I've always been a bit surprised by how little interest I've had in beating the 2D Mario games. Usually I make it up to about World 3 or so and drop the game out of boredom. I got nothing against these games, I just think they feel a little blander to me than my personal favorite 2D platformers like the Donkey Kong Country series. So I decided I'd make Super Mario Bros. 3 the first 2D Mario game I've ever actually completed by myself...and, man, what a first game to complete it was. Took me around 6 hours to beat through on-and-off play. I admit to using Warp Whistles; I tried to beat the game without them, but, by World 3, I was getting beat up too much by that level with the giant fish and I instinctively used it since I wanted to get to the final world easy. In World 8, I made conservative use of restore points. I was having a super difficult time just completing 8-1, which you can't even get to until after you beat those abominable tank and airship levels that gave me so many Game Overs, so I figured I should use restore points just to prevent me from going insane.
Its cool seeing how much this game has inspired 2D platformers as a whole. As far as I know, Super Mario Bros 3 pioneered the idea of the overworld map, to the point where it's pretty much expected in most 2D platformers that released after SMB3. The game has plenty of cool secrets to find, like the Warp Whistles, and I think its the best-feeling NES Mario game when it comes to controls and physics. SMB2 (USA) comes close to this game, though that also depends on who you're playing as since the characters play differently. Here, you're just Mario if you're P1 or Luigi if you're P2, and Luigi doesn't come with the weird slippery movement here unlike SMB2 USA. What really shocked me about this game is just how difficult it can be. Perhaps its just because its my first time, but wow this was really tough, especially those last few levels in World 8 that you need to beat in a row without getting a Game Over. That's pretty much the only reason I felt I had to resort to restore points to beat the game. Part of the difficulty is in this game's age: since its an old game, it comes with typical flaws of the era, like how there's no save system at all and you get booted back to the beginning of a world whenever you get a Game Over. The latter is ESPECIALLY painful considering how long some of these worlds can be, so having to start from the very beginning after you got near the end is rough. Now, granted, the game is pretty generous compared to other games of the time. Super Mario Bros, for example, had to be completed in one sitting with no Game Overs or else you would have to start from level 1 of World 1 (that's actually a big reason why I've never bothered to beat that game and probably never will), and this is the case for plenty of other NES games. Super Mario Bros 3 makes things a bit easier for you in comparison to other NES platformers since you have an item stash of sorts that you can use on the overworld at any time, so if you're entering a difficult level, you can pop that star or Tanooki leaf on Mario in a jiffy. World 8 has a consistent way of earning yourself three Tanooki leaves each time you get a Game Over, although its after you beat the first tank and airship level of the world. Also, worth noting that some levels have rather trollish designs, particularly some of the castle levels since they seem to love "pick a door" level design. The last castle in World 8 before Bowser's castle is one I think I would have been scratching my head at for a while if I didn't look it up, and not necessarily in the good puzzle way. Unfortunately the final Bowser fight is a little disappointing. I felt the castle is much easier than most of the levels that came before it - although I did still die at Bowser's castle quite a few times - and Bowser only took me three attempts to finally get right. One of those failed attempts was just from me being completely stupid, since I beat Bowser but the little thud he makes that stuns you for a bit happened to be right when I was running up to a pit. Overall, though, I enjoyed my time with this one, and it was nice to be really challenged by a 2D platformer even if it was sometimes frustrating. I can't imagine how hard this would've been if I challenged myself to beat the whole game without using Warp Whistles. I hear World 6 and World 7 are especially tough to get through.
I think I'd say I really liked Super Mario Bros 3. It's very influential to 2D platformers as a whole and was fun to run through and beat for the first time, despite being very difficult in places and me kinda cheating by using the Warp Whistles. Maybe someday I'll be crazy enough to try beating the whole thing without restore points or Warp Whistles. As is, the game earns 4 stars from me.
Its cool seeing how much this game has inspired 2D platformers as a whole. As far as I know, Super Mario Bros 3 pioneered the idea of the overworld map, to the point where it's pretty much expected in most 2D platformers that released after SMB3. The game has plenty of cool secrets to find, like the Warp Whistles, and I think its the best-feeling NES Mario game when it comes to controls and physics. SMB2 (USA) comes close to this game, though that also depends on who you're playing as since the characters play differently. Here, you're just Mario if you're P1 or Luigi if you're P2, and Luigi doesn't come with the weird slippery movement here unlike SMB2 USA. What really shocked me about this game is just how difficult it can be. Perhaps its just because its my first time, but wow this was really tough, especially those last few levels in World 8 that you need to beat in a row without getting a Game Over. That's pretty much the only reason I felt I had to resort to restore points to beat the game. Part of the difficulty is in this game's age: since its an old game, it comes with typical flaws of the era, like how there's no save system at all and you get booted back to the beginning of a world whenever you get a Game Over. The latter is ESPECIALLY painful considering how long some of these worlds can be, so having to start from the very beginning after you got near the end is rough. Now, granted, the game is pretty generous compared to other games of the time. Super Mario Bros, for example, had to be completed in one sitting with no Game Overs or else you would have to start from level 1 of World 1 (that's actually a big reason why I've never bothered to beat that game and probably never will), and this is the case for plenty of other NES games. Super Mario Bros 3 makes things a bit easier for you in comparison to other NES platformers since you have an item stash of sorts that you can use on the overworld at any time, so if you're entering a difficult level, you can pop that star or Tanooki leaf on Mario in a jiffy. World 8 has a consistent way of earning yourself three Tanooki leaves each time you get a Game Over, although its after you beat the first tank and airship level of the world. Also, worth noting that some levels have rather trollish designs, particularly some of the castle levels since they seem to love "pick a door" level design. The last castle in World 8 before Bowser's castle is one I think I would have been scratching my head at for a while if I didn't look it up, and not necessarily in the good puzzle way. Unfortunately the final Bowser fight is a little disappointing. I felt the castle is much easier than most of the levels that came before it - although I did still die at Bowser's castle quite a few times - and Bowser only took me three attempts to finally get right. One of those failed attempts was just from me being completely stupid, since I beat Bowser but the little thud he makes that stuns you for a bit happened to be right when I was running up to a pit. Overall, though, I enjoyed my time with this one, and it was nice to be really challenged by a 2D platformer even if it was sometimes frustrating. I can't imagine how hard this would've been if I challenged myself to beat the whole game without using Warp Whistles. I hear World 6 and World 7 are especially tough to get through.
I think I'd say I really liked Super Mario Bros 3. It's very influential to 2D platformers as a whole and was fun to run through and beat for the first time, despite being very difficult in places and me kinda cheating by using the Warp Whistles. Maybe someday I'll be crazy enough to try beating the whole thing without restore points or Warp Whistles. As is, the game earns 4 stars from me.