Intellivision Super Mario Bros (IntyBASIC) Update 2

Happy New Year everyone.
It's been a lot longer than I expected since posting a video. I've made quite a bit of progress with Super Mario Bros. At this point all the stages are implemented, although there are still many bugs present. I figured I would show some gameplay, and skip through a few stages. This is being played on JZIntv, and I have to say, playing on the real console is much easier than with using a keyboard.
Mario is now built with three sprites instead of two. Multiplexing is still present for platforms, but there really is not much I can do about that. I've incorporated certain animations into the main game code, such as warp pipes and losing a life. All the stages are incorporated, as well as the three warp zones, and I believe all bonus areas. I've added ECS support for playing sound effects on a separate channel from music, but on normal Intellivision consoles, music still plays in three channels.
Right now the game weighs in at 60KB, a bit more than the original NES game, and the framerate has some dips under 60fps, but I've been still trying to keep things as efficient as possible.

[@martinefrensoquigomez7835]

This is super impressive, especially for an Intellivision. Literally EVERYTHING seems to be there, right down to the scrolling slowly catching up with Mario as he walks forward

[@projectw.a.a.p.f.t.a.d7762]

A different controller configuration would've been the other massive improvement.

[@colstephens76]

Unbelievable that the Intellivision could run Super Mario Bros so close to NES specs. You’ve done a great job, it’s equal to “Princess Rescue” on the Atari 2600 in showing just what the system was capable of. Disappointing that these things weren’t done at the time.

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Yeah, I can understand that. My motivation for a lot of my game projects is just to see what specific games might have looked like. The Intellivision, despite the questionable controller design is a pretty interesting piece of hardware. Thanks to people like Oscar developing IntyBASIC, it really has simplified and made programming a pleasure. I only wish more consoles had the equivalent.

[@DavyWagnarok]

Wow, this is really shaping up nicely! I feel like the Intellivision's limited color palette suits SMB more than Intellivania. Music and SFX are top notch and it seems like you've nailed the run and jump physics. Top notch all around, man! Can't wait to play this when you release the final build. Keep up the awesome work!

[@koopa4579]

This looks amazing, let's hope Nintendo doesn't shut down this fan-made port.

[@johneymute]

I hope nintendo will be amezed at how this turned out pretty well, the colors looks waaay brighter then the nes version.

[@zsewqthewolf1194]

or do what they did back in the 80s just make a new IP out of the game engine, unlike back then now people can say "ya it may feel like mario but really saying it feel like mario is like saying every burger joint is mcdonal"

[@R3TR0R4V3]

How cow, that's super impressive! I can't wait to to play this!

[@matthewkiehl9933]

My intentions are to release a demo at some point on the AtariAge forums. I have been procrastinating releasing something for some time, but just want to work out most of the issues first.

[@R3TR0R4V3]

@@matthewkiehl9933 10-4, that's understandable. I still got some catching up to do myself.. Need to pick up Intellivania from Rev. :-)

[@MisterNobody413]

This is actually impressive, I never knew that the intellivision could support this kind of stuff!

[@dycedargselderbrother5353]

It looks like a colorized Super Mario Land with a SMB1 stage set.

[@IzludeTingel]

It kinda plays like a gameboy game huh. Not too shabby.

[@CaptainCaveman1170]

Imagine if this had come out in 1981...people these days would possibly be scalping Mattel-Stations 5 on eBay...

[@litjellyfish]

Yea especially considering the facts that games with this type of gameplay only appeared like 2-3 years later than 81... ;)

[@Lumotaku]

@@litjellyfish wrong Pitfall 2 preceded this.

[@litjellyfish]

@@Lumotaku I never said that it did not. Did I? I said that this type of game did not appear until 2-3 years after 81. Pitfall II was released in 84... soo... well... ehum I don’t think I need to say anything more do I? ;) (Also side note: the game mechanics of Pitfall II and SMB is very, very different...)

