Super Mario Bros. 3: Best NES game ever

Like other 80's kids, my first taste of Super Mario Bros. 3 was through the 1989 movie The Wizard. Due to the lag between its 1988 Japanese release and 1990 American port, Nintendo of America was able to unveil the highly-anticipated third installment in the most popular video-game series via a movie. In The Wizard, starring The Wonder Years' Fred Savage, a boy goes on an unsupervised, underage road trip in California so his mentally-disturbed little brother can play in a video-game tournament. The final competition requires the contestants to get a high score in the yet-to-be-released-stateside SMB3. Though a critical failure, the movie made a big impression on me. 

Super Mario Bros. 3 is on the shortlist for the title of Best Video Game Ever. It vastly expands, improves, and refines everything that made Super Mario Bros. great, with more levels, secrets, items, enemies, and bosses. Many levels scroll both vertically and horizontally, and Mario and Luigi can backtrack. Although SMB2 had vertical segments, they were one screen wide (and exiting either side caused the character to appear on the other side, like in an arcade game).

One of the game's strengths is its items. The Super Mushroom, Starman, and Fire Flower return alongside five additions: the Super Leaf, Frog Suit, Tanooki Suit, Magic Wing (aka P-Wing), and Hammer Suit. The Super Leaf is the star of the game: it transforms Mario or Luigi into a racoon, so he can fly for several seconds. To fly, he must first run, filling his P (= power) meter. When the meter is full, tapping A makes him rise. When the meter runs out, tapping A makes him flutter in the air, so he descends slowly. It also swings his tail, which can strike blocks or enemies. The Magic Wing is even more powerful, transforming into a racoon and filling the P-meter the entire level, allowing Mario or Luigi to fly above every obstacle. Wearing the Frog Suit, he swims fast, and you control him directly with the d-pad rather than having to tap A. He can swim against currents, reaching secret areas. The rare Hammer Suit lets him throw hammers like a Hammer Brother! In addition, he can duck down and protect himself with his helmet. Finally, in the Tanooki Suit Mario and Luigi can fly, and they can briefly become an invulnerable statue (hold ↓ and press B).

Ludwig von Koopa

Another new feature is P-switches. When pressed, all coins turn into brick blocks and all brick blocks into coins for a few seconds. Additional, blue coins may also appear, and in some cases hidden doors as well. P-switches enable quite a few interesting new level designs.

Super Mario Bros. 3 introduces world maps. Each has multiple routes, so you don't have to play every level. Warp pipes connect different parts of the map, and paths can be blocked by rocks or locked doors. A locked door only opens when you beat the nearby fortress. Each world has 1-3 fortresses. They are like Bowser stages from SMB1 and often labyrinthine. At the end is the Boom-Boom mini-boss, which must be stomped on three times. He is very easy, even if he has wings as in the later worlds. At the end of each world is the castle, but it isn't a level. Inside, a Toad explains that the king has been transformed by his own magic wand, which was pilfered by one of the seven new Koopalings.

The Koopalings were originally described as Bowser's children.

Each Koopaling rides an airship, which serves as the boss level. These are a great addition: the screen scrolls automatically (something not seen in the first two games), and Mario or Luigi must avoid Bullet Bills, cannons, fire sticks, and wrench-throwing Rocky Wrenches. A pipe at the ship's end leads to the Koopaling, who uses the wand to shoot at Mario. All except Lenny have a second attack: for example, Wendy throws bouncing rings. Three stomps to the head will defeat the Koopaling. After each stomp, they retreat into their shell and jump around invulnerable for a few seconds. If you die on an airship, it whooshes off to somewhere else on the map (possibly behind an uncleared level). Once a plumber beats the Koopaling, he gets the wand, and the king turns "back to his old self again" (thank heavens!). He receives a letter from Princess Toadstool (as we Americans knew her), in which she encloses an item and offers advice or a cryptic clue about where to find stolen whistles.

