Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario Bros. 3 is a 2D action-adventure platform game for the Famicom and NES and is the fourth installment in the Super Mario series. It was released for consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988; in North America on February 12, 1990; and in Europe and Australia on August 29, 1991. Prior to its North American release on the NES, Super Mario Bros. 3 was ported to the Nintendo PlayChoice-10. Being the first game in the series since Super Mario Bros. not to derive its gameplay from another game, Super Mario Bros. 3 retains the same level-based platformer mechanics of previous titles. These core mechanics are iterated upon, featuring greatly expanded levels, several new power-ups, new enemies and bosses, a more fleshed-out multiplayer mode, a world map, and many optional levels and secrets. The game has gone on to become one of the most influential titles for the Super Mario franchise, and several elements introduced in this title have since become franchise mainstays, including landscape-themed worlds, the Koopalings, airships, and Toad Houses.

The game features a unique stage play-esque aesthetic, with objects being bolted to the background or suspended by ropes and casting s. Additionally, the ends of most levels feature Mario traveling "offstage" on a black backdrop to complete them. This led to a long-standing rumor that the game was a stage play put on by the Super Mario cast, an idea later confirmed by series creator Shigeru Miyamoto. Some of these aesthetic choices were changed or removed in remakes of the game.

Super Mario Bros. 3 has received near-universal critical acclaim since its release, and it is one of the best-selling NES and Super Mario games of all time. The game has received several rereleases on other platforms, including full remakes for the SNES compilation game Super Mario All-Stars and on the Game Boy Advance as Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. It is also featured on all of Nintendo's Virtual Console services, as well as Nintendo Switch Online.

A cartoon adaptation of the game known as The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 started airing shortly after release of the game. In the cartoon, King Koopa and the Koopalings attempt to take over both the real world and the Mushroom Kingdom. The series was produced by DIC Entertainment in association with Nintendo.

Story
The following text is taken directly from the instruction booklet. The Mushroom Kingdom has been a peaceful place thanks to the brave deeds of Mario and Luigi. The Mushroom Kingdom forms an entrance to the Mushroom World where all is not well.

Bowser sent his seven children to make mischief as they please in the normally peaceful Mushroom World. They stole royal magic wands from each country in the Mushroom World and used them to turn their kings into animals. Mario and Luigi must recover the royal magic wands from Bowser's seven kids to return the kings to their true forms.

"Goodbye and good luck!" said the Princess and Toad as Mario and Luigi set off on their journey deep into the Mushroom World.

Peace has returned to the Mushroom Kingdom thanks to the efforts of Mario and Luigi; however, Bowser sent his own seven children (Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig) to the other countries of the Mushroom World. The Mushroom Kingdom forms a gateway to these lands, and the Koopalings have stolen the respective royal magic wands of the seven kings, using them to transform the kings into various helpless creatures. Mario and Luigi vow to go and stop the Koopalings' mischief, and change the kings back into their normal form. At the end of each world, Mario and Luigi fight one of the Koopalings, and after the match is over, retrieve the wand from the Koopaling to turn the king back to normal. While the brothers are out in their adventure, Bowser kidnaps Princess Toadstool and takes her to his lair in Dark Land. The brothers go to Dark Land and fight Bowser. After defeating Bowser, they save the princess and restore peace once again.

Gameplay
Super Mario Bros. 3 plays similarly to Super Mario Bros., with several additions. The game features a world map where the player can choose which path to take and which level to play. Toad Houses and Spade Panels are also found on the world map. Midway through each world, Mario or Luigi enter a fortress, where they fight Boom Boom. At the end of each world, they enter the world's airship, where one of the seven Koopalings is fought. After defeating the Koopaling, Mario or Luigi restores the king back to his normal state and moves onto the next world.

The first player controls Mario, while the second player controls his brother, Luigi, with the two players taking turns. New moves include picking up objects and kicking them, as well as sliding down hills, moves which have carried over in future Super Mario games. The Fire Flower returns in this game, where it acts as it does in Super Mario Bros., allowing Mario or Luigi to transform into their Fire forms and shoot fireballs. Several new power-ups are also introduced, including the Super Leaf, a leaf power-up that transforms Mario or Luigi into their Raccoon forms, allowing them to fly into the sky, and the Hammer Suit, which transforms the brothers into their Hammer forms, letting them throw hammers at enemies.

