Super Mario Bros. 3

1988 · Platform · NES / Famicom

Overview

Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) is Nintendo's NES platformer of eight themed worlds, a world map, and suits including the flying Raccoon Mario.

Deep Dive

Super Mario Bros. 3 sends Mario and Luigi across eight themed worlds — grassland, desert, sea, giant-sized, sky, ice, pipes and Bowser's dark land — navigated on a map with branching paths, mini-games and roaming enemies. Its power-ups transformed the series: the Raccoon suit's tail lets Mario fly, and Frog, Tanooki and Hammer suits add more. Designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, and staged like a theatre production, it is one of the best-selling and most acclaimed games ever made.

Developer Story

Super Mario Bros. 3 was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka at Nintendo in 1988. The game introduced the world map, power-up inventory, and a variety of new suits — Raccoon (flight), Frog (swimming), Tanooki (stone form), Hammer Brother (throwing hammers). The development team structured each of the eight worlds around a distinct theme, treating them as separate experiences rather than a single escalating progression.

Did You Know?

Super Mario Bros. 3 was revealed to American audiences in the 1989 film The Wizard, months before its US release — generating extraordinary anticipation.
The game appeared to take place on a stage set — certain elements looked like theatrical props, and the ending credits confirmed this staging metaphor.
Miyamoto designed the Raccoon suit to give players flight capability but limited its duration to prevent the whole game being skipped by air.
Super Mario Bros. 3 sold 17 million copies worldwide and is consistently ranked among the greatest video games ever made.
Each of the eight worlds had its own theme: Grass Land, Desert Land, Water Land, Giant Land, Sky Land, Ice Land, Pipe Land and Bowser's Dark Land.

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