Super Mario Bros. 3 is the game that made me fall in love with video games. It was only a matter of time before I talked about it. This video contains rare images, archival footage, and design documents! If you enjoyed it, please share. Happy Holidays!
Super Mario 3 absolutely blew my mind as a 12 year old. The Wizard was probably the best demo ever for a game or product. Had me drooling for the release.
I remember being on the waiting list to rent this game and asking my mother to call every hour to see if it came in yet. I was wanting to play it so bad. My father came home from the training exercises (military) and I told him that we were waiting for it but I didn’t think we were going to get it that day. He told me that it was unfortunate, but he got me something that he hoped would make me feel better. He opened his bag and gave me my own copy of SMB3. We played that game all day. That is one of my favorite memories as a kid.
Back in 2007 when the Wii first came out and was impossible to find, I came home from school, and my dad, who worked as a dairy delivery driver at the time, told me he brought home some ice cream from work. I looked in the freezer, and there was a Nintendo Wii in there.
I would wake up to squeaky buttons being pressed and teeth smacking,that was my mom playing this video game learned all tricks from her best times of my life
The nights spent playing this game while my mom listens to radio and walks around the house. It's such a mundane memory, yet one that I treasure so dearly.
I have a very similar memory. Playing this game while my dad listens to music. I can't help but to think about the band White Zombie every time I see this game.
_"I think that inside every adult is the heart of the child. We just gradually convince ourselves that we have to act like an adult."_ *~ Shigeru Miyamoto*
Out of the original trilogy it's the only one that holds up the best. SMB2 was a bit too withdrawn from the original concept, and SMB1 felt like a bare bones version of SMB3. The only one that competes with SMB3 in terms of "holding up through the years" is Mario world, Yoshis island aswell though that's more of a yoshi game than a mario game
@@Gameprojordan I can agree with that in certain ways even though technically Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island are like next level but I can totally see what you mean 👌🏾
You're not kidding. I've recently played through all three chronologically, taking my time to explore. Smb3 truly was a masterpiece and I enjoyed every minute of it.
I come back and watch this from time to time because not only is it incredibly well done and informative, but it somehow completely captures the spirit of being an excited child in the very late 80s/early 90s (which I also was). I can't thank you enough enough for the incredible content, Norman.
I remember getting this game for Christmas in 91. I woke up at 4am. Went to the tree to see my new game laid in all its glory. I played quietly untill my family woke up. What a magical time
Bru you don’t freakin know how relatable and close to home that statement is. I was 4 years old doing the exact same thing in 1991. I just got chills thinking about that b.c I haven’t recalled that memory in so long. 😂 Meanwhile my older brother had just got this shiny new looking thing called a Sega Genesis(lol) and got Sonic The Hedgehog. 35 years latter still The best Christmas I ever had. Indeed a magical time.
The amount of thought and imagination that went into this game is so incredible. The technology might be old but it still hold up as one of the best produced games ever.
Some of my best childhood memories are going to visit my grandma and watching her absolutely kill at this game. She loved video games and had an NES, SNES, and Genesis. And she was GOOD! She'd always let me play if I wanted, but I just loved watching her go at it. She would talk out the strategies and secrets while she played and I ate it up. She was a living player's guide. This was in the early 90s and she was in her 70s! These consoles had such a universal appeal. The older I get the more the memories mean to me. Love you grandma, you were ahead of your time.
I had the exact same experience with my aunt. There was one game that she could beat that I could never do. The Hunt for Red October for the Nintendo entertainment system. She died last year, so I’m thinking of picking up the game again and beating it my own for the first time.
I'm 40, I was introduced to Mario by an old lady next door who was like my grandma, in the early 90s. Except she wasn't good like your grandma lol, but she did love video games. This wasn't so uncommon at the time I think
I got home from school one day in the 2nd grade and my dad said “Clean your room.” And I, of course said “Why?” He replied “So we can play THIS!” As he brought SMB3 out from behind his back, I shit my pants or fainted. Possibly both. Best day ever.
I consider the Mario games and select others like Tetris on the Nintendo consoles as akin to Beatle albums, as they are timeless, addictive, especially these days attractive to young and old as well as being comfortable yet revolutionary and multi-layered.
@@MrDustpile Bingo. I just finished SMB3 on an NES my brother in law had, and we played with my 7 yr old nephew and he liked it just the same as the modern games. They hit the sweet spot.
I remember renting it from a local convenience store. Would get caught by my parents for talking in my sleep, saying jump jump. Renting that thing for a couple days I was literally glued to it playing. Because I was a kid I automatically caught on. But remember my mom could not catch on and she played it enough. She couldn't learn how to speed run. If you can't learn that the game was pretty much useless
Why did it take them 3 years to get to Europe? I get they need to translate to various languages but that didn't seem to hold up other video game companies. I think this might explain why Nintendo has been left behind the other 2 big video companies.
@Chris Parnham Two reasons. Nintendo took their time optimising games for the PAL region. Mario 3 in particular was extremely well optimised. Nintendo wasn't nearly as influential in Europe; Sega reigned supreme in many markets like the UK and Spain, so naturally their mentality for releasing games over here was more apathetic than in North America and Japan.
I did, and then watched his video on the history of Tetris. One of the Russian guys migrated to the US and he ended up slaughtering his family and killed himself. It was strange getting emotional reading the first few people then his threw me off lmfao.
I thought I would watch a few minutes and then click off, but I was glued to this the whole time, you killed this documentary man, great job. Seeing what this group did and continue to do at at Nintendo was eye-opening and inspiring
Emmanuel A. Man I can watch Norm make a documentary about the history of folk music. I dig his style of story telling and editing. So this was a no brainer as SMB3 is my 3rd favorite Mario game of all time.
@@thelastdragon5551 I agree, he's great at what he does, I'll be checking out more vids now. I experienced this game playing Super Mario All-Stars and always loved it growing up, I had absolutely no idea it was original on the NES though. I thought it was cool to realize different generations love this game, speaking to how great it is.
My cousin and I spent hours playing this. One time,she wanted to play through the entire game without using the warp whistle and on the last level, I accidentally bumped the game system and it reset the entire game. She got so mad that she unplugged the controller and chased me through the house with the cord yelling that she was going to kill me. About 20 years later, we still laugh about it and she included that in her maid of honor speech at my wedding.
