Debate: Is Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo’s Golden Child?

Which 2D Mario game is the best? A question as long as time itself.

Mark Serrels from Kotaku AU and myself seem to differ on opinion whether it’s Super Mario World or Super Mario Bros. 3 that is superior.

We also ask, is Nintendo just using SMB3 as the template for all its latest Mario games. Let’s have a discussion.

Mark: So Mr Vooks, we had a little discussion on Twitter yesterday — it was short, but significant. During that conversation one fact became clear: I, Mark Serrels, am a massive fan of Super Mario World. I believe it to be the greatest 2D Super Mario game.

VOOK: Indeed it is Mr S, For the longest time I never got into Super Mario World. I never even played it the full time through until the release of the on the Game Boy Advance as Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2. It just never clicked with me at all, it’s a good game… but…

Super Mario Bros. 3 though oh boy what a revelation, it’s the quintessential Mario game. For Super Mario Bros. or the second one which wasn’t even a Mario game Bros. 3 is the THE 2D Mario. You’ve got the most tightest controls, the best that 8-Bit graphics and sounds has to offer, the most varied worlds  and all the power-ups that we enjoy today in Mario games original here outside the standard Mushroom and Fire Flower. Power Leafs, Tanooki Suits, Hammer Bros., Frog Suits, Karibo Shoe, Flutes the P-Wing. It’s all here and it was all released in 1990, it pushed the NES to the max.

Mark: It’s an interesting one, because I would never for a second question the impact of Super Mario Bros. 3. I loved the game, and I think it holds up to this day. I could happily play through the game today and love it.

But I’ve always preferred Super Mario World, for a number of reasons – the main one being the pace of it, the controls, the the precision of the jumps. It’s hard to explain, but Super Mario World has a unique feel that Nintendo hasn’t really been able (or tried) to replicate since.

I’m nostalgic for it, because with the New Super Mario Bros series (both on Wii and the handhelds) I can’t help but get the feeling that Nintendo is attempting to replicate the feel of Super Mario Bros. 3, not the – in my humble opinion – superior Super Mario World.

VOOK: Indeed they are. New Super Mario Bros. 2 not only feels like Super Mario Bros. 3 but the locations and the power ups in the game feel like a homage to Super Mario Bros. 3. The ‘coin’ game mechanic aside the game looks and feels like Super Mario Bros. 3. I realise that no one here has really played New Super Mario Bros. 2 yet but when you do, you’ll see why.

The last game that I’ve played from Nintendo that had a feeling to Super Mario World was Super Princess Peach. Sure Yoshi wasn’t there but that felt much like Super Mario World. I suppose no one reading this has probably played that one though.

I think Nintendo embracing SMB3 as the inspiration for their titles isn’t a bad thing, but we are getting to the point of the ‘New’ series becoming terribly stale. Both in look and actual gameplay. Perhaps switching to a Super Mario World or even Yoshi’s Island heritage would be better?

Super Mario World, from top to bottom, feels like a completely different Mario game, and it’s one that rewards more experienced players. No Mario game before or since has allowed me to really feel like a master of the game’s controls. Now that everyone, from the most casual fan to the Nintendo faithful, has sort of re-remembered what it is to play a Mario game, I feel like a subtle reinvention of the feel would be a perfect next move.

Part of me is hoping that’s what we see from New Super Mario Bros. U. I’ve always just loved everything about Super Mario World, the multiple exits, the short cuts, the art, the look, the consistently inventive design. At the moment I feel as though Mario is being done by the numbers – I’d like to see some of the spontaneous innovation that’s been poured into Super Mario Galaxy brought back.

Super Mario World, I think, was designed with that same spirit.