Super Mario Bros. 3

On this page

How it plays
Across the series
Related
Mechanics
References
Sources

Super Mario Bros. 3 is Nintendo’s side-scrolling platformer for the Famicom and NES. It came out in Japan on 23 October 1988^1,1. Nintendo of America’s list of NES games dates the North American release February 1990^2,2. A British magazine expected it in Britain in November 1991³.

Mario crosses eight worlds to reach Bowser at the end of the eighth⁴. Each world has a map screen, on which the player walks to the next level and uses the items Mario has collected⁵. The staff’s letter at the end of both manuals names the map and a new two-player game as what is new⁶.

Nintendo Power named Shigeru Miyamoto as project head, Takashi Tezuka as a director, Nakago as coding director, and Koji Kondo as the composer⁷. In a 2016 interview, Miyamoto and Tezuka put the team at 20 to 30 people, and Kondo said he was alone on sound⁸. Work began in the spring of 1986, and the game was first built with a view from above at a slant⁹. A centaur power-up was rejected in favor of a tail and flight¹⁰.

Famicom Tsūshin’s reviewers gave it 35 of 40^11,11, and its staff named it the action game of 1988¹². Each of Electronic Gaming Monthly’s four reviewers scored it 9 of 10¹³, and Mean Machines gave it 98%^14,14. The film The Wizard showed it in its finale two months before the North American release¹⁵. A Nintendo spokeswoman said more than 250,000 copies sold in its first two days there¹⁶. David Sheff’s Game Over counts 7 million sold in the United States and 4 million in Japan¹⁷. Nintendo Power’s readers’ chart had it at no. 1 by May 1990 and still at the end of 1991¹⁸. In 1997 Electronic Gaming Monthly called it the best platform game of all time, and IGN later ranked it the best NES game¹⁹.

#How it plays

Mario walks at up to 1.5 px/frame, and holding B lets him speed up to 2.5 px/frame²⁰. As Raccoon Mario holding B, he gains speed on 14 frames out of every 16 from a standstill and reaches running speed in 46 frames. Every form but Frog Mario speeds up at that rate, while Frog Mario gains 2 a frame²¹. Let go of the d-pad and he slows to a stop on the ground but keeps his speed in the air^21,22.

Running at full speed fills the P-meter in the status bar, one of its seven steps every 8 frames²³. A full meter raises his top speed to 3.5 px/frame²⁰. Once he stops running, a full meter stays full for 16 frames more and then loses a step every 24 frames²³.

A jump takes off at 3.5 px/frame from a standstill and up to 4 px/frame at full speed²⁴. Holding A keeps gravity light until the rise slows to 2 px/frame²⁵. Held, a standing jump rises 71 px, about four and a half tiles. Tapped, it rises 21 px²⁶. A fall levels off at 4 px/frame²⁷.

The Super Leaf makes Mario Raccoon Mario, and the Tanooki Suit makes him Tanooki Mario²⁸. Both can fly and wag a tail²⁹. A jump with the P-meter full starts a flight of about 256 frames, 4¼ seconds. While it lasts, each press of A in the air lifts him at 1.5 px/frame, and near its end the lift fades³⁰. A landing doesn’t end the flight, so he can take off again until the time runs out³¹. Out of flight time, each press of A holds a fall to 1 px/frame for 16 frames^30,32. B swings the tail³³.

Tanooki Mario can also turn to stone. Hold Down and press B, and he stays a statue for up to about 3.2 seconds while Down is held, unable to move sideways and falling fast³⁴. Enemies and their fireballs can’t hurt a statue. A statue landing on most enemies squashes or defeats them, even ones Mario couldn’t otherwise stomp³⁵.

On the ground Frog Mario moves only in hops, and in the air he steers like the other forms³⁶. Under water the d-pad sets his speed directly, and holding A doubles it³⁷. Fire Mario’s fireballs start downward and the Hammer Suit’s hammers upward. Ducking in the Hammer Suit, Mario destroys the fireballs of four kinds of enemy instead of being hurt by them³⁸.

Holding only Down on a slope starts a slide that the slope speeds up, except in the Frog or Hammer Suit³⁹. Holding B as he touches a shell picks it up, and letting go of B kicks it. A shell kicked while he runs the same way goes faster⁴⁰. A carried shell let go against a wall breaks instead⁴¹. A Bob-omb is thrown in an arc rather than kicked⁴².

