Super Mario Bros. 3

North American box art.
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release Date(s)
Nintendo Entertainment System	NA: February 12, 1990 JP: October 23, 1988 EU: April 29, 1991 AU: June 23, 1991
Nintendo Entertainment System	NA: February 12, 1990 JP: October 23, 1988 EU: April 29, 1991 AU: June 23, 1991
Virtual Console (Wii)	NA: November 5, 2007 JP: December 11, 2007 EU: November 9, 2007 KO: May 26, 2008
Virtual Console (Wii)	NA: November 5, 2007 JP: December 11, 2007 EU: November 9, 2007 KO: May 26, 2008
Virtual Console (3DS)	NA: April 17, 2014 JP: January 1, 2014 EU: December 26, 2013
Virtual Console (3DS)	NA: April 17, 2014 JP: January 1, 2014 EU: December 26, 2013
Virtual Console (Wii U)	NA: April 17, 2014 JP: December 25, 2013 EU: December 26, 2013
Virtual Console (Wii U)	NA: April 17, 2014 JP: December 25, 2013 EU: December 26, 2013
Platform(s)
Sales	Worldwide: 17.28 million 3.84 million 9.54 million 3.44 million Others: 0.46 million
Genre(s)	Platformer
ROM Size	384 KB
Rating(s)
ESRB	03
PEGI	01
CERO	01
USK	01
ACB	01

Super Mario Bros. 3 <sup>(JPJapanese: スーパーマリオブラザーズ3

Romaji: Sūpā Mario Burazāzu Surī)</sup> (often known as Mario 3, SMB3, or Super Mario 3) is the third game in the Mario series. The game was released in 1988, and was developed and published by Nintendo.

It was released in Japan on October 23, 1988; in North America on February 9, 1990; and in Europe and Australia on August 29, 1991. It was later released in the US on the Wii's Virtual Console on November 5, 2007 and the 3DS and Wii U Virtual Console on April 17, 2014. It was also remade for the 1993 SNES compilation game Super Mario All-Stars, and for the Game Boy Advance in 2003 as Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, the final installment of the Super Mario Advance series. It was also released as a reward that Club Nintendo users could purchase with their coins for the Wii Virtual Console on June 3, 2013.

Super Mario Bros. 3 has been considered as one of the greatest games of all time. Its complexity and challenging levels made it a huge success. In addition to new power-ups, it features new moves, items and enemies. It also features special non-level parts of each world, including Toad Houses, where items can be obtained, and Spade Panels, where lives can be obtained, as well as some secret parts, such as the White Mushroom House and the Treasure Ship. The game introduces six new power-ups: the Super Leaf, the Tanooki Suit, the Magic Wing, the Frog Suit, the Hammer Suit, and Goomba's Shoe.

Shortly after the release of the game, a cartoon named The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 was made. The cartoon was based on the game, but with a different plot. In the cartoons, King Koopa and the Koopalings tried to take over the real world as well as the Mushroom Kingdom. The cartoon series was produced by DIC Entertainment Productions in association with Nintendo.

It is one of the most popular games on the Virtual Console, available for 500 Wii Points via a Nintendo Points Card or on the eShop for $5.00. It was previewed in a scene from the 1989 movie, The Wizard.

Plot

Artwork used as the cover art for the game's Japanese release.

Mario and Luigi are out and about in the Mushroom Kingdom. Traveling in the worlds, Mario and Luigi are asked for help by a Toad who serves the king. The servant pleas for Mario and Luigi help as the king as the land's magic wand had been stolen and the king transformed into an animal. Agreeing to help, our heroes stumble upon an airship.

Climbing upon the anchor of the flying vessel, they fought to the cabin of the ship and discovers the thief who stole the magic wand. One of Bowser's eight children, a Koopaling, Larry Koopa. They defeat the Koopaling and returns the magic wand to the king transforming him back to his normal state.

