Level Atlas

Super Mario Bros. · Super Mario

World 1-1draft

The most-analyzed level in gaming: a wordless tutorial that teaches movement, jumping, power-ups, and risk within its first screen. Nearly every teaching technique in the atlas can be traced back to it.

Year
1985
Platform
NES
Genre
2D platformer
Layout
linear
Designers
Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka

Layout notes

Strictly left-to-right with two optional detours: the hidden coin room via pipe, and the elevated block route that skips ground threats. No backtracking; camera only scrolls forward.

Intensity curve

00.510% through, demand 5%: Safe first screen8% through, demand 20%: First goomba18% through, demand 25%30% through, demand 35%: Pipe jumps + first pit42% through, demand 30%55% through, demand 45%68% through, demand 55%78% through, demand 50%88% through, demand 60%: Staircase gauntlet100% through, demand 10%: FlagpoleSafe first screenFirst goombaPipe jumps + first pitStaircase gauntletFlagpolestartend
Demand on the player (combat pressure, platforming difficulty, disorientation), not fun. Relative within this level only.

Space graph

The level as places and the connections between them. Left to right reads as progression, top to bottom as elevation. Dashed outlines are optional spaces; select any space or callout to read it.

Opening plain path First goombasFirst goombas path Question block rowQuestion block row path Elevated brick routeElevated brick route one-way Pipe field. The brick run ends in a drop back to the ground, past the pipes it skipped.Question block row path Pipe fieldPipe field one-way Hidden coin room. Pressing down on the right pipe. Nothing indicates which one.Hidden coin room one-way Pit run. The coin room's exit pipe surfaces further right, so the secret also advances the level.Pipe field path Pit runPit run path Koopa stretchKoopa stretch path Staircase gauntletStaircase gauntlet path FlagpoleENTRYOpening plainOpening plain: entry, critical path. Empty ground and a locked-forward camera. The player is allowed to press every button before anything can hurt them.CORRIDORFirst goombasFirst goombas: corridor, critical pathROOMQuestion blockrowQuestion block row: room, critical pathROOMElevated brickrouteElevated brick route: room, optional path. Running the bricks skips the ground threats entirely. It costs nothing and is never signposted.CORRIDORPipe fieldPipe field: corridor, critical pathSECRETHidden coinroomHidden coin room: secret, optional path. The first secret in the game. Finding it seeds the habit of testing every pipe for the rest of the campaign.CORRIDORPit runPit run: corridor, critical pathCORRIDORKoopa stretchKoopa stretch: corridor, critical pathCORRIDORStaircasegauntletStaircase gauntlet: corridor, critical pathEXITFlagpoleFlagpole: exit, critical pathTeaching: The first goombaTeaching: Forced power-up lessonOptional: Coin room pipeItem: Hidden starCritical path: Staircase rhythm
PathOne-wayOptional space

Select a space, a connection, or a callout to read it. 10 spaces, 11 connections, 5 callouts on this level.

Read the graph as a list

Spaces

  • Opening plain entry, critical
  • First goombas corridor, critical
  • Question block row room, critical
  • Elevated brick route room, optional
  • Pipe field corridor, critical
  • Hidden coin room secret, optional
  • Pit run corridor, critical
  • Koopa stretch corridor, critical
  • Staircase gauntlet corridor, critical
  • Flagpole exit, critical

Connections

  • Opening plain → First goombas path
  • First goombas → Question block row path
  • Question block row → Elevated brick route path
  • Elevated brick route → Pipe field one-way
  • Question block row → Pipe field path
  • Pipe field → Hidden coin room one-way
  • Hidden coin room → Pit run one-way
  • Pipe field → Pit run path
  • Pit run → Koopa stretch path
  • Koopa stretch → Staircase gauntlet path
  • Staircase gauntlet → Flagpole path

Techniques

  • Kishotenketsustructure

    The level introduces (goomba, blocks), develops (pipes, pits), twists (staircase rhythm changes), and concludes (flagpole) in the classic four-act structure.

  • Teach by placementteaching

    The first goomba approaches while the player experiments with movement; the question blocks sit exactly where a panicked jump lands.

Notes

The cleanest test of the space vocabulary: a level whose entire critical path is one chain, where both optional spaces rejoin it further right than they left.

Sources

  • interviewMiyamoto on World 1-1: How Nintendo made Mario's most iconic level (Eurogamer video interview)
  • bookAnna Anthropy & Naomi Clark, A Game Design Vocabulary