When the Nintendo Entertainment System arrived in North America in the early 80s, it brought a mascot that would become as closely tied to the company as any other. Mario started in the original Donkey Kong arcade game and slowly evolved into the lovable plumber we know today. With Mario came what became Nintendo’s “killer app” for its new NES console: Super Mario Bros. While the game officially lived almost exclusively in the Nintendo ecosystem, unofficially, Mario and Luigi’s appearance on other systems of the time was made possible by the homebrew scene, including a memorable port to the king of 8-bit computers, the Commodore 64.
Super Mario Bros SMS Title Screen
Last month, Mario Bros. added another tally mark to its growing list of modern ports to classic systems. Developer LackofTrack released a near-perfect conversion of the classic platformer to the Sega Master System. The Master System was the contemporary competitor to the NES in the 8-bit console space. No one would have imagined that Nintendo’s cash cow would ever appear on a direct competitor’s system, yet here we are, 41 years later.
The game was created as an entry in SMSPower’s 2026 coding contest, with the v1.0 release happening at the end of August. To be clear, this isn’t a reskinning of an existing platformer like Sonic the Hedgehog or Psycho Fox. SMB for the Master System is a true port of the original, using the same code disassembly used for the Commodore 64 version.
While having a superb port of the original game would have been amazing, LackofTrack went even further with this version. It also includes an enhanced version of the game. This version uses graphics based on the Super NES port for Super Mario All-Stars, taking advantage of the Master System’s expanded color palette.
Super Mario Bros SMS Enhanced Version
Along with the graphics, the soundtrack also evolved from the original. Using the Yamaha YM2413 synthesizer found in the Japanese Master System, and often added as a modification to consoles in other regions, the background music has been redone with arrangements of the music from the All-Stars version of the game.
It’s pretty amazing to not only be playing this classic game on the Master System, but also to be playing a game that, while being on hardware on par with Nintendo’s system, looks like a next-generation version. The enhanced version’s graphics are bright and colorful, with character sprites that are considerably more detailed than the NES originals. The additional background enhancements, including animated elements that didn’t exist in the original, really help flesh out the experience. And while the iconic sound effects are the same for both versions, the enhanced FM soundtrack really completes the package, making it feel like a true 16-bit experience.
From a gameplay standpoint, this is Super Mario Bros. in every sense of the title. All of the required elements are here: jumping on enemy heads, question mark blocks, pipes that can lead to other levels, and castles where you eventually find out your princess is in another castle. It is about as accurate as you can get, given that it was developed using a version of the original source code.
Super Mario Bros SMS Original Version
While it is a great port, it isn’t without its flaws, however minor they may be. Both the NES and SMS were often plagued with sprite flicker when too many characters appeared on the same horizontal plane of the screen at once. While both versions suffer from this malady, the Master System port can occasionally experience additional slowdown with too many characters on screen. The framerate drop is usually brief and generally doesn’t disrupt the game flow.
Quite often, sound on the Master System can seem more shrill than the NES, and this game is no exception. While the sound effects and original soundtrack are near-perfect recreations of the originals, you can tell the timbre is on the high side. It never got to the point of grating on my nerves, but I could tell. Turning on the FM soundtrack really helps to balance this out.
If you are a fan of Super Mario Bros., you owe it to yourself to check this out. Even if you don’t own a Master System, or were ever even a fan of the console, fire up an emulator and give it a go. The fact that this was sourced from homebrew developers is a testament to the dedication fans of these systems have, even decades after they were originally released.
Source: https://www.smspower.org/Homebrew/SuperMarioBrosSmsPort-SMS
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