But the adventure is far from over. Mario and Luigi must traverse across seven kingdoms of the Mushroom World in order to defeat the Koopas and restore order to the lands. While they were out adventuring, Bowser takes advantage of the time to kidnap Princess Peach and take her to his castle in Dark Land.

Characters

Playable

The two playable characters, Mario and Luigi, are almost identical other than the change in color palette.

• Mario - The main hero of the game.
• Luigi - Mario's slightly younger, but taller, brother. This isn't visible in-game.

Non-Playable

Spoiler warning: The following information contains spoilers. Please read at your own risk.

• Princess Peach - The princess who gets kidnapped by the evil King Koopa after completing Pipe Land.
• Bowser - The Koopa King who kidnaps Peach and tries to defeat Mario and/or Luigi. At the end of the game, Mario or Luigi defeats the Koopa army and send King Koopa through an endless pit. Then, either brother goes in and saves Princess Peach.
• Toad - The mushroom-like human from the mushroom people, known as Toad, who helps Mario and/or Luigi on his quest to save Princess Peach by giving him various items. Some even serve a Mushroom, a Fire Flower, a Racoon Leaf, a Frog Suit, Tanooki Suit, and a Hammer Suit.

The Kings

The following is a list of the King's transformations that they take over once a Koopa Kid curses him.

King of	Original Version	All Stars/SMA4	Reward
World 1: Grass Land	Dog	Cobrat	P-Wing
World 2: Desert Land	Spider	Hoopster	Jugem's cloud
World 3: Water Land	Spike	Dino Rhino	Music Box
World 4: Giant Land	Unknown Dinosaur	Donkey Kong Jr.	P-Wing
World 5: Sky Land	Pteradactyl-like bird	Albatoss	Jugem's cloud
World 6: Ice Land	Seal	Monty Mole	P-Wing
World 7: Pipe Land	Piranha Plant	Yoshi	None

Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.

Enemies

Goombas

Image	Name
	Goomba
	Microgoomba
	Paragoomba
	Pile Driver Micro-Goomba

Troopas

Image	Name
	Koopa Troopa
	Koopa Paratroopa
	Rocky Wrench
	Spike

Beetles

Image	Name
	Buster Beetle
	Buzzy Beetle
	Parabeetle

Piranha Plants

Image	Name
	Muncher
	Nipper Plants
	Piranha Plant (Green)
File:PiranhaPlant.gif	Piranha Plant (Red)
	Ptooie
	Venus Fire Trap (Red)
	Venus Fire Trap (Green)

Lakitu

Image	Name
	Lakitu
	Spiny
	Spiny Egg (red and green)

Hammer Brothers

Image	Name
	Boomerang Bros.
	Hammer Bros.
	Fire Bros.
	Sledge Bros.

Fortress

Image	Name
	Boo
	Dry Bones
	Hot Foot
	Podoboo
File:Smas-smb w8-fortress b4.png	Roto Disc
	Stretch
	Thwomp

Water

Image	Name
	Cheep Cheep (Red)
	Cheep Cheep (Green)
	Cheep Cheep (Blue)
	Baby Cheep
	Big Bertha
	Blooper
	Blooper Nanny
	Boss Bass
	Jelectro
	Lava Lotus
	Spiny Cheep-Cheep

Artillery

Image	Name
	Bomb-omb
	Bullet Bill
	Missile Bill
	Chain Chomp
	Fire Chomp

Bosses

Image	Name
	Boom Boom
	Boom Boom (Grey)
	Bowser
File:Iggy Koopa (Super Mario Bros 3).gif	Iggy Koopa
	Morton Koopa Jr.
	Roy Koopa
	Lemmy Koopa
	Larry Koopa
	Wendy O. Koopa
	Ludwig von Koopa

Worlds

Spoiler warning: The following information contains spoilers. Please read at your own risk.

In the game, there are a total of eight worlds and a single Warp Zone which allows access to certain worlds, depending on the location. The Warp Zone is considered as the ninth world. Some of the world's names were changed with the release of various versions and remakes. Nintendo Power issues 4 and 13 even gave the eight worlds nicknames.

