Mario Bros.

Mario Bros. from 1983 is the game that for the first time put the brothers Mario and Luigi side by side, set in underground sewers full of monsters crawling out of pipes – crabs, flies, and so-called Shellcreepers, who represented the very first gallery of enemies associated with the plumber character. The goal is to neutralize enemies by bumping the platform they're standing on from below, then kick them off the screen before they get back on their feet and return to the attack.

Unlike the later Super Mario Bros., it takes place on a single static screen and also offers a simultaneous two-player mode, in which two players could play at the same time as Mario and Luigi – in arcades this was a fairly unusual combination of cooperation and rivalry at once, since players could throw pesky creatures under each other's feet, costing points and lives. This competitive element made the game a popular choice for pairs of players at a single cabinet who didn't need to take turns.

The simple graphics and clear rules allowed the game to reach a wide audience and establish a long tradition of characters who appeared a year later in Donkey Kong Jr. and subsequently became the core of the entire Super Mario series. Mario Bros. thus stands at the roots of one of the most significant gaming brands of all, and its underground sewers became one of the first iconic gaming environments in Nintendo's history, later built upon by further entries in the series.

Why play it: This is the game where Mario and Luigi first met, and the foundation of one of the most important brands in video game history.