Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the best Mario games around but what makes the game so great?
In recognition of my buddies over at Nintendo Chronicle reviewing Super Mario Bros. 3 on their pod cast last week, it got me thinking about one of my favorite video games of all time. The question became what could you talk about to pay proper homage to what some consider the best Mario game in the franchise? It then hit me” what did Mario 3 do to push the boundaries that Mario games didn’t do up till that point? Please allow me to present “My Type Of Countdown: Mario 3 innovations!”
Super Mario 3 was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in October of 1988 and still presents the standards for a Mario game. What was done in this game that set the standards for future Mario games? Let us begin the countdown at number 5.
Number 5- An Open World Map
Nowadays, an open world map is common-place but in the good old days of the late 80’s, you didn’t really have a chose in what levels you played while on your quest for Princess Toadstool. Some games, like the Legend of Zelda, allowed for exploration but that was the rare occurrence. Mario 1 and 2 were the norm for the time. The few warp zones that were scattered across Mario 1 and 2 were the only ways off the beaten path for players to take. Mario 3 allowed the players to go different routes while playing the game and skipping whole stages. Mario games after Mario 3 have the open world map, such as Super Mario World and New Super Mario Brothers U but with Mario 3, it was somewhat of an experiment for Nintendo. It appears to have worked well for Nintendo, right? Number 5- Open World Map
