Super Mario Bros. 3
Encyclopedia
, also referred to as Super Mario 3 and SMB3, is a platform video game
developed and published by Nintendo
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
(NES), and is the third game in the Super Mario
series. The game was released in Japan in 1988, in the United States in 1990, and in Europe in 1991. Development was handled by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development
, led by Shigeru Miyamoto
, who directed the game along with Takashi Tezuka
.
The game centers on the quest of Mario
and Luigi
to save the rulers of seven kingdoms from Bowser, the series' antagonist. The two brothers must travel across eight worlds to restore order to the Mushroom World. It built on the game play of previous Mario games by introducing new power-up
s that augment character abilities, and established conventions that were carried over to future games in the series.
Prior to its private consumer North American release, game play footage from Super Mario Bros. 3 appeared in the Universal Studios
film The Wizard
, which helped fuel the game's anticipation among fans. Upon its release, the game was commercially successful and has since become one of the best-selling video games in the industry. Super Mario Bros. 3 was well received by critics and has been included in numerous lists of top 100 video games. The success of the game resulted in an animated television show based on its elements, and in the game's re-release on later Nintendo consoles.
platform game in which the player controls the on-screen protagonist (either Mario or Luigi) from a third-person perspective. The game shares similar game mechanics with previous titles in the series—Super Mario Bros.
, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
, and Super Mario Bros. 2
—but introduces several new elements. In addition to the running and jumping moves found in past games, the player can fly and float with the aid of special items, slide down slopes, and execute new types of jumps. Super Mario Bros. 3 is set after the events of previous games. Mario and Luigi embark on a mission on behalf of Princess Toadstool
to stop Bowser and his children—the Koopalings
—from terrorizing the kings of seven regions in the Mushroom World. The Koopalings stole the kings' magic wands and transformed them into animals. Each region serves as a game world
that is divided into stage levels, and an eighth region is included as the final world, Dark Land. The eight worlds feature distinct visual themes; for example, the second world, "Desert Land", contains sand-covered levels with pyramids, while the levels in the fourth world, "Giant Land", are populated with obstacles and enemies four times as large as other worlds.
The player navigates through the game via two game screens: an overworld
map and a level playfield. The overworld map displays an overhead representation of the current world and has several paths leading from the world's entrance to a castle. Paths connect to action panels, fortresses and other map icons, and allow players to take different routes to reach the world's goal. Moving the on-screen character to an action panel or fortress will allow access to that level's playfield, a linear stage populated with obstacles and enemies. The majority of the game takes place in these levels, with the player traversing the stage by running, jumping, and dodging or defeating enemies.
Completing stages allows the player to progress through the overworld map and to succeeding worlds. Each world features a final stage with a boss
to defeat; the first seven worlds feature an airship controlled by one of the Koopalings, while the player battles Bowser in his castle in the eighth world. Other map icons include large boulders and locked doors that impede paths, and special minigames that provide the player a chance to obtain special power-ups. A new feature is the player's option to save power-up items obtained in minigames for later use via a menu accessible at the overworld screen.
In addition to special items from previous games like the "Super Mushroom" and "Fire Flower", new power-ups are introduced that provide the player with new options. Items vary in scarcity; for example, 1-up
mushrooms, which give the player an extra attempt to play after the character dies, are abundant, while the "magic whistle", which enables the player to bypass certain worlds, only appears three times in the game. The "Super Leaf" and "Tanooki
Suit" give Mario raccoon and tanuki appearances respectively and allow him to fly for a short period of time. Other suits include the "Frog Suit," which increases the character's underwater speed and agility and improves jumping height on land, and the "Hammer Suit," which gives Mario the appearance of the Hammer Bros. enemy and allows him to throw hammers at enemies and resist fire attacks. Some abilities provided by the suits are intended to give the player more navigation options in stages. For example, the Frog Suit allows the player to access underwater pipes, and the Tanooki Suit can temporarily transform Mario into an invincible statue, reducing the threat of damage. During the game, Mario can find a Warp Whistle, which will allow him to bypass worlds. When using the Whistle, the tune played is the exact melody used from the Whistle in The Legend of Zelda.
Super Mario Bros. 3 includes a multiplayer option which allows two players to cooperatively play the game by taking turns at navigating the overworld map and accessing stage levels; the first player controls Mario, while the other controls Luigi. Through this mode, players can also access several minigames, including a remake of the original Mario Bros.
arcade game.
