Have you ever wondered what Super Mario Bros 1 would be like as a battle royale game? Though the idea of a 99 player Super Mario Bros game would be a jolly good idea, or that said game could be made to run in a web browser?
No?
Then you’re not alone. On the face of it, it’s a ridiculous idea, and one any sane person would assume would be completely impossible.
But that’s not the case. Instead, a YouTuber and fan game developer by the name of InfernoPlus has indeed made such a title, and as the title suggests, it lets you play Super Mario Bros 1 against 98 other players for the chance to be the Mario master. Here’s a video he made showing the game in action:
As well as the site where you can play the title (assuming Nintendo hasn’t already took it down):
Obviously, it’s not quite Fortnite, or something along those lines. You’re not exploring a huge map or killing off tons of other players in insane ways, ala this (also quite recent) fan animation:
Instead it’s more of a competitive speedrunning experience, where players race to be the first to get items, defeat enemies and clear stages in order to reach the end of the castle level before their rivals. In that sense, it’s a lot like New Super Mario Bros Wii or Donkey Kong Country Returns in multiplayer mode, except you know, with 99 players instead of 2 or 4.
But it has its competitive moments none the less, and the default no player interaction setup leads to quite a few creative ways to sabotage your rivals too. These include breaking blocks they’re standing on, taking away power ups they’re desperate to use or making platforms they’re jumping towards plummet into a bottomless pits. It works pretty well overall, and generally rewards thinking ahead rather than racing into the fray all guns blazing.
And the game’s positives don’t exactly end there. Oh no, it can be played right there in a web browser.
Yeah, you heard that correctly. Unlike Super Mario 64 Online or other such titles, Mario Battle Royale is a browser game built in HTML, JavaScript and CSS. This means that you don’t need to download anything to try it out, and can even play it on a mobile phone without much hassle.
What’s more, it works pretty well in this format all things considered. Oh sure, the physics need a little bit of getting used to, but they nail the SMB 1 feel perfectly none the less. And despite a few complaints I’ve seen online, it’s also been lag free for me too.
So overall, it’s an impressive piece of work all round.
But it’s also one you’re probably going to have to try out pretty quickly. That’s because (as we all know), Nintendo has a record of going after fan projects, especially ones which remake their games level by level or compete with commercial titles.
And Mario Battle Royale fits both of those criteria. It’s an online multiplayer game based on the Mario series, so it likely competes with Super Mario Run and Super Mario Maker 2. It’s a full blown remake of Super Mario Bros 2, meaning Nintendo likely sees it as a blatant copy of their work.
Plus it’s received many a fan game’s scarlet letter; extensive press coverage.
Hence it’s practically guaranteed the game’s days are numbered. It’s not going to last long, and the chances of the domain being replaced with a takedown notice will keep growing by the hour.
So check it out while you still can, and see Mario Royale for yourself. It’s great fun, and it’s definitely one worth playing at some point or another.
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