[@CaptainCaveman1170]

@Genesis Muniz Yeah. darn I knew that but I always misremember it as 1981 for some reason. Thanks for correcting me.

[@BCRivers]

*Nintendo:* (Breaks down your door and gives you the Jason Todd treatment.)

[@JoakimSimonsson]

Yeah. That's what happened with the c64 port, I believe.

[@IuriFiedoruk]

My mind just can't accept this exists. This tells a lot about the efgort you.must have put into the port. Congratulations and thank you.

[@Lumotaku]

guess you never saw princess rescue for the atari

[@jonpirovsky]

Impressive. Never thought this would be possible on the Intellivision.

[@ATARIVISION]

The reason why is because the competitors programmed the games in basic,and nintendo thought that mario should be in nintendo

[@TiwazGoudsnor]

@@ATARIVISION wut?

[@jeremysart]

Oh man, I finally got a chance to play this. WHAT A MASTERPIECE! You spared absolutely nothing. I was playing with the same muscle memory I'd play with the NES. In many instances, I thought the music was surprisingly better too! So any plans for Mega Man or Bubble Bobble? Duke Nukem? Hahaha. Your work is nothing short of amazing.

[@SyxxFtH8]

This is so great! Keep going, you have an Intellivision classic on your hands!

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Thank you! I've been focusing on trying to get this completed since finishing my last project. It still needs a lot of work, but is certainly feeling more like a game now than a proof of concept.

[@SockyNoob]

This is easily one of the most impressive pieces of homebrew I've ever seen for any platform period. This is gonna be amazing! I know the ColecoVision could do something like this, but never did I think the Intellivision can do something as complicated as SMB.

[@Videogamer_666]

Thats really impressive for intellivision! I really like the music its very faithful to the original,i wonder if somebody could port SMB to colecovision too, or atleast a lazy port of super boy off of MSX

[@Videogamer_666]

@Ghost The Clyde that is cool and all,but i was asking about a colecovision port which should be easier to do since you can just convert the msx version as i was saying

[@DDDINC420]

I can't stop watching this.

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

How hard is the 16-bit CPU getting pushed there? I think the audio is just as impressive as the graphics and the scrolling. Fantastic job.

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Thank you! I definitely am having some trouble keeping the frame rate at 60. The biggest offender is having four of the balancing lifts on screen. Other times with four enemies it tends to slow down. It is not too bad though as it is and mostly only brief hiccups.

[@smw89project46]

Great Work! This has a lot more personality that SMB64 Lets hope Nintendo doesn't loose their minds over this!

[@bmkretrogaming7634]

Nice update Matthew Kiehl! I just received a copy of Intellivania earlier this month, and your work rocks!! Not to jinx anything, buy I hope you don't end up in another Princess Rescue type fiasco. Foregoing anything like that happening I'll definitely be looking to purchase a copy whenever you get it released Liked, and subscribed!!!

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Thank you for the support! I hope you get enjoyment from Intellivania. I just wish my own copies would arrive so I can see them for myself!

[@paxhumana2015]

@@matthewkiehl9933 , I think that you need to fix a few things in the game. 1. If it is possible, let the enemies have their complete original palettes. 2. The power up physics are wrong, as they typically go to the right rather than to the left, unless a brick is bumped, in which cases, they either go further to the right, or to the left, depending on where on the brick, AND on the power up, that the power up is hit. 3. The title screen could use some work. 4. The world introduction screen could use some work.

[@dallase1]

I wonder why nobody has made a version of SMB for Colecovision, that system would probably be able to make it look even more amazing and almost identical looking to the NES version because the Colecovision is more advanced than Intellivision.

[@McAllen07]

Considering that the Intellivision had titles coming out for it as late as 1986, I'm not surprised that it could handle not only a competent port of SMB1, but also one faithful to the original!

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Back in the day Nintendo's arcade games were ported to just about every console and computer. It's a shame most NES games didn't get ported to other systems of the era.