Bonus stages also bestow items. Items are stored in an inventory that can be accessed on the map by pressing B. Toad's houses present three chests, one of which may be opened for an item. Spade panels contain a simple reflex-based slot-machine game, in which two (mushroom), three (flower), or five (star) 1-ups may be won. A matching game, marked by an "N" on a spade (it's anyone's guess what the "N" stands for) pops up every 80,000 points. Eighteen face-down cards are presented: you get three tries to make matches, each awarding the item shown. Hammer Bros. rove the first six worlds (harder enemies appear in 7 and 8). They move locations whenever a level is cleared. These lead to single-screen battles: victory bestows an item. Under the right conditions, a Hammer Brother can be replaced by a Treasure Ship filled with over 100 coins. Finally, in each world except 8, if you collect enough coins in a certain level, the mysterious white Toad's house will appear, containing an anchor or a P-wing.

Gotta save these Frog Suits for later.

Five items are used only on the map: the hammer, anchor, Jugem's cloud, music box, and whistle. The hammer breaks blocks. Jugem's cloud lets Mario bypass (without clearing) one level. Similarly, the music box puts enemies on the map to sleep. The anchor stops the airship moving.

Boom-Boom is no threat.

The game has three whistles: two are hidden near the beginning of the game and the third in a secret area at the end of world 2. The whistle is the same from The Legend of Zelda (even the notes played are the same): a whirlwind whisks the Bros. to a special world with warp pipes. If Mario blows the whistle in the first world, he can reach worlds 2, 3, and 4. If it's blown in one of those worlds, world 5, or world 6, he can access worlds 5, 6, and 7. Finally, if he blows it in world 7 or while in the warp world itself (requiring two whistles), he can reach world 8. The designers put two whistles at the beginning of the game precisely so players could quickly go to whichever world they want. This is handy as the game has over 90 (!) levels but no save or password system! In The Wizard (spoiler alert!) the boy finds the first whistle and uses it to warp to world 4. For some reason this shoots him ahead on the leaderboard (even though warping doesn't yield points), allowing him to win the tournament.

The climactic competition!

At the end of every non-boss stage, instead of a flagpool as in the first game, there is a black area (I do not know why) with a box holding a "card" that rapidly changes. If Mario runs and then jumps up into the box, it will always yield the star card. Three stars give 5-up, three flowers 3-up, and three mushrooms 2-up. If the cards don't match, Mario gets a 1-up.

Interestingly, in a 2-player game players can exchange, steal, and lose cards by playing a mini-game that recreates the Mario Bros. arcade game! On a player's turn, a little M or L appears on the map where the other player is. When Mario/Luigi is on that letter, if either player presses A, both enter a random stage of the original Mario Bros. (with SMB3 graphics and physics). In this mode, whenever a brother gets bumped from below or jumped on by the other, one of his cards bounces out. Whoever touches it gets it. As a fan of Mario Bros., I love the inclusion of this mini-game. I wish it could be played in single-player. (Fortunately, a complete modern version is in Super Mario Advance).

The angry sun recurs in 8-2.

A huge strength of this game is the design of the worlds. The first is a grassy land with simple levels that introduce the game. The second is a desert, which has some of the most interesting levels, enemies, and music of the whole game. Notably, one stage contains an evil sun! At first, you wonder why the sun is there in the corner—and why does it look so so mad!? After a while, it begins circling, then suddenly it swoops down and attacks! Mario can jump it or destroy it with a Koopa shell. The same level also has dust devils (whirlwinds). If he runs at them and then jumps, he gets shot high into the air!

Beware Big Bertha!

The third world is a water world and has some tricky stages. 3-5 introduces Big Bertha, a giant Cheep Cheep who can swallow Mario or Luigi in one gulp! A hammer can break a block on the map, behind which floats a raft. Sail to the right to discover two Toad's houses and two spade panels.

World 4 is giant land: the enemies are four times bigger. Even the blocks are big. 4-6 is a two-for-one: doors connect identical, parallel levels, where the only difference is that one has normal-sized enemies and the other giant ones.

