Jump Into Nostalgia with G-Shock’s New Tribute to Mario

Just a couple short years after the release of the very first G-Shock came a video game that’s undoubtedly seared into the brain of every ‘80s child, and maybe even their kids these days, the original Super Mario Bros. on the NES. The game holds up just as well today as it did when it was released in November of 1985 (in the US), and G-Shock is honoring the OG 8-bit Mario with the release of the DW5600SMB-4. It’s the same DW5600 you know and love, with the heavily pixelated Mario rendered across the strap, and a familiar shell on the dial. There’s even a hidden “1up” that appears when activating the screen’s light. It hits all the notes a watch like this needs to hit, thanks in large part to the underlying color scheme. 

Playing the original Mario on an ‘80s TV threw a unique color palette at players, from the blue of the sky, to the reds and browns of the world space. G-Shock has done a brilliant job of recreating those colors for the base of each section of this watch. The dial plate is sky blue, the case is the same red as Mario’s suspenders, and the strap is a strange mix of brown and green used throughout the levels. The Mario sprite appears as a repeating pattern on the strap, looking almost glitch-like in the process.

Speaking of glitches, the official promotional artwork (below) for the watch appears to depict the infinite 1-up trick in the process of being performed on the stairs at the end of level 3-1, which feels an odd acknowledgement, if there ever was one. 

A lone Koopa Troopa shell sits at the bottom of the dial to drive the point home, while a depiction of the 1-up jump appears briefly on screen when the backlight is activated. All the good stuff you’d expect, and it continues on the packaging. The box depicts the famous opening sequence of 1-1, while the can (warp pipe?) gets a set of the brick steps complete with Koopa Troopa. 

The base of the watch is the brilliant DW5600, including all the features you’re accustomed to like timezones, alarms, and stopwatches. The DW5600SMB-4 is priced at $150 and is available for purchase as of today at select G-Shock retailers. G-Shock.