A hit takes Mario down one step. From the Fire Flower or any suit he goes back to Super Mario, from Super Mario to small Mario, and small Mario loses a life⁴³. He then blinks for a while, and further hits are ignored⁴⁴.

#Across the series

Against Super Mario Bros., Mario’s walking and running top speeds are the same^45,20. He also reaches running speed in about the same time, 45 frames there and 46 here^46,21. The P-meter’s third top speed is new²³.

The jump takes off slower, at 3.5 to 4 px/frame against 4 to 5^47,24. In Super Mario Bros., holding A keeps a standing jump’s gravity at 0.125 px/frame² until the peak^48,49. Here the held gravity is lighter, 1/16 px/frame², but only while Mario rises faster than 2 px/frame. From there to the peak a held jump gains 5/16 px/frame², heavier than Super Mario Bros.‘s²⁵. A fall’s gravity is lighter here, 5/16 against 7/16 px/frame²^50,25. A standing jump held to its peak rises 71 px against 66^51,26.

In Super Mario Bros., Mario’s speed in the air picks the running or walking limits, whatever B does⁵². Here B sets the top speed in the air as it does on the ground, and a faster speed carries on until he lands²¹.

In Super Mario Bros. a hit turns Super or Fiery Mario straight back into small Mario⁵³. Here a Fire Flower or a suit is lost first, back to Super Mario⁴³.

Mechanics

Mechanic	Kind	How
Running	P-meter	B raises the top speed to 2.5 px/frame, and a full P-meter to 3.5
Jump	Speed from the run	one take-off speed plus a small boost from the run, 3.5 to 4 px/frame
Gravity	Lighter while held	1/16 px/frame² while A is held on a fast rise, 5/16 otherwise
Variable jump height	Held gravity	held, a standing jump rises 71 px; tapped, 21 px
Air control	Momentum	a held direction speeds Mario up in the air as on the ground, and let go he keeps his speed
Flight	Run-up	a full P-meter at take-off gives the Raccoon and Tanooki suits about 4¼ seconds of flight
Power-up	Until hit	the Fire Flower and the four suits last until a hit, which takes Mario back to Super Mario
Invincibility frames	Frame timer	a hit sets a blink in which further hits are ignored
Slope sliding	On Down	Down on a slope starts a slide the slope speeds up
Projectile	Ballistic	Fire Mario's fireballs start downward and the Hammer Suit's hammers upward
Water physics		the Frog Suit swims at speeds set straight from the d-pad, doubled with A
Coyote time	Some platforms	a few objects leave a 4- to 15-frame window to jump from the air
Stage select		a map screen for each world, where Mario walks to the next level's panel
Multiplayer	Alternating	two players take turns, each with their own continues
Status bar split	Scanline IRQ	the MMC3's scanline counter fires an IRQ above the status bar
CHR bank switching	Mid-frame	the status bar gets its own tile banks, and background tiles animate by cycling banks every 8 frames
Raster effects	Several bands	the N-Spade game scrolls three rows independently with three IRQs
DPCM samples	Music track	samples play as a track in the music

Every claim about this game, by concept (56)

