Super Mario Bros. was released in Japan
On this day · 13 September 1985
A single Famicom cartridge launched on a Friday in 1985 and rewrote what a video game could be.
On 13 September 1985, a Friday, Nintendo released Super Mario Bros. for the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan, the console known abroad as the NES. The side-scrolling adventure sent a mustachioed plumber leaping across the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Peach, and it set the template for the platform game.
Its tight controls, hidden secrets, and warp pipes made it a phenomenon and a driving force behind the Famicom boom. The game went on to sell more than 40 million copies and became one of the best-known titles in the medium.
Its influence was formally recognized decades later: in 2015, Super Mario Bros. entered the inaugural class of the World Video Game Hall of Fame at The Strong museum, alongside Pong, Pac-Man, and Tetris — a cartridge from a Tokyo launch day enshrined as a cultural landmark.
Sources & references
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