The document compares the user interfaces of Super Mario Bros from 1985 and Super Mario World. It describes each of the key elements that make up the UI such as the coin, character, level, time, and score indicators. In Super Mario Bros, all UI elements used the same simple white font style. However, in Super Mario World each element had its own graphical style to make them more easily distinguishable like the gold coin counter. The positioning of the UI also changed from being lined at the top to positioned in the screen corners for better visibility.

1. Differences in User Interface - Super Mario Bros vs. Super Mario World
Coin Indicator
This element of the UI displays the amount of coins the
player has. This is important to the player as the
amount of coins the player has can be a measurement
of how well they are doing. The coin icon is a simple,
brown hexagon, along with the coin counter.
Character Indicator
This element of the UI displays what
character is currently being used. The simple,
white, low resolution font is used mainly
because of the year in which the game was
created. Back in 1985, the TVʼs these games
were played had low pixel dimensions and the
consoles were not capable of displaying high
definition, detailed textures like todayʼs
consoles, so textures and fonts were simple.
Level Indicator
This element of the UI displays what level/
world the player is in. This helps the player
keep track of what level they are currently
on and how many level they have
completed or have left to complete. The font
style is the same as the other elements of
the UI.
Time Indicator
This element of the UI displays the time the
player has spent in this level. It can be
important for players who want to beat their
personal best times. The same font style is
used throughout the UI.
Score Indicator
This element of the UI displays what score the
player currently has. It is used by the player to
keep track of how many points they have,
which can be useful if the player is trying to
beat their personal best score or if they are
competing with another player on multiplayer.
The font style is the same as the other
elements of the UI.
Positioning
All of the UI elements are located along the top of the
screen, out of the way and easily seen with the blue
backdrop behind it.

2. Differences in User Interface - Super Mario Bros vs. Super Mario World
Coin Counter
This element of the UI displays the amount
of coins a player has. This element is vastly
different from the 1985 Super Mario Bros.
The coin counter has itʼs own style from the
other elements of the UI, gold/yellow font fits
well with the coin icon next to it. The size is
large enough for the player to quickly glance
to see how many coins they have. The font
matches with the time indicator and the
score counter.
Player Indicator
This element of the UI displays the characters currently
playing. This element is a lot different from the 1985 Super
Mario Bros (SMB). In SMB, the character is displayed by
the name, however in Super Mario Worlds (SMW) the
characters are displayed by an icon of their face.
Time Indicator
This element of the UI displays the time
spent on the level. It is different from the
1985 SMB as the counter sits next to a clock
icon in SMW and is a grey colour now. The
font matches the coin counter and the score
counter.
Score Counter
The score counter displays the playerʼs
current score. It is located under the time
indicator in the same colour and font.
Star Counter
The star counter displays how many stars
the player currently has. The dotted outline
of the star represent the stars left to find.
There were no stars in the 1985 SMB so
there is nothing to compare, however if there
was a star counter in SMB, it would most
probably fit the same style as the other
element of the UI as they all look the same.
Positioning
The positioning has changed, All the UI elements are now aligned in the top
corners of the screen, not at the top. This is due to the with the fact that in the
1985 SMB, the top of the screen would always stay blue due to the Y axis
being fixed, meaning the white coloured UI elements will always be seen,
however in SMW, the game is 3 dimensional, meaning the X, Y and Z axises
are always changing and so lining all the elements at the top of the screen
could cause some of the screen to be obstructed. For example, if all of the
elements were lined up the top in the screenshot above, princess peachʼs face
would be covered, obstructing the important parts of the game.
Graphical Styles
All of the UI elements in the 1985 SMB were identical in graphical style, they
were all white and used the same font. However, in SMW, each element has a
unique style to differentiate from one another. This helps make glancing at
certain parts of the UI easier to understand, meaning if I wanted to check how
many coins I had, I would look over and clearly see what element indicates
how many coins I have due to the graphical style.