Super Mario Bros. 3: A Big Color/Activity Book
| Super Mario Bros. 3: A Big Color/Activity Book | |
|---|---|
| |
| Series | Super Mario Bros. |
| Publisher | Western Publishing[1] |
| Label | Golden Book[1] |
| Original language | English |
| Release dates |  1990[1](original release) 1991[2](re-release) |
| ← Previous Super Mario Bros.: A Big Activity Book |
Next → Super Mario Bros.: A Big Coloring Book |
Super Mario Bros. 3: A Big Color/Activity Book, also referred to as just Super Mario Bros. 3, is a softcover-bound book published by Western Publishing in 1990 under the Golden Book label as part of the Super Mario Bros. series of coloring and activity books.[1] As its title implies, it is based on Super Mario Bros. 3. The book contains 56 pages.
A smaller version of the book, simply titled Super Mario Bros. 3: A Big Color/Activity Book and containing only 48 pages, was later released in 1991.[2]
Contents[edit]
Coloring pages[edit]
- Raccoon Mario throwing down a Koopa Shell in a scene with Paragoombas, Micro Goombas, a Piranha Plant, a Fire Piranha Plant, and a Koopa Troopa.
- Mario jumping in Desert Land with an Angry Sun in the sky and a snake.
- Frog Mario swimming near Spiny Cheep Cheeps, a Blooper Nanny, a Lava Lotus, a Jelectro, and a Cheep Cheep.
- Wendy throwing a ring while looping another around her Magic Wand.
- Mario running away from a Fire Bro, Munchers, a Koopa Paratroopa, a Boomerang being thrown by a Boomerang Bro, and an Angry Sun. Another Koopa Paratroopa, a Sledge Bro, and a Fire Piranha Plant are next to him.
- Raccoon Mario flying in the sky alongside Flame Chomps, Para-Beetles, and Koopa Paratroopas.
- Two pages that are optical illusions, where staring on one zigzag pattern will make the others look like they are moving.
- Tanooki Mario running away from a Spike and a Buster Beetle in Ice Land.
- Mario running over Munchers.
- Hammer Mario throwing a hammer at a Piranha Plant in Pipe Land.
- Mario jumping on a Giant cannonball being launched from Bowser's Tank in Dark Land.
- Mario jumping over a Rocky Wrench.
- Mario and Luigi shaking hands in front of Princess Toadstool.
Activity pages[edit]
- Search up, down, across, and diagonally to find the names of Mario's enemies.
This is a word search where the reader is tasked with finding the names of Blooper, Bob-omb, Buzzy Beetle, Cheep-Cheep, Dry Bones, Fire Snake, Lakitu, Munchers, Podoboo, Ptooie, Spike, and Spiny.
- Color the design. Cut it out and hang it on your door or bulletin board. Write your name on the line.
The reader is tasked with coloring and cutting out a sign resembling the title screen of Super Mario Bros. 3 and writing their name above the line.
- Color the picture to find out who turned the King of the Grasslands into a dog.
This is a paint by number activity where the reader is tasked with coloring a picture of Larry using five colors labeled by the amount of dots a section has. The colors are blue, yellow, green, orange, and pink. (The latter of which is labeled with a dot with a white dot inside of it).
- Follow the path to get through the pyramid.
The reader is tasked with drawing a line from the top of the pyramid to the bottom while avoiding pathways blocked by a Dry Bones, Boom Boom, a Boo, and a Thwomp.
- Use the secret code to find a message to Mario from the Princess.
The reader is tasked with decoding a message involving lines and dots. When decoded, the message reads "Bandits have taken a whistle beyond the sand dunes".
- Hold this page to a mirror to find out what Morton Koopa Jr. turned the King of the Koopahari Desert into.
The reader is tasked with holding the page to a mirror. The text in the cloud reads "spider".
- Find and color Mario's enemies that are hiding in the Koopahari desert.
The reader is tasked with coloring in Munchers, a Boss Bass, a Koopa Shell, a Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopas, a Ptooie, and an Angry Sun.
- Find the two Cheep-Cheeps that are the same.
The reader is tasked with coloring in the two Cheep Cheeps out of the five that are identical. The Cheep Cheeps that are identical are numbers 1 and 4. Number 2 has stripes, number 3 is smiling, and number 5 is angry.
