20°

Retrospective: Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario wasn't my favourite videogame character, he was videogames. My friends and I were students of Mario in the early 1990s, professors of Mariology, and we spent our days in rambling scholarly discussions about the intricacies of his worlds, the peculiar richness of their secrets, and whether he could have Luigi in a fight. (He probably could, incidentally, but he would feel bad about it afterwards.)

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eurogamer.net
130°

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.

Number1TailzFan177d ago

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?

ChasterMies177d ago

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.

qalpha176d ago

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_Scum177d ago

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

ChasterMies176d ago

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.

CrimsonWing69176d ago

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

goldwyncq176d ago

Still my favorite Mario game.

Terry_B176d ago

SMB3 and Mario World are still the best Mario Games.

40°

That Time Princess Peach Enslaved Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom

Princess Peach. Beloved royalty of the Mushroom Kingdom, and the constant damsel in distress that sets the tone for most Super Mario games. However, there is a darkness in this one, and she is not all smiles, pink hearts, and expensive parasols. No, no. She is not quite what she seems.

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nintendolink.com
60°

NES Games that Still Hold Up Today

Nearly 40 years after its release, the NES is still one of the most popular gaming consoles in the world! Here are our top NES games that have stood the test of time.

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ghettogamer.net
franwex925d ago

Sounded pretty defensive there with Zelda 2…

Jiub925d ago

Ahhh Contra. My first Shoot 'em up. Good times