Super Mario Bros. 3

SUPER MARIO BROS. 3

Super Mario Bros. 3 is the third (read: fourth, or more, kinda, sorta, moving on) major installment of the Super Mario Bros. series, continuing on the standard gameplay mechanics from the original Super Mario Bros. and its sequel Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, while incorporating a brand new game engine and all new mechanics while bringing in a few of the elements introduced in Super Mario Bros. 2., most notably the updated appearance of Princess Peach and Toad, as well as a few enemies such as Bob-Ombs.

To start off with, we have our player characters, Mario and Luigi. Luigi returns to his status of being more or less an exact copy of Mario that he had in previous games. This game gives the pair the same mechanics as before, running and jumping being their main ability, with additional abilities being gained from the fire flower and starman. However, this game also adds in a number of other abilities tied to specific items, those being:

Super Leaf: gives Mario the power to fly briefly and flick things with a raccoon tail.

Frog Suit: allows him to leap a little higher and swim faster

Tanooki Suit: more or less the same powers as the super leaf, while also letting him turn into a statue, protecting him from harm and allowing him to crush enemies beneath him.

Hammer Suit: allows him to throw hammers, which are stronger than fireballs.

Kuriboh's Shoe: allows him to cross hazardous floor and crush enemies.

P-Wing: lets him fly for an unlimited time (see: cheat item)

All of these add a great deal to Mario's, and by extension, Luigi's repertoire, while also giving us items to work with. I was tempted to start considering making a complete Mario offshoot (probably Tanooki Mario) to represent all of these moves, as we will eventually have to do so for characters such as Dr. Mario, Baby Mario, and Paper Mario, but I don't think I will quite yet.

Next, we have Peach and Toad, the main supporting good guys in the game. Peach returns to her role from previous games of being mostly a living goalpost, so most of her moveset will still need to be pulled from Super Mario Bros. 2. However, in this game, she is the one who supplies Mario with the P-Wing, so there's that I guess. Possibly the warp whistle too. Toad, however, no longer serves as the level end goalpost as before, that role now being taken up by the Seven Kings, who pretty much do just that, while Toad becomes something of an item vendor/casino owner, providing Mario with either a set of chests, slot machine, or matching game through which Mario can win items to use in-game. Most of these don't seem particularly plausible for Smash, but I'll see what I can come up with.

Now for the main villains. Bowser returns, this time joined by his seven children/generals/whatever, the Koopalings, who serve as the level end bosses, and Boom Boom, who serves as a miniboss. Bowser returns, jumping and breathing fire as before, but now also slams his butt into the ground, a move that serves as the basis for Bowser's Down-B move in every Smash game. That obviously joins immediately.

The Seven Koopalings: Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig, are another matter. While none of them have enough moveset on their own to get by yet, I think I will take a leaf out of Smash's book and lump them into one character with each being a different color swap. Between the seven of them, they can spin in their shells (similar to Bowser's Up-B move), cast spells with a magic wand, slam down hard, and ride around on a bouncy ball and toss a large ring courtesy of Lemmy and Wendy. This is plenty to work with for now.

Boom Boom, I feel, falls into the Birdo category for me. There is not enough to work with now to make a full moveset, but I know later games will offer up plenty more options, so I will give Boom Boom a yes, but currently incomplete. For the moment, he can swing his fists, put out a shell of spikes, and fly. Not terrible, just not all there.

Now we come to our enemy characters. Goombas, Koopas, Piranha Plants, Hammer Bros, Lakitus, Buzzy Beetles, Bloopers, Cheep Cheeps, Bob-Ombs, and Bullet Bills all return from previous games, sporting their same abilities from before, but many of them have also developed a number of offshoots that give them plenty of Smash potential. Koopas mostly remain the same, with the ability to tuck into their shells and spin toward people and their offshoots Paratroopas giving them wings, however, most of their other offshoots tend to be distinct enough on their own to be their own characters.