Stages

World	Japanese Release	North American Release	Level	Map
World 1	Grass Land	Grass Land	World 1-1
			World 1-2
			World 1-3
			World 1-4
			World 1-Fortress
			World 1-5
			World 1-6
			World 1-Airship
World 2	Desert Hill	Desert Land	World 2-1
			World 2-2
			World 2-Fortress
			World 2-3
			World 2-Quicksand
			World 2-4
			World 2-5
			World 2-Pyramid
			World 2-Airship
World 3	Ocean Side	Water Land	World 3-1
			World 3-2
			World 3-3
			World 3-Fortress #1
			World 3-4
			World 3-5
			World 3-6
			World 3-7
			World 3-Fortress #2
			World 3-8
			World 3-9
			World 3-Airship
World 4	Big Island	Giant Land	World 4-1
			World 4-2
			World 4-3
			World 4-Fortress #1
			World 4-4
			World 4-5
			World 4-6
			World 4-Fortress #2
			World 4-Airship
World 5	The Sky	Sky Land	World 5-1
			World 5-2
			World 5-3
			World 5-Fortress #1
			World 5-Tower
			World 5-Pipe
			World 5-4
			World 5-5
			World 5-6
			World 5-7
			World 5-Fortress #2
			World 5-8
			World 5-9
			World 5-Airship
World 6	Iced Land	Ice Land	World 6-1
			World 6-2
			World 6-3
			World 6-Fortress #1
			World 6-4
			World 6-5
			World 6-6
			World 6-7
			World 6-Fortress #2
			World 6-8
			World 6-9
			World 6-10
			World 6-Fortress #3
			World 6-Airship
World 7	Pipe Maze	Pipe Land	World 7-1
			World 7-2
			World 7-3
			World 7-4
			World 7-5
			World 7-Piranha Plant #1
			World 7-Fortress #1
			World 7-6
			World 7-7
			World 7-8
			World 7-9
			World 7-Fortress #2
			World 7-Piranha Plant #2
			World 7-Airship
World 8	Castle Of Koopa	Dark Land	World 8-Big Tank
			World 8-Navy
			World 8-Hand Trap #1
			World 8-Hand Trap #2
			World 8-Hand Trap #3
			World 8-Airships
			World 8-1
			World 8-2
			World 8-Fortresss
			World 8-Super Tank
			World 8-Bowser's Castle (Final stage)

Warp Zone

World	Second Release
World 9	Warp Zone

Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.