Same here. I'm 41 and as a kid in the early 90s there are 2 game releases that stick out as the biggest ever to that point. Super Mario Bros. 3 in 1990. If you were a boy aged 7-15 during Christmas of that year you absolutely wanted SMB3. It was huge. A mega event. The mainstream media outlets covered it. After that...the next biggest release I can think of, as far as hype and media coverage, was of course Mortal Kombat in 1993. Sure the SNES got some coverage at launch but as a singular game...nothing was bigger than those 2 titles in the early 1990s.
it was and still is a masterpiece all of the mario games are , in terms of play-ability, function , movement responsiveness , just great design and programming all around
Supermariobros 3 demonstrated for what the mmc3 chip in conjunction with the nes was capable off, including split screen and diagonal scrolling, animated tile updates, dpcm playback etc,,, But ,,, it become only just ,,, the beginning, because later nes games such as bucky o hare, metal storm ,sword master and battle toads showed off some incredible multiple background scrolling, while games such as seesam streets and carnaval 92 necca showed some heavy pcm playback etc,,, Some games such as kirby’s adventure are way more detailed & colorful the mario 3, and seeing mario 3 on the snes just blows my socks off about how much better it looks then the nes ,BUT,, If we would push the nes & the mmc3 chip over it’s limit with all these mentioned nes games in mind , we could even make mario 3 on nes more detailed & colorful along with multi scroling backgrounds ,(trough tile updates) And playing 8 channel adpcm trough a chip wich then could mix & stream it as 1 channel trough the nes pcm channel, this way mario 3 can look & sound more closer to it’s snes counterpart, It’s not wishful thinking and Am not trying to make it up but it’s just true!!!
This game is so closely tied to many of our childhood memories, it's so fascinating to hear about the story behind something that brought millions of people so much joy. Thanks for making this!
When I was a kid I struggled for nearly 2 days trying to get past the first castle, the ghost kept killing me. I eventually managed to beat the stage, I jumped up in excitement but accidentally pulled the entire console and power adapter ripping out of the wall. I have never since experienced an extreme low immediately after an extreme high...
@@DamageJackyl same I am from 82, me and sisters used to play in one of our cousins House. Now as an adult recently bought SNES and play with my nephew Súper Mario World and Mario Kart.
Whenever I get fed up with social media and youtube drama - I just remember that Gaming Historian exists - and suddenly I feel much better. You are a source of goodness in this world, and don't you forget it!
Mario 3 is one of, if not my first memory of playing video games. Being 3 years old and playing it at my grandparents’ house with my brother and cousins, absolutely enraptured the entire time. What an amazing game
I remember getting SMB3, holding that yellow box behind my back and then revealing it to my friends. Check out what I GOT!! Then later on for my birthday we all gathered in my basement and held a huge SMB3 tournament with little prizes. It was so great. Then I moved away and never had as much fun again.
I had a similar experience to this, but with smash brothers for N64. It was a blast to play, and 4 people could play at once. My mom bought pokemon cards for me, and I'd give out packs to the winner.
This video made me so emotional, especially at the end. This was one of the peaks of my childhood and a reason I truly love video games. It was an amazing time to be alive. Thank you Norman for releasing masterpiece after masterpiece of videos
One of my earliest memories is unwrapping a NES Christmas morning and playing Mario 1 with my brother. Mario 1 & 3 are still my all time favorite games.
LOL! I didn't know that either. Not that I've ever considered myself a SMB3 expert, but just goes to show there's ALWAYS more to learn about that game. I scoffed at the part where they talked about the Strategy Guide published showing ALL the secrets-NOT POSSIBLE! haha!
Super Mario Bros 3 was, is and always will be the greatest video game ever! At 48 yrs old I can look back with vivid memories of me and my younger sister sitting on the floor for hours playing this masterpiece. You would have to pause the game to go eat lunch, or even sleep and come back the next day. Kids today can't understand the concept of having to start the game from the beginning every single time. "What do you mean you couldn't save the game?!?" What a great time in history to be a kid! Thank you for a wonderful stroll down memory lane. You did a fantastic job on this documentary. It should be on TV! Also, loved your one on Super MarioKart. Great Job!
To be honest, there's nothing memorable about not being able to save game or using non-volatile carts back then. More like just acceptance of the fact and that the games back then were much shorter to complete in the first place. It just wasn't "a thing" back then. I remember myself leaving console powered on, when had to stop for a moment or parents wanted to use TV themselves. But it was more like constant fear and annoyance than fun. And God forbid, someone knocking power cable and loosing game state because of that (which was far too common in my experience, with my NES knock-off).
Man I just absolutely LOVE how so many comments are so relatable when talking about Super Mario Bros 3. It's my favorite game of all time and I still play it. It takes me back to the early 90s. I used to play with my brother, cousins, and friends. It's the perfect game and I love knowing that other kids around the world at that time shared the same experience as I did.
well to be fair with EA, at the time it was a nascent art based developer working on some of the greatest software on the ultimately doomed Amiga. to them the micros were the future and they weren't going to go back to the 6502 or closed developer environments, because they had issues with the ten games per year policy since EA was a pump.
This documentary was so well-edited and thought out that I was literally in tears by the time it was over. Being part of that time, it really hits home.
Ditto on my end. When that ending sequence came in, that felt just like the end of a classic NES game, I almost cried. Felt like the little kid in me was playing all over again, but this time, looking behind the curtain of the game.
There’s something so perfect about the North American cover art, it’s just pure confidence. The bright yellow background, the prominent title (with extra emphasis on the 3) and most importantly, that they not only use the original Japanese art, but they isolate it to just Mario himself. Everything about just screams “this is the one”
@@DaveFallows Still remember being six years old with my dog at the local hotdog restaurant staring in awe at that poster. lol I was six. We went and saw it. Still remember tearing up when he got lowered down into the liquid metal!
Games That Made Us should definitely be a thing. Video games, board games, card games, arcades, different generation consoles and PC. There’s an entire season right there.
I still vividly remember it was in fall SMB3 came out in Japan. quarter of my classmate got it and within a week some defeated Bowser including me. Because there are a bunch of stages to explore, we never got bored. one day one of my friends told me about his discovery related to white platform. It fascinated me so much because of the idea you can go to the background of the game just pushing down on a white platform. felt like a rabbit hole or something but sadly enough you are brought back to the foreground reality eventually. I thought it was a glitch and goofed around with it and somehow out of curiosity tried how far I could go staying in the background and boom! I found out the 2nd whistle.
I always considered the first whistle to be the one from level 3. The 3nd from the small castle in world 1. Theres a third one i used to knownof but i dont recall where it is.
Super Mario brothers three was the absolute best. Just clean play. I still have a VHS of me finishing the game and this was over 20 years before streamers would broadcast their play. I really wanted to record what happens when you reach that final moment. that music was so awesome to my middle school self.
I'm 36 and I remember having this game as a kid and I remember how excited I was when I beat it by saving the princess at the end I believe. I was very young, maybe like only 7. I still remember the day I beat it. I was in my room playing it, and my parents and their friends were in the living room and when I beat the game, I ran into the living room telling them I beat the game.
"Westerners who have made the pilgrimage to Kyoto to meet him have included Paul McCartney, who said he wanted to see Miyamoto, not Mount Fuji" ~ Rolling Stone Article from 1992
I was one of those kids that didn’t have a baseball bat aka Nintendo and resorted to renting the console. One of those rentals accidentally came with Super Mario Bro’s 3 cartridge inside. I knew the rental place had no idea and for some reason I put it back in hoping the next kid without a baseball bat would be as surprised as I was to find one of the best games ever inside. I kinda wish I would have kept it but still hopeful that someone else got to tell the same story. With love respect appreciation thank you.