Worlds
Unlike Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2, this game has a world map, a feature that has been carried over into every subsequent title in the series. Like Super Mario Bros., the game features eight total worlds spread out across eight different maps, each one featuring a different name, theme, and boss; the inclusion of thematic worlds would also be carried over into future titles in the series. In the original NTSC release of this game, most of the worlds were given different names (indicated in parentheses in the table below), which are largely carried over to remakes. According to the Japanese manual, the map designs were deliberately modeled after that of a board game.

2 Player Game
In 2 Player Game, Mario (player one) and Luigi (player two) take turns to complete levels. After one brother completes a level or loses a life, the other brother plays. Also, if one brother picks a level that the other brother completed, they enter Battle Mode in their small forms. Whoever wins will be their turn to play the main game.

Most Battle Mode stages are similar to Mario Bros. In these stages, five enemies will emerge from the top pipes. The objective is to survive while defeating all five enemies with the one getting the most wins. Enemies to defeat are Spinies, Sidesteppers, and Fighter Flies, but defeating a Fireball does not count. Players can also indirectly kill each other by forcing the rival to collide with an enemy to gain victory. Players can also steal goal cards from each other by bumping from below, stomping, or using the POW Block. If a brother gets his third card, then he is instantly awarded extra lives in the main game equal to their combination. However, if a loose card is not grabbed before a round ends, it is lost. Any deaths incurred in the Battle Mode will not affect the player's lives in the main game.

Every fourth match is a bonus stage of which there are three types. The first bonus stage is to simply grab at least three of the five coins. The second is a stage that has a vertical pipe that shoots out Fireballs and coins. The player that collects at least three coins or survives wins. The final bonus stage has the players climbing ladders to retrieve coins under boxes, some of which are empty. All five coins must be collected with the winner being the one who obtained the most.

Super Mario All-Stars also includes a different Battle Game in the main menu for Super Mario Bros. 3.

Development
Development for Super Mario Bros. 3 began shortly after Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was finished in the Spring of 1986. Originally, the game was developed with a bird's-eye view in mind, similar to The Legend of Zelda, where the player would be looking down at the characters from above. With jumping as one of Mario's main moves, this overhead view made it difficult to determine whether Mario was touching the ground or not, so the view was switched to the side-view used in earlier titles. However, relics of the overhead view can still be found in the final game, such as the black-and-white checkerboard seen at the title screen.

When Takashi Tezuka was designing concepts for the game, he didn't want it to be like Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels where only the levels and difficulty was changed. Instead, he wanted to rework everything, from giving Mario an improved moveset to overhauling the character sprites. Programmers also had what they called a "Map Room", which was a long, narrow meeting room where they looked at sheet papers and programmed map data all day. There were 20 to 30 people working on Super Mario Bros. 3, compared to Super Mario Bros.'s seven or eight. However, Koji Kondo was completely alone on sound design, and he claims it was difficult to come up with music to fit the genre of the game. Additional sounds were possible to use during Super Mario Bros. 3s development which weren't able to be used during Super Mario Bros.s. The Japanese version of the game was originally planned to release in Spring of 1988, but because of the developers wanting to add so many new features, the game ended up getting pushed back another six months.

The hard part of creating a video game with old characters is making the old characters seem fresh and new. In many ways, Super Mario Bros. 3 revived the series and brought many new young and old fans back to the adventures of the Mario Bros. The game also appeared in the 1989 movie The Wizard as a way to advertise it; this also marked the first time that a Super Mario game was advertised in a movie.

Remakes and ports
Super Mario Bros. 3 was later remade and included in Super Mario All-Stars, with updated graphics and sound for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and with further minor upgrades in the re-issue, Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World, and the game's eventual port to the Wii as Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition. A notable addition to the All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 3 was a save feature which allow players to save the progress and continue the world where they left off. Additionally, there's a Battle Game feature in the title screen that works differently from the ones featured from the maps in the 2-Player Game Mode. Other than that, retaining some localization changes and certain glitches fixed, gameplay was not altered.