Items

• 1-Up Mushroom - If Mario and Luigi find one of these green mushrooms, they gain an extra life.
• 10 Coin Block - This block has ten coins inside of it, though they may wear out before Mario/Luigi is able to get all ten.
• Anchor - The anchor stops an airship from moving around the world Mario and Luigi are on in case either one loses a life on the level.
• Brick Block - A Brick Block is a block of shiny brown bricks. Underneath, this block can be broke by Super Mario/Super Luigi or by a Koopa shell if on the ground. This block is repeatedly seen throughout the game and may contain coin(s) inside. If a Brick Block isn't shiny, it is a Blockhopper or Microgoomba in disguise.
• Fire Flower - Once Mario or Luigi turns in Super Mario/Super Luigi, one of them are able to find a Fire Flower in some blocks. If Mario or Luigi do find one, they are able to shoot fireballs from their hands. If hit, the brother turns to Super Mario/Super Luigi.
• Frog Suit - Once Mario or Luigi has a Frog Suit on, they are able to swim quicker than normal and the enemies themselves. They also gain the ability to jump much higher on land, but with the sacrifice of their land speed slowed down.
• Hammer - Mario or Luigi can use a hammer on the map to break rocks that block them from the other parts of the map.
• Hammer Suit - The Hammer Suit is able to defeat enemies that can't be defeated by any other method, such as a Boo, a Stretch, or a Thwomp.
• Invisible Block - This block is invisible when sometimes suddenly appears when Mario or Luigi. This block sometimes also helps a brother get to a high area.
• Jump Block - The Jump Block is a block with a music note on it. Once Mario or Luigi jumps on one, they are able to reach high areas inaccessible otherwise by the bounciness of the block.
• Jugem's Cloud - On the map, Mario or Luigi can use Jugem's Cloud to skip a stage. However, if one dies in the next stage, the brother goes back to the last finished stage.
• Music Box - If Mario or Luigi uses a Music Box, it puts the Hammer Bros. and Piranha Plants to sleep on the world map. This allows Mario and Luigi to walk safely past the foes without having to go in the stage to battle them.
• P-Wing - A P-Wing allows Mario or Luigi to fly with a maximized power meter through the entire stage.
• Starman - If Mario or Luigi finds a Starman, they become temporarily invincible. This item allows a brother to defeat and run through about every enemy but can still lose a life if they fall off the bottom of the screen or fall into lava.
• Super Leaf - When Mario or Luigi find a Super Leaf, they are able to use the Tanooki Suit, which lets Mario or Luigi fly up in the air temporarily if enough speed is gained.
• Super Mushroom - If the player is Small Mario/Small Luigi, he or she can find a Super Mushroom which makes Mario or Luigi bigger and stronger, letting them break blocks. If hit, the brother turns back to Small Mario.
• Switch Block - Once Mario or Luigi jump on a switch block, the brother turns all the blocks in the stage to coins temporarily.
• Tanooki Suit - If Mario or Luigi find a Tanooki Suit, the brother is able to do what the Super Leaf can, but with the addition of being able to turn into Statue Mario if Down is pressed on the D-Pad.
• Vine - Once Mario or Luigi find a vine, the brother is able to go to higher areas in the sky.
• Warp Whistle - Once Mario or Luigi finds one of the three Warp Whistles, the brother is able to go to a different world. Though, the world varies depending on the world the brother is in. The theme that plays is the same theme of the whistle in The Legend of Zelda
• Kuribo's Shoe - Only found in World 5-3, Mario and Luigi can safely stomp on enemies and walk on Munchers after hitting a brick underneath it.
• ? Orb - Unlocks the Locked Door if the player defeats Boom Boom.

Development

Development for Super Mario Bros. 3 began shortly after Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was finished in the Spring of 1986. Originally, the game was developed with a bird's-eye view in mind, similar to The Legend of Zelda, where the player would be looking down at the characters from above. With jumping as one of Mario's main moves, this overhead view made it difficult to determine whether Mario was touching the ground or not, so the view was switched to the side-view used in earlier titles. However, relics of the overhead view can still be found in the final game, such as the black-and-white checkerboard seen at the title screen.

When Takashi Tezuka was designing concepts for the game, he didn't want it to be like Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels where only the levels and difficulty was changed. Instead, he wanted to rework everything, from giving Mario an improved moveset to overhauling the character sprites. Programmers also had what they called a "Map Room", which was a long, narrow meeting room where they looked at sheet papers and programmed map data all day. There were 20 to 30 people working on Super Mario Bros. 3, compared to Super Mario Bros.s seven or eight. However, Koji Kondo was completely alone on sound design, and he claims it was difficult to come up with music to fit the genre of the game. Additional sounds were possible to use during Super Mario Bros. 3s development which weren't able to be used during Super Mario Bros.s. The Japanese version of the game was originally planned to release in Spring of 1988, but because of the developers wanting to add so many new features, the game ended up getting pushed back another six months.

The hard part of creating a video game with old characters is making the old characters seem fresh and new. In many ways, Super Mario Bros. 3 revived the series and brought many new young and old fans back to the adventures of the Mario Bros. The game was first shown in North America in the 1989 movie The Wizard as a way to advertise it; this also marked the first time that a Mario game was advertised in a movie.

Legacy

In its NES iteration, the game sold 17.28 million, being the 3rd best selling game on the NES behind Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, and the best unbundled one. It is also among the best selling games of all time

This is one of the 12 games featured in NES Remix 2.

Seven months after the North American release, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 debuted on television.

