Super Mario Bros. 3
Nintendo Entertainment System
For my original review of Super Mario Bros. 3, click
>>HERE<<
I normally play through Super Mario Bros. 3 every few years or so. Looking back at my review index, I last played this game back in March of 2017. That's eight years since my last playthrough; probably the biggest gap I've ever gone in my life without playing Mario 3. And that is not an exaggeration.
So, I figured it was time to fix that.
I fired this game up and instantly fell back in love with it all over again. Everything about this game instantly brings me back to the sense of awe and wonder I felt when playing through it as a kid.
The music is fantastic. The presentation is great. The game is super easy to pick up and play. I don't know how you can pick this game up and not have a good time with it.
Everything about it is a much more fleshed out Mario experience compared to the first two games. I love the overhead map in between levels. This was the first time they've ever done that for a Mario game before. It gives the world of the game so much more added depth. There are branching paths that allow you to do levels out of order, or even skip some of them completely. You can visit bonus locations to earn items and extra lives. The fact that you can store items and then use them when you need them was unprecedented for its time.
I also appreciate how the worlds of the games are sorted into themes. Sand stage, water stage, sky stage, ice stage, big/small stage, etc. Again, it gives the world of Mario so much more depth and personality than anything accomplished in the first two Mario games. It makes playing through the game really feel like a journey, like you're making progress through this mystical and magical kingdom.
The story is simple but entertaining. There's something charming about going into a king's castle and seeing how he's been turned into an animal. You then must board the airship, defeat one of Bowser's kids, bring the wand back, and turn the king back into a person. I wonder why these kings and rulers aren't in other Mario games, now that I think of it.
What really makes this game work is the stage design. Almost every damn level in the game is super iconic. There's nary a dull level in the whole game. I know a lot of people like Super Mario World more than this game, since it takes what is established here and expands upon it. But to me, even though there is "more" content in Mario World, the level design is what sets this game apart. To me, it makes this the best 2D Mario game I've played.
There's just so much love put into the game. The level variety, the music, the art design, the characters, the music, and all the fun little gimmicks you encounter along the way combine to really make this an enriching experience. Like how you can use your fire flower to melt ice blocks and get coins hidden within them. The simple but fun idea of the sky world being split into two sections was always genius to me. There's hidden Hammer Bros suits. There's the level where you hop around in the big green boot. There's the Tanuki suit you can use to turn into a statue. There's big fish that eat you in one gulp. There's the level with the angry sun that swoops down and tries to kill you. There's warp whistles. There's even a memorization card game where you have to flip cards and match pairs in order to earn extra items. There's just so much here that is specific to this Mario game that gives it such a unique and endearing personality.
The only bad thing I can say about the game is that there is no save feature. If you don't skip ahead, this is a pretty long game. A playthrough can take you about three hours. That's a lot of time to devote to one playing session. Luckily, I played the game on my Retropie, where I was able to save it and stop playing whenever I wanted. This made the game even more fun, in my opinion. Let's say I only had 30 minutes to play a game. I could turn this on, power through a handful of stages, and then save it and turn the game off. These little short bursts are actually quite enjoyable. Like going to a tapas restaurant instead of an all you can eat buffet.
This will always be my favorite NES Mario game. In fact, it may even be my favorite NES game of all time. Heck, it could even be in consideration for my favorite game of all time. It wouldn't win, but the fact that it would even be in the conversation is mightily impressive.
No one can ever convince me that Mario World is better. To me, Super Mario Bros 3 is the pinnacle of the 2D Mario series. The fact that it came out 35 years ago and is still this good is very impressive to me. Not only is it an awesome game, it laid the groundwork for future games. You can still see the influence of Mario 3 in game that are coming out today.
This game got an A+ for me when I last reviewed it eight years ago. That ain't changing.
THE GRADE:
A+
For a complete index of all my past posts and game reviews, click
>HERE<
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