The original game is also one of the 30 titles included in the NES Classic Edition and Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer, and was made available as one of the 20 NES titles with added online play at the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service's launch in September 2018. It later received a special version on July 28, 2021, known as Super Mario Bros. 3: Mario, the quick-change artist!, where the player would start on World 8 with 35 lives and the inventory full of every power-up in the game.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario Bros. 3 was ported to the Game Boy Advance handheld system as the fourth and final installation in the Super Mario Advance series, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. It used the same graphics and sounds as the Super Mario All-Stars version, and also incorporated the use of the e-Reader: by scanning in certain cards, players could unlock new items and levels, including content originally from the other classic Super Mario platformers.

Reception
The game has received critical acclaim and is considered to be one of the greatest games of all time. IGN placed it at the number one spot of their top 100 NES games of all time list.

Merchandise
Among the merchandise based on the game are a Nelsonic Game Watch, and chocolate chip swirl cookies manufactured by Salerno, which features a maze on the box.

id Software's attempted PC port
PC developer sent to Nintendo a demo of a PC port of the game, with the intent being to gain authorization to make an official port. The demo reached the Nintendo of Japan management (including Shigeru Miyamoto), who were impressed by the port's quality. However, Nintendo declined to greenlight an official PC version of the game as the company had no plan to release its products outside their own platform.

The pitch followed a tech demo named Dangerous Dave in "Copyright Infringement", which was a playable recreation of World 1-1 with Mario's sprite being replaced with that of the titular character. Dangerous Dave was notable for featuring smooth scrolling, something unheard for PC games of the time. With a distribution deal with of, "Copyright Infringement" id developers  and  along with  (who originally had the idea) later used the engine they had developed to create the  series, a series of  platform games for.

On December 14, 2015, John Romero uploaded gameplay footage of the port on the video-sharing website Vimeo.

References to other games

 * Mario Bros. - The Battle Mode is very similar to the multiplayer in this game.
 * Super Mario Bros. - Buzzy Beetles reuse their sprites from this game but with a few differences. When Princess Toadstool is saved from Bowser (in English versions except Super Mario Advance 4), she says "Thank you. But our princess is in another castle!...Just kidding! Ha ha ha! Bye bye." This is a reference to the mushroom retainers' line "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!" from this game. Several sound effects from this game are reused. An arrangement of the Underground Theme from this game is used for the underground levels. Also, the Music Box plays an arrangement of the Ground Theme from this game.
 * Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels - The skidding sound effect returns.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2 - Princess Toadstool's appearance is almost identical to how she appeared in this game, though it more closely resembles her appearance from the prototype version as there is no white coloring in her eyes. Bob-ombs, as well as desert, sky and ice-themed levels/worlds also return.
 * The Legend of Zelda series - The "Magic Whistle" item is the Recorder from The Legend of Zelda; it summons a whirlwind to warp the player character to another location and plays the same tune when used, which has become a reoccurring melody in the original series.
 *  - The Raccoon Mario transformation sound effect originated from this game.

