J.P. Corbran, Community Manager

Super Mario Bros. 3 was the first video game I ever played many years ago on my aunt’s NES, and to this day remains one of my favorites. I must have completed it dozens of times over the years across many different iterations of the game and on various platforms. Even so, I constantly feel compelled to go back and experience it again.

The game is brimming with ideas, almost to a fault, as some of the most interesting things about it are limited to single instances. Unique power-ups like the Tanooki and Hammer suits exist in such limited quantities that I sometimes feel reluctant to use them. I find the short, focused levels refreshing compared to other games in the series and the genre as a whole, and give the game a brisk pace that almost makes up for the lack of a save feature in the original version of the game.

On one occasion, with the Game Boy Advance port of the game, I 100% completed it for the second time in less than a week only to go back and start again. The game just never gets old for me no matter how many times I play through it. Even though the game has lost most of its challenge for me over the years due to repeated playthroughs, I still experience the same joy as always every time I go back.

The Nintendo Power Player’s Guide for the game will always be special for me too. Both my aunt and my best friend growing up owned it and it was integral to my experience with the game. Looking back, certain parts of the game would be massive barriers without the knowledge in that book, particularly in the fortresses in the later worlds that were more like photo-ghost houses. Having recently encountered people who were new to the game, who didn’t have that information, it’s clear my feelings toward the title might have been completely different without that help.

Seeing people get to explore the design of this game in Super Mario Maker, fleshing out under-developed concepts and coming up brand new ones, is a wonderful thing. Super Mario Bros. 3 will always be special to me due to how it shaped my love of gaming when I was young, and I believe it remains to this day one of the best examples of 2D platformer game design.

Matt West, Associate Editor

Super Mario Bros. 3 is the game that made me a Nintendo fan for life. Sure, we owned an NES console prior to its release, but this game is the first one I remember staring at in the store, longing for the day my parents would buy it for me. I was only 3 or 4 at the time, and couldn't afford it myself! My dad and I played this game for hours once we did grab our own copy; uncovering secrets like hidden blocks, warp pipes, and the flutes that would allow players to skip worlds. My favorite addition to the game was the new and improved power ups that Mario could use, namely the different suits. The Tanooki and Frog suits are still two of my all time favorite power ups in the series.

At the time, I considered Super Mario Bros. 3 to be the perfect game. It still remains in my top 10 games of all time, and every 2D platformer I have ever played has been compared and contrasted with this one being used as the golden standard. While some have come close, none have triumphed in taking Mario 3 off of that pedestal. The perfect pacing of the difficulty, the hidden secrets, the airship levels complete with Koopaling battles, and the catchy soundtrack are all just spot on.

Mario 3 soon became an obsession for me and several of my friends. We traded Super Mario Bros. 3 secrets at school, and often could be seen drawing our own Mario levels and power up suits whenever we had free time. We watched the accompanying cartoon, collected toys, and had competitions to see who could beat levels faster. The early 90's were a fascinating time to be a kid, but there are few things about that time that I remember more fondly than Super Mario Bros. 3.

Andrew Brown, Associate Editor (Australia)

This. This is the game that solidified my lifelong Nintendo fandom. I was already familiar with Super Mario as a kid through the Super Show on TV and through a few of my friends who had NES consoles. But Super Mario Bros. 3 expanded on what made the original game so great and added several exciting new concepts. From the dancing bushes on the World 1 map to the laser-shooting Bowser statues in the final castle, there's almost nothing about the game that I don't fondly look back on. Then the TV promotions followed and it became a tradition of mine to head to the local Blockbuster and rent out VHS tapes of the Super Mario Bros. 3 cartoon series. A guilty pleasure, but I still enjoy the show today despite its terrible animation and horrific dialogue.

Some of my favourite memories of the game include the ultra-rare Hammer Bros. suit that was impervious to fireballs when Mario was in the crouching position, and the secret trick to enter the background by dropping through the white scenery blocks. I never actually owned the game myself until I got the Super Mario All-Stars SNES bundle one Christmas, but I still remember opening the box for the first time and seeing the console in there, and the shiny unsmudged multi-coloured controller buttons (sorry USA, the Australian SNES looked cooler). Hooking a brand new Nintendo console up to the TV for the first time is one of the most exciting things for a kid to do.

Seeing the graphical overhaul and hearing the revamped music tracks on the SNES made Super Mario Bros. 3 even better. I hope one day Virtual Console players will be able to experience the additional GBA level add-ons that came via the rare e-Reader cards. Long live the king of platformers!