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Super Mario Bros. 3 was developed by Nintendo EAD, and took more than two years to complete. Developer Shigeru Miyamoto
directed the designers and programmers, working with them closely during the initial concepts and final stages, encouraging a free interchange of ideas. Miyamoto considered intriguing and original ideas to be key to creating a successful game.
The game was designed to appeal to players of varying skill levels. To assist less skilled players, bonus coins and extra lives
are more abundant in earlier worlds, while later worlds present more complex challenges for more experienced players. In the two-player mode, the players alternate turns to balance play time. The development team introduced new power-ups and concepts that would give Mario the appearance of different creatures as a means of providing him with new abilities. An early idea changed Mario into a centaur
, but was dropped in favor of a raccoon tail that allows limited flying ability. Other costumes with different abilities were added to his repertoire, and levels were designed to take advantage of these abilities. New enemies were included to add diversity to the game, along with variants of previous enemies, such as Goomba
s, Hammer Bros., and Koopa Troopas. The real life experiences of Miyamoto and his staff provided the inspiration for new enemies. For example, the idea for the Chain Chomp enemies (spherical, dog-like creatures) came from a bad experience Miyamoto had with a dog as a child. Bowser's children were designed to be unique in appearance and personality; Miyamoto based the characters on seven of his programmers as a tribute to their work and efforts. The Koopaling's names were later altered to mimic names of well-known, Western
celebrities in the English localization
. The North American release of the game featured some minor graphical differences, and (to reduce the difficulty) was changed so that if Mario was hit by an enemy, he would merely lose whatever power-up he had instead of shrinking to small size like in the original Super Mario Bros.
The character graphics were created by using a special graphics machine ("Character Generator Computer Aided Design") that generated a collection of all the graphical shapes used in the game. Shapes in the collection were assigned numbers that the game's code
uses to access in real time, and are combined to form complete images on the screen in real time. The Super Mario Bros. 3 cartridge
uses Nintendo's custom MMC3 (Memory Management Controller) ASIC to enhance the NES capabilities. The MMC3 chip allows for animated tiles, extra RAM for diagonal scrolling, and a scanline timer to split the screen
. The game uses these functions to split the game screen into two portions, a playfield on the top and a status bar on the bottom, allowing the top portion to scroll as the character navigates the stage while the bottom portion remains static to display text and other information.
During 1988, a shortage of ROM chips, along with Nintendo of America's preparation of a version of Super Mario Bros. 2 for Western gamers
(since the Japanese SMB2
was deemed too difficult), prevented Nintendo from releasing SMB3 and some other games (including, according to the magazine "Nintendo Power", "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link") in North America on schedule. The delay, however, presented Nintendo with an opportunity to promote the game in a feature film. In 1989, Tom Pollack of Universal Studios approached Nintendo of America's marketing department about a video game movie; inspired by Nintendo video game competitions
, Pollack envisioned a video game version of Tommy
for younger audiences. Nintendo licensed its products for inclusion in what would become the film The Wizard
. During the movie's production, the filmmakers requested and were granted approval from Nintendo regarding the script and portrayal of the company's games. Super Mario Bros. 3 was one of the products shown in the film, and was used in a final scene involving a video game competition. The film was released in December 1989, a few months before the game was released.
of Mean Machines
referred to Super Mario Bros. 3 as the "finest videogame" he had ever played, citing its addictiveness, depth, and challenge. A second Mean Machines reviewer, Matt Regan, anticipated the game would be a top-selling title in the United Kingdom, and echoed Rignall's praise calling it a "truly brilliant game". Regan further stated that the game offered elements which tested the player's "brains and reflexes", and that though the graphics were simple, they were "incredibly varied". In a preview of the game, Nintendo Power
gave it high marks in graphics, audio, challenge, gameplay, and enjoyability. Edge magazine
considered Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo's standout title of 1989, and commented that its success outshone the first Super Mario Bros.s sales milestone; the first title sold 40 million copies, but was bundled
with the NES. They lauded the overworld map as an elegant alternative to a menu to select levels. Allgame
's Skyler Miller praised many of the game's elements: level design, graphics, music, and nonlinearity. Dengeki referred to the game as a popular title and expressed excitement over its rerelease on the Game Boy Advance
system. The in-game, hidden items were a well-received element. Rignall considered them a component of the game's addictiveness, and Sheff stated that finding the secret items in the game, such as the whistles, provided a sense of satisfaction.
