Super Mario Bros. 3 has a massive legacy and countless imitators. It's one of the few NES games I still enjoy playing (Although I'm partial to the Super Mario All-Stars version) and I don't think I need to tell you any of this. Despite being made in a time when developers didn't have a whole lot to go off of, SMB3 has ingenious level design, ranging from fun and hectic platforming stages to tricky mazes in caves. The variety in locales from world to world adds a great sense of exploration and progress to the game. Each world has unique gimmicks introduced at a good pace and doesn't treat the player like a moron. No tutorials, no giant signs explaining what things are, just pure game!
SMB3 did introduce a few questionable elements to the Mario series, but they're honestly a lot worse in Super Mario World than here. Flying, while fun, can lead to entire stages being skipped, eliminating much of the game's challenge. The Warp Whistles are so well-known at this point that it's easy to jump around and never even see pars of the game. That said, for every iffy thing in the game, there's something great. The power-up costumes are wonderful and for the most part more creative than what we'd get in future Mario games. Everyone loves the Tanooki suit, and I have a soft spot for Frog Mario despite it being a terrible ability.
Overall, I guess I'm just getting a quick review out of the way here. There isn't much to say. Super Mario Bros. 3 is great and you already knew that. It came from a time when platforming games were the hotness and still exciting, and you can tell the developers had fun designing it. Nowadays, platformers have to be stupidly hard or have a lame gimmick to get any hype. While Donkey Kong for Game Boy and Yoshi's Island are my favorite Mario games, this one is not far off and should be part of every self-respecting gamer's collection.
7.5
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