Both my husband and I shed some tears watching this, it brought back so many good memories. Such a well made video featuring an amazing game! Thank you 😭😊
I remember my two older brothers teaching me all the ins and outs of the game, and I was DETERMINED to beat the game without their help. One day, after school, I finally did it, and one of my brothers made it seem like I had just won gold at the Olympics. (After all, he was my coach!) It was a rare moment where I wasn't the annoying baby sister for once, and it's just etched in my brain forever. Reading all the comments and seeing that a lot of us grew up similarly with fond memories of this game is so amazing, like a connection spanning time and space! I wasn't planning on being emotionally compromised, but seeing all the flashbacks to that simpler time, the hard work of the people involved, and the ending where it showed us where they are now... I'm a blubbering mess 😅 Thank you for the video, your research and hard work. It really makes me appreciate the games we had as kids so much more! ❤
Yeah the hype was definitely real! I remember my eyes nearly fell out of my head when the host in The Wizard announced Super Mario Bros 3. My parents wouldn't let me have a Nintendo but my friends had one and managed to get a copy of the game and another got the strategy guide. All 3 of us stayed up literally all night playing that game; memorizing every secret the game had to offer. It was the first time I ever stayed up over 24 hours straight; we loved the game that much. A couple years later we had some people move in next door and they had the game. They were all pretty new at it and were blown away when I was able to beat the game in under a half hour and had the inventory completely full of p-wings. Man I got so many memories with this game!
I remember sleeping over at a friends house, and his the next morning his girlfriend came downstairs and said, "Have you been playing that all night?" lol. Yup, game was so addictive. I played it so many times already but everytime you play it felt new .
That's how I was when my friends had the ps1 and SNES, now that I look back on it I kind of feel like a user hahah. I guess that was pretty normal back in the 80s/90s though.
My sister and I had a friend who was really nice and lent us his game boy. No joke, we would think of strategies before sleeping at night on how to complete levels that we were stuck in. We would also let each other know if we were going to use one of the level ups and special abilities (frog suit, leaf etc) 😂
@@Hijynx87 my friend used to let me take his ps1 home cause he had a bed time and it was in 1997 so it was expensive to buy one .. i was surprised the mom was cool with it we were 12 yrs old and i would go home and play duke nuke em til 2am . I had no bed time lol
Miyamoto in 1987: “Yeah, we need the company to buy me an all expense paid trip to Disneyland! Foooor... research and development... yeah that’s it...”
Growing up in the 80's was truly the best time to be a kid. I fondly remember when I got my NES in 1984. It was a game changer but Mario 3 was on another level. The amount of things you could do with only 2 buttons was unbelievable. Most of the Mario games today have taken elements of this game even now. I still play my original NES Super Mario 3 from time to time. Incredible even today.
I started hallucinating while trying to play this without any sleep as a kid. I couldn't tell if I was playing or dreaming. It didn't matter both were SMB3.
Dude is it weird that I remember doing that as well? It wasn’t due to a lack of sleep, just playing for many hours uninterrupted. It was when I first got the Nintendo, and it was Mario 1 not Mario 3.
Norman. Thank you for all efforts you've been put through this video. I considered this video is a masterpiece for a retro gamer like me. You always worked with heart. Your storytelling, pauses, and intonation was perfect. Tears suddenly streamed down to my face after the credit scene, as i remember my childhood memories, waiting for my turn to play this game with my late brother. Once again. Thank you, Norman. Indonesia fan here
I mean.... Some of the most gut wrenching films ever made were documentaries... But the fact that it's a videogame documentary totally proves your point.
Mario 3 was such a big part of my childhood….I remember when I was around 9 y/o I finally beat the game and was so excited I woke my dad up from his nap to tell him. He wasn’t as thrilled.
Oh Hey, I was born in 1978. in Japan.in Kyoto. I still remember that i was playing "Mario 3" with my friends... ohh, such a period of time. I was 4 th grade when it came out in 1988. SWEET MEMORIES. Forever.
It was the first game I played on the NES growing up. I feel blessed to have that be my first game I ever played despite it being roughly 8 years old at the time.
This is probably the best video I have ever seen on UA-cam. It's hard to express how much Super Mario 3 means to me, it's my favorite game of all time. This was an incredible documentary, I don't know where you got so much footage and images from the original development. Bravo and thank you for making this, it gave me shivers to think about the creation of something that has achieved such mythical status
In my eyes Kondo is perhaps the best of all time. Him and Yasunori Mitsuda worked on some of the most iconic games of all time. Most people don't even know there names which is a shame but you can bet that if you remember and hum the tune of nes and snes games, they were most likely composed by one of these 2 men
I was gonna comment and Steven put it nicely enough - very march like, very war like song, invoking something from a war or large scale fight scene in a movie.
I appreciate being apart of this generation!! The old school generation, the new game system are great but back in the day this was all we had “simple gaming ! No online playing! Friends hanging out playing this was the way to go. Thanks for this!!
I'm glad these old mario games made their way onto the GBC/GBA(also the DS systems that can play gameboy cartridges) They found a new niche in the modern day as perfect play-on-the-go games. They're straight forward and no nonsense fun. They sure as hell are better than 99% of mobile games even to this day
I remember when super Mario 3 came out , I was so shocked at how much of an improvement it was over the old Mario titles. It was a light bulb memory for my childhood gaming.
i can't even remember how i figured out you could turn into a statue but somehow i did, that's how games were back then, you just learned this stuff on your own
I was thinking that myself. Such a simple, clean design. Bold, crisp colors; large, uncluttered title text in a friendly font, and Mario, big as life, doing something he'd never done before. With a game that good (and complex), the simplicity of the box it came in was a stroke of marketing (and artistic) genius.
I remember rumors that mario could fly in the new game. When i saw my buddy actually had the game and it was true i couldnt believe it. It felt like a dream of wonder and amazement lol. One of the best games of all time...agreed
Yeah, that's the amazing thing. SMB3 is STILL fun to play. Not very many games have that timeless quality to them that transcends technological limits. Miyamoto seems to be involved in far more than his share of the ones that do.