Re-releases

Remakes and re-releases of the game include:

• Super Mario All-Stars (1993)
• Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (2003)
• Wii Virtual Console (2007)
• Super Mario All-Stars: Limited Edition (2010)
• 3DS Virtual Console
• Wii U Virtual Console
• Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition

Reception

The game has received critical acclaim and is considered to be one of the greatest games of all time. IGN placed it at the number one spot of their top 100 NES games of all time list.

Release

Merchandise

Among the merchandise based on the game are a Nelsonic Game Watch, and chocolate chip swirl cookies manufactured by Salerno, which features a maze on the box.

id Software's attempted PC port

PC developer id Software sent to Nintendo a demo of a PC port of the game, with the intent being to gain authorization to make an official port. The demo reached the Nintendo of Japan management (including Shigeru Miyamoto), who were impressed by the port's quality. However, Nintendo declined to greenlight an official PC version of the game as the company had no plan to release its products outside their own platform.

The pitch followed a tech demo named Dangerous Dave in "Copyright Infringement", which was a playable recreation of World 1-1 with Mario's sprite being replaced with that of the titular character. Dangerous Dave was notable for featuring smooth scrolling, something unheard for PC games of the time. With a distribution deal with Scott Miller of Apogee Software, Ltd., "Copyright Infringement" id developers John Romero and John Carmack along with Tom Hall (who originally had the idea) later used the engine they had developed to create the Commander Keen series, a series of shareware platform games for MS-DOS.

On December 14, 2015, John Romero uploaded gameplay footage of the port on video-sharing website Vimeo.

Pre-release and unused content

One of the early ideas was a power-up to turn Mario into a Centaur (half-man, half-horse), although this was rejected before being implemented into the game. (Tilden 1990, 21)

Additionally, Cheep Cheeps and Para-Beetles respectively have unused tan and green variations, which would have moved faster than their ordinary counterparts.

References to other games

• Mario Bros. - The Battle Mode is very similar to the multiplayer in this game.
• Super Mario Bros. - When Princess Toadstool is saved from Bowser (in English versions except Super Mario Advance 4), she says "Thank you. But our princess is in another castle!...Just kidding! Ha ha ha! Bye bye." This is a reference to the mushroom retainers' line "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!" from this game. A remix of the underground theme from this game is used for the underground levels. Also, the Music Box plays the overworld theme from this game.
• Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels - The "burning rubber" sound effect returns.
• Super Mario Bros. 2 - Princess Toadstool's appearance is almost identical to how she appeared in this game. Bob-ombs, as well as desert, sky and ice-themed levels/worlds also return.
• The Legend of Zelda series - The "Magic Whistle" item is the Recorder from The Legend of Zelda; it summons a whirlwind to warp the player character to another location and plays the same tune when used, which has become a reoccurring melody in the original series.
• The Mysterious Murasame Castle - The Raccoon Mario transformation sound effect originated from this game.

