When comparing Pong vs Super Mario Bros., the Slant community recommends Super Mario Bros. for most people. In the question“What are the best and the most revolutionary games of all time?” Super Mario Bros. is ranked 1st while Pong is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Super Mario Bros. is:
Super Mario Bros. introduced the concept of [level design as a tool for educating players](http://www.1up.com/features/learning-level-design-mario) that created a low barrier to entry for new players that was instrumental in pulling the industry out of the [North American Video Game Crash of 1983](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_video_game_crash_of_1983) and set the bar for level design for generations to come.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro First commercially successful and widely popular video game
Pong may not have been the first video game ever, but it was definitely the first commercially successful and widely popular.
Pro Established video games as commercially viable
Pong inspired a generation of video game enthusiasts and established video games as a popular and commercially viable industry.
Pro Modeled after real-life Ping-Pong with adjustments
The concept for Pong was modeled on real life Ping-Pong, with a few modifications to make the gameplay more exciting. For example, the player could change the ball's return angle based on what section of the paddle the ball hit.
This made the game both more fun and challenging to play. The speed of the game also increased over time to ensure that the gameplay remained challenging for people at higher skill levels.
Pro Birth of modern level design
Super Mario Bros. introduced the concept of level design as a tool for educating players that created a low barrier to entry for new players that was instrumental in pulling the industry out of the North American Video Game Crash of 1983 and set the bar for level design for generations to come.
Pro Greatly influential
The game's influence stretches beyond even this - many of the most important franchises and development studios in the industry got their start from imitating Super Mario Bros., including Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog and id Software's Commander Keen.
Pro One of first side scrollers
This game was one of the first side scroller games.
Pro It saved the video game industry
If this game didn't happen then video games would've died. Zelda, Metroid, DOOM, Sonic the Hedgehog, GTA, Call of Duty, and Halo would not have existed if it weren't for this game.
Pro Created defining mechanics of the platformer genre
Super Mario Bros. introduced several game mechanics that would become the bread and butter of platformers as a genre.