Super Mario 3 was my first video game love. I can remember we were at circuit city and I saw it locked inside the video game case, my mom said “maybe Santa will get it for you”. Right then and there my grandma said I’ll get it for him. This game is so special to me. It’s a masterpiece
What a wonderful thing to watch. Being someone who was old enough to remember the Nintendo craze and the release of all Mario's... This really feels nastalgic and was a pure joy to watch. Thank you
Dude. This is gonna sound silly lol. But this vid literally brought me to tears. I played this game with my family growing up. All of us in the same house loving life. How times have changed. Great video man. Keep it up
I remember playing SMB 3 for the first times in the 90s… I just couldn’t believe this was an 8bit NES game at all, it was cooler than all other games out at that time, by a mile. what an incredible unforgettable masterpiece… the team that made this game should have enough self fulfillment for a lifetime
Even today, Super Mario Bros 3 is still regarded as one of the most iconic title in the franchse and one of the best games of all time. It is quite a fun and challenging game. Glad to hear its origin story from way back before I was even born.
I was 9 years old in 1990. I had Nintendo Power. I saw the Wizard. I live through the frenzy. This video is not exaggerating how crazy it was. The hype was bigger than anything I've ever experienced. Finally opening that yellow box and playing the game was the most glorious experience ever.
Lassi Kinnunen What are you trying to say?? Modern games are so much more complicated than 8-bit games, so they have huge teams working on them, sometimes for years. That’s why they cost millions to make. One team can easily have a hundred people working on it.
Compare that to Mario Odyssey, which has hundreds of names listed in the credits. The industry certainly has grown a lot, and we have Shiggy and his portly little plumber dude to thank for it.
@@Brinta3 "8 bit" game is very hard to make on NES because you need to code in 6502 Assembly.There's also the sounds and sprites are very long to make if you make everything from scratch
Found my old nintendo and hooked it up the other day. Blew and blew and blew and finally games started to work. My 7 year old sat and played this game for quite a while. Was surprised as he plays a lot of fortnite, forza 5 etc etc.
The Japanese are a very loyal people. I've always had a lot of respect for that. I have always held my loyalty very high. Whether it be brands, stores, or people. If they are loyal to me, I will always be loyal to them.
I remember playing this with my mom when I was 5 or 6 and when we'd finish the airships, my dad would pick me up and act like i was falling thru the sky and I get to do that now with my kids when we play it 30 years later. Thank you for this GH, this was a wonderful slice of my childhood I had forgotten.
Not gonna lie, had a few beers and the nostalgia just hit me hard in so many parts where I teared up. I love this game and I thank so many for making my childhood awesome. Thank you.
These are the type of guys i would take a selfie with if i knew who they where when seeing them on the streets. These guys raised me in there virtual worlds and gave me a warm childhood. Thanks guys!
We didn't really appreciate the struggle our parents went through to provide this entertainment venue. Very well made documentary, sir. Loved it. I remember all this history like it was yesterday. 30+ years ago now.
I still have my Super Nintendo that I got for Christmas and still play it when I have time. Takes me back to my childhood gotta say that I play here and there now I'm still fucking badass at this game.
Thanks! I really enjoyed this program. In '92, I was 27years old. Born in '65, I grew up as an enthusiastic member of the video game generation. I still have fond childhood memories of playing those old Pong knockoff consoles (that hooked up to your TV) with my little brother. I was later to be the proud owner of several home computer consoles, such as the TRS-80 & the Commodore 64. So, I was witness to (and avid participant in) the computer chip revolution. I've owned Ataris (2600 & 7800), Colecos (Intellivision), early hand-held games of all sorts - even some multi-game units), & many, many computers of all kinds. So I've seen the evolution of both video games & computers (on which, to be fair, I've ALWAYS played games!) And in my 27th year, I was newly married, & in our 1st apartment; while we both worked & saved to buy a 1st home. That year, I told my new bride, "Honey, I WANT that new Super Nintendo!!! I'm going to save a little extra ($10-20/mo), in a separate Christmas fund account, & buy it." And so I did. I already owned an NES, so I was already in awe of (& in love with) SMB3. The SNES came with SMB All-Stars, & let me tell you, I fell in love with the whole SMB line of classic games all over again! Today I'm 54. I STILL own those same exact consoles! [I take good care of all my electronics.] I've added to my game collection, of course. I also have a color GameBoy (the purple one), & a metallic red DS Lite. On every console, I have at least one SMB game. Of them all, SMB3 is my favorite (& you should know that I even have Donkey Kong on one of my 3 laptops, for heaven's sake!) SMB3 was (by FAR) the most revolutionary leap. What they did with DK Country would easily otherwise be so, were it not for SMB3. In short, I love it. And in case you hadn't noticed, I'm a Nintendo kind of guy! Even my granddaughter grew up with a Wii. I've seen the whole depth & breadth of the computer & video game revolutions, & trust me: SMB3 stands tall. tavi.
Yeah, i saw that revolution too. I was 5 years old when i play my first game and it was Ms. Pacman at the arcades. Then a NES clone machine came in my possesion and then was SMB3. This clone machine was able to play oficial NES cartridges but the cartridge stuck really hard into the slot of the console. So in a trade of games with a friend, he gave me a game and i gave to him smb3, i broke his cartridge in an attempt to remove it from my console. And then he didn't gave me back my SMB3. It was like i lost my house equivalent. I was 11 years old then and that game was for me pure magic. SMB3 indeed stands tall in the games history. I didn't catch up the commodore era but i was later on a proud owner of an Amiga 500, the amazing machine that brought arcade games in home. Ataris as far i can remember was a total disaster from the day one of their release. :P
That ending music from super mario 3 and the description of each game developer brought a tear to my eyes. These are the guys that are responsible for the happiest memories of my childhood. Such an incredible documentary.
Maybe so. But my heart lies with Super Mario World. Maybe because I was just old enough to really fall for the hype. I mean how could you not when it’s being released with Nintendo’s next gen 16bit console?
@Yvonne Exell I didn't like the way Mario 3 looked...its presentation...like it was hand drawn on a piece of paper or something. Mario 2 looked better. And I liked how in Mario 2, you could choose to play 4 different character...each with strengths and weaknesses.
Super Mario Bros. 3 is the game that made me fall in love with video games. It was only a matter of time before I talked about it. This video contains rare images, archival footage, and design documents! If you enjoyed it, please share. Happy Holidays!
Sup dawg
2:39-2:57 Where did you get this quote?
Super Mario 3 absolutely blew my mind as a 12 year old. The Wizard was probably the best demo ever for a game or product. Had me drooling for the release.
Gaming Historian 🎮 I loved Super Mario Bros. 3📺
Great work on this video!
I remember being on the waiting list to rent this game and asking my mother to call every hour to see if it came in yet. I was wanting to play it so bad. My father came home from the training exercises (military) and I told him that we were waiting for it but I didn’t think we were going to get it that day. He told me that it was unfortunate, but he got me something that he hoped would make me feel better. He opened his bag and gave me my own copy of SMB3. We played that game all day. That is one of my favorite memories as a kid.
Lol the good ol days, Super Mario 3 wad tight! Did you know the game was actually a stage play the while time.
How's your Dad now? I hope you're taking care of him coz that's a cool old man
That's an amazing memory of the times
Back in 2007 when the Wii first came out and was impossible to find, I came home from school, and my dad, who worked as a dairy delivery driver at the time, told me he brought home some ice cream from work. I looked in the freezer, and there was a Nintendo Wii in there.