References in later games

• Super Mario World - The Koopalings return from this game. The Sunken Ghost Ship was once an airship in this game.
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - The music for Water Land was remixed as the background music for the Fairy Fountain/Great Fairy Fountains, including the music that plays on the file select screen, which would be used in many Zelda games throughout the subsequent generations of that franchise's history.
• Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - Water Land's music can be heard in the background of the music for stage 3 of Tree Zone, as well as in Mario Zone.
• Super Metroid - The sound effect for when Crocomire fully dies is taken from the Dry Bones in this game.
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - The music heard in Grate Guy's Casino is a rendition of the music that plays during the minigames of Super Mario Bros. 3, the theme heard during the battle with Bowser in Super Mario RPG is a cover of that from Super Mario Bros. 3, the music for Bowser's Keep also contains part of the same theme, and the music heard from Mario's Pad as well as the Flower Garden cutscene sounds identical to Grass Land's theme heard in Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Super Mario 64/Super Mario 64 DS - Many levels in Giant Land resemble Tiny-Huge Island in both games. Changing sizes by using doors also resembles using pipes to go from tiny to huge in Tiny-Huge Island. The Rec. Room theme is a cover of Grass Land's theme. The Wanted!, Connect the Characters, and Mario's Slides minigames uses the minigame music.
• Mario Party - The music heard in Ghost Guess and Pedal Power appears to be a cover of the music for Ice Land. A few other songs from this game, namely the themes for Giant Land and Dark Land, were remixed in this game.
• Mario Party 2 - The jingle that plays when a single player wins in a minigame is a remix of the jingle that plays when the player clears a level.
• Paper Mario - The jingle that plays when Mario rescues a Star Spirit is a cover of the theme that plays when Mario recovers a king's magic wand, which also plays when Mario wins the Star Rod back from Bowser. A remix of the airship theme plays when the Koopa Bros. fire Bullet Bills at Mario and his partners. Their theme is also a remix of the theme for the Hammer Bros. battles. Also the music that plays when Mario levels up is a remix of Grass Land's music from this game.
• Super Mario Bros. Deluxe - The opening for the game features a letter from Princess Peach in a similar manner to Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Luigi's Mansion - One of the other songs played on Melody's piano is a remix of the athletic theme in this game.
• Super Smash Bros. Melee - The main overworld theme has a cover version in both Mushroom Kingdom and Princess Peach's Castle. One of Bowser's specials, Bowser Bomb, is based on the ground pound-type move he uses in this game. Raccoon Mario, Boo and Thwomp also appear as trophies.
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - The theme for Ice Land plays when Jolene calls Mario. In addition, Peach also provides vital clues to Mario via (e-)mail, similar to in this game, and like in this game, her last message ends up being intercepted by the main villain (Grodus, in that case).
• Tetris DS - Levels 4, 5 and 6 in Marathon mode uses Super Mario Bros. 3 gameplay on the top screen, along with the Raccoon, Frog and Tanooki Mario sprites on the touch screen. Also, a cover of the overworld theme plays.
• Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix - Music from Super Mario Bros. 3 is a cover version in this game.
• WarioWare: Twisted! - The Super Mario Bros. 3 microgame, along with the Super Mario Bros. 3-Lift microgame, are based on Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Mario Party Advance - The music played after Mario beats a Boom Boom/Koopaling is heard after the player completes a quest. Also, in the minigame Drop 'Em, the background has a similar design to the levels from Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Mario Kart DS - The track Airship Fortress is based on the airship levels from this game. Another track, Desert Hills, is based on Desert Land from this game.
• New Super Mario Bros. - Many concepts started in here are features in this game, such as Toad Houses. A lot of the worlds have similar themes. Plus, the fortress theme is a cover. The fortress boss battle music returns as a cover version. Toad House's music was remixed as the theme for Bob-omb Reverse, a minigame in this game. Bowser's theme from this game was also remixed in this game.
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games - A remix of the overworld theme from this game is available as a track that can be heard in the music gallery in the Wii version of the game.
• Super Mario Galaxy - Arrangements of the airship and athletic themes appear in this game.
• Super Paper Mario - The theme that plays when Big Blooper appears is a cover of the underwater theme from Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - The main overworld theme from Super Smash Bros. Melee is re-used in this game. The music that plays during Peach's Final Smash, Peach Blossom, is a sped up remix of the music that plays in Coin Heavens and the second portion of Sky Land, as well as the Warp Zones. The airship theme is remixed and can be heard on the stage Luigi's Mansion. Also, a medley of the boss theme of this game is featured and can be heard on the Luigi's Mansion stage. Raccoon Mario, Boo, Thwomp, and Ludwig von Koopa appear in the form of stickers. Also, Boo, Chain Chomp and Dry Bones appears as trophies and stickers.
• Mario Kart Wii - A license plate which reads "SMB3" can be found on one of the trucks on Moonview Highway.
