Super Mario Bros. Crossover

Super Mario Bros. Crossover is a crossover platform flash video game launched on Newgrounds on April 27th, 2010 by Exploding Rabbit. It is based mostly on the game-play of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. for the NES, the only major difference is the ability to control characters that debuted in other Nintendo Entertainment System games unrelated to the Mario series. The latest version available (1.1) was released on the 25th of June of 2010.

Gameplay
Super Mario Bros. Crossover is an Flash browser-based platforming game. The game's levels and graphics are all primarily duplicates of those found in Super Mario Bros.; each of the game's eight worlds feature four levels. In three of the levels, the goal is to reach a checkpoint to complete the level, while the final level has the player facing against Bowser in hopes of rescuing Princess Peach. Enemies such as Goombas and Koopas will block the player's attempt to make it successfully through the level. As Mario, the player can jump on enemies to kill them, use Koopa shells to knock enemies over, and acquire powerups from special blocks that serve to boost health, shoot fireballs, or remain invincible for a short period of time. Besides completing the level, the player can also earn coins and points, attempting to achieve a high score.

Crossover varies this formula by adding in six additional main characters in addition to Mario that the player can play. In the same manner as with Super Mario Bros. 2, the player selects of the seven characters at the start of each level. Each character, based on other classic Nintendo Entertainment System games, uses different attacks and movements that are related to their original game, as well as their own signature music. These characters are:
 * Link, based on The Legend of Zelda, uses a sword and boomerang to attack enemies. Collecting powerups increases the potency of the sword's attacks and the range of his boomerang. He is the only character with fundamental control changes from his original game, being given the ability to jump, which wasn't possible until Zelda 2.
 * Mega Man Possesses an arm cannon which he can use to fire forward to destroy enemies, with additional powerups to increase his firepower, and has the ability to slide under small spaces. Within version 1.1, Mega Man's jump height is reduced but now has the ability to call in Rush, his robotic dog, to assist in high jumps.
 * Samus Aran, from the Metroid games, also has a gun she can fire and which gains power with powerups. Samus is also able to transform into her "morph ball" form, rolling through narrow spaces and planting bombs.
 * Simon Belmont, the protagonist of the early Castlevania games, has a whip and can throw axes at foes, the attack strength and number of axes on screen increasing with additional powerups. He has the ability to double jump, which he doesn't have in the original games. His jump can also be changed in the options to a more controllable Easy mode.
 * Bill Rizer, one of the playable characters in Contra use a gun to fire on enemies, which increases in power and spread with further powerups. He can shoot in 8 directions, even when jumping.
 * Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden was added in the version 1.1 release. Ryu, as a ninja, is able to use a sword and throwing stars, and has the ability to climb and jump walls.

Each character has been designed to play similar to their original game but within the Super Mario Bros. framework, requiring the player to take in account for limitations of the characters when selecting levels. For example, the player is unable to control the direction of Simon during a jump, similar to other Castlevania games, making some of the necessary jumps very difficult within the game. As Samus, the player cannot fire directly on most foes due to the elevation of her gun, and requires the player to find other methods to dispatch or bypass the foes. Version 1.1 of the game adds some features that the player can enable to bypass some of these limitations.

Development
The game was created by Jay Pavlina. It took 15 months to create. The game was instantly very popular on Newgrounds where it was first posted. After its first six hours online the game has 12,000 views and had won two awards. His last update, released on June 29, 2010, version 1.1.02, included new music for Ryu Hayabusa, and physics tweaks for him, Mario, and Mega Man, as well as some minor bugfixes. The creator also claims to have many more future updates in the works.

Reception
Super Mario Bros. Crossover has received positive attention from gaming journalists. Wired's Chris Kohler considered the game a "suprisingly thoughtful 8-bit mashup" and praised Pavlina's efforts for "how these six disparate characters all feel like they were ripped from their own classic NES titles, but fit in perfectly to the Mario levels". Margaret Lyons from Entertainment Weekly called the combination of characters with the Mario universe "a mindfrak for the ages". Dan Ryckert of Game Informer appreciated the attention to detail, from both the original levels of Super Mario Bros., and the music and sound effects from the other games, that were present in the game.