Super Mario Bros. 3
The third game in the Super Mario Bros. series expanded upon the established elements in Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 and went on to become one of the biggest selling games of all time.
The Mushroom World is in peril. Bowser has sent his seven Koopa Kids to each of the seven kingdoms to steal the Kings' magic wands and turn them into animals. At Princess Peach's request, Mario and Luigi set off to take out the Koopa Kids and free the Mushroom World.
Each of the eight worlds is represented by a map screen, on which you can access the stages and bonus areas. Your aim on each of the regular stages is to bypass the enemies and traps and reach the Goal Card within the time limit. Fortress and Airship stages are the same, only you must fight a boss character at the end.
Mario can now collect a huge array of items to power-up. The Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and Starman return from the first game, and are joined by the Super Leaf, Frog Suit, Tanooki Suit and Hammer Bros. Suit. The biggest addition is the Super Leaf, turning Mario into Raccoon Mario, and giving him the ability to fly for short distances. Simply charge up your speed meter by dashing, and take off. The huge levels have many areas to explore. On the map you can find Mushroom Houses and Toad's bonus games where you can win extra lives and items that can be used on the map screen.
You can also play a 2-Player game, where the second player is Luigi. You play the game co-operatively, working through the levels one after the other. You can also challenge each other for the Goal Cards accumulated at the end of each stage.
When you find one of the secret Warp Whistles, use it on the map screen and it will play a tune and summon a whirlwind to take you to Warp Zone. Both the tune and the act of summoning a whirlwind with the flute are taken from The Legend of Zelda (NES 1986).
When playing the 2-Player game, each player can challenge the other player by selecting their M or L icon on the map screen. The minigame is based on the Mario Bros. arcade game. Players can race to 5 Coins to play the next round, and steal each others' Goal Cards.
The music that plays when you use the Music Box item on the map screen is a lullaby version of the Super Mario Bros. theme.
In Toad's card-matching minigame, the cards feature an Ace of Spades with "N" on the back. These cards are based on actual playing cards manufactured by Nintendo when they were predominantly a playing card manufacturer.