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games - A remix of the athletic theme is available as a track that can be played during events in the Wii version of this game.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii - The Penguin Suit is based on the Frog Suit from Super Mario Bros. 3. The Koopalings' battle theme is a cover twice and once again played when fighting against them. The airship theme is a cover, and can be heard on airship levels. The design on the fortresses are based on the fortress sprites of Super Mario Bros. 3. The Enemy Courses are similar to the levels when fighting against a Hammer Bro, Fire Bro, Boomerang Bro, or Sledge Bro, and even use a cover of the song. Also, players can use reserve power-ups like in Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console NES games - The sound effect when selecting an NES game is the coin sound effect startup sound for this game.
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Supermassive Galaxy is similar to Giant Land.
• Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games - The athletic theme in Super Mario Bros. 3 is available in the Wii version of this game as one of the optional music tracks that can be heard.
• Mario Sports Mix - In the underwater theme in Harmony Hustle, a remix of part of this game's underwater theme can be heard.
• Mario Kart 7 - The Super Leaf appears as an item.
• Fortune Street - A remix of Pipe Land's theme is used as the stocks menu music. Also, the Toad's House theme is used as the music for auctions. A remix of the "3 Matching Cards" fanfare plays whenever a line is made in Round The Blocks on a Mario board or when the Super Mario tour is completed in Tour mode, as well as a remix of the "World Clear" fanfare playing when a line of lucky 7's is made in Round The Blocks on a Mario board.
• Super Mario 3D Land - Many Super Mario Bros. 3 elements, like Boom Boom, Tanooki Mario, Note Blocks, and the Super Leaf appear in this game. The Airships and Boom Boom battles return, and the arrangements of the Airship and athletic themes from Super Mario Galaxy play in certain stages.
• New Super Mario Bros. 2 - Some levels in this game contain the same colorful blocks as Super Mario Bros. 3. Also, Raccoon Mario and the Power Meter returns. The loading chime sometimes plays a small part of this game's overworld theme. The theme for Toad Houses was reused as that of Toad Houses in this game. World 1-1 and 1-5 are remade as part of the Gold Classics Pack.
• New Super Mario Bros. U - The P-Acorn sounds and acts like the P-Wing. Also, the first part of the Soda Jungle is based on Giant Land.
• Mario Tennis Open - A costume and racket of Tanooki Mario can be unlocked in this game.
• Paper Mario: Sticker Star - The Goomba's Shoe, Super Leaf, and Frog Suit return as stickers in this game. The music that plays when riding the ski lift in Whiteout Valley is a remix of the athletic theme from this game. Also, the Kings' theme is remixed for the afterward to a Royal Sticker boss battle in this game. When the host Snifit explains the rules to Snifit or Whiffit, a remix of the Spade Panel music plays.
• Super Mario 3D World - The death jingle is remixed in this game.
• NES Remix 2 - Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the games that appear in this game.
• Mario Golf: World Tour - The music for Sky Island is a cover of this game's athletic theme. Golf clubs, a golf ball, and a clothing combo appear based on the Super Leaf. There are also golf clubs, a golf ball, and a costume available based on Tanooki Mario.
• Mario Kart 8/Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Tanooki Mario is a playable character in the downloadable content pack The Legend of Zelda x Mario Kart 8, but is available from the start in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
• Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U - Music was used in this game as a medley of the athletic, stage clear theme, Giant Land's theme, Hammer Bros. battle theme, and the player miss theme. The Super Leaf is also a usable item, turning fighters into the Raccoon form and allowing them to glide for a while. The Koopalings appear as playable characters as alternate costumes for Bowser Jr..
• Mario Party 10 - Toad's amiibo Party theme is a remix of the theme for Toad Houses from this game. After a Bowser Party is finished, the results music is the lullaby that makes the Hammer, Boomerang, Fire, and Sledge Bros. fall asleep.
• Super Mario Maker/Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS - Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the game styles for these games. The Course World menu music and 100 Mario Challenge map music are both cover versions of the Grass Land map theme.
• Paper Mario: Color Splash - The 8-bit Recorder returns in the Super Mario Bros. 3-themed course in Green Energy Plant and can be squeezed into a realistic Thing Card; when used, the original notes are played by the flute itself, and it has the same effect of summoning a whirlwind, while three other flutes play the "Coin Heaven" theme in the background. Additionally, to board an airship carrying a giant bucket of paint, Mario hangs on the Anchor, like he does in Super Mario Bros. 3. Larry also, like in the Japanese manual for the game, states before fighting Mario, that he is doing his actions specifically to avoid upsetting Bowser. In addition, similar to in Super Mario Bros. 3, after completing a level, Peach will supply Mario with advice via Holo-Peaches, although before the final level, her final message ended up intercepted by the main villain (Black Bowser in this case), although in this case, this resulted in her color being drained rather than being kidnapped.
• Super Mario Run - The background music for Remix 10 features a remix of the overworld theme from this game.
• Super Mario Odyssey - The music that plays in the slots rooms and the picture-matching mini-game areas is a remix of the minigame theme from Super Mario Bros. 3. A remix of the final boss theme from this game plays when Mario captures Bowser.
• WarioWare Gold - The Super Mario Bros. 3-Lift microgame from WarioWare: Twisted! reappears, referred to as simply "Super Mario Bros. 3".
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - New arrangements of the overworld theme, "Fortress Boss," and "King Bowser" are available as tracks.

