This game introduced an almost endless list of things that have been series staples ever since, and when given a second look considering the context the game was made in, it’s rather jarring just how flat out weird this sequel is.

The answer is by throwing literally everything at the wall and making it all stick. How do you follow up a game that wasn’t just popular, but a certified worldwide phenomenon? One can only imagine the pressure that director Takashi Tezuka and the game’s creative team were under. As we have covered before, the American Super Mario Bros 2 was aped from another Japanese game that had nothing to do with the mustachioed plumber, and the Japanese Super Mario Bros 2 was more of an expansion pack for the first game that made everything comically unfair. While the original Super Mario Bros is an absolutely landmark title for the gaming medium, and is still solid fun to this day, there are definitely elements of it that haven’t aged well, and it’s all because of Super Mario Bros 3, the first real sequel to the original. 3, the last (and unquestionably best) of the NES trilogy. Each week, we’ll take a unique look at each game in the series, and discuss aspects you may not have considered. Here at 25YL we’re jumping, stomping, and diving into the most iconic and popular video game franchise ever, the Super Mario Bros.

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