YMMV / Super Mario Bros. Special

• Breather Level:
  • After the onslaught of fireballs, tricky jumps, and barrels on World 3-4, 4-1 is not as harsh on the difficulty, even with a Lakitu present (who is actually very slow in Special compared to the original game and The Lost Levels and rarely ventures past the screen you first meet him on).
  • 4-3 is a series of tricky jumps crippled thanks to the poor control and constantly changing game speed, with many moving platforms and lifts (including one that, due to program limitations, must be broken intentionally to advance), and the infamous inescapable Coin Heaven. In contrast, 4-4 is a maze with only one correct pipe, and the only major hazard being several icicles.
• Good Bad Bugs: At a certain frame of their animation, Fire Bars can be passed through without the player taking damage.
• Older Than They Think: This game had a flying powerup before Super Mario Bros. 3. And since it makes Mario move like he's swimming in the air, it also predates the main gimmick of the nighttime Castle levels in Super Mario Maker 2.
• Polished Port:
  • Compared to the PC-88 version, the Sharp X1 version lacks sprite flicker, uses more colors, has smoother gameplay, and uses The Legend of Zelda-style screen transitions rather than simply going black. However, it still has its fair share of issues, such as Mario being slow rather than too fast to control easily as in the PC-88 version, occasional control lag, and sped-up music as opposed to the PC-88 version's slow music that comes closer to the tempo of the original NES version of the music.
  • The various fan remakes and recreations fix both versions' control and camera issues, simply translating the original level formats but with the controls, physics, and enemy behaviors of Super Mario Bros. The 35th Anniversary Edition NES hack even manages to implement the enemies and items unique to Special.
• Underused Game Mechanic: The new items are both very well hidden and very under-utilitised, only making one or two appearances each.
• Unexpected Character: More like Unexpected Minor Enemies. After playing through several levels, you realize this is basically a Mission-Pack Sequel of the first game and expect to continue seeing only the standard Goombas, Bloopers, and the like. Then the barrels and fireballs from Donkey Kong, and Fighter Flies, Sidesteppers, and Icicles from Mario Bros. join the enemy roster.

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