35 years later, Mario 3 still does some things better than every Mario since

If all the world is a stage, then Mario is adept at playing all the roles – something Miyamoto was very keen to tell us.

[Number1TailzFan]

3 had a good balance of difficulty before crybabies stepped in and cried about the difficulty of SMW, which is why the game was made easier before release. Would also explain why most other games have been easier except for special worlds etc.. or ones you unlock after you beat the main game.

Isn't the reason we got a Doki Doki Panic sprite swap because Lost Levels was originally deemed too difficult?

[ChasterMies]

This is a lot of revisionist history. All games back then had to be difficult or else they would be over in less than an hour. Super Mario 3 was actually super approachable because you could use the map and warp whistles to go right to the boss. And as with Super Mario World, you could farm stages for more lives. The beautify of Super Mario 3 was the abundance of secret areas and tools like Hammer Bros. suits. You didn’t really want to rush it. The lost levels were a different beast. They were never marketed as a mainline Mario game.

[qalpha]

I watched an interview with a developer (I think it was for Disney's Aladdin) from years ago and he said they were required to raise the difficulty because so many games were rented back then. They didn't want the game finished quickly so you had to rent it longer. it was the home-rental equivalent of pumping more quarters into an arcade machine.

[Rebel_Scum]

The cry babies? It was Nintendo’s perception that yanks didnt like difficult games hence the easing of the difficulty.

[ChasterMies]

This is an odd statement considering the history of Japanese games that had you press X on your way to victory. Seriously, games like Ninja Gaiden in the 00s was born of the developer’s belief that Japanese gamers had grown too soft.

[CrimsonWing69]

Yep, it's the best 2D Mario game, in my humblest of humble opinions.

[goldwyncq]

Still my favorite Mario game.

[Terry_B]

SMB3 and Mario World are still the best Mario Games.

[Rainbowcookie]

Legit!