Players of the legendary sandbox game Minecraft are used to using the game's expansive customizing features to create the buildings and structures of their wildest dreams, but one Redditor took it further by creating the entire first level of the classic game Super Mario Bros. While the recreation isn't playable in the same way the real level is, it wins for nostalgia, and for how seamlessly Minecraft's boxy aesthetic meshes with Super Mario Bros' pixelated look typical of 80s games.
Super Mario Bros first came onto the scene for the original NES in 1985, and while it was a sequel to the arcade game Mario Bros, its massive critical success meant that it was considered the genesis for the hugely profitable and well-known franchise that followed. Its position as a pop culture phenomenon means that it has stood the test of time 35 years after its release, and there is hardly a gamer alive who isn't at least familiar with it. Similarly, when Minecraft was released, it gained pop culture status for its approachable mechanics and massive versatility — while it certainly isn't the first world builder on the market, it is considered the gold standard of its type. On Reddit in particular, Minecraft players have built a community dedicated to sharing their builds, creations, and recreations, from simple constructs to incredibly detailed monuments.
Considering that Minecraft's building mechanics involve blocks, resulting in a pixelated look, it's the perfect tool for recreating buildings and scenes from retro video games — but there are surprisingly few examples of this. Redditor TheBestTomatoKing rose to the occasion, using Minecraft's versatile building blocks to create a pixel-perfect replica of Super Mario Bros' 1-1 level, complete with Mario suspended mid-leap over Goombas and pipes leading into hidden underground levels. It's more of a diorama of the level than a playable replica, but the attention to detail makes it more than worth the attention. Check out the video TheBestTomatoKing compiled of their creation below:
It's a recreation that is more stylistically aligned with Minecraft's overall aesthetic, which means that the level itself, although not playable, looks like the original game with a high-def overhaul, particularly with the help of some well-placed sound effects. It isn't the biggest or the most detailed Minecraft recreation out there, but considering the amount of detail that went into it, especially in the more complex sprites like Mario, the mushrooms, and the Goombas, the fact that it was accomplished in only a few days is certainly worthy of note.
So when TheBestTomatoKing asks the question "Should I make all 32 levels?" in Minecraft, the answer is definitely yes. Time will tell if this inventive Reddit user follows through on this query, but even if they don't, there are sure to be numerous creative fans rising to the occasion to showcase fascinating and immense builds of their own.
Source: TheBestTomatoKing