Damn, I don’t know why but this choked me up 😅
My mom thought it was a good idea to surprise me with this at 7am before school. I can confidently say that I remember none of that school day
That must have been torture to have to wait was was probably close to nine hours.
I wake up early to play this game
my mom surpised me with it too i was about 7 years old
Omg that’s like telling a teenager he’s getting laid after school
I would wake up to squeaky buttons being pressed and teeth smacking,that was my mom playing this video game learned all tricks from her best times of my life
The nights spent playing this game while my mom listens to radio and walks around the house.
It's such a mundane memory, yet one that I treasure so dearly.
I too have this memory.
I have a very similar memory. Playing this game while my dad listens to music. I can't help but to think about the band White Zombie every time I see this game.
So your mum just walked randomly around the house listening to music?
GCNElite she used to turn on the radio and walk around tidying up the house, cleaning and stuff while I usually helped a bit and played a bit.
Realunmaker oh alright
"A game that lived up to its unparalleled hype".
That is high praise, and completely true.
Super Mario Bros 3 surprisingly even in 2024 is equally popular like LoveLive Nijigasaki High School Idol Club and Persona 5 (PS3 & 4 RPG GAME).
"A game that lived up to it's unparalleled hype."
Very well said.
and few games since have ever lived up to the hype the devs build up
_"I think that inside every adult is the heart of the child. We just gradually convince ourselves that we have to act like an adult."_
*~ Shigeru Miyamoto*
Omg i see you everywhere
@@googlecorn1410 lol ikr ??
Junior Orellana The new Justin Y
@@songoku9348 LOL
@@googlecorn1410 same here but he's a good dude.
And 30+ years later, Mario 3 still holds up to this day.
Out of the original trilogy it's the only one that holds up the best. SMB2 was a bit too withdrawn from the original concept, and SMB1 felt like a bare bones version of SMB3. The only one that competes with SMB3 in terms of "holding up through the years" is Mario world, Yoshis island aswell though that's more of a yoshi game than a mario game
@@Gameprojordan I can agree with that in certain ways even though technically Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island are like next level but I can totally see what you mean 👌🏾
It's 2022 and NES Super Mario bros 3 still holds up
Agreed
You're not kidding. I've recently played through all three chronologically, taking my time to explore. Smb3 truly was a masterpiece and I enjoyed every minute of it.
I come back and watch this from time to time because not only is it incredibly well done and informative, but it somehow completely captures the spirit of being an excited child in the very late 80s/early 90s (which I also was).
I can't thank you enough enough for the incredible content, Norman.
@@JH-rt2coget bent
@@sn1000k Are you denying that there are 14+ genders?
I am 43. I co sign.
My... the ending song... just made me cry. My father danced with us when we finished the game with that beautiful song.
I remember getting this game for Christmas in 91. I woke up at 4am. Went to the tree to see my new game laid in all its glory. I played quietly untill my family woke up. What a magical time
Bru you don’t freakin know how relatable and close to home that statement is. I was 4 years old doing the exact same thing in 1991. I just got chills thinking about that b.c I haven’t recalled that memory in so long. 😂 Meanwhile my older brother had just got this shiny new looking thing called a Sega Genesis(lol) and got Sonic The Hedgehog. 35 years latter still The best Christmas I ever had. Indeed a magical time.
@@hightolerance8728 that Xmas had to be pure epicness in ya 🏠 that day
@@RAZORRAZE2K indeed it was indeed. Man
That was me for Mortal Kombat.. Then I'd wrap the gift up juuust the way I found it before everyone woke up 😂😂😂 Shhhhhh
Nice!
The amount of thought and imagination that went into this game is so incredible. The technology might be old but it still hold up as one of the best produced games ever.
Some of my best childhood memories are going to visit my grandma and watching her absolutely kill at this game. She loved video games and had an NES, SNES, and Genesis. And she was GOOD! She'd always let me play if I wanted, but I just loved watching her go at it. She would talk out the strategies and secrets while she played and I ate it up. She was a living player's guide. This was in the early 90s and she was in her 70s! These consoles had such a universal appeal. The older I get the more the memories mean to me. Love you grandma, you were ahead of your time.
I had the exact same experience with my aunt. There was one game that she could beat that I could never do. The Hunt for Red October for the Nintendo entertainment system. She died last year, so I’m thinking of picking up the game again and beating it my own for the first time.
Wow gamer grandma
Fuckin badass!
I'm 40, I was introduced to Mario by an old lady next door who was like my grandma, in the early 90s. Except she wasn't good like your grandma lol, but she did love video games. This wasn't so uncommon at the time I think
@@superpaul968this game was fucking impossible to me as a kid, I didn't even know what you were supposed to really do
I got home from school one day in the 2nd grade and my dad said “Clean your room.” And I, of course said “Why?” He replied “So we can play THIS!” As he brought SMB3 out from behind his back, I shit my pants or fainted. Possibly both. Best day ever.
I consider the Mario games and select others like Tetris on the Nintendo consoles as akin to Beatle albums, as they are timeless, addictive, especially these days attractive to young and old as well as being comfortable yet revolutionary and multi-layered.
@@MrDustpile Bingo. I just finished SMB3 on an NES my brother in law had, and we played with my 7 yr old nephew and he liked it just the same as the modern games. They hit the sweet spot.
The game is timeless. That's how well done it was! It truly is a masterpiece.
This comment made me laugh so hard. Thanks for sharing your story!
I remember renting it from a local convenience store. Would get caught by my parents for talking in my sleep, saying jump jump. Renting that thing for a couple days I was literally glued to it playing. Because I was a kid I automatically caught on. But remember my mom could not catch on and she played it enough. She couldn't learn how to speed run. If you can't learn that the game was pretty much useless
"With the updated hardware, Miyamoto was finally able to let his hero... ride a dinosaur."
It was like a dream come true for Shigeru.
I Cried in this part..
I bet he did like the nintendo 64 kid when that finally happened. YES! YES! YES! YES!
But a bunch of Chinese bootleggers made it possible in a super Mario world nes bootleg
I was wondering how it was a hardware issue because I remember the Adventure Island series having a character that rode different animals.
@@willn8664 it’s probably due to the size of the game and how much the NES cartridge could hold.
They did such a good job with this game, it STILL holds up. What an achievement!
The best in the series for sure
So many Nintendo brand games do, I can't believe the original Pokémon Snap graphics everytime I play it. That game looks like it was made this year.
@@deborahchesser7375 some would say Super Mario World is even better
Why did it take them 3 years to get to Europe? I get they need to translate to various languages but that didn't seem to hold up other video game companies. I think this might explain why Nintendo has been left behind the other 2 big video companies.
@Chris Parnham
Two reasons.