References in later games

 * Super Mario World - The Koopalings return in this game. The Sunken Ghost Ship was once an airship in Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - The music for Water Land was recreated as the background music for the Fairy Fountain/Great Fairy Fountains, including the music that plays on the file select screen, which would be used in many Zelda games throughout the subsequent generations of that franchise's history.
 * Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - Water Land's music can be heard in the background of the music for stage 3 of Tree Zone, as well as in Mario Zone.
 * Super Metroid - The sound effect for when Crocomire fully dies is taken from the Dry Bones in Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - The music heard in Grate Guy's Casino is a rendition of the music that plays during the minigames of Super Mario Bros. 3, the theme heard during the battle with Bowser is a cover of that from Super Mario Bros. 3, the music for Bowser's Keep also contains part of the same theme, and the music heard from Mario's Pad as well as the Flower Garden cutscene is a cover of Grass Land's theme from Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * Super Mario 64 - Many levels in Giant Land resemble Tiny-Huge Island in Super Mario 64 and its DS remake. Changing sizes by using doors also resembles using pipes to go from tiny to huge in Tiny-Huge Island.
 * Mario Party - The music heard in Ghost Guess and Pedal Power appears to be a cover of the music for Ice Land. A few other songs from Super Mario Bros. 3, namely versions of Giant Land and Dark Land in this game.
 * Mario Party 2 - The jingle that plays when a single player wins in a minigame is a version of the jingle that plays when the player clears a level.
 * Paper Mario - The jingle that plays when Mario rescues a Star Spirit is a cover of the theme that plays when Mario recovers a king's magic wand, which also plays when Mario wins the Star Rod back from Bowser. An arrangement of the fortress theme plays in the Koopa Bros. Fortress. The theme of the Koopa Bros. is an arrangement of the theme for the Hammer Bros. battles. Also, the music that plays when Mario levels up is an arrangement of Grass Land's music from Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * Super Mario Bros. Deluxe - The opening for the game features a letter from Princess Peach in a similar manner to Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * Luigi's Mansion - One of the other songs played on Melody's piano is a version of the Super Mario Bros. 3 athletic theme.
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee - The Ground and Grass Land themes are heard in a new version named after Super Mario Bros. 3. Bowser's down special move, Bowser Bomb, is based on the ground pound he uses in Super Mario Bros. 3. Raccoon Mario, Boo and Thwomp also appear as trophies.
 * Super Mario Fushigi no Janjan Land - Several sprites from Super Mario Bros. 3 are reused in this game.
 * Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - The theme for Ice Land plays when Jolene calls Mario. In addition, Peach also provides vital clues to Mario via (e-)mail, and her last message ends up being intercepted by the main villain (Grodus, in this game's case), similar to in Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker - Like before, the musical themes for the Fairy Fountain/Great Fairy Fountains are derived from Water Land's theme. In addition, another version played with the Fairy Queen, with its melody most closely resembling the original Water Land theme.
 * Tetris DS - Levels 4, 5, and 6 in Marathon mode uses Super Mario Bros. 3 gameplay on the top screen, along with the Raccoon, Frog and Tanooki Mario sprites on the touch screen. Also, a cover of the Ground theme plays.
 * Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix - Music from Super Mario Bros. 3 is part of a song in this game.
 * WarioWare: Twisted! - The Super Mario Bros. 3 microgame, along with the Super Mario Bros. 3-Lift microgame, are based on Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * Super Mario 64 DS - The Rec Room theme is a cover of Grass Land's theme. The Wanted!, Connect the Characters, and Mario's Slides minigames uses the minigame music.
 * Mario Party Advance - The music played after Mario beats a Boom Boom/Koopaling is heard after the player completes a quest. Also, in the minigame Drop 'Em, the background has a similar design to the levels from Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * Mario Kart DS - The track Airship Fortress is based on the airship levels from Super Mario Bros. 3. Another track, Desert Hills, is based on Desert Land from  Super Mario Bros. 3. A few of the Mission Mode arenas are based on the Fortress levels in  Super Mario Bros. 3. The background of Shroom Ridge is based off of Giant Land from  Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * New Super Mario Bros. - Many concepts started in Super Mario Bros. 3 are features in this game, such as Toad Houses. Most of the worlds have similar themes. Plus, the fortress theme is a cover. The fortress boss battle music returns as a cover version. A new version of Toad House's music was as the theme for Bob-omb Reverse, a minigame in this game. Bowser's theme from  Super Mario Bros. 3 also has a version in this game.
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games - A new version of the Ground theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 is available as a track that can be heard in the music gallery in the Wii version of the game.
 * Super Mario Galaxy - Arrangements of the airship and athletic themes appear in this game.
 * Super Paper Mario - The theme that plays when Big Blooper appears is a cover of the underwater theme from Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl - The "Super Mario Bros. 3" theme from Super Smash Bros. Melee is re-used in this game. The music that plays during Peach's Final Smash, Peach Blossom, is a sped up remix of the music that plays in Coin Heavens and the second portion of Sky Land, as well as the Warp Zone. The airship theme is redone and can be heard on the stage Luigi's Mansion. Also, a medley of the boss theme of Super Mario Bros. 3 (alongside the Super Mario World Castle theme) can be heard on the Luigi's Mansion stage. Raccoon Mario, Boo, Thwomp, and Ludwig von Koopa appear in the form of stickers. Also, Boo, Chain Chomp and Dry Bones appears as trophies and stickers.
 * Mario Kart Wii - A license plate which reads "SMB3" can be found on one of the trucks on Moonview Highway.