Criticism focused on different aspects of the game. Miller considered the exclusion of a system to save progress a drawback, while Rignall described the audio and visuals as being outdated compared to games on the new Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System
(SNES). These two problems would be fixed in the game's remake for Super Mario All-Stars in 1993. The game was also criticized for its comparatively high difficulty level.
Super Mario Bros. 3 has appeared on numerous top video game lists. The game debuted on Nintendo Powers Top 30 list at number 20 in September 1989. It entered the list's top 10 a few months later and reached number one in May 1990. Super Mario Bros. 3 remained within the top 20 for more than five years. More than a decade later, the magazine ranked the game number six on their list of 200 Greatest Nintendo Games. In August 2008, Nintendo Power listed Super Mario Bros. 3 as the second best Nintendo Entertainment System
video game, praising it for making the series more complex and introducing new abilities that have since become signature abilities in the series. The game placed 11th, behind Super Mario Bros., in Official Nintendo Magazines "100 greatest Nintendo games of all time". In 2007, Screwattack
called Super Mario Bros. 3 the best Mario game in the series as well as the best game on the NES, citing the graphics, power-ups, secrets, and popularity, summing it up as "it is just incredible" and "If you haven't experienced this greatness, we pity you". In a poll conducted by Dengeki, it tied with Super Mario World
as the number three video game their readers first played. The game has been ranked on several of IGN's lists of "top games". In 2005, they rated it 23rd among their Top 100 Games, and praised the precise and intuitive controls. IGN editors from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia ranked Super Mario Bros. 3 number 39 in their 2007 Top 100 Games, citing Miyamoto's "ingenious" designs. They further commented that the game improved on the "already-brilliant concepts" of the previous titles with new power-ups and enemies. Users and readers of the website placed the game high on similar lists: 32nd in 2005 and 21st in 2006. In 2007, it was included in the "game canon
", a list of the ten most important video games selected by a committee to preserve key titles within the industry. In 2009, Game Informer put Super Mario Bros. 3 9th on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", saying that it is "a game with incredible lasting power that we won't soon forget". UGO
listed Super Mario Bros. 3 on their list of the "Top 50 Games That Belong On the 3DS", calling it "Arguably the greatest Mario game ever made."
served as a preview and generated a high level of anticipation in the United States prior to its release. Levi Buchanan of IGN
considered Super Mario Bros. 3s appearance in the film as a show-stealing element, and referred to the movie as a "90-minute commercial" for the game. By 1993, the game had sold 4 and 7 million units in Japan and the United States respectively. In the United States alone, the game generated over US$
500 million in revenue for Nintendo. Author David Sheff
commented that, in music industry terms, the game went platinum
11 times. In 2008, Guinness World Records
listed the game as the best-selling video game to be sold separately from a system, and reported worldwide sales of over 18 million copies. Game Informer
reported in their October 2009 issue that the Virtual Console
version had sold one million copies.
Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced several elements which were carried over to subsequent Mario titles. A similar overworld map is used in Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros.
, and Mario's ability to fly has been a feature in such games as Super Mario World, Super Mario 64
and Super Mario Galaxy
. Bowser's red hair was first popularized in the game (though it was originally added in Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! in 1986), and has since become a part of his standard appearance. Through a collaboration between NBC
and Nintendo of America, an animated television series titled The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
was created in 1990 by DIC Entertainment
. The show aired weekly and featured numerous characters, enemies, and settings from the video game; the original seven Koopalings are given different names based on their given personalities and are also given a new age order. Other Nintendo products have included various elements from the game as well. Music from Super Mario Bros. 3 appears as a track on Nintendo Sound Selection Koopa, a collection of songs from Nintendo games. The game's stages and graphics comprise a background theme in the 2006 Nintendo DS
game Tetris DS
. The Koopalings are also world bosses in Super Mario World, Mario is Missing!, Yoshi's Safari
, Hotel Mario
and New Super Mario Bros. Wii
. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
, however, they are mini-bosses in Bowser's Castle.
