' (sometimes referred to as ' or ') was the last major Mario video game made for the Nintendo Family Computer (in Japan ) and the Nintendo Entertainment System (in North America and Europe ). It was released on October 23 , 1988 in Japan and February 12 , 1990 in the United States . It was directed by Shigeru Miyamoto , and the music was composed by Koji Kondo .
It features the first appearances of Bowser's children. Mario and Luigi have to save seven kingdoms of the Mushroom World from the Koopa Kid s (or Koopalings) by recovering the magic wands that they stole from the seven kings, and also save Princess Peach/Princess Toadstool from the clutches of King Bowser .
Although widely regarded as being the best-selling video game of all time, the original is actually the best-selling video game, at 40.23 million copies compared to 's 17.28 million (as recognized by the 1, based on data given by Nintendo ).2 It is, however, the best-selling "standalone" video game, i.e., not bundled with a console.
Game mechanics
The game play is a return to the style of after the vast departure of the North American version of . The heroes can again jump on many enemies to destroy them, as well as take on many different forms by acquiring special items.
However, despite the familiar gameplay, is still a different game from its predecessor. More puzzles, enemies and secret areas were added to enhance difficulty.
Rather than simply move forward in the game in a linear fashion, Mario travels the Mushroom Kingdom via a map, which often splits into different paths, giving the player more of a choice of which levels to play. While on this map, Mario can acquire special items through " Toad (Nintendo character)/Toad Houses" and battles with Hammer Brother s, which are saved in an inventory, and can be used in between levels.
Furthermore, smaller mechanics are changed. For instance, as in but not the original , the player can travel backwards in a level in case they had missed a special area or item. introduced the further ability of the screen scroll diagonally (in , it can sometimes scroll vertically and sometimes scroll horizontally, but never in both manners at once).
Also, due to the increased difficulty, a luxury was given to the player, in the U.S. and European releases: if he had one of the "special" powers: Fire Mario, Raccoon Mario, Hammer Brother Mario, Tanooki Mario etc. - then took a hit, he would revert into Super Mario, allowing for an extra hit. This is contrary to the original and the Japanese release of , where if a player had been hit as Fiery Mario (or any other power-up mode), he would revert to regular Mario. This mechanic returned in the SNES title Super Mario World, but was removed in its GBA version.
Items
Like the original , Mario can use several different items to give him power-ups. These are acquired through various points in levels, Toad Houses, Princess Peach 's letters and other events.
Items that returned from :
*: Mario gains temporary invincibility. He is impervious to death by any means except lava and bottomless pits.
*: Mario doubles in size, can break bricks by hitting them from below, and can take one hit without dying.
*: As Fire Mario, he can throw fireballs that bounce across the ground.
*: At various points in levels, Mario and Luigi can find special mushrooms called 1-Up Mushrooms, which grant them an extra life. Super Mario Advance 4 's e-Reader function also came with four 1-Up e-Cards - one for a single 1-Up Mushroom (only acquirable through Wal*Mart , another for a 5-Up Mushroom, another for a 10-Up Mushroom, and a special promotional card, the 100-Up Mushroom.
Items and forms new to :
*: A Super Leaf gives Mario raccoon ears and a tail he can use to bat enemies. This power-up , like the "Tanooki" suit, is based on the mythical Japanese tanuki . By wagging his tail, Mario can descend slowly from a jump and by getting a running start, Mario can fly briefly.
*: Movement on land is hindered, but swimming is greatly facilitated and accelerated. Also allows Mario to swim against the current and into secret underwater pipes.
*: Allows Mario to fly, just like Raccoon Mario; can also turn into a statue briefly, which renders him temporarily invincible, by pressing and . This suit is based on the mythical Japanese beast, the tanuki . "Statue Mario" can be activated in midair and thus stomp many enemies other forms of Mario cannot (especially in castles and dungeons). Such enemies include, but are not limited to, "Boo," "Thwomp," "Stretch," and "Rotodisc." Needless to say, "Statue Mario" is also capable of stomping all other enemies that can be stomped by any other verison of Mario, although such a stomp will usually defeat an enemy entirely. For example, if a Koopa Troopa were to be stomped by "regular" Mario, it would simply lose its wings, duck into its shell, etc. "Staue Mario" would be able to defeat it in one stomp.
*: Mario can throw hammers, just like the Hammer Brothers from the original (The hammers are far more powerful than fireballs, as virtually any enemy can be killed with a hammer.) Also, when crouching Mario retreats into a shell, rendering him invincible to fireball attacks from above.
