Super Mario Bros 3 at 30

[empsolo]

This month marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Super Mario Bros 3 in October of 1988 in Japan. Two years later, this game would come to North America in a wave of hype that been seldom seen in the Video Game industry before then. Over 250,000 copies were sold in the first two days of release, with a total of 7 million units being sold during it's lifetime on store shelves. It would also accrue an additional 4 million copies in Japan alone, with 17 million selling worldwide when all things were said and done.

 

Since I was only 5 years old when this game finally released in North America, I don't have many memories about the release. So I was wondering what your reactions to the game was and what you recall about the hype surrounding it.

 

 

[digdugnate]

i was 12 when Mario 3 was released- i was SO EXCITED when it came out. Raccoon tails? I can turn into a statue or a Buzzy Beetle! Look at all these cool maps! GIANT WORLD!

 

i think i played this game more over the next two years before the SNES came out than any other game. it's still one of my all-time favorite NES games.

 

(although Ice World and Plant World can still go suck it)

[derFunkenstein]

It was one of the first games I bought for the system with my own money. I got an NES for my 11th birthday in 1989. On my 12th I got a bunch of cash and got it. It had been out for a couple months.

 

Within the first 30 days of owning it, I played and played and played on a summer vacation rainy day and beat it without knowing any of the warp zones. Took many hours, and it was super fun. One of my all-time faves. It really needed save memory, though. It is way too big to do that these days, for the time I have. Super Mario AllStars fixed that.

[mbd30]

I loved it at the time.

 

But... I think that it's much too long to not have a save feature. My favorite is the first SMB.

[DragonGrafx-16]

 

I should play it for a bit tonight!

 

It's a shame how boring the NES cover art is compared to the Famicom release. I'd hang the Famicom art on my wall...

Edited October 27, 2018 by TravisHuckins

[Tanooki]

I was 13 at the time. I remember waiting so long for this one, and totally chewing up that hype machine that was The Wizard with the mini NP freebie at the door, the SMB3 happy meal toys, all the advertising like the Mario planet head TV spot thing, all the NP run up for months. I got mine at Toys R Us when it came out. All those walls of vidpro cards (not that anyone knew they were called that) with all the tickets under the flap. I got one, lots did, Nintendo blew this one out like mad knowing what they had on their hands and to make sure it wasn't another SMB2/Zelda 2 repeat from hell I imagine as well. I remember there was a considerable line not so much as to pay for it, plenty of registers, but my TRU had this huge wooden prison of sorts up near the front between the registers and the front door, beyond the pay area. They had to set it up so people could pay, then there was this big ass line to form along the wooden prison and you'd hand the guy in there safe from the mob your receipt and he'd hand you the game. I had the wrap off that sucker rapidly after getting into the car. Totally worth it. Wish I still had my mini NP mag from that day at the movie, and shame the Wizard kind of vanished, the good kind of cheese would be nice to have on a blu ray.

[derFunkenstein]

Dude I forgot about the commercial. Mario! Mario! And then his face on the globe. So cool.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r2zps0pzrxk

Edited October 27, 2018 by derFunkenstein

[digdugnate]

I was 13 at the time. I remember waiting so long for this one, and totally chewing up that hype machine that was The Wizard with the mini NP freebie at the door, the SMB3 happy meal toys, all the advertising like the Mario planet head TV spot thing, all the NP run up for months. I got mine at Toys R Us when it came out. All those walls of vidpro cards (not that anyone knew they were called that) with all the tickets under the flap. I got one, lots did, Nintendo blew this one out like mad knowing what they had on their hands and to make sure it wasn't another SMB2/Zelda 2 repeat from hell I imagine as well. I remember there was a considerable line not so much as to pay for it, plenty of registers, but my TRU had this huge wooden prison of sorts up near the front between the registers and the front door, beyond the pay area. They had to set it up so people could pay, then there was this big ass line to form along the wooden prison and you'd hand the guy in there safe from the mob your receipt and he'd hand you the game. I had the wrap off that sucker rapidly after getting into the car. Totally worth it. Wish I still had my mini NP mag from that day at the movie, and shame the Wizard kind of vanished, the good kind of cheese would be nice to have on a blu ray.

Amazon has your back!

 

https://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Blu-ray-Edwards-Christian-Bridges/dp/B07CLRSJKC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1540634759&sr=8-2&keywords=the+wizard+blu+ray

[TwinChargers]

Well, I was young ( 8 ) and coming from a family that was lower middle class, so in the late 80's I was still rocking the Atari at the time. No NES for me until it was getting phased out. I do recall going over to friends houses in the early 90's and seeing Super Mario 3 and just being in absolute awe of it. There was me, just wandering through the level just getting by, and them running/flying and getting warp whistles. They'd want to go off and play things other than video games and I was mesmerized with their Nintendo. SMB3 was one of the titles that I received when getting the NES, and I played it to death. Many great times going from world to world, seeing how far I could go, and how many lives I could collect. Lots of controller slamming and throwing in world 8... but all in all, good times for sure! To this day, it is probably my favorite Mario title.

