Student ‘ports’ Super Mario Bros to 8×8 LED matrix
Using open source hardware from the Arduino project and an LED matrix of 8×8 pixels, a student in the US has built a setup that can play some levels of the jump and run game Super Mario Bros.
The experimental ‘game console’ was built by Carnegie Mellon University student Chloe Fan. Few gamers will get excited about the graphics of the Super Mario Bros clone: the LED matrix has 64 pixels, divided into eight rows with eight LEDs each. However, it is possible to play the platform classic Super Mario Bros via the grid display, where the plumber is displayed with one pixel. Mario can be controlled with two keys: one to jump and one to move forward.
However, the game has some limitations: if the Mario disappears from view, the whole level has to be redone. There is also virtually no interaction between the game character and its environment. There is, however, in-game music, which is reproduced using a piezo speaker.
The minimalist version of Super Mario Bros once again shows what applications developers come up with that can be used with it Arduino project get to work. The simple hardware is completely open source, so that the electronics can be mastered quickly, with or without the help of the extensive documentation. Last year, an electronics hobbyist built the BrewTroller, a system to monitor the brewing process of beer. Combination locks, game controllers and a Game Boy have also been built on the basis of the Arduino hardware.