Super Mario Bros. 3
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| Super Mario Bros. 3 | |
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo EAD |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Shigeru Miyamoto Takashi Tezuka |
| Series | Super Mario |
| Platform(s) | NES, SNES, VC, GBA |
| Release date | NES/Famicom JP October 23, 1988 NA February 12, 1990 EU August 29, 1991 Game Boy Advance JP 21 July 2003 NA October 21, 2003 EU October 17, 2003 AUS October 24, 2003 Virtual Console NA November 5, 2007 EU November 9, 2007 JP December 11, 2007 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E (Everyone, VC re-release). |
| Media | 3-megabit cartridge |
Super Mario Bros. 3 (スーパーマリオブラザーズ3 Sūpā Mario Burazāzu Surī?, sometimes referred to as Mario 3, SMB3, or Super Mario 3) is the fifth release in the Super Mario video game series. It was first released for the Famicom on October 23, 1988 in Japan, for the NES on February 12, 1990 in North America, and August 29, 1991 in Europe (also for the NES). It was re-released for the Virtual Console on the Wii on November 5, 2007,[1] and November 9, 2007 in Europe.[2]
The game was directed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, with music composed by Koji Kondo.
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[edit] History
Super Mario Bros. 3 introduces a number of advances to the Super Mario Bros. series: the addition of a map screen, minigames, and many new power-ups, enemies, and level types. The red-haired appearance for Bowser (which would become standard in every subsequent Mario title) was introduced in this game. It also features the first appearance of Bowser's children, the Koopalings. Unlike the game Americans know as Super Mario Bros. 2, it remains true to the original Super Mario Bros. gameplay formula. It consistently places high on "greatest games of all time" lists.
Super Mario Bros. 3 was originally introduced to the American public during the climax of the NES-themed movie, The Wizard.[3] [4]
Today, Super Mario Bros. 3 remains the best-selling single video game that was not originally bundled with a console, with eighteen million copies sold. (However, it would later be packaged with the NES Control Deck, and sold as the "Challenge Set".)
[edit] Plot
As in most Mario games, the plot is minimal, existing mainly to serve the functions of the gameplay.
In Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario and Luigi are on a mission to rescue the seven kings of the seven worlds which neighbor the Mushroom Kingdom. Each of the kings has had his magic wand stolen by one of the Koopalings, who has turned him into a different type of animal. It's up to the Mario Bros. to enter the seven worlds, make their way to the Koopalings' airships, and take back the wands.
However, as Mario and Luigi learn at the end of world 7, these attacks are merely a diversion planned by Bowser, to get Mario and Luigi out of the way while he kidnaps Princess Toadstool (called Princess Peach in the Japanese versions). So it's up to Mario and Luigi to save the Princess once again.
[edit] Gameplay
Like the original Super Mario Bros. game, Super Mario Bros. 3 is divided into 8 worlds:
- World 1 = Grass Land
- World 2 = Desert Hill
- World 3 = Sea Side
- World 4 = Big Island
- World 5 = The Sky
- World 6 = Iced Land
- World 7 = Maze of Pipes
- World 8 = Dark Land: Castle of Koopa
Each level in a particular world has a characteristic of the world it is located in. The biggest difference is that the worlds are displayed on a map, which shows the available levels, Toad houses, enemies, and fortresses, among others. The order in which all these elements are arranged are not necessarily linear, which allows the players to skip them or play them in different order, if possible. Once a level is cleared, it cannot be replayed again, unless the game ends.
Each world contains in it a number of levels that Mario must navigate through. At the end of a level, there is a giant shadow with a box that appears and rapidly flashes a Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Star. Mario must hit this box to end a level. Whichever item is shown when Mario hits it, Mario gets a card of that type. Collecting any three cards gives one extra life. If Mario collects 3 Mushroom cards, he gets 2 extra lives. 3 Fire Flower cards give 3 extra lives and 3 Star cards give 5 extra lives. After the third card is collected, all three cards are erased.
A new addition to Super Mario Bros. 3 are fortresses and mini-fortresses. Each world has one fortress, which is where Mario meets the airship for that world initially. Each world also has mini-fortresses. Worlds 1 and 2 contain one mini-fortress, Worlds 3, 4, 5, and 7 have two, while World 6 has three mini-fortresses. World 8 has a mini-fortress also, but it contains other levels that seems like a mix between standard levels and mini-fortresses.
Each world (excluding World 8) also contains some Toad houses where Mario can enter and choose 1 of 3 boxes and receives the item contained in the box. There are two mini-games located in the game. Each world contains spade houses where Mario tries to line up 3 pieces of an item, either a Mushroom, a Fire Flower, or a Star. If Mario lines up a Mushroom, he receives 2 extra lives while a Fire Flower gives 3 extra lives and a Star gives 5 extra lives. During the progress of the game, each time Mario collects 80,000 points, a card game appears where Mario has to turn over two matching cards to receive the item located on the card.