to several other Nintendo consoles. In 1993, it was included in Super Mario All-Stars
, a SNES compilation of enhanced remakes of NES Mario games. A Game Boy Advance version, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, was released in 2003, and included several updates. It features similar graphics to the SNES remake (the release was a port of the SNES version) along with a larger color palette
and parallax scrolling
, although the latter not to the same extent. The Mario Bros. minigame allows up to four players instead of two, and the Nintendo e-Reader peripheral gives the player access to walkthrough demonstrations as well as new items and levels. In late 2007, Super Mario Bros. 3 was released via the Nintendo Wii
's Virtual Console
service, featuring the original graphics and gameplay of the NES version; like other Virtual Console titles, it is actually the original NES ROM image
running in an emulator
, and is thus identical to the original.
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
developed and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(NES), and is the third game in the Super Mario
Mario (series)
The video game series, alternatively called the series or simply the series, is a series of highly popular and critically acclaimed video games by Nintendo, featuring Nintendo's mascot Mario and, in many games, his brother Luigi. Gameplay in the series often centers around jumping on and...
series. The game was released in Japan in 1988, in the United States in 1990, and in Europe in 1991. Development was handled by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development
, commonly abbreviated as EAD, is the largest division inside Nintendo. It was preceded by the , a team of designers with an art background responsible for many different tasks, which Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka originally belonged to...
, led by Shigeru Miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
, who directed the game along with Takashi Tezuka
Takashi Tezuka
, sometimes credited under his nickname Ten Ten, is a video game designer working for Nintendo. A graduate of the Design Department of Osaka University of Arts, he joined the company in April 1984 and was involved with some of the most critically acclaimed Nintendo series, including Mario and The...
.
The game centers on the quest of Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
and Luigi
Luigi
is a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series,...
to save the rulers of seven kingdoms from Bowser, the series' antagonist. The two brothers must travel across eight worlds to restore order to the Mushroom World. It built on the game play of previous Mario games by introducing new power-up
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
s that augment character abilities, and established conventions that were carried over to future games in the series.
Prior to its private consumer North American release, game play footage from Super Mario Bros. 3 appeared in the Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
film The Wizard
The Wizard (film)
The Wizard is a 1989 adventure dramedy film starring Fred Savage, Luke Edwards, and Jenny Lewis...
, which helped fuel the game's anticipation among fans. Upon its release, the game was commercially successful and has since become one of the best-selling video games in the industry. Super Mario Bros. 3 was well received by critics and has been included in numerous lists of top 100 video games. The success of the game resulted in an animated television show based on its elements, and in the game's re-release on later Nintendo consoles.
Gameplay
Super Mario Bros. 3 is a two-dimensional2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
platform game in which the player controls the on-screen protagonist (either Mario or Luigi) from a third-person perspective. The game shares similar game mechanics with previous titles in the series—Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
, also known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, is a platforming video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System...
, and Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 2, often abbreviated SMB2, is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1985 game Super Mario Bros. The game was also remade as part of the Super Mario All-Stars collection for the Super Nintendo Entertainment...
—but introduces several new elements. In addition to the running and jumping moves found in past games, the player can fly and float with the aid of special items, slide down slopes, and execute new types of jumps. Super Mario Bros. 3 is set after the events of previous games. Mario and Luigi embark on a mission on behalf of Princess Toadstool
Princess Peach
is a character in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. She is the Princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom, and often plays the damsel in distress role within the adventure series. In 2007, Princess Peach landed on Forbes magazine's Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of...
to stop Bowser and his children—the Koopalings
Koopalings
The , also called the Koopa Kids, are a group of seven fictional characters in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. Their names are Ludwig von Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, Roy Koopa, Iggy Koopa, Wendy O. Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr. and Larry Koopa. They first appeared in the NES game Super Mario Bros. 3, and...
—from terrorizing the kings of seven regions in the Mushroom World. The Koopalings stole the kings' magic wands and transformed them into animals. Each region serves as a game world
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
that is divided into stage levels, and an eighth region is included as the final world, Dark Land. The eight worlds feature distinct visual themes; for example, the second world, "Desert Land", contains sand-covered levels with pyramids, while the levels in the fourth world, "Giant Land", are populated with obstacles and enemies four times as large as other worlds.