general	Raccoon and Tanooki Mario swing the tail on a press of B when Down isn't held and no swing is under way: `Player_TailAttack` is set to `$12`, 18 frames of the swing.	Code
	`PowerUp_Ability` gives each form two flags: bit 0, flight and the tail wag, for the Raccoon and Tanooki suits; bit 1, which keeps Mario from starting a slope slide, for the Frog and Hammer suits. Small, Super, and Fire Mario have neither.	Code
	In the Tanooki suit, a press of B while Down is held, when he isn't a statue already, queues the statue: `Player_Update` sets `Player_Statue` to `$C0`, and it counts down one a frame while Down stays held, about 3.2 seconds at most; letting go of Down, or the count reaching 1, ends it. A statue doesn't move sideways, gets 7 a frame of gravity in the air in place of the jump routine's, and skips the suit's other moves; at `$60` left, `Player_FlashInv` is set so he blinks for the rest.	Code
	Enemies and their fireballs don't hurt a Tanooki statue: `Player_GetHurt`, the enemy-contact check, and the special objects' contact check all return while `Player_Statue` is set. Where an enemy can't otherwise be stomped, or Mario is in water, landing on it from above as a statue (or in Kuribo's Shoe) leaves an enemy flagged `OA2_STOMPDONTCARE` as it was, since the routine returns; any other enemy is stomped, then squashed if a stomp would squash it, or else killed outright.	Code
	Out of water and not holding anything, Frog Mario hops. On the ground, when no hop is under way, his horizontal speed is set to 0, and a held direction starts a hop (`Player_FrogHopCnt` = `$1F`), during which the Frog's acceleration entry adds 2 a frame (ground-accel). In the air, unless he is sinking in quicksand, the hop count is cleared and `Player_GroundHControl` steers him as it does the other suits. Holding something, he moves like the other suits on the ground too.	Code
	Under water the Frog suit sets Mario's speed straight from the d-pad: 16 (1 px/frame) each way, doubled to 32 while A is held, and with a direction released that speed eases back toward 0 by 1 a frame; Up gives 0 while he is above the top of the screen.	Code
	With the Fire Flower or the Hammer Suit, a press of B throws a weapon unless Mario is ducking, kicking, in a pipe, or the game is halted: Fire Mario's fireball starts downward, the Hammer Suit's hammer upward. Ducking in the Hammer Suit, the fireballs of Piranha Plants, Nippers, Fire Bros., and Fire Chomps collide with him as if he had a Starman's invincibility, which destroys the fireball instead of hurting him.	Code
	In this release a hit takes Mario down one step: from the Fire Flower or any suit (Raccoon, Frog, Tanooki, Hammer) back to Super Mario, from Super to small, and as small Mario he dies. In Kuribo's Shoe the hit takes the shoe and he keeps his form. A hit is ignored while he blinks from the last one, is a statue, has a Starman, has just lost a suit, or the game is halted, and while the debug no-hit flag is set.	Code
	`Player_GetHurt` jumps over a block that Southbird's comments mark as the Japanese version's code, and a comment says the Japanese version "always" shrinks Mario: in that block, any hit on a powered Mario queues small Mario, with the Frog, Tanooki, and Hammer suits flying off.	Code notes
	Touching a shell as a statue or in Kuribo's Shoe kicks it. Otherwise the touch does nothing while he is already holding something; with B held he picks the shell up, and without B he kicks it. A carried shell is kicked when B is let go, except while he is in a pipe or dying. A kicked shell gets 3 px/frame (`$30`) the way he faces, or for a shell on the ground away from him, plus half his speed when he moves the same way. A Bob-omb is thrown instead (bobomb-throw), and a carried shell let go against a wall dies (shell-wall-kill).	Code
	Kicking a Bob-omb, lit or not, throws it instead: it keeps its normal state, bounces up at `-$20`, and moves away from Mario at `$28`, or at `$30` plus half his speed when he moves that way.	Code
	Kicking a carried object other than a Bob-omb or an ice block first gives it a speed of 1 the way Mario faces and tests it against the level. If it touches a wall it dies instead, flying up at `-$40`, for 100 points; otherwise the kick goes ahead (shell-carry).	Code
	Famitsu's database gives 23 October 1988 as the date Super Mario Bros. 3 came out on the Famicom in Japan. The staff's letter that closes the Japanese manual is dated the same day.	Web
	Nintendo of America's list of NES games dates the North American release February 1990, and Electronic Gaming Monthly's April 1990 review gives 15 February.	Publisher
	Mean Machines, a British magazine, wrote in July 1991 that the game would come out in Britain in early November, and its review in the October 1991 issue gives the release as November.	Magazine
	The game has eight worlds, which the North American manual calls the eight kingdoms of the Mushroom World. A Koopa Kid guards each world, and Bowser waits at the end of World 8.	Manual
	The North American manual lists the items that change Mario's form: the Super Leaf makes him Raccoon Mario (spelled "Racoon" there), the Frog Suit Frog Mario, and the Tanooki Suit Tanooki Mario, besides the Super Mushroom and the Fire Flower.	Manual
	Both manuals close with a letter from the staff naming what is new against the earlier games: a map screen between the action scenes, on which the player charts progress, and a new two-player game. The Japanese letter likens the map to a board game.	Manual
	On the map screen the player picks the next level by walking to its panel and pressing A. Some paths are blocked until an item clears them, such as a hammer for a pile of rocks, and items Mario has collected can be used there before a level. Enemies roam the map, and meeting one starts a fight that wins another item. A mini-fortress stands partway through each world.	Magazine
