This is one of my favorite reviews:
The villainous Wart was crushed at the hands of Mario and his companions from that last death blow, at the hands of a mighty turnip. Could this possibly be a warning against all vegetarians from Nintendo and company? We may never know, but this is how this diabolical evil was defeated, falling to his doom from the pedestal he hoped to rule on from Dreamland atop of. And fall he did, like Lucifer getting thrown out of heaven in a ball of fire colliding with the earth below. This particular villain did not collide with the earth like Lucifer before him, but he did land in the hands of his once terrified captives, now freed by the protagonists of Dreamland: Mario, Toad, Princess Toadstool, and Luigi. This leads to the last scene in which we see this Toad of Deception with his battered corpse being carted off the screen with a blaze of symbols coming from the corner shortly after. Mario is then shown sleeping. This brings up a question within your head. Was this all just a dream? We see Mario's eye open with all its plumber glory and then it shuts again. After this sequence, we can only conclude he awoke from his slumber.
Was this magical land just a dream, or was it another plane of existence? I don't know. Would the evil Wart be back? We can only guess. If this question is solved, will it disrupt the universal space-time continuum as we know it? Probably not. Maybe the answer is even simpler then that; maybe the answer falls under this game just being a way of getting a cheap buck for Nintendo. Why is this you ask? Well, Nintendo remade an oddball platformer by placing Mario characters into it with just a couple of other minor tweaks. Reasons for this are not because of a great Nintendo conspiracy to take over the world. Instead, it is that the sequel to SMB1, which was released in Japan, was too hard for the Americans' pathetic gaming skills. Nintendo stated that, not me, so don't you dare fire a shot at this messenger. We may never know what this story meant, but alas, this would be the last we would see from Mario and his adventures until the greatest game in history, Super Mario Bros. 3! With that being said, it would only seem fitting to continue our story from Mario 2, combining it with the masterpiece that was, and is, Super Mario Bros. 3. Knowing your interest in the story reaches beyond the boundaries of your very mind and soul. I shall start with the events that kick off Super Mario Bros. 3.
After basking in the sun for four not-so stressful days, the Kings of the Mushroom Kingdom returned from the annual Dolphinic Island King. Each King resumed his dictatorship of each of his own individual Kingdoms, hoping it would be another average year. Little did they know things would go down the tubes faster then your worse enemy bolting to the bathroom after having his or her drink spiked with Ex-Lax. Yes, that bad, if you have the courage to imagine it. For the next thing they know, a Koopa kid breaks into their castles and takes their magic wands quicker than you can say That’s Not Cool, turning them all into various animals and insects. Where did these Koopa kids come from, you wonder? Maybe there was more to the story of Princess Peach's captures than we originally thought. Oh, the horrors to even think about how these devious children of Bowser were created. I guess some questions are better off not answered.
Taking control of the Mushroom Kingdom's individual world, these children of evil flooded the lands with Bowser’s Koopa troops. The pathetic toads of the kingdoms sunk into the corners with fear and cowardice, sitting back and watching with all their asexual glory, as their land gets overtaken by these beasts. Only two men could pull the Mushroom Kingdom from the clutches of Bowser's minions and that is Mario and his brother, Luigi. With that thought coming to mind, Princess Peach makes a collect phone call to the Mario Brothers Plumbing Agency for their much-needed assistance. Rushing to their plumber mobile, they are off to save the Mushroom Kingdom and the Princess who soon becomes a captive (See? What did I tell you about Bowser and Peach? She gets caught again!). Can they save the day? It is up to you to determine what happens afterwards, and what a ride you'll be on.
The worlds you will traverse in to save the day, range from an icy winter wonderland that even Frosty the snowman wouldn't dare to inhabit, to a world of pipes and piranhas that will leave you licking your lips for the next bite, I mean fight. Each of these worlds has sub-levels which coincide with the overall theme of them. Specifics of these worlds are not needed, but they are quite nonlinear, allowing you to take various paths. Never before have sub-levels or worlds in any platformer, been bursting with so many secrets. From the legendary whistles that wisp you away to other lands, to hidden coins that are surprisingly fun to discover. Even Blackbeard himself would cry with happiness at the treasures that can be uncovered within this game.
At the end of each of these worlds is a battleship which houses a Koopa Child, which can only be defeated by jumping on his head three times or by firing an endless amount of fireballs, which is a strategy I wholeheartedly do not recommend. Even Bowser himself would burn out after taking on this particular strategy.
Speaking of the greatest gaming villain of all time, the final confrontation with him was one of the most unique of its time. It requires twitch reflexes, and a keen eye to avoid his butt stomp that is even more devastating than John Goodman playing teeter-totter with a three year old child.