Nintendo took their time optimising games for the PAL region. Mario 3 in particular was extremely well optimised.
Nintendo wasn't nearly as influential in Europe; Sega reigned supreme in many markets like the UK and Spain, so naturally their mentality for releasing games over here was more apathetic than in North America and Japan.
Anyone else get warmly emotional seeing what all the Mario 3 team creators ended up doing later in life at the end?
Yes
I did, and then watched his video on the history of Tetris. One of the Russian guys migrated to the US and he ended up slaughtering his family and killed himself. It was strange getting emotional reading the first few people then his threw me off lmfao.
Yes I got tears
No.
@@ThaGreatWhite813 I AM SORRY BUT WHAT 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
I thought I would watch a few minutes and then click off, but I was glued to this the whole time, you killed this documentary man, great job.
Seeing what this group did and continue to do at at Nintendo was eye-opening and inspiring
Emmanuel A. Man I can watch Norm make a documentary about the history of folk music. I dig his style of story telling and editing. So this was a no brainer as SMB3 is my 3rd favorite Mario game of all time.
@@thelastdragon5551 I agree, he's great at what he does, I'll be checking out more vids now.
I experienced this game playing Super Mario All-Stars and always loved it growing up, I had absolutely no idea it was original on the NES though. I thought it was cool to realize different generations love this game, speaking to how great it is.
Emmanuel A. Same, wonderful work. If I could buy this on DVD I totally would.
I did the same.....let me watch a little while I eat.
Finished eating and didn't get up until the video was done.
That is how GH do
My cousin and I spent hours playing this. One time,she wanted to play through the entire game without using the warp whistle and on the last level, I accidentally bumped the game system and it reset the entire game. She got so mad that she unplugged the controller and chased me through the house with the cord yelling that she was going to kill me. About 20 years later, we still laugh about it and she included that in her maid of honor speech at my wedding.
😂😂😂
Memories
Lol awesome.
It made criminals of all of us. I begged borrowed and stole to rent it so many times I could’ve bought it
@@guanoApe Not all of us. My dad bought mine with the money he made from arresting thieves. Lol
Im 34.. and still play this game every once in a while. just takes me back in time.. and amazing game!
So do I, I do not really play any other game but Mario Bros 1,2 and 3 from time to time.
Same! Most iconic video game of all time!
I’m 34 too
Same here. I'm 41 and as a kid in the early 90s there are 2 game releases that stick out as the biggest ever to that point. Super Mario Bros. 3 in 1990. If you were a boy aged 7-15 during Christmas of that year you absolutely wanted SMB3. It was huge. A mega event. The mainstream media outlets covered it. After that...the next biggest release I can think of, as far as hype and media coverage, was of course Mortal Kombat in 1993. Sure the SNES got some coverage at launch but as a singular game...nothing was bigger than those 2 titles in the early 1990s.
@@mindphaserxy man me and my dad and cousin put in work on Mortal Kombat and to this day I have Lui Kang Dragon 🐉 Fatality stuck in my head.
I’m 40, I just bought a Nintendo switch and here I am, playing again SM3!!! That is my favorite game of all times!
The fact that SMB3 was made for the original NES is kind of mind-blowing. They definitely pushed the limits of what that console was capable of.
That and zelda.i mean just having a system you could play in your house was insane. 1st time i saw atari.i was blown away
it was and still is a masterpiece all of the mario games are , in terms of play-ability, function , movement responsiveness , just great design and programming all around
@@captainscentsible1811 - You've got to include Crystalis in the mix too.
Especially comparing it to very early Famicom games.
Supermariobros 3 demonstrated for what the mmc3 chip in conjunction with the nes was capable off, including split screen and diagonal scrolling, animated tile updates, dpcm playback etc,,,
But ,,, it become only just ,,, the beginning, because later nes games such as bucky o hare, metal storm ,sword master and battle toads showed off some incredible multiple background scrolling, while games such as seesam streets and carnaval 92 necca showed some heavy pcm playback etc,,,
Some games such as kirby’s adventure are way more detailed & colorful the mario 3, and seeing mario 3 on the snes just blows my socks off about how much better it looks then the nes ,BUT,,
If we would push the nes & the mmc3 chip over it’s limit with all these mentioned nes games in mind , we could even make mario 3 on nes more detailed & colorful along with multi scroling backgrounds ,(trough tile updates)
And playing 8 channel adpcm trough a chip wich then could mix & stream it as 1 channel trough the nes pcm channel, this way mario 3 can look & sound more closer to it’s snes counterpart,
It’s not wishful thinking and Am not trying to make it up but it’s just true!!!
This game is so closely tied to many of our childhood memories, it's so fascinating to hear about the story behind something that brought millions of people so much joy. Thanks for making this!
When I was a kid I struggled for nearly 2 days trying to get past the first castle, the ghost kept killing me. I eventually managed to beat the stage, I jumped up in excitement but accidentally pulled the entire console and power adapter ripping out of the wall. I have never since experienced an extreme low immediately after an extreme high...
@@DamageJackyl same I am from 82, me and sisters used to play in one of our cousins House. Now as an adult recently bought SNES and play with my nephew Súper Mario World and Mario Kart.
Devs don't have passion like this anymore
@@DamageJackyl same also 37 ...so many great memories with this system
Indeed. This game is part of our childhood
Whenever I get fed up with social media and youtube drama - I just remember that Gaming Historian exists - and suddenly I feel much better. You are a source of goodness in this world, and don't you forget it!
100% correct!
Agreed. Always so much love, care and positivity put into each video. Love it!
FOX News has a UA-cam channel
So true. The Mr. Rogers of video games
Agreed
Mario 3 is one of, if not my first memory of playing video games. Being 3 years old and playing it at my grandparents’ house with my brother and cousins, absolutely enraptured the entire time. What an amazing game
This video actually made me tear up for some reason...
You did a good job with this, Norman.
same.. nostalgia is very powerful stuff.
Who is this Norman of which u speak
same. I miss being a kid so much.
😊💚🎮👍
Lol gay
I remember getting SMB3, holding that yellow box behind my back and then revealing it to my friends. Check out what I GOT!! Then later on for my birthday we all gathered in my basement and held a huge SMB3 tournament with little prizes. It was so great. Then I moved away and never had as much fun again.
This is beautiful & sad lol
I had a similar experience to this, but with smash brothers for N64. It was a blast to play, and 4 people could play at once. My mom bought pokemon cards for me, and I'd give out packs to the winner.
Such is the wonder of childhood.
i feel u bro, played smb3 with my dad alot, loved it.. life was easier back then
Do you still have a nes
I was like "cool I'll watch this for a second" here I am almost an hour later totally feeling content. Thank you so much.
This video made me so emotional, especially at the end. This was one of the peaks of my childhood and a reason I truly love video games. It was an amazing time to be alive. Thank you Norman for releasing masterpiece after masterpiece of videos
I feel the same.
