It's almost unbelievable what they accomplished with this game.  Hard to appreciate nowadays, but it basically reinvented the 2d platformer right after already revolutionizing it just a few years before.  Just soooo many new ideas and things we totally take for granted nowadays were all just straight up invented by this one little team of developers in Japan, and all within quite a small period of time.  And the technical accomplishments to make this game as beautiful as it was and perform as well as it does on the NES with all its tricks is also absolutely extraordinary.  I still think it's probably the most impressive game ever made in the context of 'at the time'.  And they basically did this all over again with Super Mario 64, which essentially invented and mastered the 3d platformer genre on their very first try.

“and even a violent sun.” Such a casual way to describe the end of my innocence.

I will never forget when my cousin got this for his birthday. We didn't even eat the cake and ran straight to the Nintendo with a magic excitement. We used to get in trouble for sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night just to play. So many amazing memories and still play it to this day.

Over 30 years later and Super Mario Bros 3 remains the best Mario game ever, Super Mario World as a close second.

You forgot to mention the Hammer Brothers suit that Mario can wear and the Shoe he can jump in.

It was great being a kid in the 80s and 90s. My sister and I played this game every day for years. Such good memories.

I have fond childhood memories playing this on the Super Mario All Stars collection

I'll always remember being amongst a bunch of kids at the supermarket.
When Mario first got the leaf, and then flew in to the air, there was an audible hush of awe.
This must have been what it was like to see a Lumier brothers film in 1896,or see the wizard of Oz when Dorothy entered the world of colour!

I think what makes Super Mario Brothers 3 so universally acclaimed and beloved is its overall visual design. Ironically, with the graphic limitations of the original NES 8-bit console, they created a sleek, fresh, and mid-century minimalist-reminiscent aesthetic. I enjoy playing SMB3 mostly because of its beautifully sleek visuals with its actual gaming content as secondary. I would definitely go as far as to say that SMB3 is an example of video game high art.

Imagine you buy tickets for a play. You sit down in your seat and the curtain rises. The play is just some Italian guy running to the right jumping on turtles 😂

One of the best games I've ever played. After 30+ years, it still gives me hours of fun and enjoyment.

what's always impressed me the most about this game is the sheer size of it.  it takes hours to finish this game 100% and that's incredible for an NES game that's not an RPG

One thing I just learned about this game recently was that the memory card game was actually supposed to be a lot more random, like shuffled cards, but because of some coding error, there ended up being only 8 variations of the cards. Nintendo Power later published the 8 different possible screenshots in their Mario 3 strategy guide.

Everyone gangsta until the sun gets violent.

This game was one of the best Christmas presents I ever got.

This game was so important to my childhood. Killer work dude

As a romhacker of this game, it is the gift that keeps on giving.

I believe you can turn into the statue in the air to squish enemies and things

Still the best Mario game to this day, and in my top 3 videos games of all time alongside OG RE4 and Super Metroid. A masterclass in game design.

"What's So Great About Super Mario Bros 3?"

- Music
- Graphics
- Power-ups