- You can play this game with a friend. Take turns drawing a line, either horizontally or vertically between any two of the dots shown below. If your line finishes an empty box, give yourself 1 point. If you complete a square with a helper inside, give yourself 2 points. If you complete a square with an enemy, subtract 2 points. The player with the most points when all the dots are connected wins.
This is a game where 2 players take turns drawing lines, connecting them with dots. If one player draws a line that creates a box, they receive 1 point. If a 1-Up Mushroom, Super Star, coin, Warp Whistle, P-Wing, or Music Box is in the box, the player receives 2 points. If a Muncher, Angry Sun, Koopa Paratroopa, Ptooie, Bob-omb, or Buzzy Beetle is in the box, the player loses 2 points. Whoever has more points at the end wins. The game is copied over to the next page with the objects and enemies shuffled around.
- Look up, down, and across to find the names of Bowser's kids.
This is a word search where the reader is tasked with finding the names of the Koopalings: "Iggy Koopa", "Larry Koopa", "Lemmy Koopa", "Morton Koopa, Jr.", "Roy Koopa", "Wendy O. Koopa", and "Ludwig von Koopa".
- Unscramble the words to find the names of some of Mario's enemies.
The reader is tasked with unscrambling the names of Bullet Bill, Lava Lotus, Dry Bones, Buzzy Beetle, and the Hammer Brothers.
- Fill in the blanks to make your own funny story about Mario.
- The _____ Kingdom had been peaceful due to the brave deeds of _____ and _____. Then, _____ sent his seven _____ to make mischief in the _____ World. They stole the royal, magic _____ from each country in the Mushroom _____ and used them to turn their _____ into _____, _____ and _____ must recover the royal magic _____ from Bowser's seven _____ and return the _____ to their true forms.
The reader is tasked with filling in the blanks of a story based on the plot of Super Mario Bros. 3 with whatever word they want. The reader is then tasked with drawing a picture depicting the story they helped filled out.
- Follow the numbers to find out what Mario wears for stomping power.
This is a connect the dots puzzle featuring a Goomba's Shoe.
- Cut out the picture and tape it together the right way to find out who is called "the Gauntlet".
The reader is tasked with cutting out six squares and rearranging them correctly with tape to reveal an image of Roy in the clouds.
- Create your own letter from Princess Toadstool to Mario.
The reader is tasked with writing a letter like the letters the Princess writes to Mario at the end of worlds 1 through 7.
- Follow the correct path to get out of the Winter World.
This is another maze where the reader is tasked with drawing a path from an igloo to a flower while avoiding dead ends.
- How many times can you find Lemmy Koopa in this puzzle? Look up, down, across, and diagonally.
This is another word search where the reader is tasked with finding eight instances of Lemmy Koopa's name.
- Draw a snowman Mario might see in the Winter World.
The reader is tasked with drawing a snowman.
- Find the path through the Piranha Plants.
This is another maze where the reader is tasked with drawing a line through a garden of Piranha Plants and Munchers from the start to the exit while avoiding dead ends.
- Draw in the objects that are missing from the picture on the previous page.
One page has seven Munchers, two Fire Piranha Plants, and a Ptooie. The next page removes the Ptooie, four of the Munchers, and one of the Fire Piranha Plants. The reader is tasked with drawing in the missing enemies from the previous page.
- Color the picture to find out who is the second meanest Koopa around.
This is another paint by number activity where the reader is tasked with coloring a picture of Ludwig using five colors labeled by the amount of dots a section has. The colors are blue, yellow, green, orange, and red.
- How many Donut Lifts are tangled in this picture?
The reader is tasked with figuring out how many Donut Lifts are merged with one another, with the correct answer being 8.
- Follow the dots to see where Mario's enemy is hiding.
This is another connect the dots activity featuring Bowser peeking out of a castle.
MARIO'S MATCHING GAME (For 1 or more players) Color the cards and cut them out. Shuffle well and place them facedown on a table. Each player takes a turn selecting two cards and turning them over. If the two cards match, the player keeps them. If not, he/she turns the cards facedown again and another player takes a turn. When all the cards are matched, the player with the most pairs wins. This is a memory game with the cards featuring a Super Star, Frog Mario, Raccoon Mario, a 1-Up Mushroom, a Fire Snake, a Boss Bass, a Cheep Cheep, a Lakitu, Bowser, Princess Toadstool, a Chain Chomp, a Ptooie, a Goomba, a Koopa Troopa, a Lava Lotus, and an Angry Sun.