By this, I specifically mean Hammer Bros and Lakitus. Hammer Bros gain three variations, being Boomerang Bros, heavyweight Sledge Bros, and Fire Bros, all of which do as you imagine, lending Hammer Bros their own unique options for moveset potential. Lakitus, however, did not change much from the previous games, doing much the same as before; they simply just are incredibly versatile enemies and offer up a lot of options for a moveset. Of course, Spinies come with. Strangely enough, Buzzy Beetles did get a couple of offshoots this time around, being winged Para-Beetles, and brick-chucking Buster Beetles, both of whom add something to Buzzy Beetles' potential, but not enough yet.

Now, I did say that Goombas would eventually give me enough to work with to give me a possible skill set, I didn't quite expect them to give me so much already. One primary addition is the Paragoomba, which adds wings just like the Paratroopa, on top of the ability to create Micro-Goombas which parachute down from the Paragoomba, and are also shown picking up bricks and throwing them or hiding underneath them. That's a surprising amount of ability there for Mario's most basic enemy.

Bloopers don't change much, aside from the ability to now lead a trail of baby Bloopers behind it. Cheep Cheeps however gained two offshoots in the form of Boss Bass, a giant fish with a large mouth that follows Mario and tries to eat him, alongside Big Bertha, another large fish that can open her mouth to release a smaller fish. Not enough to give Cheep Cheep a workable moveset, but it's there at least. Bob-Ombs and Bullet Bills have not changed. They still do exactly as they do. Piranha Plants, however, have at least gained some of the abilities that landed them a spot in Super Smash Bros. They can now breathe fire, walk around on little feet, and blow a spike ball into the air and toss it. Not enough for a full moveset yet, but definitely on its way.

We do have a few new guys of note to talk about though. These include Dry Bones, Spikes (both Koopa offshoots), Boos and Stretches, Rocky Wrenches, Thwomps, Chain Chomps, Fire Chomps, Fire Snakes, Lava Lotuses, Jelectros, and the Angry Sun. Many of these will go on to become staples of the Mario series and some of his most recognizable foes, while a couple others offer up little of value and will be mostly forgotten.

Let's start with the Koopa offshoots, shall we? Dry Bones are iconic, being undead versions of Koopas. While there is not much difference between them and their living counterparts, I felt they deserved to at least be given an Echo Fighter slot rather than simply be meshed into a Koopa's moveset. Spikes on the other hand are rather rotund possible cousins of the Koopa race famous for belching up spike balls and chucking them at people. Not enough to work with yet, but with enough coming in the future to lump them in with a number of other characters already mentioned.

Boos definitely fall into the category of Mario's most famous enemies, being ghosts who will stalk Mario and hide their face when he turns to look at them. In this game, that is simply all they do, unless we want to include their offshoot Stretch's ability to rise up from a platform, but simply considering how prolific they are in the Mario series as a whole, they are a 100% yes for a slot.

Thwomps simply rise up and crash down on an enemy. They clearly belong as assist trophies or stage hazards and would fit in perfectly on a Bowser's Castle stage, but I can't for the life of me imagine any way they could function as playable. Chain Chomps feel like they might be someday workable, but for now, they just pull on their chains and snap. Also a good assist trophy. Rocky Wrenches pop up from the ground and throw wrenches. Not much to work with, but if combined with Monty Moles, then maybe someday. Fire Chomps and Fire Snakes mostly just jump around and . . . be on fire, so no for now, while Lava Lotuses and Jelectros mostly just exist in a couple of water levels, the Lotuses tossing out fireballs sometimes. No. The angry sun, obviously, needs to be a stage hazard. Speaking of which . . .

