Super Mario Bros. 3

Did You Know?

• The game was advertised during a final scene of the 1989 film The Wizard.
• A bootleg port for the Game Boy Color titled Super Mario 3 Special was released in 2000, truncated to only five levels.
• In the early 1990s, John Carmack and Tom Hall developed an IBM PC clone of Super Mario Bros. 3, which led to the founding of id Software.

Development and release

Development of Super Mario Bros. 3 began in spring 1986, right after the Famicom Disk System version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was finished. Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division handled the project, with a team of over ten people. The entire process took more than two years, and the budget, adjusted for inflation, came to roughly $800,000 in US dollars. Shigeru Miyamoto directed the game, and during both the early concept work and the final stages, he encouraged open discussion among designers and programmers.

He believed that fresh, original ideas were essential for a successful game. The team first tried an isometric viewpoint, but it made judging jumps too tricky, so they went back to the 2D side-scrolling style from earlier Mario titles. A few isometric touches remain, like the checkered floor on the title screen. All the pixel art was created on Fujitsu FM R-50 HD business computers, while HP 64000 mainframe computers with a 6502 processor card were used to write and test the code.

The game was built to suit players of different skill levels. Earlier worlds have more bonus coins and extra lives to help beginners, while later worlds offer tougher challenges for veterans. In two-player mode, players take turns to keep play time balanced. The team added new power-ups that changed Mario’s appearance to give him different abilities.

One early idea turned Mario into a centaur, but that was replaced by a raccoon tail that allowed limited flight. Other costumes with unique powers were also included, and levels were designed around them. New enemies appeared, along with variations of familiar ones like Goombas, Hammer Bros., and Koopa Troopas. Because so many new features were added, the original early 1988 release date was delayed by six months.

Reception

Super Mario Bros. 3 earned widespread acclaim from gaming magazines. It is often ranked as the finest title for the NES. At Computer and Video Games, editors Paul Rand, Tim Boone, and Frank O'Connor gave it a 98% score, highlighting its gameplay, replay value, sound, and visuals. Boone described it as nearly perfect, calling it "stupendously incredible" and so addictive that only a fire alarm could pull you away—and even then you'd weigh the odds.

Rand declared it the greatest game ever, calling it "the Mona Lisa of gaming" and "astoundingly brilliant in every way." O'Connor claimed it made Sonic the Hedgehog look dull and even gave Super Mario World a serious challenge. In Famitsu, all four reviewers praised it. One noted it borrowed from earlier Mario games but remained diverse and challenging.

Another called it the best since the original Super Mario Bros., though slightly dated in mechanics. That year, it earned the second-highest Famitsu score, trailing only Dragon Quest III. In Famicom Hisshoubon, two reviewers were enthusiastic: one said it pushed side-scrolling action to its limits, and the other had never seen a game with so many well-thought-out ideas. Both criticized the high price of 6500 yen and worried it might be too tough for a broad audience.

Julian Rignall of Mean Machines called it the finest game he had ever played, citing its addictiveness, depth, and challenge. Fellow reviewer Matt Regan predicted it would be a UK bestseller, calling it "truly brilliant" and noting it tested both brains and reflexes, with simple but incredibly varied graphics. Rignall also noted its audio and visuals felt outdated compared to Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES titles. Hidden items like warp whistles were praised: Rignall saw them as part of the game's addictiveness, and another reviewer said finding them brought real satisfaction.

Legacy

Super Mario Bros. 3 was a game that left a lasting mark on the series. Its overworld map style later appeared in games like Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, and New Super Mario Bros. The ability for Mario to fly, first seen here, returned in Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, and Super Mario Galaxy. The Super Leaf item itself came back in later Nintendo 3DS titles such as Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, and New Super Mario Bros. 2.

Bowser’s red hair, a new look for the character in this game, became a permanent part of his design. An animated TV series, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, was made by DIC Entertainment and aired on NBC from September to December 1990. It ran for 26 episodes as part of a Saturday morning block with Captain N: The Game Master. The show used characters, enemies, and settings from the game, and gave the seven Koopalings new names and a new age order based on their personalities.

Music from the game appears on the Nintendo Sound Selection Koopa album. The game’s stages and graphics were used as a background theme in the 2006 Nintendo DS game Tetris DS. The Koopalings later appeared as world bosses in Super Mario World, Mario Is Missing!, Yoshi’s Safari, Hotel Mario, and every New Super Mario Bros. game except New Super Mario Bros. Another boss, Boom Boom, reappeared in Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World, joined by a female boomerang-wielding version named Pom Pom.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is also one of the game themes available in Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2. In the early 1990s, American developers John Carmack and Tom Hall created a PC clone of the game using their own adaptive tile refresh software for smooth scrolling on EGA cards. They showed it to Nintendo, who were impressed but declined to license it. They later founded id Software and made Commander Keen, a series inspired by Super Mario Bros. 3. A working copy of that demo was found and preserved at the Museum of Play in July 2021.