* (or , after Goomba's Japanese name): A giant, green boot, Mario can jump inside and stomp on Piranha Plants and Venus Fire Traps to kill them. He can also walk across Munchers (long lines of Piranha Plants acting like spikes). His jumping ability is also augmented. This is available only in level 5-3, and is lost when the player clears the level. The only way to acquire this item is to punch the block the Shoe-wearing Goomba is standing on from underneath to force it out; stomping the Goomba will make both Goomba and Shoe fall off the screen.
*: (Map-only item) Short for "Power wing", the P-Wing turns Mario into Raccoon Mario and, for one level, keeps his power meter (normally filled by a running start) constantly filled. Its most basic use is allowing the player to fly over entire levels unthreatened. If Mario is hit by an enemy while in P-wing state, he will lose both the Raccoon power and the filled power meter. If the P-Wing is used while Mario is Tanooki Mario, he will NOT lose the Tanooki power. If Mario completes the level without taking a hit, he loses the P-Wing power in the next level but retains the Raccoon/Tanooki power.
* (or , after Lakitu's Japanese name) (Map-only item): Using this item changes Mario's icon on the world map to a Lakitu cloud. Mario may now move past one uncompleted level. Upon doing so, the icon reverts to Mario. If Mario dies in the next attempted level, he will be sent to the previously completed spot on the world map, and the Lakitu's Cloud will have been wasted unless he can reach a warp pipe, as the act of entering it will set his "return" point to the pipe instead of the previous completed level.
*: (Map-only item) Using a Magic Whistle takes Mario to the Warp Zone (World 9) map, where he must then choose a world to warp to. There are three Magic Whistles to be acquired in : one in 1-3, one in World 1 Minifortress, and one in a World 2 Fire Brothers duel. When used, the Magic Whistle plays the same tune as 's Whistle, and in both games the whistle summons a tornado that sweeps up the hero and dumps him elsewhere. Using the whistle from World 1 allows access to Worlds 2, 3 and 4, using it in Worlds 2 through 6 allows access to worlds 5, 6 and 7 and using the whistle in Worlds 7 or 8 or the Warp Zone (World 9) allows access to World 8. This means one can skip right to World 8 from World 1, using both the whistles provided, and is by some people considered as a form of cheat code/cheating . Naturally, such a valuable item is well-hidden in each of its three stages. Often, Mario must figure out a way to go "off" of the visible screen in able to secure a Whistle.
*: (Map-only item) Anchors can be found on the white Airships that appear when the player collects all the coins in a level, and in even-numbered worlds' hidden white Toad houses. When a player dies while attempting a Doomship, it relocates itself to a random vacant spot on the world map. If a player has skipped a level in the world (using Lakitu's Cloud or otherwise), he might find the Doomship's new location inaccessible. Using an anchor prevents the current world's Doomship from relocating. This is especially useful in World 5, where the Doomship can "hide" in the sky above the ground-levels, where it is inaccessible from either the ground or the clouds. Here, one can use the anchor to keep the Doomship from permanently "hiding" in this area, where it would essentially end the game by making itself impossible to reach.
*: (Map-only item) This item changes the overworld music to a different theme, a shortened version of the original Super Mario Bros. theme, and puts all the Hammer Bros. on the map to sleep for several turns, causing them to remain in the same place on the map. Mario can walk past the Hammer Bros. while they sleep.
*: (Map-only item) This hammer can break impassable stones on the world map. In World 2, this tool is necessary to gain one of the three aforementioned "Warp Whistles". A buzzer will sound if Mario attempts to use a hammer at a place without a rock.
Note that the only purpose of World 9 is to get you to other worlds, and players can only get to it by using one of the magic whistles.
Popularity
With its expansive gameplay, is often considered Nintendo's masterpiece for the NES, and is routinely voted one of the Computer and video games that have been considered the greatest ever/greatest video games of all time . It sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, a record at the time for video games that were sold separately from their consoles.
Several months before its North American release, a "sneak peek" of sorts was given to the American public in the movie ( 1989 ), where the game was featured as the final lap of a video game competition. Additionally, the game appears in the feature film , in which two of the dog's owners are seen simultaneously playing the game.
In Japan, there was a trilogy of OVA s depicting characters from the game acting out Japanese folk tales. DiC Entertainment also produced a Saturday morning cartoon titled Super Mario Bros. television seriesThe Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3/ , a follow-up to their previous animated Mario series.
