A whole new opportunity to play one of the best Mario games ever
Super Mario Bros 3 on the Virtual Console is the reincarnation of the immortal classic that was once on the NES. This game is also the third and final chapter of the main Super Mario Trio on the NES (there was no story but you know what I mean). Super Mario Bros 3 is acclaimed in both critic and sales wise with countless websites & magazines listing this game as an AAA title and the game listed as one of the biggest selling videogames with more then 18 million copies sold. Without a doubt, Super Mario Bros was a huge success to Nintendo back in the old days. Today, the game is available for Old-School gamers and new gamers alike in the Wii's Virtual Console. How does it hold up on the VC? Let's see ….
First off, let me tell you all that (like every other NES games on the VC) this game is the exact same game you've or would have played on the NES. No graphical upgrades like on the SNES and GBA version, no Sounds upgrade either and all of the extra levels too are not to be found. This is kind-of a bummer since the upgraded version looked very beautiful and made the game look more modern. Needless to say, it won't change much with the Gameplay aspect of the game which is the most important thing there. What do you do in Super Mario Bros 3? You jump on Goombas, throw Koopa shells, spit fire, disguise yourself as a raccoon with a dangerous tail, pretend to be a statue and many more. Oh yeah and there's also a princess to save.
To say the least, the Gameplay in Super Mario Bros 3 is perfect. Super Mario Bros re-invented the platformer genre and Super Mario Bros 3 perfected it. The game just feels natural when you play it and the controls are simple to use; no fancy combos you just have a button that can pick up blocks/turtle shells and make you run when held during movement, and the other one simply makes you jump. So this basically means that you can get anybody to come and play with you because with such easy controls anybody can have fun!
Graphically speaking, this is a top-notch looking NES game. The game looks very colorful and enjoyable, just looking at a screenshot really makes you want to try a level of the game. However since this is the original NES version, the framerate can get sloppy at times but it's so rare that you'd hardly notice. And also the game has some display problems occurring sometimes in the far left of the screen and in the far right also. It's there but if you're focusing on the gameplay, chances are that you'll barely notice them If not at all.
Mario games have that crazy reputation of having catchy music and that game is no different (I've included that sentence in all of my Mario games reviews). All of these tracks are just excellent; they're so good that some of them have been remixed in the latest Wii hit title: Super Mario Galaxy. Only problem is that sometimes the sound drops. Again you'll probably not notice this and this is normal for a NES game.
Super Mario Bros 3's unique Gameplay and huge amount of levels (we're talking about like 70 levels spanning through 8 worlds) gives this game an incredible replay value. Even if you're done with the game, you'll still want to play it again and again. The Overworld level map is one of the key features in Super Mario Bros 3 and has been used ever since in every 2D Mario platformers that followed.
If you plan on using the Classic Controller to play this game then good luck! The mapping for the A and B button are exactly the a and b buttons on the Classic Controller. You'll only kill your thumb if you try it, we recommend you to play this game with the Wiimote itself held sideways. In fact every NES games should be played like that. For the mere price of 500 Wii points (5$) who could ever ignore this game? This game is an absolute recommendation to all Wii owners.