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games - In the Wii version, a version of the athletic theme is available as a track that can be played during events. In the Nintendo DS version, an arrangement of the athletic theme is used as the first part of the Mario & Sonic Medley in Ultimate Figure Skating.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii - The Penguin Suit is based on the Frog Suit from Super Mario Bros. 3. The Koopalings' battle theme is covered twice and once again played when fighting against them. The airship theme is a cover, and can be heard on airship levels. The map model of the Towers are based on the fortress map sprites of Super Mario Bros. 3. The Enemy Courses are similar to the levels when fighting against a Hammer Bro, Fire Bro, Boomerang Bro, or Sledge Bro, and even use a cover of the song. Also, players can store reserve power-ups like in Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console NES games: The sound effect when selecting an NES game is the coin sound effect startup sound for Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Supermassive Galaxy is similar to Giant Land.
 * Mario Sports Mix - In the underwater theme in Harmony Hustle, a recreated part of the Super Mario Bros. 3 underwater theme can be heard.
 * Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games - The athletic theme in Super Mario Bros. 3 is available in the Wii version of this game as one of the optional music tracks that can be heard.
 * Super Mario 3D Land - Many Super Mario Bros. 3 elements, like Boom Boom, Tanooki Mario, Note Blocks, and Super Leaves appear in this game. The Airships and Boom Boom battles return, and the arrangements of the Airship and athletic themes from Super Mario Galaxy play in certain stages.
 * Mario Kart 7 - The Super Leaf appears as an item.
 * Fortune Street - A new version of Pipe Land's theme is used as the stocks menu music. Also, the Toad's House theme is used as the music for auctions. A version of the "3 Matching Cards" fanfare plays whenever a line is made in Round The Blocks on a Mario board or when the Super Mario tour is completed in Tour mode, as well as a version of the "World Clear" fanfare playing when a line of lucky 7's is made in Round The Blocks on a Mario board.
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2 - Some levels in this game contain the same colorful blocks as Super Mario Bros. 3. Also, Super Leaves, Raccoon Mario, and the Power Meter returns. The loading chime sometimes plays a small part of the Super Mario Bros. 3 Ground theme. The theme for Toad Houses was reused as that of Toad Houses in this game. World 1-1 and 1-5 are remade as part of the Gold Classics Pack.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U - The P-Acorn sounds and acts like the P-Wing. Also, the first part of the Soda Jungle is based on Giant Land.
 * Mario Tennis Open - A costume and racket of Tanooki Mario can be unlocked in this game.
 * Paper Mario: Sticker Star - Goomba's Shoes (known as the Super Boot), a version of Raccoon Mario with only the tail, and Frog Suits return as stickers in this game. The music that plays when riding the ski lift in Whiteout Valley is a version of the athletic theme from Super Mario Bros. 3. Also, the Kings' theme is recreated for the afterward to a Royal Sticker boss battle in this game. When the host Snifit explains the rules to Snifit or Whiffit, a new version of the Spade Panel music plays.
 * Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games - Part of the boss theme is arranged as part of the music in Mario's Figure Skating Spectacular in this game.
 * Super Mario 3D World - A version of the Super Mario Bros. 3 death jingle is referenced in this game. Spikes and Super Leaves also return.
 * NES Remix 2 / Ultimate NES Remix - Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the games that are remixed.
 * Mario Golf: World Tour - The music for Sky Island is a cover of the Super Mario Bros. 3 athletic theme. Golf clubs, a golf ball, and a clothing combo appear based on the Super Leaf. There are also golf clubs, a golf ball, and a costume available based on Tanooki Mario.
 * Mario Kart 8/Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Tanooki Mario is a playable character in the downloadable content pack The Legend of Zelda × Mario Kart 8, but is available from the start in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
 * Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - Music was used in this game as a medley of the athletic, stage clear theme, Giant Land's theme, Hammer Bros. battle theme, and the player miss theme. The Super Leaf is also a usable item, turning fighters into the Raccoon form and allowing them to glide for a while. The Koopalings appear as playable characters as alternate costumes for Bowser Jr.
 * Mario Party 10 - Toad's amiibo Party theme is a version of the theme for Toad Houses from this game. After a Bowser Party is finished, the results music is the lullaby that makes the Hammer, Boomerang, Fire, and Sledge Bros. fall asleep.
 * Super Mario Maker/Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS - Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the game styles for these games. The Course World menu music and 100 Mario Challenge map music are both cover versions of the Grass Land map theme.
 * Paper Mario: Color Splash - The 8-bit Recorder and Hammer return in the Super Mario Bros. 3-themed course in Green Energy Plant and can be squeezed into realistic Thing Cards; when the Recorder is used, the original notes are played by the flute itself, and it has the same effect of summoning a whirlwind, while three other flutes play the "Coin Heaven" theme in the background. Additionally, to board an airship carrying a giant bucket of paint, Mario hangs on the Anchor, like he does in Super Mario Bros. 3. Raccoon and Frog Mario also appear as usable card effects. Larry also, like in the Japanese manual for the game, states before fighting Mario, that he is doing his actions specifically to avoid upsetting Bowser. In addition, similar to in Super Mario Bros. 3, after completing a level, Peach will supply Mario with advice via Holo-Peaches, although before the final level, her final message ended up intercepted by the main villain (Black Bowser in this case), although in this case, this resulted in her color being drained rather than being kidnapped.
 * Super Mario Run - The background music for Remix 10 features a version of the Ground theme from Super Mario Bros. 3. One of the minigames available heavily resembles the Battle Mode stage where coins and fireballs spew out of a vertical pipe.
 * Super Mario Odyssey - The music that plays in the slots rooms and the picture-matching mini-game areas is a version of the minigame theme from Super Mario Bros. 3. A version of the final boss theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 plays when Mario captures Bowser.
 * WarioWare Gold - The Super Mario Bros. 3-Lift microgame from WarioWare: Twisted! reappears, referred to as simply "Super Mario Bros. 3".
 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - New arrangements of the Ground theme (which features the level clear theme and Grass Land's theme), Boss theme (featuring Ice Land and Dark Land's themes), and Final Boss theme (also featuring Dark Land's theme) are available as tracks.