Overworld
An overworld is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres....
map and a level playfield. The overworld map displays an overhead representation of the current world and has several paths leading from the world's entrance to a castle. Paths connect to action panels, fortresses and other map icons, and allow players to take different routes to reach the world's goal. Moving the on-screen character to an action panel or fortress will allow access to that level's playfield, a linear stage populated with obstacles and enemies. The majority of the game takes place in these levels, with the player traversing the stage by running, jumping, and dodging or defeating enemies.
Completing stages allows the player to progress through the overworld map and to succeeding worlds. Each world features a final stage with a boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
to defeat; the first seven worlds feature an airship controlled by one of the Koopalings, while the player battles Bowser in his castle in the eighth world. Other map icons include large boulders and locked doors that impede paths, and special minigames that provide the player a chance to obtain special power-ups. A new feature is the player's option to save power-up items obtained in minigames for later use via a menu accessible at the overworld screen.
In addition to special items from previous games like the "Super Mushroom" and "Fire Flower", new power-ups are introduced that provide the player with new options. Items vary in scarcity; for example, 1-up
1-up
1-up , pronounced "one up", is a term in console video gaming that commonly refers to an item that gives the player an extra life, to complete the game. In certain games, it is possible to receive multiple extra lives at once...
mushrooms, which give the player an extra attempt to play after the character dies, are abundant, while the "magic whistle", which enables the player to bypass certain worlds, only appears three times in the game. The "Super Leaf" and "Tanooki
Tanuki
is the common Japanese name for the Japanese raccoon dog . They have been part of Japanese folklore since ancient times...
Suit" give Mario raccoon and tanuki appearances respectively and allow him to fly for a short period of time. Other suits include the "Frog Suit," which increases the character's underwater speed and agility and improves jumping height on land, and the "Hammer Suit," which gives Mario the appearance of the Hammer Bros. enemy and allows him to throw hammers at enemies and resist fire attacks. Some abilities provided by the suits are intended to give the player more navigation options in stages. For example, the Frog Suit allows the player to access underwater pipes, and the Tanooki Suit can temporarily transform Mario into an invincible statue, reducing the threat of damage. During the game, Mario can find a Warp Whistle, which will allow him to bypass worlds. When using the Whistle, the tune played is the exact melody used from the Whistle in The Legend of Zelda.
Super Mario Bros. 3 includes a multiplayer option which allows two players to cooperatively play the game by taking turns at navigating the overworld map and accessing stage levels; the first player controls Mario, while the other controls Luigi. Through this mode, players can also access several minigames, including a remake of the original Mario Bros.
Mario Bros.
is an arcade game published and developed by Nintendo in 1983. It was developed by Shigeru Miyamoto. It has been commonly featured as a minigame in the Super Mario Advance series and other games...
arcade game.
Development
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
directed the designers and programmers, working with them closely during the initial concepts and final stages, encouraging a free interchange of ideas. Miyamoto considered intriguing and original ideas to be key to creating a successful game.
The game was designed to appeal to players of varying skill levels. To assist less skilled players, bonus coins and extra lives
1-up
1-up , pronounced "one up", is a term in console video gaming that commonly refers to an item that gives the player an extra life, to complete the game. In certain games, it is possible to receive multiple extra lives at once...
are more abundant in earlier worlds, while later worlds present more complex challenges for more experienced players. In the two-player mode, the players alternate turns to balance play time. The development team introduced new power-ups and concepts that would give Mario the appearance of different creatures as a means of providing him with new abilities. An early idea changed Mario into a centaur
Centaur
In Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
, but was dropped in favor of a raccoon tail that allows limited flying ability. Other costumes with different abilities were added to his repertoire, and levels were designed to take advantage of these abilities. New enemies were included to add diversity to the game, along with variants of previous enemies, such as Goomba
Goomba
Goombas, known in Japan as , are fictional species from Nintendo's series of Mario video games. They first appeared in the NES video game Super Mario Bros. as the first enemy players encounter. They have appeared outside of video games, including in film, television, and other media...
s, Hammer Bros., and Koopa Troopas. The real life experiences of Miyamoto and his staff provided the inspiration for new enemies. For example, the idea for the Chain Chomp enemies (spherical, dog-like creatures) came from a bad experience Miyamoto had with a dog as a child. Bowser's children were designed to be unique in appearance and personality; Miyamoto based the characters on seven of his programmers as a tribute to their work and efforts. The Koopaling's names were later altered to mimic names of well-known, Western
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
celebrities in the English localization
Internationalization and localization
In computing, internationalization and localization are means of adapting computer software to different languages, regional differences and technical requirements of a target market...