One of my earliest memories is unwrapping a NES Christmas morning and playing Mario 1 with my brother. Mario 1 & 3 are still my all time favorite games.
Hard not to feel like this is a holiday present from the Gaming Historian. And a great present at that!
14:40min After 27 years I get to know that Hammer Mario can protect himself with the shell?!? wtf!
hurtig heinz I was today years old.
Same here!! Wtf is right!
LOL! I didn't know that either. Not that I've ever considered myself a SMB3 expert, but just goes to show there's ALWAYS more to learn about that game. I scoffed at the part where they talked about the Strategy Guide published showing ALL the secrets-NOT POSSIBLE! haha!
I wonder If that's only the Japanese version?
@@jimmypchacko Well that could be. I had the European version (in English). You also didn't shrink to mini Mario once hit as flower or leaf Mario.
Super Mario Bros 3 was, is and always will be the greatest video game ever! At 48 yrs old I can look back with vivid memories of me and my younger sister sitting on the floor for hours playing this masterpiece. You would have to pause the game to go eat lunch, or even sleep and come back the next day. Kids today can't understand the concept of having to start the game from the beginning every single time. "What do you mean you couldn't save the game?!?" What a great time in history to be a kid! Thank you for a wonderful stroll down memory lane. You did a fantastic job on this documentary. It should be on TV! Also, loved your one on Super MarioKart. Great Job!
To be honest, there's nothing memorable about not being able to save game or using non-volatile carts back then. More like just acceptance of the fact and that the games back then were much shorter to complete in the first place. It just wasn't "a thing" back then. I remember myself leaving console powered on, when had to stop for a moment or parents wanted to use TV themselves. But it was more like constant fear and annoyance than fun. And God forbid, someone knocking power cable and loosing game state because of that (which was far too common in my experience, with my NES knock-off).
Man I just absolutely LOVE how so many comments are so relatable when talking about Super Mario Bros 3. It's my favorite game of all time and I still play it. It takes me back to the early 90s. I used to play with my brother, cousins, and friends. It's the perfect game and I love knowing that other kids around the world at that time shared the same experience as I did.
EA said the NES was going to be a fad that would fade out. It's funny seeing that EA is still a terrible company today
Blob EA got it in the face
EA was only really good when they made software for the Amiga.
well to be fair with EA, at the time it was a nascent art based developer working on some of the greatest software on the ultimately doomed Amiga. to them the micros were the future and they weren't going to go back to the 6502 or closed developer environments, because they had issues with the ten games per year policy since EA was a pump.
the nes essentially had all the things they disliked.
In EA’s defense...
j/k There’s no defending EA.
I like how every Koopaling's name had some extensive history and then there was Larry who just looked like a Larry
King koopa
@@chadwilson461 King Koopa is not a Koopaling.
Living like Larry
LARRY!
@@hungryowl1559 LARRY PRICE CHECK!
This documentary was so well-edited and thought out that I was literally in tears by the time it was over. Being part of that time, it really hits home.
Awesmic I’d kill for a Super Mario World/SNES and a Super Mario 64/N64 documentary.
Ditto on my end. When that ending sequence came in, that felt just like the end of a classic NES game, I almost cried. Felt like the little kid in me was playing all over again, but this time, looking behind the curtain of the game.
That last song with the ending credits made me shed real tears
Glad I'm not the only one who had teary eyes by the end. I was thinking 'geez I'm such a baby' lol.
Happy to see I wasn't alone in my weeping. Incredible.
There’s something so perfect about the North American cover art, it’s just pure confidence. The bright yellow background, the prominent title (with extra emphasis on the 3) and most importantly, that they not only use the original Japanese art, but they isolate it to just Mario himself. Everything about just screams “this is the one”
Whenever I think of the early nineties I think of that cover, as well as the T2 cinema poster.
@@DaveFallows Still remember being six years old with my dog at the local hotdog restaurant staring in awe at that poster. lol I was six. We went and saw it. Still remember tearing up when he got lowered down into the liquid metal!
You deserve to be on Netflix if they ever make a Games that made us series.
I hate how they do that documentary....they keep cutting and going all over the place from topics to person...there is no focus.
Games That Made Us should definitely be a thing. Video games, board games, card games, arcades, different generation consoles and PC. There’s an entire season right there.
They would show only gaymers and promote LGBTQP propaganda
@@dansmith1661 wym
I would definitely watch Games That Made Us if it was made a thing
I still vividly remember it was in fall SMB3 came out in Japan. quarter of my classmate got it and within a week some defeated Bowser including me. Because there are a bunch of stages to explore, we never got bored. one day one of my friends told me about his discovery related to white platform. It fascinated me so much because of the idea you can go to the background of the game just pushing down on a white platform. felt like a rabbit hole or something but sadly enough you are brought back to the foreground reality eventually. I thought it was a glitch and goofed around with it and somehow out of curiosity tried how far I could go staying in the background and boom! I found out the 2nd whistle.
Great memories my friend
Guess it was historical, cause you defeated the King Koopa in Super Mario Bros 3 before the fall of Berlin Wall.
I always considered the first whistle to be the one from level 3. The 3nd from the small castle in world 1. Theres a third one i used to knownof but i dont recall where it is.
I remember overhearing other kids talk about Racooon Mario, and I was in awe just listening, until I finally saw it myself, I was in amazement.
Right , racoon Mario = favorite Mario of all time.
Simpler times.. where most of our knowledge came from school yards word of mouth.
@@sylastial .Definitely
Brian Grossett Game was awesome for it’s time...
Tanooki
Super Mario brothers three was the absolute best. Just clean play. I still have a VHS of me finishing the game and this was over 20 years before streamers would broadcast their play. I really wanted to record what happens when you reach that final moment. that music was so awesome to my middle school self.
I'm 36 and I remember having this game as a kid and I remember how excited I was when I beat it by saving the princess at the end I believe. I was very young, maybe like only 7. I still remember the day I beat it. I was in my room playing it, and my parents and their friends were in the living room and when I beat the game, I ran into the living room telling them I beat the game.
I'm 39 and I remember the feels.
35 and my uncle bought it for me out of the blue, still love that moment to this day
For how long did they Lock you in the Basement?
Yeah and parents back then could never understand what an achievement that was XD
I was 10 when it came out. We got it that summer because I’m thinking it was always sold out.
"Westerners who have made the pilgrimage to Kyoto to meet him have included Paul McCartney, who said he wanted to see Miyamoto, not Mount Fuji" ~ Rolling Stone Article from 1992
Tremendous quote from Sir Paul THE BEATLE McCartney.❤️👌🏽✌🏽
Atkins Paints The World! Great! Thanks! Goodbye.
200th like, but... Yeah, who knew Nintendo got so big so fast?