[@e11aguru]

It's really impressive what the Intellivision can do. Also check out Princess Rescue for Atari 2600 if you haven't.

[@matthewkiehl9933]

​@@e11aguru I am familiar with Princess Rescue. I was blown away back when I first saw it. It's always surprising to see what magic people pull off with the Atari 2600.

[@elgooGmirrorExists]

Super Mario Bros. on 100% American-made hardware is odd. Great port!

[@The-Great-Gonzo]

Incredible! I’m amazed that this is possible at all!

[@jeremysart]

This is incredible!! I truly hope this gets a homebrew release. "Super Mattel Bros." haha. The INTV needs more games that take advantage of the ECS!

[@sammyscrewloose4493]

I usually can't afford homebrew games, but I'll do the effort for this one. It seems to be close to a release candidate. Congrats for your work.

[@cmadruga2]

Your work is always inspiring! Congrats!

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Thank you! I think you've pushed the bar much higher with The Pandora Incident. To think the old Intellivision now has a survival horror adventure game. Incredible work!

[@Oni64]

This sort of reminds me of early game boy but in color. impressive

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

What a fantastic conversion! Major kudos

[@bonusmemez2739]

Imagine people speed running this version

[@johneygd]

This is definitely just incredible,this proves for once and for all what the intelevision is capable in the right hands😁👍

[@jobbidiar]

Very impressive! I wish you would release your games on carts

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Intellivania is finished and is available to order on cartridge from www.intellivisionrevolution.com . I would like to do the same with this, but it still needs more work.

[@BANANASAUCEYUM]

Are you going to release a rom? I couldn't care less about bugs, I'd kill to try this out!

[@OriginalGrasshopper]

Wow! Looks really great! Good job!

[@BalancedSpirit79]

Fantastic work on this!! Here's hoping Nintendo doesn't break your door down with a cease and desist...

[@Team_Little_Mates]

This is so cute! I love it.

[@pierresavoie]

I knew that the Intellivision chip could make games up to 64k, but this is very impressive.

[@beesree39]

i get it's an easy idea but just imagine this coming out at the time. people would go nuts

[@luix83]

es sorprendente la calidad sonora de la intelivision

[@mohammed_K1]

it's a very good version, good job 👏👏👏👏

[@tarstarkusz]

Are you going to release this as a ROM? I can't imagine Nintendo will let you get away with selling it. Anyway, it looks great.

[@normalguy4147]

Microsoft and bungie let a guy get away with halo on the atari 2600 so why not ?

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

@@normalguy4147 that's because it was Ed Fries who had been on the Xbox team.

[@RetroGamingMag]

@@TheJeremyHolloway Sony has let Atari 2600 versions of games they owned slip by as well. Something about the quality of graphics makes it not damaging to their efforts or something. Basically, only the hardest of hardcore are going to connect a 2D Atari 2600 God of War to the PS4 game.

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

@@RetroGamingMag I have yet to see any Sony IP end up in a "de make" homebrew title for the Atari 2600. You may be thinking of "Zippy the Porcupine" which is Sonic and Sega thought was cool. Namco has allowed a bunch of homebrews and enhancements of Pac-Man to appear on the Atari consoles in the past 2 decades because they know it increases brand value and at the very least, they consider it not worth the legal effort since all of the homebrewers - and AtariAge themselves - recognize Namco's IP ownership. Nintendo is basically pulling a George Lucas with the Special Editions and doesn't want anything out there being hyped on systems that predate the NES. Taito has done similar with Space Invaders in that they only authorize the arcade original to appear on products such as the Atari Flashback consoles instead of Atari's 2600 version.

[@jonathanwpressman]

Man you nailed 4-2

[@dbranconnier1977]

That's incredible!

[@kamshaft70]

This is crazy awesome!

[@M3MB3Rrr]

Never understood why they messed up this great console with that controller... I'm a VCS fan, but the graphics of the Intellivision are far superior and you don't have to race the beam.