. The North American release of the game featured some minor graphical differences, and (to reduce the difficulty) was changed so that if Mario was hit by an enemy, he would merely lose whatever power-up he had instead of shrinking to small size like in the original Super Mario Bros.
The character graphics were created by using a special graphics machine ("Character Generator Computer Aided Design") that generated a collection of all the graphical shapes used in the game. Shapes in the collection were assigned numbers that the game's code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
uses to access in real time, and are combined to form complete images on the screen in real time. The Super Mario Bros. 3 cartridge
ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, sometimes referred to as a cart, is a removable enclosure containing read-only memory devices designed to be connected to a computer or games console....
uses Nintendo's custom MMC3 (Memory Management Controller) ASIC to enhance the NES capabilities. The MMC3 chip allows for animated tiles, extra RAM for diagonal scrolling, and a scanline timer to split the screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
. The game uses these functions to split the game screen into two portions, a playfield on the top and a status bar on the bottom, allowing the top portion to scroll as the character navigates the stage while the bottom portion remains static to display text and other information.
During 1988, a shortage of ROM chips, along with Nintendo of America's preparation of a version of Super Mario Bros. 2 for Western gamers
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 2, often abbreviated SMB2, is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1985 game Super Mario Bros. The game was also remade as part of the Super Mario All-Stars collection for the Super Nintendo Entertainment...
(since the Japanese SMB2
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
, also known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, is a platforming video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System...
was deemed too difficult), prevented Nintendo from releasing SMB3 and some other games (including, according to the magazine "Nintendo Power", "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link") in North America on schedule. The delay, however, presented Nintendo with an opportunity to promote the game in a feature film. In 1989, Tom Pollack of Universal Studios approached Nintendo of America's marketing department about a video game movie; inspired by Nintendo video game competitions
Electronic sports
Electronic sports comprises the competitive play of video games. Other terms include competitive gaming, professional gaming and cybersports...
, Pollack envisioned a video game version of Tommy
Tommy (film)
Tommy is a 1975 British musical film based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album musical Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves...
for younger audiences. Nintendo licensed its products for inclusion in what would become the film The Wizard
The Wizard (film)
The Wizard is a 1989 adventure dramedy film starring Fred Savage, Luke Edwards, and Jenny Lewis...
. During the movie's production, the filmmakers requested and were granted approval from Nintendo regarding the script and portrayal of the company's games. Super Mario Bros. 3 was one of the products shown in the film, and was used in a final scene involving a video game competition. The film was released in December 1989, a few months before the game was released.
Reception
The game was well received by the video game press. Julian RignallJulian Rignall
Julian "Muppet" Rignall is a longterm publishing veteran with experience launching and managing numerous video game magazines and websites...
of Mean Machines
Mean Machines
Mean Machines was a market-leading multi-format gaming magazine released between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. Its style was popular with gamers of the time for its irreverent humor, anarchic editorial tone and style, and its sometimes outrageously outspoken reviews.- Origins :In the late...
referred to Super Mario Bros. 3 as the "finest videogame" he had ever played, citing its addictiveness, depth, and challenge. A second Mean Machines reviewer, Matt Regan, anticipated the game would be a top-selling title in the United Kingdom, and echoed Rignall's praise calling it a "truly brilliant game". Regan further stated that the game offered elements which tested the player's "brains and reflexes", and that though the graphics were simple, they were "incredibly varied". In a preview of the game, Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
gave it high marks in graphics, audio, challenge, gameplay, and enjoyability. Edge magazine
Edge (magazine)
Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity....
considered Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo's standout title of 1989, and commented that its success outshone the first Super Mario Bros.s sales milestone; the first title sold 40 million copies, but was bundled
Pack-in game
- Characteristics :Pack-in games are intended to be system-selling games that make good use of the positive features of a given system. Sometimes a pack-in game will be changed to a more popular game, or another game will be added, along with the original pack-in, if it is perceived that a newer...
with the NES. They lauded the overworld map as an elegant alternative to a menu to select levels. Allgame
Allgame
Allgame is a commercial database of information about arcade games, video games and console manufacturers.Allgame is owned by All Media Guide, along with Allmusic and Allmovie....
