It Took 34 Years for the Commodore 64 to Get Super Mario Bros.

Why It Matters

The saga illustrates the power of fan innovation to revive classic games on legacy hardware, while exposing how aggressive IP enforcement can inadvertently fuel preservation and collector markets.

Key Takeaways

• Super Mario Bros defined platformers, but C64 lacked official port
• Rainbow Arts created Giana Sisters as a legal Mario clone
• Giana Sisters showcased impressive smooth scrolling on VIC‑II hardware
• Nintendo pressured removal, making the game a rare collector's item
• 2019 fan port brought authentic Super Mario to C64, prompting DMCA

Summary

The video chronicles the unlikely journey of Super Mario Bros onto the Commodore 64, beginning with the 1987 release of the clone Giana Sisters by Germany’s Rainbow Arts. Nintendo’s flagship platformer never received an official home‑computer port, so Rainbow Arts hired the three‑person Time Warp team to craft a look‑alike that avoided direct copyright infringement.

Key insights include the stark contrast between European computer markets and the NES‑dominated U.S., the technical feat of achieving smooth horizontal scrolling on the VIC‑II chip, and Nintendo’s swift pressure that forced the game off shelves despite strong sales and a celebrated SID soundtrack. The developers repurposed sprites into owls and eyes, altered power‑up visuals, and delivered 33 levels that initially mirrored Mario’s worlds before diverging.

Notable details feature the developers’ seven‑month sprint, the game’s 96 % rating in Zzap!64, and the later discovery of a 2019 fan‑made, cycle‑accurate Super Mario port that leveraged variable screen positioning (VSSP) and clever SID‑to‑APU channel mapping. Nintendo issued a DMCA takedown, echoing its earlier objections to Giana Sisters, while the original boxes became coveted collector’s items.

The story underscores how passionate retro communities can overcome hardware limits and legal obstacles, preserving iconic titles beyond corporate control. It also highlights the enduring tension between intellectual‑property enforcement and grassroots preservation in the gaming world.

Original Description

When Super Mario Bros. released in 1987 for the NES, the home computer market in Europe wanted the game for the Commodore 64, but Nintendo refused. So Rainbow Arts in Germany would develop a clone known as The Great Giana Sisters and release it in 1988. It was an excellent game in its own right, but Nintendo was not happy and forced the game off the market not long after release.

32 years later in 2019, the Commodore 64 would finally get its Super Mario Bros with a 1-1 port of the original game NES game, proving that the C64 was more than capable of doing the job and how the strong C64 community of talented coders, would never quit.

Sources/Credits

- https://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=71262

- https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/04/nintendo-issues-dmca-takedown-for-super-mario-bros-commodore-64-port/

- https://archive.org/details/ComputerAndVideoGames060Oct86/ComputerAndVideoGames/ComputerAndVideoGames085-Nov88/page/n7/mode/2up

- https://archive.org/details/YourCommodoreIssue50Nov88/page/n5/mode/2up

Super Mario Bros Music - Koji Kondo

The Great Giana Sisters Music - Chris Hűlsbeck

TimeStamps:

00:00 - Intro

00:57 - The Great Giana Sisters

06:07 - Super Mario Bros. C64

10:26 - Outtro

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