[@litjellyfish]

True. Pity though that you CANT race the beam. Like change colors/sprites/tile during the screen update. If that would have been possible boy could one had made amazing things. Actually the 8 sprite limit is the only things that really limits the Intellivison. If it would have been possible to reuse those sprite scanline based it could have Handle a lot more Actions abs nicer graphics...

[@R3TR0R4V3]

There's other controller options, but they're tough to come by nowadays.. A friend on AtariAge made and sold an Intellivision arcade stick (neo geo x conversion) or a diy kit to make your own. Then there's a Genesis/Atari 2600 to Intellivision converter he made too. I own both and they work great. I highly recommend picking either/or both up if you ever have a chance. ;)

[@greybush38]

Your work is amazing!

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Thank you!

[@fco64]

@@matthewkiehl9933 I don't want Nintendo to destroy this project like it did on the Mario Bros on C64 :'(

[@retrobear9367]

in 1-2 after the star... i NEVER break the blocks. its way more fun to do a duck slide under.

[@1upplush]

I LOVE to slide under!

[@turbilon3881]

Incredibile!!!! You are the Master.

[@ShadowWolfTJC]

I wonder if the size of the game ROM could be shrunk down by replacing large amounts of individual tiles in levels with programs that spawn multiple tiles at certain spots in levels. I remember that I used to do that for an old game development project that I used to work on during college.

[@AndrewAmbrose]

Awesomeness

[@greybush38]

Have you any plans for any of the titles you've created to be released? Can we donate in return for roms?

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Intellivania has a physical release and should be shipping soon. The other games aren't at a point I where I feel they are good enough, and progress is slow since I only work on them when time permits. I honestly have not looked into any storefront or donation methods either for a ROM distribution. It is something to consider, although I still contemplate releasing ROM images of my projects for free in the future.

[@R3TR0R4V3]

I'm sure you'd have no problem at all popping those off for at least $10 a piece, minimum! I'd happy pay double that for any of your.. everything I've seen of your work is nothing short of amazing. 👍👍

[@Estlib]

why not try super mario land on the same engine once youve completed this one?

[@matthewkiehl9933]

I had contemplated that. I've also been curious just to make some new levels and original graphics and focus on more platforming. That may be a long time before I get to that though.

[@bcruzan120]

This is amazing. Would this whole thing fit on a standard Intellivision cart?

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Intellivision cartridges back in the day were much smaller capacity, but this is done using available addressing ranges on the console.

[@GadZombie]

Incredible!

[@mayhair]

This is 99.9% as good as the original game :)

[@litjellyfish]

Amazing effort! Just don’t like the head of bowser. I am sure you can move those pixels around there to get an even better likeness ;)

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Yeah, I am not satisfied with it either. It's something I will be trying to improve. His animation also doesn't look quite right either.

[@dallase1]

Cool, you even got the 1Up mushroom hidden in the ceiling in world 1-2, did you also put the bunch of extra guys trick in world 3-2 I think it was where you time it so you keep bouncing off the turtle on the steps before the end of the level flag and cause a chain reaction and keep getting 1 Up until you run out of time or decide you gotten enough extra guys and just move until you stop bouncing and then complete the level, the one where in the NES version it starts using symbols to show your number of lives?

[@matthewkiehl9933]

I just added the bonuses from consecutively hopping on enemies yesterday and since then was able to to replicate the 3-1 koopa shell 1up trick.

[@Colonel-Llama]

Holy shit that’s awesome!

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Thank you!

[@Jeansowaty]

if anyone tells me the Atari 2600 is better than the Inty, I'll just show them this vid.

[@gibs2b]

fantastic !

[@jaredwrnr]

Where can I buy this it’s freaking awesome!!!

[@frankschalk7790]

Im sure this has been asked a million times, but is there ROM download link available?

[@Gxhbro]

Its hard to belive this system is a 16 bit system

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Yeah, the graphics capabilities are worse than 8-bit systems from a few years later, but for 1979 it is pretty advanced. For a better comparison, another 16-bit system from the same time frame is the TI-99/4a.

