Game #74 of my challenge.

I'm so glad that I reached a really good classic game that changed gaming as a whole. A lot of marketing was put into this game back in the days (a whole movie was dedicated for it). This entry brought a whole lot of innovation to the franchise and it became the blueprint of all other Mario games going forward. Super Mario Bros.3 is the 4th entry of the classic Mario's (because lost levels wasn't numbered) and boy it was a fun time.

The plot has a twist a little bit different this time : The mushroom kingdom is taken control by the seven Koopalings (bowser's kids). They separated into 7 worlds and stole the magic wands from the king of that kingdom. They used the wand on them to transform them into animals. Peach (sorry, I meant Princess Toadstool) ask Mario and Luigi to go save those kings to restore peace in the kingdom. The theme for this game is like a play, since at the beginning of the launch menu, there's a curtain that opens to tell the player that the play has started.

The visual of this game aged really well. All the enemies are clear and different, the level is distinctive, so there's no confusion of what you can interact with and all powerup can be recognize really easily. The game is super colorful and that makes it super charming because of it. A lot of enemies became staples since this game like the Chain Chomps, Dry bones, Boos, Thwomp and many more. It even introduced the Koopalings for the first time and became iconic bosses in the series. Each worlds are really distinct from one another since they all have their own theme. Also, the music is also really iconic. The composer did an excellent job to creates a real banger. My top 3 songs would be the Underground theme, Hammer Bros. Battle and the Bowser battle.

The controls of this game are simple : one button to jump and one button to run. This run button can also hold items in your hands. Those control are so crisp. They are really responsive and what is really nice compare of any other platformer before this one is that you can control the momentum in the air. All future platformer learn a lot from the early platformers. Something new in this game is the P-Meter. With this meter, you can know when you reached your top speed when running. This meter will also affect some power-ups in the game when you reach top speed.

The gameplay introduce a lot of staples mechanics that will be put in future Mario games. First of all, you have a level selection screen. This is a nice addition since you don't need to do every levels if you want to. You can choose your own path. You can also choose which world you want to play in if you collect the flutes. This makes the game easier to go where you want to go since there's no save files integrated in the cartridge. Another great addition that they put in the world selection is to give yourself some power-ups before starting a level. You collect those throughout the game and that can help the player to beat certain levels (or give you access to certain paths in the stage selection). Each world introduce some new mechanics and each levels feels unique. This makes the game fresh all the time. I think one thing that everyone enjoy form this game are the power-ups. You have the classics like the mushroom, fire flower and the star. You now have a whole bunch of new one like the frog suit, the boots, the hammer suit or the beloved Tanooki suit.

All the world boss are super charming and makes those Koopaling really unique. The final boss is really different for the time since it's more strategies instead of only hurting him. I should also mention that this game is filled with secrets. One of my favorite is that when you play 2 players, if you go on the same completed stage, you go in a battle mode of the original Mario Bros arcade game.

This game is the definition of fun on a cartridge. Yes there are some difficult levels in the game, but completing them are really satisfying. This is a must play for everyone that consider themselves as gamers.

Finally got to clearing this! Feels like this nice mix of arcade and platformer, that offers a variety of options to make the game as hard or challenging as you like. The approach to difficulty and learning I enjoy as well. While I have thoughts about lives/points/items/continues I don't think I have much new to offer there so I'll skip that discussion.

What I like most is the approach to level design here, there's a real willingness to poke around in weird kinds of levels that still arguably fit as mario levels. There's levels that are transitory and take you into the sky. Levels that take a one-off entity and design a whole level around it. Levels that feel more like puzzle-exploration dungeons (6-5). Weirdly empty levels (7-fortress 1). Levels that slow the pace to a crawl of an explorative maze (7-9). Nightmare gauntlet with projectile hazards taking advantage of the space as muchas possible (8-1/8-2). And levels that genuinely evoke a feeling of fear - the autoscroll military levels in world 8!

While I think Mario's movement is not the perfect fit for some of these more explorative level types, they're still fun to play and it's still refreshing to play a Nintendo game that has an understanding of what level design can do to evoke different feelings and places. Genuinely, the inclusion of something like a "Ice World" or a "Fire World", as tropey as they've become, actually make sense in SMB3.

It's the kind of platformer design that you mostly don't see outside of the freeware or modding scene nowadays - this attempt at conveying some fictional world entirely through the goofy uses of blocks and strange platforming entities and obstacles.

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Probably the most interesting thing to me is the way in which this game sometimes feels like an early Zelda game, the way you check for secrets and nooks in levels, how SMB3's overworlds (for the beginner/unfamiliar player) are arguably dungeons with their lives structure (life-winning minigames excluded). Maybe late 80s/early 90s Zelda could be seen as an attempt at applying the kind of arcade mastery/discovery exemplified in SMB3 to a context that requires far less dexterity. (Unfortunately I don't think Zelda ultimately succeeded at developing an interesting core framework of expression, hence its reliance on many items/perfunctory puzzles and combat).

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My only point of critique with SMB3 (other than nitpicks, like enemy fireballs not hurting/affecting enemies, or some enemy movement patterns having that NES sudden-turn-jitteryness in a game where you usually only have one hit) - my only critique is that the game doesn't use its expression as an avenue for something higher. We get the impression of all these strange worlds with gigantic goombas or endless pipes - something with SO much interesting imagery and sensations, and then the game sticks on this awful save-the-princess framing story where every world ends with fiddly boss fights, a copy paste cutscene, and the same type of autoscroll levels (not without their merits, but this breaks from the theming the worlds worked so hard to build up).

