Tag: SMB3

I’ve previously written about three memorable levels in Super Mario Bros. 3. But as I replayed the game recently for the first time in many years (on my NES Classic), I noticed several things I did not remember from my previous playthroughs. Without further ado, here is my list.

1. The Sky is Beige

This isn’t true in all levels, of course. Many levels do indeed have blue skies, while others have black (night) or even green skies. But perhaps the most common sky color in the game is this light beige you can see in this screenshot. It’s something I haven’t really thought about before.

2. Green Buildings with Footprints?

World 3-7 has these large green…structures…that I don’t remember from previously playing Mario 3. As a fan of the color green, I do enjoy the look of these unique structures. But what are they? Buildings? Walls? Perhaps they’re just the homes of the enemies known as Spikes. But if so, why aren’t there doors or windows? And are those footprints all over them? Or is that wallpaper? 😛

3. Magic Doors

World 4 has always been one of my favorites. It is the giant world, so enemies, blocks, and even the scenery can be huge here. But what I forgot is that World 4-6 has magic doorways that let you swap between the giant-sized world and a regular-sized version of the same level. It’s a cool feature.

4. Misplaced Pipe Maze?

World 7 is filled with puzzling pipe maze levels, and I remembered that fact quite well. But what I wasn’t expecting during my recent playthrough was to see was a pipe maze in World 4. The second fortress here in the giant world has a pipe maze that looks straight out of World 7. Oddly enough, I remembered this specific level quite well…I just didn’t recall it being in World 4.

5. Green & Black Cave

I was quite surprised when I saw these green and black triangle patterns on the ground and walls of a cave in World 5-2. Again, this is probably just me being odd with my color preferences, but I love the look of it. And I did not remember seeing it at all. But in my defense, this area looks completely different in the Super Mario All-Stars (SNES) version, and that version was a bit fresher in my memory than the NES version.

6. I Hate Lakitu

In Mario Kart games, Lakitu will count down to the start of the race, or tell you which lap you’ve just completed. In other games such as Super Mario 64, he operates the camera. So it’s easy to be fooled into thinking he’s a nice guy, or at least a neutral figure.

But in Super Mario Bros. 3 (and some others), he’s a major-league butthole. While flying around up in his cloud, he relentlessly throws Spinies at you. He throws them at varying angles, and they’re quite hard to avoid. And he just keeps going and going. I had forgotten how much I truly hated this jerk. This screenshot is from World 5-8, which particularly gave me trouble. But he’s in some other levels as well, unfortunately.

You can see me struggling with Lakitu quite in a bit in my new Super Mario Bros. 3 – FAILS video. Skip to 2:25 if you want to jump right to the Lakitu parts.

But even though I may have forgotten these details about the game, I never forgot how great this game is. After replaying it again, I can say it’s still my favorite Mario game (2D or otherwise), and it’s among my favorite games of all time.

Today, I’m taking a look back at my favorite video game of all-time, Super Mario Bros. 3. In particular, I’m revisiting three of my favorite and most memorable levels. Just a note, though: Even though SMB3 was first a NES game, the videos included here are from the SNES version as seen in Super Mario All-Stars.

First up is World 6-5. Located midway through the ice world, this level seems to be an endless loop of Buster Beetles and ice blocks initially. Those ice blocks are ultra cool though, in more ways than one, as you can pick them up and throw them at enemies. Even if you miss, they keep sliding until they hit something and break. But still, the numerous Buster Beetles can be tricky to deal with in here. There is a small room that has renewable power-ups, and it’s there for a reason: You need to be raccoon Mario (or have other means of flight) to finish the level. A lone Koopa Troopa must be stomped on and his shell flown up through a certain hole in the ceiling to clear a path to the ending. This was the type of level that may have been confusing at first, but it’s very rewarding when you figure it out.

Next up is World 5-3. It is the only level in the game that has a rare power-up known as Kuribo’s Shoe. Some Goombas in this level will be wearing the powerful shoe, and you have to hit the blocks they’re standing on from underneath to defeat the Goombas. Once you do that, you’re free to hop right into the shoe and get stomping! With the shoe, you can jump higher and safely walk across Munchers. Not only that, but you can stomp on Spinys and piranha plants to defeat them! How cool is that? Kuribo’s Shoe makes this level unique and lots of fun. Unfortunately, once you clear this level, you’ll never see it again for the rest of the game.

And last but not least is the first fortress in World 7. The main point of interest in this level is the huge room made up almost entirely of gold bricks. Hidden amongst them is a P-switch that turns all those hundreds of gold bricks into coins! You can run and jump through them for lots of 1-ups! Even better, the room resets when you leave and re-enter it! So you can rack up tons of extra lives by doing this over and over. And if all that wasn’t cool enough, a secret door revealed by the P-switch leads you to a room where you can grab a Tanooki Suit!

So those are three of my favorite and most memorable levels in Super Mario Bros. 3. What are yours?