's Skyler Miller praised many of the game's elements: level design, graphics, music, and nonlinearity. Dengeki referred to the game as a popular title and expressed excitement over its rerelease on the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
system. The in-game, hidden items were a well-received element. Rignall considered them a component of the game's addictiveness, and Sheff stated that finding the secret items in the game, such as the whistles, provided a sense of satisfaction.
Criticism focused on different aspects of the game. Miller considered the exclusion of a system to save progress a drawback, while Rignall described the audio and visuals as being outdated compared to games on the new Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
(SNES). These two problems would be fixed in the game's remake for Super Mario All-Stars in 1993. The game was also criticized for its comparatively high difficulty level.
Super Mario Bros. 3 has appeared on numerous top video game lists. The game debuted on Nintendo Powers Top 30 list at number 20 in September 1989. It entered the list's top 10 a few months later and reached number one in May 1990. Super Mario Bros. 3 remained within the top 20 for more than five years. More than a decade later, the magazine ranked the game number six on their list of 200 Greatest Nintendo Games. In August 2008, Nintendo Power listed Super Mario Bros. 3 as the second best Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
video game, praising it for making the series more complex and introducing new abilities that have since become signature abilities in the series. The game placed 11th, behind Super Mario Bros., in Official Nintendo Magazines "100 greatest Nintendo games of all time". In 2007, Screwattack
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
called Super Mario Bros. 3 the best Mario game in the series as well as the best game on the NES, citing the graphics, power-ups, secrets, and popularity, summing it up as "it is just incredible" and "If you haven't experienced this greatness, we pity you". In a poll conducted by Dengeki, it tied with Super Mario World
Super Mario World
, subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 for its original Japanese release, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the fourth game in the Super Mario series...
as the number three video game their readers first played. The game has been ranked on several of IGN's lists of "top games". In 2005, they rated it 23rd among their Top 100 Games, and praised the precise and intuitive controls. IGN editors from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia ranked Super Mario Bros. 3 number 39 in their 2007 Top 100 Games, citing Miyamoto's "ingenious" designs. They further commented that the game improved on the "already-brilliant concepts" of the previous titles with new power-ups and enemies. Users and readers of the website placed the game high on similar lists: 32nd in 2005 and 21st in 2006. In 2007, it was included in the "game canon
Game canon
Game canon is a list of video games to be considered for preservation by the Library of Congress. The creation of this list is "an assertion that digital games have a cultural significance and a historical significance." Game canon is modeled on the efforts of the National Film Preservation Board,...
", a list of the ten most important video games selected by a committee to preserve key titles within the industry. In 2009, Game Informer put Super Mario Bros. 3 9th on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", saying that it is "a game with incredible lasting power that we won't soon forget". UGO
UGO
UGO Entertainment, Inc. is a website providing coverage of online media in entertainment targeting males age 18–34. The company is currently based in New York, New York, United States. On July 24, 2007 it was announced that Hearst Corporation would acquire UGO Entertainment...
listed Super Mario Bros. 3 on their list of the "Top 50 Games That Belong On the 3DS", calling it "Arguably the greatest Mario game ever made."
Sales
Super Mario Bros. 3 was a commercial success and became one of the video game industry's best-selling games. Its inclusion in The WizardThe Wizard (film)
The Wizard is a 1989 adventure dramedy film starring Fred Savage, Luke Edwards, and Jenny Lewis...
served as a preview and generated a high level of anticipation in the United States prior to its release. Levi Buchanan of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
considered Super Mario Bros. 3s appearance in the film as a show-stealing element, and referred to the movie as a "90-minute commercial" for the game. By 1993, the game had sold 4 and 7 million units in Japan and the United States respectively. In the United States alone, the game generated over US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
500 million in revenue for Nintendo. Author David Sheff
David Sheff
David Sheff is an American author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction. In 2009, Sheff was included in the Time Magazine Time 100, The World's Most Influential People, and Beautiful Boy was named the best nonfiction book of the year...
commented that, in music industry terms, the game went platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
11 times. In 2008, Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
listed the game as the best-selling video game to be sold separately from a system, and reported worldwide sales of over 18 million copies. Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
reported in their October 2009 issue that the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
version had sold one million copies.
