March 1, 1986}}</ref><ref name="pm">{{cite|url=archive.org/details/play-meter-volume-12-number-5-april-1986-600DPI/Play%20Meter%20-%20Volume%2012%2C%20Number%205%20-%20April%201986%20%28Compressed%29/page/9/mode/1up|title=Play Meter - Volume 12, Number 5|date=April 1986}}{{page needed}}</ref> The system had a longer life in North America; new games were released for it as late as 1990, and it was successful enough to spur the development of the [[Nintendo PlayChoice-10]]. By the time Nintendo of America announced it would stop producing arcade equipment on July 31, 1992,<ref name="cb1">{{cite|url=archive.org/details/cashbox56unse_0/page/28/mode/1up|title="Nintendo Will No Longer Produce Coin-Op Equipment" - Cashbox}}{{page needed}}</ref><ref name="cb2">{{cite|url=archive.org/details/cashbox56unse_1/page/29/mode/1up|title="Nintendo Stops Games Manufacturing; But Will Continue Supplying Software" - Cashbox}}{{page needed}}</ref> however, no new VS. games were coming out.

The VS. System games are mostly ports of Family Computer and [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] games, although many have notable changes in their graphics, gameplay, and difficulty. One exception is ''[[VS. Wrecking Crew]]'', released a year before its Family Computer counterpart ''[[Wrecking Crew]]'', from which it greatly differs.

==List of ''Super Mario'' games==
{| class="wikitable"
!Arcade game
![[Nintendo Entertainment System]] game
|-
|''[[VS. Wrecking Crew]]''
|''[[Wrecking Crew]]''
|-
|''[[Pinball (game)|VS. Pinball]]''
|''[[Pinball (game)|Pinball]]''
|-
|''[[Stroke & Match Golf|VS. Golf]]''
|''[[Golf]]''
|-
|''[[VS. Super Mario Bros.]]''
|''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''
|-
|''[[Dr. Mario (game)#VS. Dr. Mario|VS. Dr. Mario]]''
|''[[Dr. Mario (game)|Dr. Mario]]''
|}

''VS. Dr. Mario'' is the only arcade version unavailable on ''[[Arcade Archives]]''.

==Gallery==
===Cabinets===
<gallery>
VSSuperMarioBrosUpright.jpg|''VS. Super Mario Bros.'' in a dedicated VS. UniSystem cabinet
VS. DualSystem.jpg|''VS. Golf'' / ''VS. Super Mario Bros.'' in an upright VS. DualSystem cabinet
Dr. Mario VS cabinet.jpg|''VS. Dr. Mario'' in a VS. Table cabinet
VS. Pinball arcade.jpg|''VS. Pinball'' in a VS. Table cabinet
VS. Wrecking Crew arcade.jpg|''VS. Wrecking Crew'' in a VS. Table cabinet
</gallery>

===Screenshots===
<gallery>
VSSMB Title Screen.png|''VS. Super Mario Bros.''
VsWreckingCrewTitle.png|''VS. Wrecking Crew''
Vs Dr Mario Title.png|''VS. Dr. Mario''
VsPinballTitle.png|''VS. Pinball''
Vsstrokematchgolf.png|''VS. Golf''
</gallery>

===Flyers===
<gallery>
MarioVSSystem.jpg|Library of VS. titles flyer
VS. Golf Pinball Japanese flyer front.jpg|''VS. Golf'' / ''VS. Pinball'' flyer showing off the upright VS. DualSystem
VSWreckingCrewCabinetFlyerJP.png|Earlier Japanese flyer of ''VS. Wrecking Crew''
VSWreckingCrewScreensFlyerJP.png|Earlier Japanese flyer of ''VS. Wrecking Crew''
VSWreckingCrewCabinetFlyerJPredrawn.png|Later Japanese flyer of ''VS. Wrecking Crew''
VSWreckingCrewScreensFlyerJPredrawn.png|Later Japanese flyer of ''VS. Wrecking Crew''
SMBVS Flyer.jpg|Earlier flyer of ''VS. Super Mario Bros.'' with the title ''VS. Mario's Adventure''
VSSMB Alternate Flyer.jpg|Later flyer of ''VS. Super Mario Bros.''
</gallery>

==References==
{{NIWA|NWiki=Nintendo VS. System}}
<references/>

{{Systems}}
[[Category:Systems]]
[[Category:Enhanced ports]]