- CROSSWORD PUZZLE
ACROSS
| Number | Hint | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 3. | Name of the water plant that spits little bits | Lava Lotus |
| 4. | Enemy that haunts the fortresses | Hot Foot |
| 6. | Enemy that explodes after being stomped on | Bob-omb |
| 8. | Spooky Inhabitant of the Fortress that lives in white blocks | Stretch |
| 9. | The name of World 1 | Grassland |
| 12. | Lakitu tosses Spiny _____. | Eggs |
| 13. | Turtle that serves on the Koopaling Airship | Rocky Wrench |
DOWN
| Number | Hint | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Name of World 4 | Giantland |
| 2. | Underwater squid | Bloober |
| 4. | Mario's name when be wears a shell and throws a weapon | Hammer Mario |
| 5. | Another spelling for a word that sounds like too | To |
| 7. | Indestructible Piranhas often found in clusters | Munchers |
| 10. | Enemy that throws a ball at Mario | Spike |
| 11. | World 2 is called the Koopahari _____. | Desert |
Differences between Super Mario Bros. 3: A Color/Activity Book[edit]
Super Mario Bros. 3: A Color/Activity Book is a smaller staple-bound version of that omits eight pages found in the original book. Unusually, unlike other non-"Big" and non-"Giant" coloring books under the Golden Book label, which usually have a product code ending in "-14", "-15", or "-16", this book lacks a product code entirely. In addition, the back cover is blank, being completely yellow and lacking an ISBN.
Characters[edit]
- Mario
- Luigi
- Princess Peach
- Bowser
- Larry
- Roy
- Lemmy
- Ludwig
- Goombas
- Paragoombas
- Koopa Troopas
- Koopa Paratroopa
- Dry Bones
- Sledge Brother
- Fire Brother
- Boomerang Brother
- Fire Piranha Plants
- Ptooies
- Bob-ombs
- Cheep-Cheep
- Spiny Cheep-Cheeps
- Flame Chomps
- Blooper
- Blooper Babies
- Bullet Bill
- Nipper Plants
- Munchers
- Buzzy Beetles
- Para-Beetles
- Spike
- Angry Sun
- Jelectro
- Lava Lotuses
Notable mistakes and errors[edit]
- In the word search with the Koopalings, Morton Koopa Jr.'s name is misspelled with a comma after "Koopa" and a period is not present after the "Jr".
- In the activity where the reader has to unscramble the names of Mario's enemies, the Hammer Brothers are shown with artwork of a Fire Bro and a Boomerang Bro.
- In the fill-in-the-blanks activity, there is a comma between instances of the words "royal" and "magic" that does not fill out a grammatically correct sentence.
- In the hint for Across 8 in the crossword puzzle, "inhabitant" is incorrectly capitalized.
- The hint for Across 13 in the crossword puzzle states the Rocky Wrenches are turtles, when they are actually moles.
Gallery[edit]
Front cover.
Page 1
Pages 2 and 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Pages 8 and 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Pages 14 and 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Pages 20 and 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Pages 26 and 27
Page 28
Page 29
Page 30
Page 31
Pages 32 and 33
Page 34
Page 35
Page 36
Page 37
Pages 38 and 39
Page 40
Page 41
Page 42
Page 43
Pages 44 and 45
Page 46
Page 47
Page 48
Page 49
Page 50
Page 51
Page 52
Page 53
Page 54
Page 55
Page 56
Back cover.
Front cover of alternate version without the "Big" label.
Notes[edit]
- Despite the book being based on Super Mario Bros. 3, the 1-Up Mushrooms and Coins that appear in the book use their designs from Super Mario Bros. 2.
- The eight double page images represent the eight worlds in Super Mario Bros. 3 and are partially based off the art created for the strategy guide published in Nintendo Power #13. It's most noticeable when comparing pages 44 and 45 to the cover art for World 8's chapter in the guide.[3]
- The Chain Chomps on page 53 are seemingly modeled after their depiction from The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, where their teeth are conical instead of flat and the inside of their mouth is a patch of one color surrounded by another instead of one solid color like in the games.