Goomba's shoe, the ultimate one-and-done (until Super Mario Maker)

World 5 has two parts. It begins with two green areas connected by a bridge. Mario ascends a tower to reach the second part: a land in the clouds. Here you can find one of my favorite levels: 5-6, which is the sole level that contains Para-Beetles. These are like winged red Buzzy Beetles. When Mario alights upon a Para-Beetle, it dips, then begins ascending. Super Mario Bros. 3 is rich with elements that appear only a couple times, but the Para-Beetles are a one-and-done. So, too, is the delightful Goomba's shoe in 5-3 (called Kuribo's shoe in the first printing of the game, Kuribo being the Japanese name for Goomba). When Mario enters this giant green shoe, he can stand and jump atop spiky things. Unfortunately, he loses it at the end of the level. It is incredible that this game, in addition to having nearly 100 levels, contains so little repetition. There is so much, they could have made two full games out of it.

Pipe land (world 7)

World 6 is an ice world. The game gets harder at this point. This is the longest world in the game, featuring ten ordinary levels and three fortresses. 6-7 and 6-10 have frozen coins, which can be melted with fireballs from the Fire Flower. World 7 is a pipe world with many Piranha Plants. Instead of Hammer Bros., the map has Piranhas (which don't move). These are tricky mini-levels filled with Piranha Plants and Munchers. This is a good time to use Jugem's clouds.

World 8 is a challenging land of darkness. It's filled with tanks, boats, cannons, and Bob-Ombs (from SMB2!). In one map area, a giant hand can grab Mario and pull him into a mini-level with a Boomerang Brother at the end. Mario must beat multiple auto-scroll levels set on tanks and ships before he even reaches 8-1. The ship level can be cheesed by swimming underneath every ship. The world's fortress is a rather confusing (in a good way) maze. Bowser's castle is arguably easier. Two paths lead to Bowser (in a slightly different room). He shoots fireballs and every few seconds jumps high in the air then slams down, trying to crush Mario. The floor in the room's center is made of layers of bricks, which break when he lands. Eventually he creates a hole, and you can bait him into dropping into it. A door opens, behind which the princess sits.

She's a jokester.

The game's highlight is its incredible variety and volume of levels, enemies, and items. It's lightyears beyond the first game. But both share the same key trait: perfectly designed levels with precision platforming at a balanced difficulty level. Another strength is the graphics, which are among the best the NES has to offer, and the excellent music tracks. I may be colored by nostalgia, but every one of them to me embodies classic 8-bit music. They are so catchy! Finally, the Koopaling bosses were fun, because each is a little different.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the greatest video games ever made. Playing it again, for the umpteenth time, in 2026, I thought about how, not only does it hold up, but it is still better than the vast majority of modern games. Only two videos games I've played would I consider possibly better: its sequel, Super Mario World, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The game was remade for Super Mario All-Stars, which features graphical and auditory upgrades and, crucially, adds a save feature, making it by far the superior version. It can also be played on the Game Boy Advance (with some bonus levels if you have the Wii U version!). However, I still like playing the NES version for nostalgia. Either way you can't go wrong with Super Mario Bros. 3!

Grade: A+

Linked Reviews

"Flawless level design, precise controls and a challenging, yet rewarding gameplay experience all combine to create what remains a timeless 2D platforming classic."
— Martin Watts, Nintendo Life, 10/10

"Super Mario Bros. 3 does everything an NES game possibly can, and pushes the NES to the very limits of its capabilities, and we can unequivocally call it the greatest NES game of all time."
— IGN, #1 of Top 100

"Super Mario Bros. 3 deserves all the praise and acclaim it receives. It is the perfection of the platforming genre, having taken the structure of the first Mario game and mixed it with some of the zaniness and creativity of the sequel, while adding extremely well-thought-out levels, new gameplay elements, very fun power-ups, and surprises like the Gooma shoe."
— Pat Contri, Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library, 5/5