	In the two-player game each player can continue separately. Electronic Gaming Monthly's review describes claiming areas of the map and fighting over them in a game derived from Mario Bros.	Manual
	Nintendo Power's January 1990 feature on the making of the game names Shigeru Miyamoto as project head, Takashi Tezuka as a director and planner, Mr. Nakago as coding director, and Koji Kondo as the composer. It credits the design and programming to the staff of the Research and Development departments of Nintendo's Kyoto headquarters, NCL.	Magazine
	In Nintendo's 2016 interview, Miyamoto and Tezuka put the team at 20 to 30 people. Miyamoto describes a "Map Room" where programmers entered map data from paper sheets every day, and Kondo says he was alone on sound.	Interview
	Miyamoto says work began in the spring of 1986, after The Lost Levels, and that a spring 1988 release slipped by another six months. Tezuka says the game was first built with a view from above at a slant; Miyamoto told him that view lost the sense of distance to the ground, and the game became a side view.	Interview
	Nintendo Power's making-of feature says a power-up turning Mario into a centaur was rejected, and the team settled on a tail and flight instead.	Magazine
	Famicom Tsūshin's cross review gave it 35 of 40, which placed it in the magazine's Platinum Hall. One reviewer called it close to the best form a sequel to Super Mario could take.	Web
	Famicom Tsūshin's staff named it the action game of 1988, citing the leaf that lets Mario fly.	Magazine
	Electronic Gaming Monthly's four reviewers each scored it 9 of 10. One called it the best Nintendo game ever made, another the best game ever made for the NES, and a third one of the best Nintendo games ever made.	Magazine
	Mean Machines scored it 98% overall; its reviewer Julian called it the finest video game he had played.	Magazine
	Nintendo Power's readers' chart had it at no. 1 by the May/June 1990 issue, with about twice the points of Tetris in second place, and still at no. 1 after 26 months in December 1991. In December 1994, after 63 months on the chart, it was no. 2 among NES games.	Magazine
	The Chicago Tribune reported in March 1990, citing a Nintendo spokeswoman, that more than 250,000 cartridges sold at about $50 each in the game's first two days in stores.	Web
	David Sheff's book Game Over says the game sold 7 million copies in the United States and 4 million in Japan, more than any video game until then.	Book
	Universal's film The Wizard, released on 14 December 1989, ends in a tournament played on Super Mario Bros. 3, two months before the game's North American release; Nintendo Power promoted it as a preview of the game. Sheff writes that Nintendo was paid a licensing fee and approved the script and the game footage.	Magazine
	Sheff writes that Nintendo of America's television commercial for the game showed no game footage, only crowds of children chanting "Mario".	Book
	A remake for the Super NES came in Super Mario All-Stars in 1993, and the NES game is one of the games built into Nintendo's Classic Mini NES of 2016.	Magazine
	Electronic Gaming Monthly's 1997 list of the 100 best games ranked its All-Stars version no. 2 and called it the best platform game of all time, crediting among much else the map that spread the levels out. IGN's list of the 100 best NES games ranks it no. 1, as the greatest NES game.	Magazine
Air control	With neither Left nor Right held, Mario's horizontal speed gets friction only on the ground; in the air the routine returns and he keeps his speed.	Code
CHR bank switching	At the status bar the IRQ handler switches the background's two 2 KB CHR banks to the status bar's tiles and all four 1 KB sprite banks to blank tiles, so no sprite shows over the bar.	Code
CHR bank switching	In ordinary levels the game picks the 2 KB background bank at PPU `$0800` from `PT2_Anim`, banks `$60`, `$62`, `$64`, `$66`, by frame-counter bits 3-4, so the animated tiles step every 8 frames on a 32-frame loop; an active P-Switch forces bank `$3E`.	Code
Coyote time	Some objects Mario rides set `Player_AllowAirJump`, a countdown in which a jump still starts in the air, to 5, 8, or 16; the Parabeetle sets 5 as it droops. `Player_JumpFlyFlutter` decrements the count before testing it, so those values leave 4, 7, or 15 updates in which a press of A jumps.	Code
DPCM samples	The music data has a sample track beside the other channels' tracks; each note byte on it queues a sample, and `Music_PlayDMC` loads that sample's rate, address, and length from three 16-entry tables and restarts the DMC.	Code
DPCM samples	The 16 sample entries play 9 recordings, some reused at a lower rate or cut short; their rate bytes are `$0F` (33,144 Hz) for most, and `$0E` (24,858 Hz) or `$0D` (21,307 Hz) for some of the reused copies.	Code
Flight	The P-meter, `Player_Power`, is seven bits. Mario runs, for the meter, on a frame he is on the ground and not sliding, with B held and his speed already `$28` or more. Each time `Player_PMeterCnt` reaches 0, a running frame adds a step and sets it to 8, and any other frame takes one away and sets it to 24; at 0 steps the counter stays 0, so the next run adds one at once. A full meter, `$7F`, takes 7 steps, and each running frame at full sets the counter to 16, so the meter stays full 16 frames past the last one. While `Player_FlyTime` is counting, none of this runs (flight-time). Measured in Mesen from power-on as Raccoon Mario at World 1-1's start, with Right and B held from rest the first step comes the frame after he reaches `$28`, then one every 8 frames to full; with B let go, it drops 16 frames later and then every 24.	Verified