[@Gxhbro]

Oooookk i see

[@dallase1]

It's a bummer that you can't make Mario Slide in the Underground levels because the bricks go all the way down the the ground.

[@cidercecil]

Amazing!!

[@a4a72698]

Curious to know the technical reason why the moving platforms jiggle around?

[@matthewkiehl9933]

These are drawn using sprites, but the intellivision can only display 8 sprites at up to 8x16 pixels in resolution. The sprites for platforms are multiplexed every other frame to compensate for the lack of sprites.

[@dallase1]

Have you added the Bullet Bills, Hammer Brothers and the Turtles with shells that can't be killed with Fire Balls? ( I call them Dark Helmets because they remind me of Dark Helmet from Space Balls).

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Bullet Bills I only have partially implemented, and Buzzy beetles are implemented.

[@IRgEEK]

wow! Nice job!

[@DonPapiGames]

Buenas noches. Tienes el link para descargarlo?, no lo encuentro por ningún lado

[@AtariBorn]

So, will there be an option to play with the Intellivision controller rotated 90° to the right with "B" & "A" mapped to 5 and 2 on the keypad?

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Unfortunately the disc and number pad share some of the same signals. I had attempted a similar scheme with a previous project and discovered that it can't quite be done with simultaneous button and disc presses.

[@PixelReality1]

Забавно, что Музыка на бонус этапе в облаках очень сильно похожа на музыку из игры Adventure Island!

[@LDTV22OfficialChannel]

What is the progress on this port now?

[@dallase1]

Where do you get the ROM? I thought I found it on Atari Age Forums but it was a VCS game and when I tried to post on the Forums it waned me to create an account so I went back and manually logged into my Atari Age account but then could not find the topic for SMB on Intellivision. I DON'T want to play it on a emulator because then it's jusst playing a SMB type game on aPC I want to play it on a actual Intellivision so it's truly playing SMB on Intellivision.

[@matthewkiehl9933]

The forum thread was deleted on AtariAge. I don't have it shared anywhere else currently.

[@dallase1]

Bummer, stupid Nintendo. Your game is no threat to nintendo's success or profits.

[@davechristopher6462]

Is this going to be released on a physical copy? Its incredible!!!

[@felipeaugusto5592]

I'm not saying anything, but was really só hard that run on the Intellivision hardware? Am not saying it's easy, but he had an 16bit processor right?

[@matthewkiehl9933]

The biggest challenge is managing graphics RAM and only having 8 8x16 single color sprites. CPU seems fast enough, although there is currently some slow down from too many instructions per frame.

[@mixdecoisas9193]

next: Game & Watch Sonic 1

[@GcUpRu]

Очень круто!

[@jeffo83]

Wish I had this when I had one instead of skiing and football

[@stillbuyvhs]

Good job!

[@caseyherron8142]

How could one get a copy of the .int file for this game???

[@intel386DX]

This console have very smooth scrolling 🙂

[@fridojunior9864]

Como faço pra comprar um vídeo game intellevision. Amigo

[@dallase1]

Is it normal for the game to crash and hang when you die due to running out of time? Also are you ever going to have it so the score, time and coin count appear on the screen during game play or is that impossible in order to keep the control and game play smooth? It's a bummer not knowing how much time is left and you can't get the fire works because you can't see how much time is left and grab the flag on the last digit being 1 3 or 6. Also are you going to at least have the music speed up when time is getting low?

[@matthewkiehl9933]

I have not seen the game crash due to running out of time. If you can elaborate on this, where it happens, I can certainly try to reproduce the issue. The warning sound will occur and the music will speed up when time is low in the demo. Fireworks do work in the demo, however since you can't see the time, it is just random luck getting them. I've since added displaying the time once you reach the flag, although it flickers a bit. Unfortunately there would be no way to display all the information on screen and have scrolling for the game. This is just a limitation of the hardware.

