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Super Mario Bros. (pinball)

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Super Mario Bros.
ManufacturerGottlieb
Release dateApril 25, 1992[1]
SystemGottlieb System 3[1][2]
DesignJon Norris[1][2]
ProgrammingRand Paulin, Daryl Moore, Allen Edwall[1][2]
ArtworkDavid Moore, Constantino Mitchell, Jeanine Mitchell[1][2]
MusicDave Zabriskie[2][3]
VoicesCraig Brolley[4]
Production run~4,200 units[1]

Super Mario Bros. is a 1992 four-player pinball machine developed by Gottlieb and licensed by Nintendo.[5] It was released on April 25, 1992, and a total of 4,200 units was manufactured.[1] Taito handled the machine's Japanese release and showed it off at JAMMA '92.[6] It became one of America's top ten bestselling pinball machines of 1992, receiving a Gold Award from the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA).[7] A second pinball machine in the Super Mario Bros. series was released two months later in June, named Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World.[8]

Gameplay

The aim of the game is to become Super Mario by spelling "SUPER", which then allows the player to shoot for the castle, which has artwork of Bowser on the top. Destroying seven castles in seven different worlds rescues Princess Peach, and the player is then able to enter their name and score. They will receive a replay if the high score to date is beaten. All castles destroyed will be carried over to the next game. This makes it possible to begin a game with six castles, and the player will need to destroy only one to win. However, the score would be significantly lower in comparison to gameplay throughout all seven worlds. The player is initially given three balls, but more can be gained during play.[9][10][11]

The game consists of six different rounds; Bomb, Mega Bumpers, Yoshi's Countdown, !, Castle Extra Ball, and Cave Count-Up. All rounds provide temporary objectives in the game that can reward points for completing certain tasks. In order to play a round, the player must light three shells, which can be done by hitting spot targets or ramp shots where shells are lit. After doing so, the player must obtain the Key by getting the ball into one of the three sinkholes when the Key light has been lit. The player can then select with the flippers which round they wish to play. If it is not selected within a few seconds, the system will choose whichever round the player is currently selecting. Entering a round as Super Mario doubles the value of that round, including extra balls. Each round lasts for only about a minute. Once a round has been completed, it cannot be played again during the same game. Completing all six rounds in a game lights Castle Special.[9][10][11]

Playfield

The playfield includes 3 flippers, 3 pop bumpers, 2 vertical up-kickers, 1 standup target, 2 ramps, and an elevated mini-playfield.[1][11]

Development

Super Mario Bros. was designed by Jon Norris, with artwork by David Moore, Constantino Mitchell and Jeanine Mitchell. Despite the name "Super Mario Bros.", the machine shares a majority of its artwork with Super Mario World, released two years prior in 1990, and features Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2 and Bowser in his "King Koopa" design from the DIC Entertainment television cartoons in its backglass artwork. It was the first pinball machine produced by Gottlieb to use the dot-matrix display, a screen on the bottom of the lightbox that keeps track of the current score and can also display various animations during gameplay. The animations were done by Rand Paulin and Daryl Moore, the former of whom also programmed the machine along with Allen Edwall.[1][2] The music was composed by Dave Zabriskie, with sound effects by Craig Beierwaltes.[3][2]

Mario's voice in the machine was speculated to have been done by Charles Martinet, who had begun performing the role in 1991; Martinet stated at a convention in June 2018 that he thought that Gottlieb stole his voice without compensating him or giving him credit.[12][13][14] However, according to Zabriskie, Gottlieb hired Craig Brolley through Voices Unlimited to provide Mario's voice. Brolley had previously done voice-over work for Cactus Jack's, another pinball machine by Gottlieb.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Gottlieb 'Super Mario Bros.'". The Internet Pinball Machine Database. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Super Mario Bros. Pinball Machine (Gottlieb, 1992)". Pinside.com. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "David Zabriskie - Senior Sound Designer/Composer". LinkedIn. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Mario Voice Confirmation by Composer Dave Zabriskie". Twitter. Retrieved September 10, 2024. Dave Zabriskie: That's fascinating!! The guy we hired I found through a company Voices Unlimited. It's not around any more. The woman who bought Voices and continued serving Chicago and Nationally was Linda Jack. She was AWESOME. We received back from a couple of auditions. Remember that the only way we could hear auditions back then was on cassette tape. The person we hired had nothing to do with Super Mario. He's one of the BEST voice talents I have worked with. He's the same person who did the voice-over work for Cactus Jack's. His name: Craig Brolley. He's done a zillion voice-overs and loves doing voices for games.
  5. ^ "Gottlieb's Super Mario Bros. Pin" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. 55, no. 39. May 25, 1992. p. 25. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  6. ^ "Few Hot Products At JAMMA '92, Chiba" (PDF). 1992. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  7. ^ "ACME '93: Play Meter, AAMA present awards". Play Meter. Vol. 19, no. 5. April 1993. pp. 74–6.
  8. ^ "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Gottlieb 'Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World'". The Internet Pinball Machine Database. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Gottlieb 'Super Mario Bros.' Images". The Internet Pinball Machine Database. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Gottlieb 'Super Mario Bros.' Images". The Internet Pinball Machine Database. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c "Super Mario Bros. Rulesheet, by Rod Cooper". The Internet Pinball Machine Database. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  12. ^ Lau, Evelyn (March 10, 2022). "Charles Martinet on 30 years of voicing Nintendo's beloved Mario: 'It's such an honour'". The National News. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  13. ^ "Nintendo/Pinball Mystery SOLVED - Voice of Mario in Super Mario Bros". Pinside.com. June 24, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  14. ^ Horowitz, Ken (July 30, 2020). Beyond Donkey Kong: A History of Nintendo Arcade Games. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476641768. Retrieved October 14, 2024. The Gottlieb machines represented the only time Nintendo has licensed its properties for pinball, but Norris' Super Mario Bros. pinball table made some history on its own. Its voice samples were thought to have been done by Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, including a charming "More money, please!" when players only inserted a single coin (the machine's default setting was two coins per play). This game predated his work in the 1995 PC collection of board games, Mario Game Gallery, by three years. The voice actor for the pinball game, Craig Brolley, wasn't credited, and according to Martinet, he thought that Gottlieb used his voice without compensating him.
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