Super Mario Bros. 3

"You just can't beat the classics!"

Super Mario Brothers 3....a name gamers around the world will remember forever as the best game the Nintendo company ever released. Even people who haven't played it or even heard of it (if those people exist at all) don't know what they're missing here. This game, based on what I've heard, is the final game that was created for the NES console. Now, it arrived on the SNES console as part of the Super Mario Superstars game and has now also arrived on GBA.

SMB3 was a breakthrough for Nintendo. It created a formula so unique, it could not possibly be duplicated. You start off in the peaceful land of the Mushroom Kingdom. You're probably immediately saying "Oh, you just make your way through a few levels to the castles, raise a flag, go to Bowser's castle and beat him. You do that a few more times and the game is over". If that's what you think, then you are WRONG!

The beauty of this game is that it can be a one or two player game. You choose before the game starts, and then you start off in World 1. You will immediately see it is different. Instead, you get a map of the entire world with a couple castles (1-3 or 4, depending on the world) and the fortress at the end. You get to choose the path you take to the fortress. The catch is: you have to go through small levels inside the worlds, indicated by black boxes with a number, indicating what level it is in the world. You cannot move along passed that level until you beat it. At the end of every level is a small box with flashing pictures of a mushroom, a star and a flower. In order to finish the level, you have to hit the box and will receive a symbol of the item that was in the box when you hit it. When you finish a level with 3 symbols, you'll get a certain number of lives, depending on the symbols you got. If you got any three random symbols in any random order, you'll get one extra life. If you get 3 of a kind of mushrooms, you'll get 2 extra lives. If you get three of a kind involving flowers, you'll get 3 extra lives. If you get three of a kind and they're stars, you'll get five extra lives.

If it's two player, things get a bit interesting. One player is Mario and the other is Luigi. The two alternate by playing turns. If someone was playing as Mario and beat a course, then it would be Luigi's turn and he'd get to play the course after. If Mario died while trying to finish a course, Luigi would get a turn and he could try to finish it. If Mario beats a course, a red "M" appears on the course he beat. If Luigi beat a course, a green "L" appears on that course. If Mario walks onto a course owned by Luigi (or vice versa) a battle will start. In a battle, the two players go around on a small battle arena with random enemies coming out of pipes, trying to kill the other player and try to take possession of their symbols. It's a little difficult to describe, but it's very fun.

From time to time throughout the level, as mentioned earlier, there are small castles with a small boss but can't be underestimated. His name is "Boom-Boom", who looks like a very mean teddy bear with arms that wave around and can fly, leap and acellerate. To kill him, just jump on him three times. Of course, easier said than done. As stated earlier, there are usually around 1 to 3 Boom-Boom's each world, and he can usually give off pretty good items. Those items prove useful later on.

Items can be picked up not only from Boom-Boom, but from treasure chests found at some levels and some special places where you get to pick a treasure chest and you can get an item from one of them. Or, a hammerhead or boomerang brother battle could also wield some items. If you've never played the game before, you might be asking "What is that guy talking about?" Well, a thing that makes this game unique is that you can hold an inventory of items that can be used BEFORE you start a level to power you up. Items include a mushroom which can make you Super Mario or Luigi, a Fire Flower which enables you to throw fireballs at enemies, a feather that can make you fly, a star that makes you temporarily invincible and many more.

At the end of each world is the fortress. Now you get to fight Bowser, right? Wrong. Now, Bowser has had little Koopa Kids he likes to call "Koopalings". These koopalings have stolen a magic wand from the king who used to own the fortress and can now use it for bad instead of good. The fortress is where you find the Koopaling with the wand, and, like Boom-Boom, jump on them three times and just like that, the wand is yours. The first koopaling is relatively simple, but they get MUCH harder as you go along, so don't be prepared for an easy match each time. One more thing about fighting a koopaling-you don't fight them in a fortress. Instead, you find your way onto a doomship in mid air commanded by the koopaling and you have to brave your way through bullet bills, pirahna (didn't spell it right. who cares?) plants and down a wide white pipe where you meet your adversary.

So, pretty much everything above it what you do in each world, and there are eight of them. They go from extremely easy to extremely difficult very quickly. Tips for beating this game is to use your items wisely. Don't use an item before a level unless you know you will not survive if you don't. Also, really powerful items (like the "P-Wing") should only be used in very difficult situations, mostly the doomship levels. I've accidentally used one just to go down a pipe line and trust me, you feel really stupid afterwards. So please, use items sparingly.

If you still haven't played this game before, then what are you waiting for??? This is the greatest game Nintendo has ever made and you'd better go out and get it. Although you might not want the 8-bit version for Nintendo, you might want to try the GBA version instead. (although I have not yet tried that version. It may be different...but I hope not!) This is truly an awesome game Nintendo created. Nintendo...if you're reading this, let me say something to you. "Great job!You have created a masterpiece here!"

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/04