I played this about three decades later, and I can definitely say that it truly lived up to the hype. Super Mario Bros. 3 is the magnum opus for the NES, expanding the world and character for the iconic video game character while proving to the world that Mario remains relevant for years to come. While Super Mario Bros. is a revolutionary title that created this behemoth of a franchise as we know it today while saving the American video game industry after the disastrous Video Game Crash of 1983, followed up by a bizarre sequel, Super Mario Bros. 3 expands on the Mario formula and introduced many elements that became main staples in future games.
It added an overworld, giving us a series of stages and giving us the option to play them out of order in certain areas. Its diversity of levels is where Mario 3 shines as all of them are split into eight distinct worlds, like a world where everything is giant, a world that contains a whole lot of pipes, or a world filled with lava and darkness. These worlds bring variety, and in some instances are still unique to this game alone which is one of its biggest strengths. With new adventures mean new enemies Mario has to encounter, and in this case, the Koopalings. Serving as Bowser's underlings and their names being inspired by music artists, they are the main bosses for the first seven worlds trying to prevent Mario from approaching the Koopa King himself. In future 2D Mario entries (specifically NSMB series), they seem to be a safe bet for bosses that might've been overdone when we got to NSMBU, but at the time, they were unique and varied and brought something new to the table, and the same goes for items. Every item in this game is fun to utilize and is great for uncovering hidden areas and secrets, like a raccoon suit that has a tail attack and can fly depending on the speed or a frog suit that makes it easier to swim underwater, or obtaining hammers that can break rocks in the overworld. While I haven't uncovered some, it's great how we use these items to our advantage, creating room for experimentation, and encouraging replayability, and that's what Mario 3 feels like, a room for experimentation and new ideas that paid off in the end.
Mario feels great to control here, and for NES platformers, this is one of the easier ones. Now to be fair, this is a huge game compared to previous Mario outings, and it can still be a challenge when approaching later levels, but nothing unfair. No more limited continues, instead, getting a Game Over will result in the player replaying the levels again in the world you're currently on, and in the case for me, it was mostly World 7. With the number of levels it has, it can be kind of nerve-racking trying to survive with the limited amount of lives, but I persevered.
Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the best games released on the NES and one of the most influential titles in the series. With its innovations like a non-linear map and new power-ups, it laid the foundation for subsequent titles to follow. A game that turned a Japanese toy maker to a global video game giant, and one that has significance in gaming history.
It added an overworld, giving us a series of stages and giving us the option to play them out of order in certain areas. Its diversity of levels is where Mario 3 shines as all of them are split into eight distinct worlds, like a world where everything is giant, a world that contains a whole lot of pipes, or a world filled with lava and darkness. These worlds bring variety, and in some instances are still unique to this game alone which is one of its biggest strengths. With new adventures mean new enemies Mario has to encounter, and in this case, the Koopalings. Serving as Bowser's underlings and their names being inspired by music artists, they are the main bosses for the first seven worlds trying to prevent Mario from approaching the Koopa King himself. In future 2D Mario entries (specifically NSMB series), they seem to be a safe bet for bosses that might've been overdone when we got to NSMBU, but at the time, they were unique and varied and brought something new to the table, and the same goes for items. Every item in this game is fun to utilize and is great for uncovering hidden areas and secrets, like a raccoon suit that has a tail attack and can fly depending on the speed or a frog suit that makes it easier to swim underwater, or obtaining hammers that can break rocks in the overworld. While I haven't uncovered some, it's great how we use these items to our advantage, creating room for experimentation, and encouraging replayability, and that's what Mario 3 feels like, a room for experimentation and new ideas that paid off in the end.
Mario feels great to control here, and for NES platformers, this is one of the easier ones. Now to be fair, this is a huge game compared to previous Mario outings, and it can still be a challenge when approaching later levels, but nothing unfair. No more limited continues, instead, getting a Game Over will result in the player replaying the levels again in the world you're currently on, and in the case for me, it was mostly World 7. With the number of levels it has, it can be kind of nerve-racking trying to survive with the limited amount of lives, but I persevered.
Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the best games released on the NES and one of the most influential titles in the series. With its innovations like a non-linear map and new power-ups, it laid the foundation for subsequent titles to follow. A game that turned a Japanese toy maker to a global video game giant, and one that has significance in gaming history.