	A jump with the meter full and no flight time left sets `Player_FlyTime` to `$80`, which counts down every other frame, about 256 frames; when it reaches 0 the meter empties (`$FF`, the P-Wing's value, never counts down). In the Raccoon or Tanooki suit, the suits with the flight bit in `PowerUp_Ability`, each press of A in the air starts a 16-frame wag. During a wag, unless he is rising faster than `-$18`, his vertical speed is set to `-$18` while the timer is `$0F` or more, to `-$10` from `$0E` to `$08`, and to 0 from `$07` to `$01`; since the timer ticks every other frame, those two stages last 14 frames each. At 0 the tail only slows a fall (tail-wag). Measured in Mesen from power-on as Raccoon Mario at World 1-1's start, a jump at full speed with A pressed every 4 frames sets the timer to `$80`, climbs at `-$18`, then for 14 frames at `-$10` and 14 at 0, and the timer and meter run out 255 frames after the take-off.	Verified
	On the ground, `Player_JumpFlyFlutter` clears `Player_FlyTime` unless the suit has the flight bit, so Raccoon and Tanooki Mario keep the rest of a flight through a landing, with the meter still full, and can take off again; for the other suits a full-meter jump's timer ends when they land.	Code
	Out of flight time, a wag of A with the Raccoon or Tanooki tail caps Mario's fall at `PLAYER_TAILWAG_YVEL`, `$10`, and leaves a rise or a slower fall alone. Measured in Mesen from power-on as Raccoon Mario at World 1-1's start, wagging every 4 frames after a flight runs out, his fall levels off at `$10`, 1 px a frame.	Verified
Gravity	Super Mario Bros. 3 keeps Mario's speeds as 4.4 fixed point: the high nibble is whole pixels per frame, the low nibble sixteenths. `Player_ApplyYVelocity` caps the fall at `FALLRATE_MAX`, `$40`, before the frame's gravity is added, so the move never exceeds 4 px a frame. Measured in Mesen from power-on as Raccoon Mario at World 1-1's start, a jump's fall levels off at 4 px a frame.	Verified
Gravity	In the air `Player_JumpFlyFlutter` adds 5 to Mario's vertical speed each update, or 1 while A is held and he rises faster than `$20`; a Micro-Goomba stuck to him keeps the 5 even with A held. A tail wag can then overwrite the speed (flight-time, tail-wag), and a Tanooki statue skips this routine (tanooki-statue). Measured in Mesen from power-on as Raccoon Mario at World 1-1's start, a jump with A held gains 1 a frame until the rise slows to `-$20`, then 5 a frame; with A pressed for one frame it gains 5 a frame from the frame after the take-off.	Verified
Invincibility frames	A hit that doesn't kill Mario, including one that only takes Kuribo's Shoe, sets `Player_FlashInv` to `$71`, and `Player_GetHurt` ignores hits while it is nonzero. `Player_Draw` counts it down each time it runs, blinking Mario in 2-tick halves.	Code
Jump	A jump takes off at `PLAYER_JUMP`, `-$38`, minus `Player_SpeedJumpInc` indexed by the whole part of Mario's horizontal speed: `-$38`, `-$3A`, `-$3C`, or `-$40`. Measured in Mesen from power-on as Raccoon Mario at World 1-1's start, a jump from a standstill and one at the full-meter speed `$38` take off at `-$38` and `-$40` (the first frame's speed, one more after that frame's held-A gravity).	Verified
Jump	A jump starts on the frame A goes down if Mario is on the ground, or in the air while `Player_AllowAirJump` is counting down.	Code
Raster effects	In the N-Spade card game three IRQs, at scanlines 32, 84, and 136, each give one row its own horizontal scroll and set the next IRQ 52 lines on, and a fourth restores the status bar, so three bands of the screen slide independently.	Code
Running	Off uphill slopes, Mario's speed tops out at `$18` walking, `$28` holding B, and `$38` while the P-meter is full; walking uphill, the cap comes from `Player_UphillSpeedVals` instead. Measured in Mesen from power-on as Raccoon Mario at World 1-1's start, holding Right levels off at `$18`, and Right with B at `$28` until the meter fills, then at `$38`.	Verified
Running	Below the top speed, a held direction adds the suit's entry in `Player_XAccelMain` plus the carry from adding its `Player_XAccelPseudoFrac` entry to `Counter_Wiggly`, on the ground and in the air. Each frame `Counter_Wiggly` becomes its high nibble minus `$90`, so it steps through all 16 high nibbles: computed, an `$E0` fraction carries on 14 of every 16 frames, so every suit but the Frog gains 1 on 14 frames in 16, about 0.88 a frame, while the Frog's entry adds 2 every frame. Pressing against the motion adds 2 the other way for every suit. With no direction held on the ground, or over the top speed on the ground, the friction entry takes 1 on each frame without a carry: 14 in 16 for Super, Fire, and Raccoon Mario (`$20`), 10 in 16 for small, Tanooki, and Hammer Mario (`$60`), and every frame for the Frog (`$00`). Over the top speed in the air nothing changes it, and slippery ground uses other entries. Measured in Mesen from power-on as Raccoon Mario at World 1-1's start, holding Right from rest gains 1 on 14 of any 16 frames and reaches `$28` (with B) on the 46th.	Verified
Slope sliding	Holding only Down on a slope starts a slide, except in the Frog or Hammer suit (bit 1 of `PowerUp_Ability`) or Kuribo's Shoe. Each update the slope's push is added to the slide speed, which is capped at `$40` and then loses 1 toward 0, so it tops out at `$3F`.	Code
Status bar split	Each frame the NMI handler loads the MMC3's scanline counter with 192, and the IRQ it raises points the PPU at the status bar's nametable rows and swaps in the status bar's tile banks.	Code
Variable jump height	Measured in Mesen from power-on as Raccoon Mario standing at World 1-1's start, a jump with A held rises 71 px, about four and a half tiles, and a jump with A pressed for one frame rises 21 px. Both follow from the take-off (jump-speed) and the two gravities (gravity).	Verified

