The last game in the Mario series before the Super Mario games began in 1985.
The villain is Mario and Luigi's boss/foreman, Spike. Although he was never seen after this title, he was a primitive model for the eventual rival of Mario: Wario.
This was one of the earliest games to feature a Save and Create a Level options.
This is one of the only Mario games in which he jumping isn't possible. Nintendo later stated that the reason behind this inability was due to Mario or Luigi's hammer being "too heavy".