I’m going to compare two of the most iconic classic platformer games of the 80s: Super Mario Bros. for the NES, and Wonder Boy for the Sega Master System.
Now, it wasn’t even a fair fight back then. The Nintendo Entertainment System, the NES, absolutely dominated the video game market, especially in North America. We’re talking sales of around 62 million consoles worldwide, compared to the Master System’s 10 to 13 million. It’s not even a comparison. But was Super Mario Bros. really the better game?
Super Mario Bros. set the gold standard for platformer mechanics, there’s no doubt. Mario’s controls are tightly tuned—the running, the variable jumping, that sense of physics. It has that easy-to-learn, hard-to-master appeal. Wonder Boy’s design is built around immediacy and urgency. You’re always racing against that depleting vitality health bar, which is both a time limit and a starvation mechanic, forcing you to constantly collect fruit to survive. Personally, I just prefer Wonder Boy’s mechanics. I don’t know, something about it just feels smoother and more accurate to me, but that’s just my personal preference.
When it comes to level design, Mario is legendary for how it gradually teaches the player. The first stage is still taught in game design classes today because of how it naturally introduces threats and mechanics. Wonder Boy… well, it doesn’t hold your hand. It’s much closer to the arcade design philosophy: “learn by dying”. And trust me, I made tons of mistakes. One time, I told myself, “Are you kidding me? This is harder than Sekiro.” I die in these games more than I die in Souls-like games. Crazy.
But the one thing that really stands out for me is just how beautiful and vibrant Wonder Boy looks. To be honest, from a purely technical standpoint, the Sega Master System was significantly more powerful than the NES. It had a faster CPU and, crucially, a graphical advantage that allowed for more colors per tile. This resulted in a more vibrant, colorful, and detailed game world that just looks so inviting.
So, who’s the winner? Look, Super Mario Bros. is the unequivocal winner in cultural impact, setting the gold standard for what a franchise can achieve. It transcended games to become the face of an entire generation. But Wonder Boy is a gem that should not be overlooked. It delivers a fantastic challenge and absolutely gorgeous 8-bit graphics. Both remain pillars of retro gaming, but personally, I just prefer playing Wonder Boy. It’s just, well, more fun for me.