As soon as the game achieves a run of a few interesting levels, it just as readily throws some card-matching minigame or a hammer bros. encounter at you.

Two interesting directions I think the series could go in from here:

1. Keep the overall structure, but axe the final castle levels. Instead, rework the back 1/2 or 1/3 of each world to feel like some kind of mechanical climax in the way that the leadup to Bowser's castle does. This would essentially be SMB3 but minus the stuff that I think doesn't make much sense with the game. Whoever does this can take notes from romhacks..

2. Axe the overall structure, and lean into a more open-world-level-select structure, focused on creating an evocative sense of place with each level, and a huge sense of the unexpected with what any one level might bring. Levels in levels, mini-world maps where you don't expect them. Super Mario Adventure, or something. Maybe you'd see levels like "Bean and Breakfast" from the SMW Romhack OOOOO... a level based on the Hotel dungeon from Anodyne! (https://youtu.be/-5LIz7JGO_I?list=PL1vXxNCYKhSptTEiHXL-1p-OSNvM1Knih&t=9381 )

And if you want to preserve some arcade-like tension, maybe the game is divided into lots of mini-worlds with a life pool that like, starts at 3 and can only hit 5 or something. idk!

As far as mario the series goes, #2 feels like what SMW or SML2:6 golden coins went towards. However, SMW exchanges evocative abstraction for more friendly, wide and 'realistic' levels - fun, but they end up about as exciting as the world design itself.. (satisfying to work through, but kinda plain)

And SML2 leans into an interesting/insane aesthetic but... abandons the mechanical fundamentals in favor of a kind of adventurey sorta thing.

this kind of feels like the 'final doom' of the 8-bit mario games, not because its hard (it isn't), but because some of the stages almost feel like they were user-created, and i think that's a really good thing. there's some really strange and unconventional ideas in the level design that make for a really interesting and unique experience. sometimes it pissed me off, but most of the time i was just amazed by how remarkably innovative this game is, especially for an NES platformer. not only is the level design fresh, but the new world map, the koopalings and the inventory system are all very well executed and lay the groundwork for future entries in the series perfectly. its a great game.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is no doubt the proper, fully realized sequel that Mario rightfully deserved. All the levels are concise and to the point. The diverging paths and items like the cloud and warp whistle show you a bit of leniency in letting you approach the game in multiple ways. The levels even still deliver on a putting up a moderate challenge despite that. Besides the Super Leaf, the Hammer Suit and Frog Suit were also such unique additions that it’s a shame they’ve never made a return in any subsequent Mario platformers since. It introduces yet even more staple enemies than Super Mario Bros. 2 USA did. The controls feel the closest to modern Mario out of all the classic NES titles.
Super Mario Bros. 3 gave Mario a whole new beginning to jump off of. It is one of the most essential games for the NES for this reason. It’s not one I would call one of my favorite Mario games of all time, but for its era this was as good as it got.

Incredibly tight level design... when it's not autoscrolling. Seriously, there are so many autoscrolling levels in this game it's a bit ridiculous - 18 out of 88. With the exception of that one airship level in World 8, the scrolling is too slow to pose a real threat. The "challenge" is having the patience to sit and wait for the next jump you can make. Thankfully, most of these levels can be skipped except for the airships.

The non-autoscrolling levels are fantastic, however, and they demonstrate a mastery of compelling and challenging design. There's such a great sense of rhythm from running through them, they match Mario's movement capabilities perfectly. Even the slower-paced levels like those in World 7 are still pretty fun to navigate simply because Mario feels so effortless to control. Each level introduces some new obstacle or gimmick too, which makes them all memorable in their own way. It's not as difficult as the Lost Levels, but the levels are consistently more interesting and fun to play.

And on top of that, this game features the best and most interesting power-ups in the series. None are as versatile (or overpowered) as something like the Cape Feather or Penguin Suit; instead, they each have distinct pros and cons that make you seriously consider which to use. The Super Leaf/Tanuki Suit make platforming easier (you have to work for it though, it's not as slow of a descent as later platforming/flying-oriented powerups, even later iterations of this one), but the attack leaves you much more open compared to the Cape Feather. The Hammer Suit can kill pretty much anything, but you have to account for the trajectory of the hammers and Mario's momentum - and you can only find it in late-game Toad houses. Overall, I just find there to be a lot more decision-making in this one compared to most other Mario games where one power-up is clearly the preferred one in most circumstances.

I highly recommend the Famicom version which has the classic 2-hit damage system of SMB1/LL/World. There's a patch that adds this to the All-Stars version as well, both the original release and +SMW, so there's plenty of great options to experience it.

Undoubtedly the best of the NES trilogy. Going from Mario 2 to this reminded me just how fun Mario can be when you're not pulling turnips out of the ground and throwing Birdo's eggs back at her for the twentieth time. This is a true-to-bones Mario title, one of the best to ever do it, responsible for bringing the overworld idea to the Mario franchise and probably popularizing it in general, too. Inventive, original for its time, and holds up really well today, which can't be said for a lot of other NES games.