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jzulli's Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
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| [February 23, 2007 07:58:19 PM]
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World 2 is themed very differently than World 1. The second world has desert theme and adds pyramids and sand to the level design. It's almost like playing a different game now; though the ruleset stays the same (you can get the same power-ups just like in World 1) your interaction with the level changes due to the varied game mechanics inherent in World 2.
The game utilizes big black blocks that limit the path that you can take at any given moment; if you get a hammer power-up, you can use it and smash the block. This usually opens a path to other levels, or sometimes it takes you to a special item. Again, this is something that you kind of learn on your own from trial and error, but since I played this game when I was a child, I remember it vividly.
At the end of the World you always fight a boss by entering the castle. There is a routine to these boss fights: first you must traverse your way through the myriad of bullets and flames that shoot out at you on top of a flying boat. Second, you must go down a pipe and then fight the area-specific boss. The boss usually attacks the same way, but they get incrementally harder. Every boss takes 3 hits, and then they're done.
Super Mario Bros. 3 is such a fun game for several reasons, but probably its greatest attribute is its size; it has 8 massive worlds (massive for its time, anyway) that each have their own theme. It makes the game feel like it's enormous. In some cases, it feels like a different game. Its scale sets it apart from most other games of its genre on the NES.
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| [February 23, 2007 07:53:18 PM]
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Super Mario Bros. 3 is quite obviously an infamous game. I would go as far as saying that most people living in a developed nation know about it and have probably played it. So my goal out of playing this game again was to look at it in a more critical style.
The first thing I noticed from the game is that it is gorgeous. Compared to previous NES games, Super Mario Bros. 3 just blows them all out of the water. The Nintendo programmers must have really gotten the code of the NES down by the end of its lifetime.
The second thing that stands out is that there is a World Map. I don't know how many games before this one used this, but this is a very nice feature that connects the otherwise-completely-disconnectedness of the levels in the game. What I mean to say is, Level 1 in World 1 looks very different from Level 2; though there are themes, they do not physically connect to one another. This hub world (the World Map) acts as a connection between the levels in order to immerse the player in the levels better.
One of the beautiful things about this game are the hidden power-ups. Amazingly, I don't recall learning these; I haven't played this game in years, yet I still remember where to jump to hit an invisible box. It's really quite surreal.
I made it to the end of the 2nd World by the end of my 45 minutes. More on the game as I continue.
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jzulli's Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Friday 23 February, 2007
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