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Super Mario Bros. 3 Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary Today

Zippo

Zippo

Banned
Dec 8, 2017
8,256
images


On this day in Japan, Mario's 3rd (technically 4th) big adventure hit the land of the rising sun, and the rest is history. Many believe Super Mario Bros. 3 to not only be the best game in the series, and not only the best Mario game ever released, at least in the 2D realm, but the best video game ever made. I don't personally fall into those camps, but I can't and will not ever deny that Super Mario Bros 3 is an absolute masterpiece. Masterfully designed from top to bottom, music that still hasn't left my mind, power ups galore. It introduced many series staples, including Boos, Chain Chomps, the world map feature, as well as finalizing the Mario Bros. designs. They got their blue overalls starting with this game, and they have remained in those outfits 30 years later. The effects of the game are still being felt today and it has never not been a top contender in "best game of all time" lists. There was a freaking movie made to advertise it, for fuck's sake. It remains one of Nintendo's most popular and important titles.

What say you guys? What do you think of SMB3 and the legacy it's left behind?
 

Deleted member 3017

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Oct 25, 2017
17,653
It may not be the best Mario game or the best 2D platformer, but Super Mario Bros. 3 pretty much defines both.
 

Deleted member 46641

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Aug 12, 2018
3,494
It might not be the best NES Mario, but it has an important legacy and impact. Throwaway Easter eggs in this game have been more impactful to the industry than entire developers in that era.
 
Ninjadom

Ninjadom

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,195
London, UK
The way in which Super Mario Bros was refined from 1 & Japanese 2, to 3 is absolutely incredible. And 3 isn't too far off 4/Super Mario World.

Plus I also watched this a couple of weeks ago.

wizard_SG00642_C.jpg
 
Teeny

Teeny

Member
Oct 26, 2017
686
UK
I can't remember a time in my life where I didn't play this game. I think I was about 3 when my dad got the NES and this was my favourite of the games he had for it.

A run through nowadays is like the best homemade comfort food. So good. It may have been superseded by better platformers but it will always be my personal number 1.
 

Deleted member 2254

user requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
21,467
GOAT 2D Super Mario game, one of the finest games ever too. It just has the perfect balance between items, it just feels and looks so great. I feel that the ones more focused on using Yoshi and abilities, while good, were less focused. SMB3 was basically the peak of the original Super Mario design, and in a way it's sad they failed to meaningfully update it in decades now.
 

Deleted member 31873

Banned
Nov 8, 2017
3,532
I guess it must've been amazing when it came out, but I only played the SNES version in Super Mario All-Stars, at which point I'd already been spoiled by Super Mario World, so SMB3 never really felt special to me.

Also, I don't know if there's much difference between the two versions aside from visuals and audio?
 
Poimandres

Poimandres

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,872
Masozi said:
It might not be the best NES Mario, but it has an important legacy and impact. Throwaway Easter eggs in this game have been more impactful to the industry than entire developers in that era.
Click to expand...
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In what universe is this not the best NES Mario game? I certainly don't want to visit that place.

It's better than SMW for me as well.

Would have been mind obliterating back in 1988. It certainly impressed me when I first saw it around 1990. It's also outrageous thinking about the level of progression from 1988 to 1998 in games... 2008 to 2018? Not so much.
 
woopWOOP

woopWOOP

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Oct 26, 2017
2,654
Europe's release was about 3 years later, which was also about the time my cousin introduced me to the NES. I pretty much know the game as long as I know console gaming.

Didn't do a proper no-level-skip complete playthrough of the whole game until a few years ago. It was great, the game really holds up.

Also the Koopalings are great and I'm glad they were brought back
 
Metalgus

Metalgus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,087
I was thinking 'this cant be right, I was older then that when it came out in Canada' so I checked the release dates on Wiki and wow, talk about a localization delay:
  • JP: October 23, 1988
  • NA: February 12, 1990
  • PAL: August 29, 1991
This wouldnt fly these days for such a big first party title.
 
Lucifonz

Lucifonz

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Oct 27, 2017
2,132
United Kingdom
Metalgus said:
I was thinking 'this cant be right, I was older then that when it came out in Canada' so I checked the release dates on Wiki and wow, talk about a localization delay:
  • JP: October 23, 1988
  • NA: February 12, 1990
  • PAL: August 29, 1991
This wouldnt fly these days for such a big first party title.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I remembered this a few weeks ago when looking up Pokemon's birthday. It's crazy just how far apart regional releases used to be vs where we're at now. A few days now seems like craziness.
 
