“Super Mario Multiverse” – Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) by Super JeffTendo

Super Mario Bros. 3

A Super Mario Multiverse Article

Written by
Super JeffTendo (Jeffrey Flock)

The power is turned on, the curtain rises, and two plumbers start running through the stage. A play is about to start featuring two plumbers traveling through eight worlds with flying racoon ears and tail.

With the success of two big Super Mario games for the Famicom, Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka and Nintendo RD4 went on to develop the 3rd Mario game that’s different than the first two. And by October 21st, 1988, Super Mario Bros. 3 was released in Japan. While Mario 3 is selling extremely well in Japan, the US got Mario 2 (Doki Doki Panic version) and was the best selling holiday gift in Christmas of 1988. The US must wait two years to get the 3rd Mario game while Nintendo of America must quickly localized it before Nintendo of Japan reveals their new 16-bit system.

In the Summer of 1989, Universal Pictures ask Nintendo of America if they can help them advertise Mario 3 by showing it in a theatrical release of The Wizard. A film about three kids on a road trip to California while playing Nintendo games along the way to enter a contest where it reveals Super Mario Bros. 3. Think of it as a very first Nintendo Direct before the internet was invented. While the film was a box office flop due to it being like a giant Nintendo commercial, Nintendo fans were excited to witness the game to come out, seeing more previews in issues of Nintndo Power, but they have to wait months until Nintendo of America finished with localization and getting a release window which is February 12th,1990, while Europe must wait for another year.

When February 12th,1990 arrived Mario 3 was finally released in the US, and players now get a chance to witness all the new worlds, new power-ups, hidden secrets, and challenges. What’s different compare to the first two Mario games plus the US version of Mario 2, is that Mario 3 is an enormous game with loads of secrets, the first Mario game with world maps that are themed such as Desert, Water, Giant, Sky, Ice, Pipe and Dark, and three mini-games including a two-player battle based on the 1983 arcade hit Mario Bros. But the biggest part in Mario 3 are the power-ups. We know about the fire flower and starman, but there are seven new powerups. The super leaf that enables Mario to fly like a racoon, a frog suit that swims faster, a Tanooki suit that not only flies, but turns into a statue, a hammer brother suit that throw hammers and deflects projectiles, the Kuribo shoe that stomps on enemies and the P Wing that lets Mario fly forever.

With these powers, Mario and Luigi must rescue the seven kings who were transformed into creatures by seven childish turtles known as the Koopalings. Who are the Koopalings? And where do they come from? The Koopalings are 7 little troublemakers lead by the King of Koopas himself, Bowser. The names are Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy and Ludwig. Each one carrying the wand in each world flying in airships.

After the huge success of Mario 3 in the states, it got a Mcdonald’s Happy Meal set with 4 collectible toys, fruit snacks, and a Saturday morning cartoon called The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. Or as I call it, season 2 of Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Afterwards, Mario 3 got remade into 16-bit  in a collection called Super Mario All-Stars that had better graphics and got a Gameboy Advance port known as Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. With this update it came with e-Reader cards that give players items, and new levels to explore.

Super Mario Bros. 3 has a special place in heart. Why? Well, being born in January 4, 1990, one month before Mario 3 was released in the US, I keep seeing it everywhere that I did get to play the game when I was 2 years old and my two older sisters did got me a Mario 3 Happy Meal. The bouncing Mario and the backflipping Goomba. I even watched the Mario 3 cartoon all the time every Saturday morning at 7am on The Family Channel, that I actually got one of the VHS tapes and how much I loved Mario to this day. Even when I was playing Super Mario All-Stars, I played Mario 3 the most and knew where all the secrets were without reading Nintendo Power, calling the Nintendo Power Hot Line or seeing The Wizard and I was 4 years old when that happened.

What else do I need to say? From great power-ups to eight enormous worlds, Mario 3 will always age great over 30 years! And as the curtain slowly comes down, we applaud and replay it again as an encore.

Wahoo! You are a Super Reader! But the adventure doesn’t stop here… There’s more of this project in another castle! This article is just one level in an entire Super Mario Multiverse, a galactic collaboration between writers around the world sharing a bit of our hearts and memories about our favorite Mario games. Visit the Center of the Multiverse to see more: