It has been re-released on most Nintendo systems, and is one of the bestselling games of all time, with more than 58 million copies sold worldwide.

is frequently cited as one of the greatest video games of all time, and is particularly admired for its precise controls. The design of the first level, World 1-1, serves as a tutorial for platform gameplay. The game was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka as 'a grand culmination' of the Famicom team's three years of game mechanics and programming, drawing from their experiences working on Devil World and the side-scrollers Excitebike and Kung Fu to advance their previous work on platforming ' athletic games' such as Donkey Kong and Mario Bros.

They traverse side-scrolling stages while avoiding hazards such as enemies and pits with the aid of power-ups such as the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman. Players control Mario, or his brother Luigi in the multiplayer mode, as they traverse the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Toadstool from King Koopa (later named Bowser).

Super mario bros minus world rom