Edited October 27, 2018 by TwinChargers

[Newsdee]

I didn't own a NES but my cousin had a Famiclone. I wanted to buy him a gift so I went to the mall and found an unbranded cart with a nice Mario drawing (the country we were in had no original games or very few). I didn't know when I bought it, but it turned out it was Mario 3.

 

We played the hell out of it for a couple of years, sometimes not turning off the console to continue the next day. Then eventually we learned about the warps and beat it repeatedly.

 

I don't remember if I saw The Wizard before or after, but it blew my mind there was a movie featuring video games, and I was too young to realize it was mostly a 2h Nintendo ad.

Edited October 27, 2018 by Newsdee

[Video]

Loved it. This was a step up to smb, like smb was to Mario bros. I never beat it till all stars though, that last world is brutal, and the save for all stars made all the difference. That, and actually owning it. Lol.

 

I to was rather poor, and it wasn't till 95 I got the nes version (what year did the top loader release?) This was the first game I got for it, till then I played friends games.

[DragonGrafx-16]

Loved it. This was a step up to smb, like smb was to Mario bros. I never beat it till all stars though, that last world is brutal, and the save for all stars made all the difference. That, and actually owning it. Lol.

 

I to was rather poor, and it wasn't till 95 I got the nes version (what year did the top loader release?) This was the first game I got for it, till then I played friends games.

Top loader came out in 1993. I know because my family got one new.

[pleaserecycle]

I still haven't played Super Mario Bros 3 yet. I'm trying to beat Super Mario Bros first so I can compare and contrast. Time to fire up the NES again...

Edited October 27, 2018 by pleaserecycle

[Gamemoose]

And after 28 years....I still haven't beaten it.

[GameGirl420]

I'll never forget the hype surrounding Mario 3. It was massive. Just that one game every kid had to have back in 1990!! lol

 

 

Glad I have two copies now,one loose and the other still boxed.

 

 

I only beat it one time. That last level is tough as nails!!!!!!

[nick3092]

I remember our local video store bought a Famicom copy when it first came out along with an adaptor and rented it out. My group of friends were all clamoring to be able to rent it. None of us had seen a Famicom cartridge prior to that.

[Video]

93 really? Damn my memory sucks. It wasn't on launch, but it was a Christmas present that year. My smb 3 was actually bought from my friend. I think nes games were getting pretty thin in stores at the time.

 

That last level, that's the reason I play to have fun rather than to beat it now days. We cheated our asses off with everything we could get (game genie) and still got murdered.

 

Anyone know, outside of graphics, what the difference between all stars and nes version endings are?

[+wongojack]

In 1990, I was 14. Mario was too childish to be excited about. I kinda remember when SMB 2 came out, but SMB 3 wasn't even on the radar for me. I don't remember any hype or anyone even talking about it. I don't remember anyone at school talking about The Wizard or any gaming competitions. I DO however remember beating Leisure Suit Larry #N with a friend on his PC and also playing through multiple seasons on Earl Weaver's Baseball on my friend's Amiga. We spent a ton of time in that era on Bard's Tale 3 as well. I also remember playing the Street Sports series on my C64 with friends and of course Techmo Bowl on the NES. EDIT - I forgot about Sim City and Wing Commander on my PC!

 

To this day, I still don't really understand the popularity of the Super Mario series. The level design on all of the games is basically a straight line with various things the designers have put in your way to remind you they hate you. I think the success of this game almost single handedly doomed us to having a forest of clones in the 16 bit era that made an entire cycle of console gaming a predictable chore. IMO, the series really only came into its own starting with Mario 64.

[empsolo]

In 1990, I was 14. Mario was too childish to be excited about. I kinda remember when SMB 2 came out, but SMB 3 wasn't even on the radar for me. I don't remember any hype or anyone even talking about it. I don't remember anyone at school talking about The Wizard or any gaming competitions. I DO however remember beating Leisure Suit Larry #N with a friend on his PC and also playing through multiple seasons on Earl Weaver's Baseball on my friend's Amiga. We spent a ton of time in that era on Bard's Tale 3 as well. I also remember playing the Street Sports series on my C64 with friends and of course Techmo Bowl on the NES.

 

To this day, I still don't really understand the popularity of the Super Mario series. The level design on all of the games is basically a straight line with various things the designers have put in your way to remind you they hate you. I think the success of this game almost single handedly doomed us to having a forest of clones in the 16 bit era that made an entire cycle of console gaming a predictable chore. IMO, the series really only came into its own starting with Mario 64.

In reverse, I had an IBM 286 and an Apple IIe in school and I never got into much of the lauded computer games of the 8 bit era. To me, they were mostly plodding, boring, and just hard to get into. That was especially true if you didn't have the manual. I enjoyed top down and side scrolling action games because, not only were they mindless fun, but they were really the only way you play out an scenes from an action movie or TV show in a video game with the technology of the time. Not only that but they really challenged your hand eye coordination in avoiding pits and enemies and the like as well in games like Mega Man and Contra. I'm sad that the side scroller never really survived the jump to 3D. I really enjoyed pseudo-side scrollers like Crash Bandicoot.