Boo.

If you were really cool, you got the combo cart that had Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt.

This is the version I had.

I had a 2600 and played the stuffing out of it, but getting a NES for Christmas that year was the revolution. Man. Bennard's talking about the different packages that were available has taken me back to that day, and I'm filled with really, really great memories. For years Christmas would be about getting the newest Mario or Zelda game. I vividly remember getting The Adventure of Link and going directly upstairs to play for hours, and to try to figure out this weird new take on Zelda that ultimately didn't take, but did satisfy.

By the way, I (well, my brother and I, really) got the one that had the light gun and ROB, but my parents were cool enough to get a copy of SMB to go along with it. I have no idea how long we played SMB for, or how much time was spent searching out its secrets, like the minus worlds. Later revolutions would occur in Zelda or my personal favorite Metroid, but those are for another time...

Art thou serious? Dear God in Heaven and Lucifer in Hell. How many more times do we need to dust off this game? I am so sick of hearing how Super Mario Brothers is such a fantastic game. Hey, guess what? Red is a popular color, but people do not have to talk about it all the time...

Elevator Action. Now, THAT's a game

I f*cking suck at this game.

Are YOU serious? It's the first Mario dude. Whether you are tired of it or not isn't the point. It's the epitome of a classic video game.

I was cooler than you, then. I had the trigame with Mario, Duck Hunt, AND Track 'N' Field that came with that horrible running pad that never registered your feet correctly.

I remember watching my cousin play SMB for hours just to see her do all the cool tricks. It was awe-inspiring to see a game I thought I could play be so thoroughly dissected at the hands of a master. Secret worlds, warps, crazy amounts of extra lives, everything. It was like playing golf with a really good golfer - they're not doing anything you shouldn't be able to do, but you just can't get the goddamn clubs to move the same way.

I remember getting my NES with Mario Bros. and just holding the game cart totally mystified that they could fit this entire huge world onto this little cartridge. For weeks afterward, every day felt like Christmas morning; I was actually so excited to get up and play the game more that I had trouble sleeping. No game before or since Mario Bros. had that effect on me. Which is good now, since I have to, like, go to work and feed a baby and all.

Minus worlds, my friends...Minus worlds.

"Minus World
World -1 (A.K.A. the "Minus World") is an infinitely-long water level, only accessible through World 1-2. Here's what you do: As Super Mario, get all the way to the green pipe at the end of 1-2. Stand on top of the pipe and smash the blocks above you. Do not smash the very last block on the right. Now, stand on the end of the pipe and face left. Jump straight up, then press and hold Right on the controller. What you are trying to do here is jump through the bottom left corner of the block backwards. If you do it just right, Mario will slide through the block and be pulled through the wall. When Mario gets to the other side of the wall, go down the first pipe before it says "WELCOME TO WARP ZONE." You will not come out in 4-1, but in -1. Yes, that's right, -1. World -1 is just like 2-2, but the pipe at the end takes you back to the beginning. You cannot beat -1, but it does give you lots of swimming practice
Side note: If you go down them before it says "WELCOME TO WARP ZONE," the second pipe takes you to 5-1, and the third pipe also takes you to the Minus World."

from http://www.themushroomkingdom.net/smb_bugs.shtml

Ramen.

For my wife, I think console games pretty much began and ended with SMB. Great game.