[@dallase1]

What happens is Mario will suddenly die without getting hit by a enemy or falling off the bottom of the screen, it will do that thing when he dies and flies up into the air and then falls back down but it gets stuck making that sound when you die and I have to hit the reset button. I think I have a full BETA Version 4.1? It has all 8 worlds and warp zones.

[@matthewkiehl9933]

@@dallase1 That is an older version from 4 months ago; Interesting since I only shared that with one person...

[@shaykiehl6875]

I like this.

[@BriansManCave]

Amazing work!!

[@lapalourde75]

Hello Well done I want the rom Where i can buy it? Thanks Thierry

[@anuashoj9842]

Cool and for the Intellivision

[@maniaque37]

where can we get the physical game ?

[@BlakesSanctum]

amazing.. just amazing!!!

[@batteries671]

this is amazing!

[@natfunk71]

No way the music is being generated by the Intellivision.

[@matthewkiehl9933]

The Intellivision sound chip (General Instruments AY-3-8910) is pretty capable and was also used in other machines back in the day, like MSX and Vectrex.

[@lucabini3590]

Fatto molto bene su questa piattaforma

[@DDDINC420]

BTW, are you sacrificing anything by giving 3 sprites to Mario?

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Using 3 sprites at all times has made some sacrifices when Mario hits a block and it bounces. When a block is hit, 2 sprites are needed (one as a black box, and one for the block itself). The mask sprite is shared with fireballs, and mushroom/fireflower/1up/starman, and the other utilizes an enemy / object sprite, however if 4 enemies are on screen, the box will flash during the movement. At one point I had Mario switch dynamically between 3 sprites and 2 sprites when hitting a box, but it was difficult to match the solid colors to the multiplexed ones.

[@kez963]

This is definitely I would give it a try 😄

[@chadhartsees]

What size ROM is this using? This is pretty incredible.

[@matthewkiehl9933]

Right now everything weighs in at 65kb; a bit larger than the original game, but within the standard Intellivision memory map without needing bank switching.

[@chadhartsees]

@@matthewkiehl9933 that is amazing.

[@tomyk6606]

When available?

[@abhirao2001]

Very cool!

[@earthsteward70]

60 KB for a game made in basic is quite effecient! and I imagine the bugs will go away when you shave off a few K

[@litjellyfish]

I think it compiles out the basic to compact code. So it’s not interpreted but I might be wrong...

[@matthewkiehl9933]

@@litjellyfish that is correct. IntyBASIC is compiled. I've tried keeping the size down, but some things are less efficient to keep game performance up at the expense of more wasted space.

[@litjellyfish]

@@matthewkiehl9933 well if it keeps up performance it’s not wasted space right? ;)

[@mapper534]

is the minus world trick possible in this version?

[@matthewkiehl9933]

No, this is not a port, but rather a recreation from scratch. Interestingly enough there have been bugs that have caused similar issues to the minus world glitch.

[@mapper534]

@@matthewkiehl9933 if the way the game stores world and level data is similar or identical to the original, it's likely that the minus world exists

[@bmkretrogaming7634]

@@matthewkiehl9933 if I may bring up a point of order here although these are your own creations from scratch they are still versions of games for the IntelliVision home video game console line a platform they weren't previously available for. That literally is one of the definitions of a port. I tend to use the term homebrew port in describing them.

[@matthewkiehl9933]

@@bmkretrogaming7634 I meant only that the game is not ported from Nintendo's source, so some things deviate from the original version, like the minus world trick. You're absolutely correct.

[@bmkretrogaming7634]

@@matthewkiehl9933 I got the gist of what you meant! I was really taking an opportunity to point out that even a port done by a homebrew developer can still be considered a homebrew port. By the way my channel did a review of Intellivania if you might care to have a look.

[@jadstudiosofficial]

Me: Wow! Nice game!

[@jadstudiosofficial]

Nintendo: Nice recreation of our property! Delete this!

[@AdamKFlood]

16bit super mario, lol