With that being said, none of this would be fun without some spot on controls and some satisfying powerups. Nintendo does not let us down with this one. The controls are responsive, and when it comes down to it, if you fall into a hole, it is your fault, not the games. So don't throw a hissy fit, instead, join the Save the Controllers Foundation and protect your faithful companion by improving your gaming skills in this game. In the way of powerups we get the ever-popular shrooms no, not those kind of shrooms, people! The only psychedelic/bad shrooms you'll have to worry about eating are the Toads…..baha! There are also flowers, raccoon tails that will let you soar into the skies, frog suits, and many others, including a very rare beetle armor. Obviously, this proves that Nintendo is humanely protecting all beetles from losing their shells, but has nothing against skinning poor Kermit the Frog from his.
Good controls and powerups mean nothing if you don’t have any enemies to thwart. Oh, how sweet it is to stomp a defenseless Goomba that is scurrying away from a plumber’s attack. Favorites from the Goombas, to bloopers, the Koopa Troopas all appear within this game. Supported by a cast of new characters along with some transitioning from Mario 2 to this game, such as the ever-popular bob-ombs The newer characters are everything from a turtle-esque beast whose regurgitated spikes would put all sword swallowers to shame, to a demonic sun, in which heat in the Sahara Desert is nothing compared to him as he tries to burn Mario to a crisp with vicious swirling attacks from above. After fighting this villain or racing away from this villain, you may never want to go out into the sun again. Despite how this game changes your lifestyle habits, you will be having a blast fighting these unique foes.
Now who is my favorite enemy out of this bunch, you ask? Well the one, the only Jaws-esque Big Bass who will keep you on your toes as you race through his aquatic world. Never before have you seen a creature that is so preoccupied with making Mario his next lunch. In fact, after he chows down on our hero, all I could hear him say is ''Tastes like chicken, only with a plunger''.
As my old grand dad once told me (ok maybe I am making it up), a picture is worth a thousand words, and in the case of this game, a live action movie plays in my head of my favorite encounters. There is nothing more exhilarating then racing through one of this game’s dungeons, dodging thwomps as you go, heading towards your final battle with Boomer, the dungeon guardian. My fondest memories are of the high tension moments in which Mario is being chased from behind by a Boo, who has no problem taking you out as your back is turned. You will not be thinking of him as a coward when he stalks you throughout the level, sometimes traveling through bricks to catch up with you. Memories also stretch the exciting battles that awaited me on Bowser’s air ships, dodging bullet bills as they try to eliminate Mario from the mushroom kingdom. Even the land of Giants kept my heart beating as I fought the Godzilla wannabes. I would even opt to stay in this land of titans, instead of making them small once again by going through a door within the levels. No, nothing at all compares to the amount of fun that can be had in this game, you too should have fond memories of the places you will end up exploring.
With this addictive gameplay comes some graphics that were amazing for their time, and they still hold up after all these years. They are colorful and are beautifully animated, with a smooth scrolling pace. Yes, Picasso himself would be proud at the amount of work that was put into a game on such an aged console, making it a graphical masterpiece for an NES game. The diversity in the levels will blow your mind, and you will want to explore all of it. I know as a child I stared at this game in wonder; it just looked spectacular for its time. Maybe all this graphical hype could be attributed to my passionate love for this game, but I doubt that is so. Even without these graphics, it still would have been great with all the other pieces in place. But really, as it is now, I wouldn't have it any different.
Everything from the classical Mario theme to the head-bobbing dungeon themes is an orchestrated dream. Every musical score they use gets you in the mood for a particular level, and usually matches the theme. That's pretty amazing for an 8-bit system, but Nintendo got it done. The sound effects themselves may not be great, but they work. From the bloop sound as you squash a goomba, to the squirt sound you hear as you shoot out a blazing fireball. It is all here and it all works very well to form one of the best musical feats on the NES.
All these factors mix and combine to form a brilliant game that is indescribable in the amount of fun you'll have. You'll enjoy floating above the clouds in a literal sense (I again repeat, no bad shrooms are here; look somewhere else). I know as a child, my heart beat with excitement as I seen this game on The Wizard, and when I fought my first battle with Boomer, the dungeon guardian. Never was I let down; the difficulty was just right, and never did I get disgusted with the game in any sense. From the perfect gameplay, to the great graphical flare for its time, you should never be without this game.
If, for some reason you have been living under a Koopa shell your whole life, come on out and taste the brilliance that is Super Mario Bros 3! Everyone should enjoy this game; if you do not, then that is your loss because you will never experience the pleasure I got from playing through this masterpiece over and over again. This is as close as you'll get to gaming heaven. I know that there shall never be another game to push Mario 3 off from being my favorite of all time; it is just that good. SMB3 has bumped heads with stiff competition from all the great games of our time, and still has the gaming crown. Go ahead, get Super Mario Brothers 3's autograph for this accomplishment; it will welcome you with gaming excellence and open arms.
Topic: Super Mario Brothers 3 retro review (Read 3310 times)