In 2003, a gamer named Morimoto beat SMB3 in slightly over 11 minutes, using warp whistles to skip through most of the game and taking advantage of various glitches. He used an emulator to record his work and undo his mistakes, which made some viewers of the video question whether it was a worthy accomplishment. On his /http://soramimi.egoism.jp/emu.htm' onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank'); return false;"> website (in Japanese), (in English) he mentions it was played mostly video frame/frame by frame , thus essentially pausing many times to perform perfect moves. However, most viewers agreed that it was an impressive sight regardless, and the video rejuvenated an interest in the classic game. The video also inspired a lot of similar emulator video-recording on various games; SMB3 itself has had that run improve by about 30 seconds.
Remakes
received a graphical and audio facelift for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) (and in Japan, the Super Famicom ) in the (also ) cartridge of 1993 . On the Super NES version, the Spade panels on the map are animated. The action scene (numbered) panels sparkle. The airships have thunder effects and they are all the same color. The king transformations have also been changed. Most notably, the king of World 7 was transformed into a Yoshi in the Super Famicom/SNES version of the game, but he was transformed into a Piranha Plant in the Famicom/NES version. A save feature was also added for the Super Famicom/SNES version. For the aforementioned world name table, uses the original world names.
A similar version appears on the Game Boy Advance as . It includes the updated original and the ability to connect with the link cable to battle against each other. Newly created levels based on , and demonstrations of how to complete certain levels can be downloaded through e-Reader cards.
Secrets
* In outdoor levels where the scenery includes large colored blocks (such as levels 1 and 3 of World 1), keeping Mario crouched down on top of a block for several seconds causes him to fall through the block. He now appears behind the scenery instead of in front of it (although is still vulnerable to enemies). If this can be sustained until the end of level 1-3, Mario can walk right past the end, to reach a hidden mushroom house.
* If you complete a world while wearing a frog suit, a tanooki suit or a hammer brother suit, the king will say something different each time.
* The final island group in World 3 is shaped like the islands of Japan , with a gold coin in the approximate location of Tokyo and the castle in the approximate location of Kyoto , where Nintendo is based.
Glitches
* Although hinted at in an official Nintendo's Player's Guide, the wall jump exploit has obtained relatively little publicity over the years. The glitch occurs when Mario jumps towards a solid wall, touching it at a certain point in the arc so that he appears to temporarily pause in midair, as if stumbling onto some invisible foothold. Mario normally drops to the ground after this quick display, but it is possible to time a second jump off the non-existent foothold. This procedure, although difficult to successfully execute, can be used to scale large walls such as the one at the start of level 6-9. In theory, this glitch could be exploited to serve as a safety net in levels with instantly-fatal traps such as pits and lava. But due to the split-second precision required for the maneuver, only a genuine master would be able to utilize it to this degree.
Trivia
The tune which plays when Mario uses the Magic Whistle is identical to the melody used for the Magic Recorder in The Legend of Zelda . Koji Kondo , composer for SMB3 and the creator of the Mario theme, also composes the music for Nintendo's Zelda-franchise.
Dummy content in Super Mario Bros. 3
contains some dummy content that was created during the development process but removed from the final version. Using tools such as the Game Genie , it is possible to reveal this material.
Lost levels
It is possible to access levels that were programmed for the game, but were deleted from the final version. Some of these levels feature lost enemies that are also programmed into the game. The level that sheds some light on the subject is the level that can be accessed with the Game Genie code AOZULT. This code forces entry into a lost level found inside the panel in World 1. The level seems like it was deleted from World 6 for being too short and too easy.3 This is generally true of all the levels, especially ones matching motifs that appear later in the game. This suggests that these may either have been in the early stages of development before being deleted from the completed game, developmental versions of in-game, final cut levels, or may have served some other purpose such as use in conjunction with development tools. The rest of the codes can be found here: SMB3 "Lost" Level Codes - PlanetNintendo.com's Warp Zone
Lost enemies
Along with the lost levels, there are also unused enemies.
*Gold Cheep-Cheeps - swim in groups, and are faster than their green brethren.4
*Green Parabeetles - fly faster than their red counterparts.5
Super Mario Bros. 3 Debug Mode
The Super Mario Bros. 3 Debug Mode can be accessed through the Game Genie code, KKKZSPIU. There are many things to do, as listed below.
* Start at any "World " ("Up" or "Down" + START).
* Start with 99 lives (Press the "A" button to add five lives to your total, the maximum is 99).
* Full inventory of every power up in the game on map screen.
* Select power ups (Press SELECT to switch power ups during a level).
* Wear Goomba's Shoe (Press SELECT while holding the "B" button).
* Unlimited time in level after time runs out.
* B + A + Down = Ending 1: Mario rescuing Princess Toadstool.
