Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first hour of Super Mario Bros. X works because it understands the pleasure of simply running, jumping, stomping, and finding the next route. It uses the familiar side-view platforming language of the early Mario games, so you are not asked to learn an alien system before having fun. Then it starts piling on material from Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World, turning its included world into a long-form celebration rather than a cautious imitation.

There is real novelty in the extra tools. Flying Bowser’s Koopa Clown Car, firing Bullet Bills with the Billy Gun, carrying the hostile-sounding but useful Toothy plant, and taking to the air with the Propeller Block give the action a pleasantly unruly toy-box quality. Five selectable characters—Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Peach, and Link—also invite you to revisit stages instead of treating every level as a one-and-done obstacle course.

Co-op is the feature that most clearly separates this from a solitary nostalgia trip. Two people can play at once, and the screen splits when you move apart before recombining when you regroup. That makes exploration feel less tethered than shared-screen platforming, although it can also make a coordinated run feel like two separate adventures happening beside each other. Bring a friend who enjoys improvising instead of demanding perfect formation.

With over 50 main levels plus bonus stages, the included world has enough room for its many influences to breathe. The tradeoff is that this is a broad mash-up, not a tightly unified sequel to any one Mario game. If you want one consistent ruleset and one carefully bounded style of platforming, the constant borrowing may wear on you. If variety is the reason you replay old platformers, it is exactly the point.

Graphics

The game draws from the look of several early Mario console games, so you move through a deliberately mixed retro palette rather than one single visual era. The side-view action stays easy to parse, while the split-screen co-op view makes it clear where each player has gone when the pair separates.

Story

Super Mario Bros. X is not built around a newly defined narrative so much as a journey through a large world of familiar game ideas. Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Peach, and Link sharing the roster immediately tells you what kind of tale this is: a crossover playground, not a carefully protected canon.

That loose framing actually suits the game. A Koopa Clown Car can sit alongside a Bullet Bill gun, a wieldable Piranha Plant, and Link without the game needing to pause and justify the collision. The connective tissue is your forward motion from level to level and the delight of seeing what piece of classic-console history turns up next.

Anyone hoping for a dramatic Mario story should not come here for that payoff. The more satisfying narrative is the one you make with a co-op partner: getting separated by the split screen, reconvening, and pushing through a world that keeps remixing familiar material.

Overall Experience

Super Mario Bros. X earns its place as more than a curiosity because it has the scale to support its enthusiasm. Over 50 main levels give its crossover instincts real mileage, and the bonus levels help it feel like a substantial freeware platformer rather than a brief collection of references.

Its strongest moments come when recognition turns into surprise. You know the basic rhythm of a Mario-style jump, but an unexpected character choice or item can shift how you approach the next stretch. That keeps the game lively even when its sources are immediately recognizable.

Play it if you want a generous, energetic remix of classic side-scrollers, especially with someone beside you. Go in ready for a collage rather than a pure sequel: the many borrowed parts do not always form one seamless whole, but their rough-edged abundance is also why the game remains so easy to enjoy.

Retro Replay Score

8/10