Version differences
There are four known versions of Super Mario Bros. 3 released for Family Computer and Nintendo Entertainment System: the original Japanese version, the North American PRG0 and PRG1 versions (NES cartridges will display  and   next to the Nintendo Seal of Quality respectively), and the PAL version. During the two year release gap between the Japanese version and the worldwide release of Super Mario Bros. 3, many changes were made while localizing the game for the international market. Many of the gameplay and level design changes for the international release were kept in the future remakes, while other changes were reverted to make the game closer to the original Japanese version.

Gameplay changes

 * In the Japanese version, getting hit while powered-up causes the player to automatically shrink to Small Mario like in Super Mario Bros. In the international versions, powered-up Mario is reverted to Super Mario when hit, then shrinks to Small Mario when hit again. This also applies for the Goomba's Shoe. In the Japanese version, the shoe is red as it flies offscreen, and the player is also reverted to Small Mario; the shoe retains its green color as it is removed for the international versions, and the player keeps any power-ups they had before entering the shoe. Despite these changes, the short demo that plays on the title screen still shows Mario being reduced to Small Mario when being hit by a shell when he is Raccoon Mario. This oversight was not fixed for either All-Stars or Advance 4.
 * In Toad Houses, the player can move while Toad is speaking in the Japanese version. In the international versions, the player must wait until the message is completely displayed.
 * The timing for the credits sequence was altered for the international versions.
 * After the credits end in the international versions, the player can press any button to return to the title screen and start another game in which the inventory is filled with 28 P-Wings. In the Japanese version, the player cannot do this as the game remains on the ending screen indefinitely and must be restarted. This is one of the few international gameplay changes not retained in the later remakes.

