Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) review "I wouldn't be the first to say that it was worth all the marketing hype."

When I was a kid, I used to wonder why Super Mario Bros 3 looked and sounded so much better than any of the games before it. Better graphics, better music, more powerups, larger worlds and more characters to wonder about. It turns out that the answer was simple: Better and faster organization of resources, or in technical terms, an on-cartridge memory mapper.

Nintendo was banking heavily on the success of its latest Bros adventure. So heavily, in fact, that they produced a now infamous movie, known as The Wizard (1998), as a marketing vehicle. I was one with the hype and totally into it, but even I knew the Power Glove never worked that well. But who cared? Super Mario Bros 3 was every bit as expansive, challenging and inventive as we hoped it would be.

Which was an pretty "easy" win for Nintendo since no one knew what to expect. After the bizzare fever dream that was Super Mario Bros 2, who knew what was coming down the pipes? Thankfully it was just different and new enough that we would be able to dive into it without too much xenophobia. Everything old was new, and everything new was exciting and never done before on the system that just kept on giving.

The Nintendo Entertainment System really was an incredibly flexible piece of kit for its day. It's possible to go back and enjoy some of the best it had to offer, still retaining the charm and character of its 8-bit personality. Aww, look at how I anthropomorphized it! Adorable.

But look, that's how I feel about the system and its games, as will many others. Those titles deserve a playable option for Nintendo's modern consoles. I get that. Mind you, none of that powerful nostalgia would be possible if not for the innovations of the day in the late 1990s, so let's have a gander at them.

The biggest change for me was the soundtrack, sliding in touches of sampled drums and bongos here and there to accent a particularly upbeat series of melodies that are no less than iconic, now. They were the pinnacle utilization of the NES Audio Processor Unit, and Koji Kondo's lively melodies set the standard for everything that would follow. Choose a different genre if you dare, but it's got to be this catchy to ride your nostalgia train or else disappear into the sea of forgotten games.

The NES limited onscreen 52 colour display required relatively simplistic designs that resulted in a style that is now instantly recognizable. Let's just say that a genre popped up in its wake and leave it at that. Mario and Luigi have never looked better or been animated more fluidly before. I remember being quite impressed that they skid, sliding on one foot in a bundle of arms and legs when you abruptly changed direction.

It's details like this that keep you wondering what else they've thrown in. I remember balking at the idea that Super Mario Bros was a cartoon when my Mom point that out. It was nowhere near as well animated as any of the Bugs Bunny cartoons I loved so much. I admitted she was right and we laughed about it when I introduced her to Super Mario Bro 3 where the comparison was undoubtedly accurate.

Since then only Super Mario Bros Wonder has managed to capture that sort of visual expressiveness. It wasn't just the Bros, of course. Everything was more varied and interesting. Not only did we have Hammer Bros with personality, they also came in big types, fire types and sometimes threw boomerangs. It was especially frustrating to try and keep track of the Bro and the 'rang at the same time, at first.

The levels. Oh the levels. Every platform was poofy and screwed into the wall like it was all a stage play. I didn't see that when I played, back then. I just thought how neat it was to be able to drop behind the background using the white platforms. Nintendo had put the thought into it, and as players we spent decades unravelling the whole thing. Floating platforms were more dynamic, too, and moved along lines in the background. Crazy stuff.

We were introduced to auto-scrolling levels, ice levels, water levels that interacted with floating islands, clouds, undergound passages. Castles and cloud connected towers. Grumpy little plants that you couldn't walk on or kill. Some even chased you. Chain chomps that wanted to. But you had new powerups and plenty of options.

We called it the racoon tail (leaf), not knowing that it was, in fact, a Tanooki. Whatever that was. I tried to teach my Mom how to fly, and I remember how much patience I had to have for her to figure it out. Then how happy we were when she did. It took her a long time to learn to beat that game, but she earned her chops. I was a proud son of a gaming Mom. (Still am.)

Let's not forget that old reliable mainstay, the fire flower. Also the new frog suit, which was kinda silly, and the hope-you-can-keep-it Hammer Bros Suit. Rarity sometimes breeds cool factor. Take notes, developers, though most of us know the drill by now. The most rare powerups of all were the P-Wing (P-what?) and the Tanooki Suit, a minor reskin of the Tanooki leaf that put you in a bear-like suit.

Of course, how dare we forget the floating battleship end of world level? Wait. King Bowser's got kids? Since when? Well, anyway, we get to stomp on them, but that was not so easy. They are genuinely harder to beat than most bosses in recent releases (as of this writing). If you failed, that ship would go careening across the map and so help you if you skipped any levels on your way to the castle.

Which, naturally, brings us to the most drastic advancement in the series: The Overworld Map. Did you ever notice that the overworld melody was less than thirty seconds long? Yeah, as soon as your parents asked you to turn it down. It might not have been perfect, but it sure was fun. The entire affair was laid out like a board game and the situation of each level gave you some idea of its content.

If it were on land, you could expect a like-type platforming challenge. Put it on water and you might be swimming desperately to the end. There were so many different types and it was such a change to actually be able to mentally prepare for the sort of experience you were getting into. The creativity on display in this game was genre defining.

I wouldn't be the first to say that SMB3 was worth all the marketing hype. Going back to it I find that I am still impressed by the variety and scope of level design, enemy characters and puzzle challenges. The reward system still encourages as you play, rewarding you with in-level card rewards, and overworld games of chance and memory testing to add to your extra life stash.

Which, by the way; SMB3 is harder than any in the series before it, demanding more of your skills and better management of your resources as you collect and store powerups for later use. Bowser ain't just hopping on a bridge waiting for you a swing an axe at his rump. He's prepared to give you the stomping you deserve, if you're not wary.

The never-done-before charm of SMB3 was powerful, but there's no mistaking that the game was expertly crafted to challenge you every leap down the path to your ultimate victory. This title deserves its place in the annuls of history's finest adventures and is still a thrilling romp if you decide to give it a chance.

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Community review by hastypixels (October 14, 2025) Retro, and moreso all the time.