References

^ a b cFamitsu's database gives 23 October 1988 as the date Super Mario Bros. 3 came out on the Famicom in Japan. The staff's letter that closes the Japanese manual is dated the same day.WebFamitsu.com, SMB3 (FC) · Super Mario Bros. 3 Japanese manualrevised
How we know
1988年10月23日
game data · archived copy ↗
1988. 10. 23.
last page (PDF p. 45), "To Mario's Players" · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Revised after a check by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^ a b cNintendo of America's list of NES games dates the North American release February 1990, and Electronic Gaming Monthly's April 1990 review gives 15 February.PublisherNintendo, NES Games · EGM 9
How we know
Super Mario Bros. 3
PDF p. 12 · archived copy ↗
2/15/90
p. 10, review box · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^ a bMean Machines, a British magazine, wrote in July 1991 that the game would come out in Britain in early November, and its review in the October 1991 issue gives the release as November.MagazineMean Machines 10 · Mean Machines 13
How we know
will doubtlessly do the same when it's released over here in early November
p. 10 · archived copy ↗
RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER
p. 59, review box · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^The game has eight worlds, which the North American manual calls the eight kingdoms of the Mushroom World. A Koopa Kid guards each world, and Bowser waits at the end of World 8.ManualSuper Mario Bros. 3 US manual · Mean Machines 13 · Nintendo Power, SMB3 strategy guiderevised
How we know
Let's take a look at the 8 kingdoms that make up the Mushroom World.
p. 30 (PDF p. 31), "The Eight Kingdoms" · archived copy ↗
Each Mushroom World is guarded by an evil Koopa child … The object is to reach the end of world eight where Bowser lies in wait
p. 56 · archived copy ↗
Castle Of Koopa
p. 3, contents · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Revised after a check by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^On the map screen the player picks the next level by walking to its panel and pressing A. Some paths are blocked until an item clears them, such as a hammer for a pile of rocks, and items Mario has collected can be used there before a level. Enemies roam the map, and meeting one starts a fight that wins another item. A mini-fortress stands partway through each world.MagazineNintendo Power 11 · Mean Machines 13
How we know
Screen and hit the A Button and you’ll be whisked to an Action Scene.
pp. 8-9 · archived copy ↗
if there's a pile of rocks blocking your way, use the hammer to knock the obstacle away! … Items are selected with the A button, and these can help you in your selected level. … Mario can rendezvous with these critters and beat them about a bit, thus gaining another useful item!
p. 58 · archived copy ↗
In the middle of each World is stationed … a Mini-Fortress defended by Boo Diddly
pp. 8-9 · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^Both manuals close with a letter from the staff naming what is new against the earlier games: a map screen between the action scenes, on which the player charts progress, and a new two-player game. The Japanese letter likens the map to a board game.ManualSuper Mario Bros. 3 US manual · Super Mario Bros. 3 Japanese manual
How we know
In addition to the action scenes, we've added a World Map on which you can plot your progress as well as play a new 2 player game.
p. 42 (PDF p. 43), "To Mario's Players" · archived copy ↗
マップ画面という少しボードゲームの要素も入り
last page (PDF p. 45) · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^Nintendo Power's January 1990 feature on the making of the game names Shigeru Miyamoto as project head, Takashi Tezuka as a director and planner, Mr. Nakago as coding director, and Koji Kondo as the composer. It credits the design and programming to the staff of the Research and Development departments of Nintendo's Kyoto headquarters, NCL.MagazineNintendo Power 10, The Making of SMB3
How we know
project head in charge of development on SMB 3
pp. 20-23, "The Making of Super Mario Bros. 3" · archived copy ↗
Mr. Tezuka, a director and planner of SMB 3 … Mr. Nakago, coding director on SMB 3 … He composed the music for SMB 3.
pp. 20-23 · archived copy ↗
staff of NCL's Research and Development Departments
p. 20 · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^In Nintendo's 2016 interview, Miyamoto and Tezuka put the team at 20 to 30 people. Miyamoto describes a "Map Room" where programmers entered map data from paper sheets every day, and Kondo says he was alone on sound.InterviewNintendo Classic Mini interview, vol. 3
How we know
Maybe 20 to 30? … We had what we called the Map Room … But I was alone on sound.
Human Wave Tactics · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^Miyamoto says work began in the spring of 1986, after The Lost Levels, and that a spring 1988 release slipped by another six months. Tezuka says the game was first built with a view from above at a slant; Miyamoto told him that view lost the sense of distance to the ground, and the game became a side view.InterviewNintendo Classic Mini interview, vol. 3
