Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)

A long time ago, the creators of Super Mario Bros. created a sequel intended to be more of a rigorous obstacle course than the simple platformer the original was. This game was so hard, that the Japan didn't think it would catch on in the United States. So instead they took an existing game (Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic) and refurbished it. Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988) was a wonderful little gem that, other than having Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad, looked and played almost NOTHING like a Mario game. You picked up objects to kill things and if you jumped on them you could actually ride on top of them. It was the kind of madness that no one was prepared for and yet left it's mark on the franchise. So much so that Japan saw their own release of the American SMB 2 and incorporated some of the characters to the Mario Universe.

Where would we be without you shy guy?

After the continued success of the Super Mario games, a third one was in the works but the developers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka decided to add even more changes like how SMB 2 though not as drastic. Like being revealed from behind a grand red curtained stage, Super Mario Bros. 3 brought more diverse and creative changes, many of which have been used continually throughout the Mario franchise. This also happens to be one of the games that defined and started my video gaming career and a childhood relic. So much so that me and my sister picked it up two years ago after dusting off our old NES and kept at it for a straight two hours (one of the few things I know that can keep her attention for that long).

And this grand reshowing of my childhood begins!

What the game did for platform games was revolutionary. Long past were the days of moving through each level mindlessly; now you had this thing called and "overworld." You moved your guy to where ever you wanted to go. If you look to the right, that means you could actually skip level 3 and 4. The catch is skipping certain levels can cut off access to particular points of interest i.e. the mushroom hut which could bestow a power up. Also new to the games were special mini games to help gain extra lives or new power ups and the idea of mini bosses inside the castles and a boss for each world that you could only get to by reaching the castle. Helping the king out at the castle gave you special gift from Princess Peach herself.

Speaking of power ups, you now had something new to Super Mario called an "inventory." With it, you could keep power ups that you receive as gifts and use them before entering a level. These power ups were also expanded from the simple mushroom and fire flower though at the cost of reason. You now had super leaf power ups that gave Mario a raccoon tail and matching ears on his hat; before you question why, also consider that this power up can help you temporarily fly.

Remember in the first Mario where his movements were not as crisp and he had this tendency to stumble a bit forward? Well now that has a real reason to be in the game; if you hold the B button and run, you'll start charging the power bar (seen at the bottom of the screen) and, once filled, can leap farther distances. With the super leaf, you can actually engage in momentary flight. The tanopki suit (or as I used to call it the teddy bear costume), as an added bonus, can make you an invincible stone statue temporarily to let certain enemies pass by. While these make absolutely no sense to anyone, I'm actually pleased that none is completely lost with the hammer power up which lets you dish out pain like a hammer brother. Not than anything was really meant to have any rationality in the Super Mario games but I digress.

These added elements added new elements to the two player gameplay: cooperation and competition. Both players fought for whoever could make it to the end of the world first and could even fight head to head over end level rewards a la the original Mario Bros (1983) style.

Nothing says "co-op" like beating the snot out of each other!

What I found in playing the game recently was that actual cooperation was necessary. Example: A friend and I were playing through with me spearheading the game with my more lengthy experience (playing on the old NES and on the GBA port help a little bit). When I stumbled on a level that I was ill-equipped for, I would skip it and allow my friend to try with a power up he had in his inventory and, later on, he would sacrifice one of his lives so that I would rush in and try to beat a level that I had a power up for. The game changed the dynamic from, "How much farther can I get than you?" to, "How far can WE go working as a unit?"

The levels themselves were always a treat as well. No longer were you confined simple land, cave, or sea levels. Locations were now diverse plains with new and different enemies and difficult challenges along the way. One world is full of levels where everything except you is over sized requiring you to use the full height of your jumps to accomplish the same tasks. Some of my least favorite levels involve the camera moving to the left, forcing you to keep moving or get smashed in between objects and the left side of the screen. This was even worse with the introduction of the giant, man eating fish that incessantly tried to eat you.

Very cool level

Not so much.

I could drool on for hours about how SMB 3 was so AMAZING and what it did for NES games and the platforming genre and the gameplay of Mario games to come and etc. The game was built on an already solid foundation and continued to set the bar higher for gaming. Typical running and jumping wasn't good enough anymore and this game defined what conventional platforming was all about from now on. If you've never played, stop what your doing and play this beauty online. If you have, stop what you're doing anyway and relive this classic. NOW!


Final Judgment: 9/10