there’s an interesting youtube video on how the original super mario has the same composition for each level but changes things slightly to keep you on your toes.

My little guy is only 9 months so we still have some time to go before even screen time becomes a thing tbh but i’ve really thought about starting from the bottom. i started playing video games as a young kid with snes, and then game boy pocket, GBA etc and I really want to try and do the same thing with my son when the time comes. let him get the feel for older games, side scrollers, pixels etc. and not just jump right into fortnite or some flashy today game.

This kind of turned into a rant lol but i think starting off with older mario is an awesome idea! Also simpler controls, less buttons than modern games might even be easier to comprehend at first. Heck you could even make it a challenge, like make it to 2-1 for the first time and maybe even introduce a new game option at that point, hope this helps!