OP
OP
Zippo

Zippo

Banned
Dec 8, 2017
8,256
Metalgus said:
I was thinking 'this cant be right, I was older then that when it came out in Canada' so I checked the release dates on Wiki and wow, talk about a localization delay:
  • JP: October 23, 1988
  • NA: February 12, 1990
  • PAL: August 29, 1991
This wouldnt fly these days for such a big first party title.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yeah, it's pretty insane they took this long with it but they wanted some space between Mario 2 USA and 3.
 
RetroCCN

RetroCCN

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Oct 26, 2017
896
For my money, still the greatest game ever made. As close to perfection as gaming can get. And still fun to play all these years later.
 
BGBW

BGBW

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Oct 25, 2017
15,280
Metalgus said:
I was thinking 'this cant be right, I was older then that when it came out in Canada' so I checked the release dates on Wiki and wow, talk about a localization delay:
  • JP: October 23, 1988
  • NA: February 12, 1990
  • PAL: August 29, 1991
This wouldnt fly these days for such a big first party title.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's funny how the Wizard's "first" look at the game was after the Japanese release.
 
bjork

bjork

Member
Oct 27, 2017
887
I knew a kid who had the import version pre-US release and he was going on about flying and turning into statues and stuff. No one believed him, but as we gradually all got over to his house to see it, it was true. Pretty mindblowing at the time, still a great game now.
 
Jazzem

Jazzem

Member
Feb 2, 2018
2,684
Played through this again on Switch, still amazing <3 Limited myself to not using inventory items, damn that became a difficult stipulation come the latter worlds D: Might still to this day have one of the most difficult final worlds of any Mario, though ironically the final castle isn't too bad.

I'm still a Mario World guy at heart but this isn't far behind
 
eXistor

eXistor

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Oct 27, 2017
12,303
I still remember buying the game with my mom. Good times. Recently replayed it again and it's still just so damn good.
 
Hayama Akito

Hayama Akito

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Oct 25, 2017
1,326
And this was delayed for like a year and a half in the US... 1988, damn. What a masterpiece.

Metalgus said:
I was thinking 'this cant be right, I was older then that when it came out in Canada' so I checked the release dates on Wiki and wow, talk about a localization delay:
  • JP: October 23, 1988
  • NA: February 12, 1990
  • PAL: August 29, 1991
This wouldnt fly these days for such a big first party title.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I'm not 100% sure but I heard like a decade ago that It was heavily delayed because there was a serious shortage of ROMs in 1988.
 
Ninjadom

Ninjadom

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,195
London, UK
AgainstTheCurrent said:
Never understood the love for it, to be honest.

Mario didn't get great until World.
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Come on, that isn't true. A lot of what was seen in Super Mario Bros 3 was just further refined in World.

Mario could fly in 3, okay so he got an actual cape and flew like a superhero in World.
The levels were extended to play longer in World because memory restrictions made levels shorter in 3.
The Koopa Kids are all already there in 3, later expanded upon in World.
The world map was a flat 2D map later given a bit of 3D perspective in World.

World did bring Yoshi, a spare power up, Ghost Houses and other new elements. But most elements had already been there with 3.
 
lowlifelenny

lowlifelenny

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,408
It's not my fav 2D Mario. It's not even my fav NES Mario. But it's insanely good, and its impact at the time can't be understated. It was a phenomenon.
 
elzeus

elzeus

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,887
They need to decouple this classic from the Switch Online service and offer it as a buyable standalone game asap.
 
Fergus Mac Roich

Fergus Mac Roich

Member
Jun 2, 2018
812
Northern Ireland
A classic. It may have been surpassed, but it is still a significant moment in this franchise. I think it might be better than Super Mario World, honestly.

It has brilliant replayability if you want that. It has a lot of secrets in it. World 8 is beast. That airship armada level was nerve shredding.
 
Peru

Peru

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,130
Best 2D platformer ever.

On another level entirely from Super Mario World (which is not top 3 2D Mario)
 
Dragonyeuw

Dragonyeuw

Member
Nov 4, 2017
4,375
Think I'll grab it off eshop for my 3ds in honor of the occasion. It's been light-years since I played it. And holy fuck this makes me feel old, thanks OP
 
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