Super Mario Bros. 3 was released in Japan on October 23rd, 1988, and finally hit U.S. soil on February 12th, 1990. This is actually the fourth entry in the Super Mario series behind the original SMB and both versions of SMB2. Shigeru Miyamoto and his team of a little over 10 people took over 2 years to complete this game. If that's not a sign of the times, I don't know what is. A group of 10ish people take 2 years to develop a game back then and it ends up being one of the greatest games of all time, a group of 10ish people take 2 years to develop a game nowadays, it's labelled an "indie" and hopes to get a cult following.
Miyamoto has always been known to get inspirations from what seems like thin air. He is an absolute genius. He got the idea for the original SMB while on a train seeing the horizon scroll, imagining a man jumping along the way. He got the inspiration for Pikmin just by doing gardening work. This real-life inspiration was evident in 3 with the Chain Chomp enemy, a rabid ball-and-chain hooked on to a wood post, if it seems like he shares mannerisms as a dog, that's because it's based off a bad childhood experience Miyamoto had. If you get the chance, spend some time researching him and his life, it's really fascinating, and he is definitely on my list of people to meet in life.
The game also marked the first appearance of the Koopalings (or Koopa Kids, whichever you refer to them as), and they were based off seven of the programmers as a tribute to their hard work. They were named after famous musicians as well, for example: Ludwig is named after Beethoven, Iggy is named after Iggy Pop, and Roy is named after Roy Orbison. Of course these names didn't come to be until Super Mario World came out, but we can go back and figure out who's who.
There are so many innovations/outstanding features in Super Mario Bros. 3, where to begin?
Let's start with the first thing you see when starting the game:
The Map.....(!)
This alone blew people away. The fact that you didn't have to play every level was mind-boggling at the time. Like here in the very first world; you didn't want to play stage 3 or 4? Then don't. The map wasn't just there for show though, as you could go to the toad house and get items, play the card mini games, break rocks with a hammer item or go through pipes to access secret areas, have random encounters with Hammer Bros, etc. 3 pioneered the idea of an overworld map and it was utilized MANY times in MANY games - not just Mario games - and is still being used to this day.
The Raccoon Tail/Tanooki Suit
You had your standard Mushroom and Fire Flower abilities, but (with all due respect to the Frog Suit and the Hammer Suit) these two abilities stood out to most gamers. Being able to fly opened up the levels like never before and was an essential way of traversal. Throw in the Tanooki's ability to turn into a statue to crush enemies and you have a very powerful and fun combination of abilities.
Kuribo's Shoe
The shoe only appears in one level of the game, leaving fans begging for its return. When equipped, Mario (or Luigi, #teamgreen) can step on sharp enemies like Spinies and Munchers. The shoe is lost at the end of the level.
The Music
From top to bottom, the music of Super Mario Bros. 3 was outstanding, here are a couple examples:
The Wizard
Of course I am talking about the 1989 film The Wizard. The movie was based on Nintendo and its various competitions (yes, eSports were a thing back then too). This was America's first glimpse of Super Mario Bros. 3.
Also, whenever I mention The Wizard I need to mention the Power Glove, because it was so bad.
=======================================================================
Super Mario Bros. 3 was the perfect Mario game for the time. The great graphics, the fluid gameplay, fantastic music, new abilities, the innovations, it all meshed together to produce one of the best games ever made.
On a personal note though, while I hold this game very near and dear to my heart, it is actually my 2nd favorite Mario game, as it sits JUST BARELY behind Super Mario World.
Happy Anniversary Super Mario Bros. 3!
No comments:
Post a Comment