An addition to the game allows users to carry items around while they travel throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, besides the standard powerup that can be obtained from blocks. Mario will pick up items throughout a level in a variety of ways. Such items include Mushrooms, Super Leaves, Power Stars, etc. One of the most powerful power-ups is the Tanooki suit which lets Mario changeinto a statue of Ksitigarbha which prevents him from being touched by nearly all enemies and kill them if he turned into the statue in midair and stomped them with it. These items can be either powerups to Mario, or tools that can only be used in the world map. While in the world map, Mario can select to use an item and then enter a level with that item active. On Worlds 1 to 7, there is a level where collecting a number of coins unlocks a special toad house that gives the user a special item. Achieving this goal on odd-numbered worlds gives you a P-Wing while even-numbered worlds yield an anchor. Worlds 1 to 6 also contain a few Hammer Brothers which yield an item when Mario defeats them. The Fire Brother (the only one in the game aside from 1 at the beginning of a level from World 8) on World 2 yields a warp whistle. In World 7, instead of Hammer Bro, there are Piranha Plant levels.
[edit] Development
[edit] Japanese and U.S. version differences
The following is a list of differences between the Japanese and North American versions of Super Mario Bros. 3.[5]
- Level start transitions
- Japanese version: When a level is selected on the Map screen, the screen is blanked with an iris fade-out, followed by an iris fade-in to display the level.
- North American version: The iris fade-in effect was replaced with a palette fade-in.
- World 1 Fortress, final area
- Japanese version: The final area of this Fortress has four higher spikes located below and to the right of the lower two.
- North American version: These four spikes were removed, the wall was extended two blocks to the left, and the door that goes to Boom Boom's room was moved one block to the right.
- King's castle throne room
- Japanese version: The castle throne room has three columns, the column shadows are to the right of the columns, the column beside the King is behind the stairs, Mario begins the level standing on the left side of the screen, the edge of the throne and tops of the stairs are light blue, the stairs are shorter, and the background is greenish-blue.
- North American version: There are only two columns, the column shadows were switched to the left, the column beside the King is in front, the chair edges and tops of the stairs are gold, the triangles in the background are a different size, Mario begins near the center of the screen, Toad has moved back a little, the stairs are longer, and the background color has changed colors slightly to light blue.
- Power-down
- Japanese version: Mario will revert to small Mario after taking a hit, no matter what power-up he has.
- North American version: If Mario takes a hit when he's Fire, Raccoon, or wearing one of the suits, he will return to being Super Mario rather than small Mario.
- Warp Whistle while riding a canoe
- Japanese version: the Canoe will be carried into the Warp Zone, and Mario will not be able to get back onto the Warp Island if he falls into the water of the Warp Zone. The only way he can continue is by using another Warp Whistle.
- North American version: No Canoe will be carried into the Warp Zone.
- Kuribo's Shoe
- Japanese version: When colliding with an enemy, Mario will lose the Shoe and will be reduced to small Mario if he is Super, Fire, Raccoon, or is wearing any of the other suits.
- North American version: Mario will only lose the shoe and still remain in the power-up condition he had when he got into the shoe.
- World 5-1
- Japanese version: At the end of World 5-1, Mario reaches a wall with a pipe sticking out of it. Mario must enter this pipe to reach a different part of the level containing the goal card.
- North American version: The end of World 5-1 does not contain a wall or pipe. The dark ending portion of the level was moved to the spot previously occupied by the wall. This particular change was made in response to a glitch that occurred in the Japanese version when Mario reached the area containing the goal and proceeded to fly over the left-hand wall in this area.
- World 8 Battleships
- Japanese version: If Mario drops into the water and manages to do a trick to swim all the way to the right of the final pipe, it will be extremely difficult for the player to get back out.
- North American version: A block was removed at the very top of the right wall. Thus, even if Mario falls into the water, he will still be able to get back up and continue. (However, the block is present in Super Mario All-Stars.)
[edit] Music and sound
The theme music during most of World 8 (as well as the Doomships) resembles Mars from Gustav Holst's The Planets.[citation needed]
The tune which plays when Mario uses the whistle is identical to the melody used for the Recorder in The Legend of Zelda, and in both games it summons a tornado that sweeps up the hero and dumps him elsewhere. Koji Kondo composed the music for both franchises. Also, the tune can be heard in the title theme to Ocarina of Time.
The second overworld theme is also the theme that plays in several "secret" levels in Super Mario Galaxy, along with others such as the Airship theme.[citation needed]
The theme song was sampled by Ambassadors of Funk for their song King of the Koopas, which was included on the album Super Mario Compact Disco.
[edit] Reception
Super Mario Bros. 3 is often regarded as one of the Nintendo Entertainment System's greatest games and is the second best selling game for the NES, after Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo Power rated the game #6 on their 200 Greatest Nintendo Games list and was #14 on Electronic Gaming Monthly. EGM writer Dan "Shoe" Hsu's comments on the game were "Many still believe this is the best Mario game ever!" Super Mario Bros. 3 was well received by fans, who complimented its many levels, clear graphics, music, new characters and power-ups. The game is still popular even today. It has seen many remakes and is a big seller on Nintendo's Virtual Console service.
