Super Mario Bros 3 is the swan song of the 8-bit era, and what a way to go out. The game squeezes every little bit of graphical detail and style out of the soon to be antiquated NES. The level themes are so wonderful and spark so much awe that Nintendo has been reusing them for decades now. I love how the game is a play, it’s such a unique flair to add to the story. The addition of the world map is a welcome add, it makes the whole adventure feel more real and grand than the previous outings. The power ups are mostly great, the new Tanooki leaf is the real stand out but the hammer suit and frog suit are really cool. Unfortunately they’re so cool the poor old fire flower seems boring in comparison. Mario feels amazing in this game, he’s responsive and his jumps have a greater level of control than in previous outings.

However.

This game is not without flaws. The puzzle oriented levels in Mario games never do it for me, and here they are more cryptic than ever. This was also the game that introduced the dreaded autoscroll level. While some of these levels are good the airship levels are dreadful, repetitive slogs that I got sick of after world four. The bosses, like every 2D Mario game, are underwhelming. If I ever have to fight Boom Boom again I will lose my mind. The difficulty is also extremely inconsistent, some levels are brutal life munching challenges followed by breezy fun.

But these problems are don’t really matter in the long term. To me, this is the culmination of a decade of innovation, a triumphant conclusion to an era fraught with trouble, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.