Super Mario Bros. 3

After a certain Freeola member went on a retro rampage, it sparked something inside me to go and play this, probably my favourite childhood game. While it was not the first of its kind, it certainly was special and set the bar for games going forward. Plenty of platform games today struggle to be as good as this.

We were not new to Mario when this game hit our shelves; we had seen the plumber, his brother, the princess and all those nasty creatures that were up to no good. We had done the run and jump thing, get the mushroom, save the day. So something had to be done to make this worth the money, in my eyes Nintendo came up trumps with this one. This time the Princess was still in danger, but the 7 regions on the Mushroom Kingdom is being terrorised by Bowser’s Koopalings. So either on your own or with a friend you go level to level to save the day and restore peace to the Kingdom. Improved graphics and the ability to fly swim and slide saw this Mario game step up a level and are still being played by plenty of people today.

Each Region of the Kingdom had its own theme and all the levels were colourful and varied, with plenty of secrets to be found and lives to be gained. Everything that was loved about the previous games was brought forward with some new additions. I mentioned earlier about the new ability to fly and swim. Nintendo offered a couple of new power-ups to keep Mario going over the game. The iconic brown leaf which saw our plumbers transform with racoon ears and tail and gave them the ability to fly after a small sprint. Unlocking new heights for Mario and a great way to avoid danger. This is possible still my favourite of all power-ups Mario has been given. The less remembered but equally cool new toy for Mario was the frog suit, making underwater levels much easier as he could swim freely and jump high. There was also another power-up which allowed Mario to turn into a statue and avoid damage and hammer bro suit that let him cause damage via hammer throwing. All these new additions really made the game stand out for me and after playing it several times I had learnt all the secret whistle positions that would enable you to skip 2 or 3 entire regions and get closer to the final battle.

I have to confess I never beat this game as a kid, always struggles on the last level, there was so much going on I would always end up getting hit by something and die before the end. I have since done the game and realised the end boss was very simple in comparison to the level before it! It really is a simple game with running, jumping and a few extras, but it has a place in my heart as one of my favourite ever games. Me and my brother or a friend would spend hours trying to get to World 8 and beat Bowser; we would always have loads of fun playing it, trying to get to the item shops in front of the other person, or completing the boss of that world to get the special present from the princess.

I am trusting you have all played this, and if you have not then you probably hate Nintendo and Mario, but should you have let this platform legend slip by, get on Firefox and play it now! You can play this online or grab a NES fairly cheap. Really is a game you need to have played in your life at least once!

10/10


I know this is not SNES, but no NES option!