Screwattack has ranked Super Mario Bros 3 the best Mario game of all time on their Top Ten Mario Games.
[edit] Remakes
[edit] BS Super Mario Bros. 3
In 1995 Nintendo released an add-on for the Super Famicom called the Satellaview, also known as the "BS-X" in Japan. One of the games for this system is a demo version of Super Mario Bros. 3 (known as BS Super Mario Collection), with enhanced graphics just like in Super Mario All-Stars. The game is not a copy of the original. It features some new features like "flower icons" and cartoon style pictures that appear occasionally, among other things.
[edit] Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario Bros. 3 received a graphical and audio facelift for the Super NES (SNES) (and in Japan, the Super Famicom) in the Super Mario All-Stars (also Super Mario Collection) 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, mostly to popular creatures from other SMB games. Most notably, the king of World 7 was transformed into a Yoshi in the Super Famicom/SNES version of the game, whereas in the Famicom/NES version he was transformed into a Piranha Plant. The color of Fiery Mario/Fiery Luigi (originally orange) was changed to match the colors of Fiery Mario/Fiery Luigi of Super Mario World (Red and White). A save feature was also added for the Super Famicom/SNES version.
[edit] Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
A similar version appears on the Game Boy Advance as Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. This version was developed by Nintendo R&D2. It is not completely faithful; there are several changes to the levels. It includes the updated original Mario Bros. and the ability to connect with the link cable for multiplayer battles. Newly created levels based on Super Mario Bros. 3, and demonstrations of how to complete certain levels can be downloaded through e-Reader cards. Only two sets of cards were released and the e-Reader was discontinued shortly thereafter in the United States (the e-Reader was never released in Europe, as such, the e-Reader option in the game's main menu was removed). The game also features voice acting for Mario and Luigi, provided by Charles Martinet. It is similar to Super Mario 64, with Mario (or Luigi) shouting phrases such as "Mamma mia!" when as they die and "Just what I needed!" when they got a power-up, for example. It is the fifth Mario game for the Game Boy Advance.
[edit] e-Reader
Super Mario Advance 4 was one of the few games to have a fully-fledged e-Reader extension. There were level, power-up, and demo cards. The levels are accessible in the Level Card option in the opening menu. In the main game, the player can bring up a menu with two options: "Demo Card" and "Power-Up Card". In the e-Reader world, accessing the levels menu showed the option of "Level Card" to load more levels into the game.
The cards were released in three forms:
- SMB3-e series
- Wal-Mart cards
- Special cards included with the game
In Japan, two sets of cards were released; America also got two but they only had one-third of the number of cards that the Japanese sets had. There were 50 cards in Japanese series 1 & 2; the e-Reader was not released in Europe. They are the same size as ordinary playing cards and come in three types: Power-Up, Demo, and Level Cards.
When players wanted to play a demo, load a power-up, or load a level in, they would need an e-Reader, two GBAs, a link cable, and the appropriate card. The player would connect the purple connector into the GBA with the cart, and the gray connector into the GBA with the e-Reader. The player would turn both units on and load up the option to connect to the e-Reader in SMB3. When the connection was set, the player scanned the cards, and disconnected when finished. Because of the need of a link cable and another GBA, this function will not work with the Nintendo DS. Interesting features included original Super Mario Bros. levels with the SMB3 look, and tossable vegetables identical to those from Super Mario Bros. 2. It also brought the Feather from Super Mario World into the game using the "Feather" Card, it turned Mario and Luigi into Cape Mario and Luigi.
The e-Reader extension was received with mixed reactions. Ryan Davis from GameSpot said that the e-Reader levels were entertaining and challenging, but was critical of the process, saying that the procedure to use the e-Reader was "clunky" and "poorly explained"[6] However, the IGN Staff was very enthusiastic on the e-Reader, saying that "potential for future expandability" made Super Mario Advance 4 the best of the series.[7] Most reviewers were pleased at the prospect of unlimited numbers of possible e-Card levels.
[edit] References
- ^ US VC Releases: 5th November. The Virtual Console Archive. Retrieved on 2007-11-05.
- ^ Nintendo european Virtual Console Releases. Nintendo Europe. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
- ^ The Wizard at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ The Wizard and Super Mario Bros. 3 reviewed by The Angry Video Game Nerd
- ^ TMK | Mario in Japan | Super Mario Bros. 3
- ^ Davis, Ryan (2003-10-17). Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 for Game Boy Advance review. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2007-09-20.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 3: Super Mario Advance 4 review. IGN (2003-10-14). Retrieved on 2007-09-20.
[edit] External links
- Nintendo Power Special: The making of SMB3
- Super Mario Bros 3 NES review from The Mean Machines Archive
- Super Mario Bros. 3 Named 39th Best Video Game Ever - IGN
- Super Mario Bros 3 at the Mushroom Kingdom
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