Trivia

• In certain areas through the game, there are coins in the shape of three, representing Super Mario Bros. 3. In Super Mario Advance 4, it was changed to a four.
• In Water Land, the island that the castle is on is in the shape of Japan and the castle is the location of Nintendo of Japan.
• The game was featured on the cover of Nintendo Power's volume 11 in 1990. It also appeared on the cover of volume 13, which served as an almost-complete strategy guide.
• The game won three awards in the 1990 Nintendo Power Awards: Best Theme and Fun, Best Play Control, and Best Overall NES Game.
• The game was revealed (and heavily featured) in the 1989 film The Wizard.
• The events of this game are considered by Shigeru Miyamoto to be a stage play put on by the Mario cast. However, in the remakes, many of the stage play-esque elements, such as shadows being cast onto the backgrounds, are no longer present, implying that the remakes are the real deal.
• This is the first game to feature Mario's current color scheme, consisting of a red shirt and blue overalls.
• This is also the first game to feature Luigi's current color scheme, consisting of a green shirt and blue overalls.
• This is the last game where Fire Luigi is colored the same as Fire Mario.
• According to the Guinness Book of World Records 2008, Super Mario Bros. 3 was the world's best-selling video game, which is false. However, it was the best-selling game not bundled with a console.
  • The image used in the book was of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, the remake, which made the same mistake on the back of its box.
• Despite their artwork showing their current color scheme otherwise, NES palette limitations caused Mario's and Luigi's player sprites to have black overalls with no gloves and red/green hat, shirt and shoes (although corrected in the larger Spade sprite), some of the Koopalings' hair and shell colors to be slightly different, and Princess Toadstool to have brown hair, resembling her sprite from Super Mario Bros. 2 and Toad wearing a black vest and red pants. Most of the character's palettes were corrected in later versions.
• Super Mario Bros. 3 is Takashi Tezuka's favorite game in the series, as he feels that it is his first masterpiece.
• Prior to its North American release on the NES, Super Mario Bros. 3 was ported to the Nintendo PlayChoice-10.
• The events of this game are considered by Shigeru Miyamoto to be a stage play put on by the Mario cast. However, in the remakes, many of the stage play-esque elements, such as shadows being cast onto the backgrounds, are no longer present.
• Some of the game's assets were included in Capcom's Japanese 2003 arcade game Super Mario Fushigi no Janjan Land.

External links

• Super Mario Bros. 3 at Nintendo.com
• Super Mario Bros. 3 at Virtual Console Reviews
• Program Details for Super Mario Bros. 3 - Time Attack
• Nintendo Power Special: The making of Super Mario Bros. 3
• Nintendo Power Special: Super Mario Bros. 3 Strategy Guide
• The Mushroom Kingdom - pre-release and unused content from Super Mario Bros. 3