How we know
We began after Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in the spring of 1986 … We wanted to release it in spring of 1988, but we couldn't do that either, so it dragged on for another six months! … At first, we were making it with a bird's-eye view rather than a side view. … you lost your sense of distance to the ground
Human Wave Tactics · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^Nintendo Power's making-of feature says a power-up turning Mario into a centaur was rejected, and the team settled on a tail and flight instead.MagazineNintendo Power 10, The Making of SMB3
How we know
A concept that was rejected was having Mario power-up as a Centaur … to give Mario a tail and the ability of flight
p. 20 · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^ a bFamicom Tsūshin's cross review gave it 35 of 40, which placed it in the magazine's Platinum Hall. One reviewer called it close to the best form a sequel to Super Mario could take.WebFamitsu.com, SMB3 (FC)
How we know
プラチナ殿堂
game data · archived copy ↗
『スーパーマリオ』の続編としては、最高の形に近いと思う。
review comments · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^Famicom Tsūshin's staff named it the action game of 1988, citing the leaf that lets Mario fly.MagazineFamitsu 67, '88 Best Hit Game Awards
How we know
アクションゲーム賞
p. 8, genre awards chosen by the staff · archived copy ↗
今回はハッパのアイテムで空を飛んだり
p. 8 · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^Electronic Gaming Monthly's four reviewers each scored it 9 of 10. One called it the best Nintendo game ever made, another the best game ever made for the NES, and a third one of the best Nintendo games ever made.MagazineEGM 9
How we know
you get the best game ever made for the NES! … This is the best Nintendo game ever made. … the best Nintendo games ever made!
p. 10, Review Crew · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^ a bMean Machines scored it 98% overall; its reviewer Julian called it the finest video game he had played.MagazineMean Machines 13
How we know
OVERALL 98%
p. 59, scores · archived copy ↗
Super Mario III is simply the finest videogame I've ever played.
p. 57 · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^Universal's film The Wizard, released on 14 December 1989, ends in a tournament played on Super Mario Bros. 3, two months before the game's North American release; Nintendo Power promoted it as a preview of the game. Sheff writes that Nintendo was paid a licensing fee and approved the script and the game footage.MagazineNintendo Power 9 · Sheff, Game Over (1999)
How we know
On December 14, Universal City Studios will premiere
pp. 89-90, "The Wizard" · archived copy ↗
pits the finalists against each other on Super Mario Bros. 3 … a great chance to get a preview of Super Mario Bros. 3
pp. 89-90 · archived copy ↗
approval of both the script and the film's game footage
"The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", pp. 190-191 · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^The Chicago Tribune reported in March 1990, citing a Nintendo spokeswoman, that more than 250,000 cartridges sold at about $50 each in the game's first two days in stores.WebChicago Tribune, SMB3 launchrevised
How we know
more than 250,000 cartridges were bought … first two days on the shelves
29 March 1990 · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Revised after a check by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^ a bDavid Sheff's book Game Over says the game sold 7 million copies in the United States and 4 million in Japan, more than any video game until then.BookSheff, Game Over (1999)
How we know
would sell more copies than any video game in history … 7 million in the United States and 4 million in Japan
Prologue, pp. 4-5 · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^Nintendo Power's readers' chart had it at no. 1 by the May/June 1990 issue, with about twice the points of Tetris in second place, and still at no. 1 after 26 months in December 1991. In December 1994, after 63 months on the chart, it was no. 2 among NES games.MagazineNintendo Power 12 · Nintendo Power 31 · Nintendo Power 67
How we know
11,595 … 5,570
pp. 42-43, Top 30 · archived copy ↗
8,825
pp. 90-91, Top 30 · archived copy ↗
63 months
p. 101, NES Top 20 · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger
^Electronic Gaming Monthly's 1997 list of the 100 best games ranked its All-Stars version no. 2 and called it the best platform game of all time, crediting among much else the map that spread the levels out. IGN's list of the 100 best NES games ranks it no. 1, as the greatest NES game.MagazineEGM 100 · IGN, Top 100 NES Games (SMB3)
How we know
single best platform game of all time … the levels were spread out on an overworld map that sprawled in every direction
no. 2 · archived copy ↗
we can unequivocally call it the greatest NES game of all time
no. 1 · archived copy ↗
The quote matches our archived copy.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
In the claim ledger