Legacy
New Super Mario Bros.
is a side-scrolling platform video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. The game was released in North America and Japan in May 2006 and in Australia and Europe in June 2006...
, and Mario's ability to fly has been a feature in such games as Super Mario World, Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64
is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...
and Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy
is a 3D platform game developed by Nintendo EAD Tokyo and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was released in most regions in November 2007, and is the third 3D original platformer in the Mario series, after Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. The game follows the protagonist, Mario, on a...
. Bowser's red hair was first popularized in the game (though it was originally added in Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! in 1986), and has since become a part of his standard appearance. Through a collaboration between NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and Nintendo of America, an animated television series titled The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 is an American animated television series based on the video game Super Mario Bros. 3. It aired on NBC with Captain N: The Game Master in a programming block titled Captain N & The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 from September 8, 1990 through December 1,...
was created in 1990 by DIC Entertainment
DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...
. The show aired weekly and featured numerous characters, enemies, and settings from the video game; the original seven Koopalings are given different names based on their given personalities and are also given a new age order. Other Nintendo products have included various elements from the game as well. Music from Super Mario Bros. 3 appears as a track on Nintendo Sound Selection Koopa, a collection of songs from Nintendo games. The game's stages and graphics comprise a background theme in the 2006 Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
game Tetris DS
Tetris DS
Tetris DS is a Touch! Generations puzzle game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. THQ announced Tetris DS before E3 2005, and scheduled it to make an appearance at the show. However, the company decided to cancel the game, and Nintendo released their own make of Tetris DS in...
. The Koopalings are also world bosses in Super Mario World, Mario is Missing!, Yoshi's Safari
Yoshi's Safari
Yoshi's Safari, known in Japan as is a video game made for the Super NES in 1993.Yoshi's Safari takes advantage of the Super Nintendo's mode 7 capability, which allows backgrounds to be transformed by rotating or stretching it.-Gameplay:...
, Hotel Mario
Hotel Mario
Hotel Mario is a puzzle game developed by Fantasy Factory and published by Philips Interactive Media and Nintendo for the CD-i in 1994. The primary character of the game is Mario, who must find Princess Toadstool by going through seven Koopa hotels in the Mushroom Kingdom. Every hotel is divided...
and New Super Mario Bros. Wii
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
is a 2009 side-scrolling platform video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released on November 12, 2009 in Australia, November 15, 2009 in North America, November 20, 2009 in Europe and December 3, 2009 in Japan...
. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, known in Japan as , is a role-playing game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance in 2003...
, however, they are mini-bosses in Bowser's Castle.
Remakes
The game has been portedPorting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to several other Nintendo consoles. In 1993, it was included in Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario All-Stars, known as in Japan, is a collection of platforming video games that was developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It contains enhanced remakes of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels , Super Mario Bros...
, a SNES compilation of enhanced remakes of NES Mario games. A Game Boy Advance version, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, was released in 2003, and included several updates. It features similar graphics to the SNES remake (the release was a port of the SNES version) along with a larger color palette
Palette (computing)
In computer graphics, a palette is either a given, finite set of colors for the management of digital images , or a small on-screen graphical element for choosing from a limited set of choices, not necessarily colors .Depending on the context In computer graphics, a palette is either a given,...
and parallax scrolling
Parallax scrolling
Parallax scrolling is a special scrolling technique in computer graphics, popularized in the 1982 arcade game Moon Patrol. In this pseudo-3D technique, background images move by the camera slower than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D video game and adding to the immersion...
, although the latter not to the same extent. The Mario Bros. minigame allows up to four players instead of two, and the Nintendo e-Reader peripheral gives the player access to walkthrough demonstrations as well as new items and levels. In late 2007, Super Mario Bros. 3 was released via the Nintendo Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service, featuring the original graphics and gameplay of the NES version; like other Virtual Console titles, it is actually the original NES ROM image
ROM image
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board...
running in an emulator
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
, and is thus identical to the original.
External links
- Super Mario Bros. 3 (Virtual Console version) at NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's website - Super Mario Bros. 3 at Super Mario Wiki
- Super Mario Bros. 3 at NinDB
- Super Mario Bros. 3 at The Mushroom Kingdom: Super Mario Bros. downloads and information
- Super Mario Bros. 3 at Mobygames - The Authoritative Video Game Database