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Mario Bros. is a Multi Screen Game & Watch video game that stars Mario and Luigi. The Multi Screen unit is held sideways in a similar fashion to reading a book. The game was released in 1983 by Nintendo, and while it has the same name as Mario Bros. in the arcades, the game is not based off of it, actually coming before the arcade version. Nintendo manufactured 1,000,000 units of the game worldwide. The game's model number is MW-56. The M stands for Mario, though it's unclear what the W stands for. Within the game's box was the game unit, two LR44 batteries, and instruction booklet and battery stickers.
As in all Game & Watch games, Mario Bros. contains a clock that has an alarm. The alarm can be set by using a sharp object and pressing the alarm switch. If done correctly, an image of a bell should appear. Following this you can set when the alarm should go off. Once the time arrives, an alarm will sound and the bell will start will start to move. If the player is playing the game, then the alarm will not sound, but the bell will still move. The alarm will continue to ring for about one minute.
The original game and an enhanced version were included in Game & Watch Gallery 3 for the Game Boy Color and Game & Watch Gallery 4 (Game & Watch Gallery Advance in Europe) for the Game Boy Advance. An enhanced version of the game was also featured in every title in the Super Mario Advance game series. The enhanced version contained updated graphics, more Mario characters, improved gameplay and better sound and music.
Gameplay
In the game, which takes place after Donkey Kong according to the instruction booklet, Mario and his brother Luigi are working at a bottling plant, loading cases onto a conveyor belt. Once the boxes have reached the uppermost conveyor belt, they'll be dropped onto a truck. After the truck has been filled with boxes, it'll take them away, only to be replaced by another truck. The truck is featured on the left screen.
The unit.
The player will control both Mario and Luigi. Luigi is on the left screen while Mario is on the right. The boxes will arrive on the right side of the bottom screen, and Mario will be required to go down and put them on the conveyor belt. Luigi, whose on the otherside, will place them on the conveyor belt directly above the one the box was on. When it reaches Mario, he'll do the same thing until it reaches the very top where Luigi will place the box in a truck. Multiple boxes will be on the various conveyor belts at once, which will have the players on their toes trying to make sure not a single box drops. The left control pad moves Luigi while the right one controls Mario.
The main goal of the game is to acquire as many points as possible. Each time you place a box on a conveyor belt, you receive one point. After a truck is loaded with eight cases and drives off, you'll get 10 points. The maximum amount of points a player can get is 999 points, after which it'll return back to zero.
The player can only allow three boxes drop before getting a game over. After each box drops, the foreman of the company gets mad at the brother who was supposed to catch it. After a game over is received, the player can either choose to start the game over. If he or she doesn't, then in five minutes the game will display the time.
Game & Watch Gallery version
Mario Bros. in Game & Watch Gallery 3.
Mario Bros. appeared in both Game & Watch Gallery 3 and Game & Watch Gallery 4 for the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, respectively. The game is very similar, though instead of packing bottles you're packing cakes onto a truck. Mario and Luigi are once again the playable characters in the game, but the truck driver is none other than Wario. Once his truck gets filled with cakes, he'll drive off. In the beginning, the cake isn't very well developed. After it goes through the middle, it'll look more and more like a cake.
Interestingly, in hard mode Bowser makes a surprise appearance. He'll jump on the machine, and the conveyor belts will reverse. The player must still make sure that the cakes don't hit the ground.
After the player receives 200, 500, and 700 points, a heart will appear at the top. Send your character up and they'll gain an extra life only if they lost on previously. If you have three lives already, then collecting the heart has no effect.