Super Mario Bros. 3

"Mama Mia, what a game!"

When I first brought home a Nintendo Entertainment System in December of 1987, I was introduced to the incredible game, Super Mario Brothers. I played that game for most of January and February, just so I could tell all of my friends that I beat it. When Super Mario Brothers Two came out, I did the same thing. I played it and played it until I beat it, then I put it away. There was simply nothing else to do in that game that I had not done before. However, Super Mario Brothers Three was different. This game had amazing graphics and sound, an innovative gameplay experience, and even more important, Super Mario Brothers Three never got old. I never got sick of playing this game, and to tell you the truth, I still play it frequently. If there was ever a must-have game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, this was it.

I could just tell that there was something about this game. I went out and bought it on its day of release, and played it all day long. This went on until I beat the game, but it did not end there. I have played Super Mario Brothers Three at least once a month, all the way through, since the game came out all those years ago. Never before had I experienced a game like that, and rare has that experience been in the years following Super Mario Brothers Three. Every time I played the game, I discovered something new! I finally figured out how to beat a level, or found a new secret, or finally beat the Flying Airship without cheating and using a Power Wing. Always, always, always, there was something new that could be done, or something that I could have done better.

The evil King Koopa is back at his old tricks again. He has kidnapped the Princess, and now Mario and Luigi are summoned to bring her back. One would think that after it happened twice before, there would be a little more security on the Princess, but I guess not. Anyways, Mario and Luigi embark on the quest of their lives in this compelling tale of danger and adventure. They must travel through eight impressive worlds, all of which have a different focus. There is Giant World, Sky World, and Pipe World to name a few. Finally, at the end of their journey, they arrive in Dark World, also known across the Mushroom Kingdom as King Koopa’s domain. This tag team of “super” brothers will stop at nothing to take back their Princess, and at the end of the day, their job is done, and peace is brought back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

While playing Super Mario Brothers Three, the player is introduced to many new and improved aspects of the series. In addition to all of the old Power-Ups, the brothers can now fly through the air, ride in a shoe, and swim underwater. Another new innovation is the implementation of a World Map. Each World has its own map, so the player knows exactly what to be ready for. This is a welcome upgrade from the older level by level advancement. The player can also use their acquired Power-Ups between levels, as opposed to being restricted to finding them in the levels. Overall, the gameplay of Super Mario Brothers Three has received a welcome upgrade, and its innovative design can still be seen even in games that are being made today.

Super Mario Brothers Three has received an entirely new graphic scheme. The levels are richly detailed (for a Nintendo game), they are full of color, and they were definitely ground-breaking. These updated graphics have paved the pathway to better and brighter things for the current Super Mario Brothers game, Super Mario Sunshine, and will always be the game that started it all. The graphics of Super Mario Brothers Three are superior to any other game on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and even a few Super Nintendo games fail to match the quality of this masterpiece.

In addition to superior graphics, Super Mario Brothers Three provides a superior soundtrack, which complements the gameplay very well. The original score is catching, has a nice tune, and has me constantly humming a few bars whenever I think of the game. That is definitely a good thing. A game can be made on its music, or it can be broken, and Super Mario Brothers Three is an overpowering success. Super Mario Brothers Three made the music matter in video games, and now games are sometimes judged solely on their musical capabilities. The combination of superior graphics and superior sound make Super Mario Brothers Three the greatest platformer, if not the greatest game, on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Super Mario Brothers Three can be played several different ways, and as such, has several different play times. If you just want to speed through the game, then the player can use the warp whistles and can skip entire worlds. With two or more Warp Whistles, the player can skip everything up to Dark World. For the more traditional player, they can go through the game playing every level, finding every secret, and unlocking every bonus. And for the player sitting on the fence, they can use a combination of the two methods, and can play the game any way they like. That is the beauty of Super Mario Brothers Three…the ability to play it in any way that the player wants. Just speeding through, using Warp Whistles, and skipping levels where possible, Super Mario Brothers Three can be beaten in close to an hour and a half. If the more traditional style is utilized, by playing every level, unlocking everything, and finding every single little nuance in the game, then Super Mario Brothers Three could easily take up to six or seven hours of your life. Because of these different styles of play, Super Mario Brothers Three can be well-received by every type of gamer on the planet. Someone who just wants to sit there for a few minutes can have just as much fun as the player that sits there for six or seven hours.

Out of every game that I have, only a few have truly withstood the test of time. Of these, only one is from the Nintendo Entertainment System. That game is Super Mario Brothers Three. I can still have a ton of fun playing this game every month or so, and I still relive the memories of my first time playing. Or memories of the first time I beat a difficult level. Or memories of the first time I found something I had never seen before. Super Mario Brothers Three is one of the greatest games ever created, and I truly urge you to go out and play it. Regardless of whether you have played it before or not, go out and play this game right now. You will enjoy it just as much as you did when you first played it ten years ago. If you haven’t played it, venture into the outside world for once, and pick it up at a used game store. You will thank yourself later.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/05/03, Updated 05/21/03