Level design changes

 * In the second room of in the international versions, the door to Boom Boom is at the very end of the room, with the spikes above the door slightly above the rest. Comparatively in the Japanese version, the room is two blocks wider to the right, and the door is one block to the left of the gap in ceiling spikes.
 * The castle interiors when entering and finishing an airship stage were redesigned for the international versions. Mario is standing in the center of the room rather than on the very left, a third pillar next to the very left one was removed, the column on the right is in front of the stairs rather than behind, the throne and stairs are colored golden rather than being blue like the background wall, the stairs are made slightly longer, and the shadow shading was put on the right of each pillar rather than on the left.
 * In, a block was removed off the end of the final ship, allowing players to more easily jump onto the ship should they swim under the fleet.
 * The end of World 5-1 was moved to the end of the main area of the level rather than having a Warp Pipe that takes the player to the end of the stage. A Buster Beetle at that part was also removed for the international versions. This was likely done to remove a glitch allowing the treasure box that appears in the secret area in this level to appear at the end of the level.

Graphical changes

 * When the player is hit as Tanooki, Hammer, or Frog Mario, the costume comes off and a sound effect plays in the Japanese version. In the international versions, the costume disappears in a puff of smoke.
 * In the Japanese version, when entering a stage, it wipes in to black, then wipes out the stage. In the international versions, it wipes in, then the stage fades in slightly more quickly.

Textual changes

 * In the PRG1 version, the names of each world as shown in-game minus Grass Land were further altered; Desert Hill became Desert Land, Ocean Side became Water Land, Big Island became Giant Land, The Sky became Sky Land, Iced Land became simply Ice Land, Pipe Maze became Pipe Land, and Castle of Koopa became Dark Land. This actually makes it closer to how they were originally written in the instruction manuals, including the Japanese one. The Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance ports, however, reverted back to the original pre-revision names.
 * In the PRG0 version, Toad says "Miss twice and your out!" in the N-Mark Spade Panels. The US PRG1 version changes Toad's line to "You can only miss twice!" to get rid of the typo in the PRG0 version.
 * Princess Peach mentions in her letter received in World 2 "Kuribo's shoe" in the PRG0 version and "Goomba's shoe" in PRG1 version.

PAL version changes

 * The PAL version is based on the US PRG1 version, featuring most of its changes. It was optimized for PAL NES to have its gameplay and music match the Japanese and US versions. Some of the music sounds different as the result, such as the Airship music, where the percussion in the first part isn't cut off.
 * Bowser's letter is inexplicably signed as "Koopa Troopa" instead of "King of the Koopa" from the US versions.

Directors

 * Shigeru Miyamoto
 * Takashi Tezuka

Game Designers

 * Shigeru Miyamoto
 * Takashi Tezuka

Main Programmer

 * Toshihiko Nakago

Sound Composer

 * Koji Kondo

Producer

 * Shigeru Miyamoto

Pre-release and unused content
One of the early ideas was a power-up to turn Mario into a (half-man, half-horse), although this was rejected before being implemented into the game. (Tilden 1990, 21)

Additionally, Cheep-Cheeps and Para-Beetles respectively have unused tan and green variations, which would have moved faster than their ordinary counterparts.

Quotes

 * "The Tanooki Suit turns into a statue! Even though I knew it wouldn't make sense to some non-Japanese players...I was so excited about it that I left it in." - Shigeru Miyamoto, Super Mario History 1985-2010 booklet
 * "We were helped by many people when developing this game. But even with a larger team, I was still the worst gamer of the bunch." - Takashi Tezuka, Super Mario History 1985-2010 booklet
 * "This time around, I added a lot of percussion and was able to create tracks that sounded like there were three or more sounds playing at once, resulting in much richer-sounding music." - Koji Kondo, Super Mario History 1985-2010 booklet

Trivia

 * Super Mario Bros. 3 is Takashi Tezuka's favorite game in the series, as he feels that it is his first masterpiece.
 * According to the Guinness Book of World Records 2008, Super Mario Bros. 3 was the world's best-selling video game, a title which at the time belonged to Super Mario Bros. based off known data.
 * Also, the image used in the book was of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, the remake, which made the same mistake on the back of its box.