As opposed to the original game and The Lost Levels, which only had loose themes within the Worlds, but were really just kind of a random assortment of world types, Super Mario Bros. 3 is divided nicely into eight worlds, each with their own specific theme. The first is Grass Land, which is more or less a standard generic Mario world, followed by Desert Hills, home of the aforementioned Angry Sun, then Ocean Side, a beach level, Big Island, a world where everything is much bigger than normal, The Sky, a sky-themed world, Iced Land, a snow-themed world, and Pipe Maze, a series of complex, puzzle-like levels, all finishing off with Bowser's Castle, which is exactly what it says on the tin.

As for items, we've already basically covered most of them, although Bob-Ombs and Bullet Bills should be counted here, as well as Anchors, Warp Whistles, The Music Box, and Kuriboh's Shoe.

Now, let's see what we've got:

Characters:

Mario: Jump, Fire Flower, Starman, Axe, Springs, Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet, Raccoon fly, flip tail, leap, swim faster, throw hammers, turn into statue, p-wing

Luigi: Echo of Mario, Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet, Raccoon fly, flip tail, leap, swim faster, throw hammers, turn into statue, p-wing

Bowser: Jumping, fireballs, hammers, minions, slamming down

Princess Toadstool: Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet, P-Wing, warp whistle, music box

Toad: Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet, chest, card game, slot machine

Wart: spit bubbles, Phantos, reference character?

Koopalings: spin in shell, slam down, magic spell, bouncing ball, magic ring

Birdo: jump, spit eggs, fireballs, drop crystal ball, Mask Gate

Boom Boom: swing fists, spikes, drop key, fly

Koopa: Shell Tuck, Shell Spin, Paratroopa Wings, Hammers?

Dry Bones: Echo of Koopa

Hammer Bros.: Jump, throw hammers, boomerangs, fire, sledgehammer, slam down

Goomba: walk forward, Paragoomba, Mini-Goomba, pick up block

Shy Guy: Beezo wing, Beezo trident, Snifit pellet, ride Ostro, ride Autobomb

Lakitu: Float on cloud, throw Spinies

Piranha Plant: Bite, walk, ptooie, breathe fire

Buzzy Beetle: Para-Beetle, Buster Beetle

Blooper: float, fly, string of babies

Cheep Cheep: jump, Boss Bass, Big Bertha

Spike: Cough up spike ball

Boo: nothing

Pokeys, Bob-Ombs, Tweeters, Ninjis, Cobrats, Rocky Wrenches, and Chain Chomps all tentative


Bosses:

Mouser: Throws bombs

Tryclyde: Breathes fire

Fryguy: Breathes fire, splits into smaller fryguys

Clawgrip: Throws rocks


Stages:

Mushroomy Kingdom

Mushroom Kingdom

Kingdom I

Mushroomy Kingdom (Underground)

Sky Plateau Stage

Mushroomy Kingdom (Underwater)

Fishing Bridge Stage

Giant Mushrooms Stage

Fortress Wall Stage

Bowser's Castle (SMB1)

Sky Stage

World 9 (Weird Stage)

World 1 (SMB2)

World 2 (SMB2)

World 3 (SMB2)

World 4 (SMB2)

World 5 (SMB2)

World 6 (SMB2)

World 7 (SMB2)

Grass Land

Desert Hill

Ocean Side

Big Island

The Sky

Iced Land

Pipe Maze

Bowser's Castle (SMB3)


Items:

Super Mushroom

Life Mushroom

Fire Flower

Starman

Fire Bar

Bullet Bill

Bullet Bill Blaster

Spring

Poison Mushroom

Vegetable

POW Block

Bomb

Bob-Omb

Shell

Timer

Door Potion

Egg

Rocket

Super Leaf

Frog Suit

Tanooki Suit

Hammer Suit

Kuriboh's Shoe

Warp Whistle

Music Box

P-Wing


Thanks for reading! Now, I said earlier that I would only be covering the NES main line games, but after serious consideration, I have decided to include Super Mario World as well, as that is really the only main Mario game during the SNES's lifetime that doesn't fall into another category (for instance, Super Mario World 2 is more of a Yoshi game than anything else), so join me next time for Super Mario World!