"A stunning masterpiece...."

Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the best selling games of all time. Why did it sell so many copies? Well, the movie ''The Wizard'' might have helped it a little, but I feel people bought SMB3 for the sheer beauty of it. After two years of creating SMB3, Nintendo created a stunning masterpiece!

When game players played SMB3 for the first time, they realized it was nothing like SMB2. SMB3 went back to the traditional style of Mario. It got rid of the vegetables and potions and returned with the ''?'' boxes and coins.

SMB3 also added a world map, which allowed the player to choose which level he/she wanted to go to next. This provided a non-linear way of playing.

I am assuming most of you have played this game (I don't know where you've been if you haven't), so I won't go into great detail on how to play it. The gameplay is very similar to SMB. You start out small, you get a mushroom, you get a power up, etc. But, SMB3 lets you choose other power ups other than the fire flower. You can also choose to be a raccoon (it's better than it sounds), a frog, or a sleage hammer person. All these abilities add great depth to the game.

Another great feature on the world map is the ability to use items. If you aren't doing to well on a level, you can use an item on the world map which will ''help you on your way'' (as toad says).

There's not too much to say about the controls. It is pretty much perfect. Most players won't have any trouble controlling Mario or Luigi while playing this game. Everything is easy to do.

While the graphics in SMB3 aren't a big enhancement from SMB2, they are still great. Mario and Luigi are very well animated. The backgrounds are very colorful and lively. The enemies are always distinguishable no matter what world you are in. There are no complaints in the graphics department.

The sound is also lively. Although SMB3 doesn't have the best soundtrack, all the tunes are catchy and never get old. The classic Mario jump sound is back, as well as the ''grabbing coin'' sound and the ''getting big'' sound. All the sounds have good quality.

SMB3 has excellent replay value. There are a ton of levels, secrets, items, and mini-games. There is also a great two player mode, which is much better than the SMB two player mode. A lot of the levels may seem small, but if you take the time to explore them, you'll realized just how big they actually are.

After playing this game for years, I only have one complaint. At times, the airship levels can be a pain. You have to wait of the screen to move forward, which sometimes becomes very annoying. If you die in an airship level, you'll have to start all the way back at the beginning an go through 5 minutes of slow-paced action. This is my only complaint for this game, even though it is not a big one.

SMB3 is a masterpiece. I don't know how some people can give it less than an 8 (oh well, it's their opinion). SMB3 is less than ten dollars at FuncoLand. Do yourself a favor, forget all that PS2 and Dreamcast garbage and buy this game. Like I always say: why pay 40 dollars for a bad game when you can pay 4 dollars for a great game? SMB3 is legendary, don't miss out on this great title.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/01, Updated 03/10/01