^ a b cOff uphill slopes, Mario's speed tops out at $18 walking, $28 holding B, and $38 while the P-meter is full; walking uphill, the cap comes from Player_UphillSpeedVals instead. Measured in Mesen from power-on as Raccoon Mario at World 1-1's start, holding Right levels off at $18, and Right with B at $28 until the meter fills, then at $38.VerifiedSouthbird's SMB3 disassembly

How we know

3559PLAYER_TOPWALKSPEED	= $18	; Highest X velocity considered as Player "walking"
3560PLAYER_TOPRUNSPEED	= $28	; Highest X velocity when Player runs
3561PLAYER_TOPPOWERSPEED	= $38	; Highest X velocity hit when Player is at full "power"
3562PLAYER_MAXSPEED		= $40	; Player's maximum speed

smb3.asm lines 3559–3562 at 09b1bd8 · upstream ↗

2320Player_GroundHControl:
2321	LDA Player_UphillFlag
2322	BEQ PRG008_AB56	 ; If Player is not going up hill, jump to PRG008_AB56
⋮
2324	INC Player_WalkAnimTicks	; Player_WalkAnimTicks++
⋮
2326	LDY #10	 ; Y = 10 (Player NOT holding B)
⋮
2328	BIT <Pad_Holding
2329	BVC PRG008_AB5B	 ; If Player is NOT holding 'B', jump to PRG008_AB5B
⋮
2331	LDY #1	 ; Y = 1 (Player holding B)
2332	BNE PRG008_AB5B	 ; Jump (technically always) to PRG008_AB5B
⋮
2334PRG008_AB56:
⋮
2336	; Use override value
⋮
2338	LDY Player_UphillSpeedIdx	 ; Y = Player_UphillSpeedIdx
⋮

PRG/prg008.asm lines 2320–2382 at 09b1bd8 · upstream ↗

Measured by a script in MesenCE 2.2.1 (build 4b8a196), on . It fails if the result disagrees with the claim.

The numbers come from the run; its author, an AI model, checked the script measures what the claim says, 2026-10-26.

Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-21.

Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.

#How it plays

#Across the series

Related

See also

Mentioned in

Mechanics

References

Sources

Code

Primary

Secondary