I was one of those kids that didn’t have a baseball bat aka Nintendo and resorted to renting the console. One of those rentals accidentally came with Super Mario Bro’s 3 cartridge inside. I knew the rental place had no idea and for some reason I put it back in hoping the next kid without a baseball bat would be as surprised as I was to find one of the best games ever inside. I kinda wish I would have kept it but still hopeful that someone else got to tell the same story. With love respect appreciation thank you.
The Box Breakers You did good, spreading the love instead of keeping it to yourself!
The Box Breakers Baseball bat?
TheWaynelds watch the video :P
If you have a Baseball Bat, you will become Ness from EarthBound.
Nice❤
In a century from now, video game historians will look back at these superb artists and engineers and wonder, how did they create such sublime art.
A.I. will be doing most of the programing.
I remember the desert sun scaring the crap out of me as a kid.
Me too!
Lol
I just found out you could defeat it. Or I had somehow forgotten. I just ran like hell
I never scared me but I did give it a voice i’m going to get you I’m gonna get you I’m going to get you
I live in Texas. Sometimes in the middle of summer it feels like you are in that sequence of SMB3
The memories I had as a kid and my dad made me cry because I remember playing with him this game and sadly he passed away in 2004
Sorry for your pain, but I'm glad you have those memories to strengthen you. Cherish them!
I feel very sad for your pain, but I'm glad you now have those memories to strengthen you, the only memory you should forget is your dad passing away.
May God rest his soul and grant you peace and love when you remember him.
Your dad is playing in heaven right now.
Happy for your fond memories, but sad for your loss.
Both my husband and I shed some tears watching this, it brought back so many good memories. Such a well made video featuring an amazing game! Thank you 😭😊
Yeah kind of weird how this channel can stir up memories you weren't aware were even memories.
I remember my two older brothers teaching me all the ins and outs of the game, and I was DETERMINED to beat the game without their help. One day, after school, I finally did it, and one of my brothers made it seem like I had just won gold at the Olympics. (After all, he was my coach!) It was a rare moment where I wasn't the annoying baby sister for once, and it's just etched in my brain forever.
Reading all the comments and seeing that a lot of us grew up similarly with fond memories of this game is so amazing, like a connection spanning time and space! I wasn't planning on being emotionally compromised, but seeing all the flashbacks to that simpler time, the hard work of the people involved, and the ending where it showed us where they are now... I'm a blubbering mess 😅
Thank you for the video, your research and hard work. It really makes me appreciate the games we had as kids so much more! ❤
Another masterpiece
I love the long form, documentary style videos like this, and you knocked it out of the park again.
Agreed.
this is his best video yet imo
This and the Tetris video were perfection
@@Rich_LASTELLE yup
I honestly feel like the Tetris one is the best video on all of UA-cam
@@Rich_LASTELLE I honestly feel like we'll see him on Netflix or Amazon Prime soon enough
Yeah the hype was definitely real! I remember my eyes nearly fell out of my head when the host in The Wizard announced Super Mario Bros 3. My parents wouldn't let me have a Nintendo but my friends had one and managed to get a copy of the game and another got the strategy guide. All 3 of us stayed up literally all night playing that game; memorizing every secret the game had to offer. It was the first time I ever stayed up over 24 hours straight; we loved the game that much. A couple years later we had some people move in next door and they had the game. They were all pretty new at it and were blown away when I was able to beat the game in under a half hour and had the inventory completely full of p-wings. Man I got so many memories with this game!
I remember sleeping over at a friends house, and his the next morning his girlfriend came downstairs and said, "Have you been playing that all night?" lol. Yup, game was so addictive. I played it so many times already but everytime you play it felt new .
That's how I was when my friends had the ps1 and SNES, now that I look back on it I kind of feel like a user hahah. I guess that was pretty normal back in the 80s/90s though.
My sister and I had a friend who was really nice and lent us his game boy. No joke, we would think of strategies before sleeping at night on how to complete levels that we were stuck in. We would also let each other know if we were going to use one of the level ups and special abilities (frog suit, leaf etc) 😂
@@Hijynx87 my friend used to let me take his ps1 home cause he had a bed time and it was in 1997 so it was expensive to buy one .. i was surprised the mom was cool with it we were 12 yrs old and i would go home and play duke nuke em til 2am . I had no bed time lol
Miyamoto in 1987: “Yeah, we need the company to buy me an all expense paid trip to Disneyland! Foooor... research and development... yeah that’s it...”
Sounded more like a vacation if you ask me. and edit DisneyLand to Disney world please and thank you. (If you edit it I'll edit my comment)
Yes that is the joke
The proof is in the puddin
Who says you can't have fun at work, especially when the fun shows dividends?
Well, a day of smb3 sells more than paid for his vacation.
Growing up in the 80's was truly the best time to be a kid. I fondly remember when I got my NES in 1984. It was a game changer but Mario 3 was on another level. The amount of things you could do with only 2 buttons was unbelievable. Most of the Mario games today have taken elements of this game even now. I still play my original NES Super Mario 3 from time to time. Incredible even today.
NES wasn't out in 84. It came out in 85.
I started hallucinating while trying to play this without any sleep as a kid. I couldn't tell if I was playing or dreaming. It didn't matter both were SMB3.
😄
Game consoles went past me (too costly, too busy etc) but get that with some other games.
Dude is it weird that I remember doing that as well?
It wasn’t due to a lack of sleep, just playing for many hours uninterrupted. It was when I first got the Nintendo, and it was Mario 1 not Mario 3.
True, this game and specially when you had a hard time advancing or just had a great run made you feel it like you lived it.
Norman. Thank you for all efforts you've been put through this video. I considered this video is a masterpiece for a retro gamer like me. You always worked with heart. Your storytelling, pauses, and intonation was perfect.
Tears suddenly streamed down to my face after the credit scene, as i remember my childhood memories, waiting for my turn to play this game with my late brother.
Once again. Thank you, Norman.
Indonesia fan here
Low Budget Review agreed. It takes a lot to do SM3 justice, but this video was on par with the game 👍🏼
It's rare to have such emotions caused by a documentary.
Same here. It's brilliant
I mean.... Some of the most gut wrenching films ever made were documentaries... But the fact that it's a videogame documentary totally proves your point.
There's nothing quite like SMB3, even after considering all of the other Mario games.
Those member berries be hittin just right.
Same... I wondered why I got teary-eyed at the intro, and am glad I am not alone! 😂
Mario 3 was such a big part of my childhood….I remember when I was around 9 y/o I finally beat the game and was so excited I woke my dad up from his nap to tell him. He wasn’t as thrilled.
Oh Hey, I was born in 1978. in Japan.in Kyoto. I still remember that i was playing "Mario 3" with my friends...
ohh, such a period of time. I was 4 th grade when it came out in 1988. SWEET MEMORIES. Forever.
I'm still playing this game in 2019!! My all time favorite!
It was the first game I played on the NES growing up. I feel blessed to have that be my first game I ever played despite it being roughly 8 years old at the time.
Heck yeah! My all time favorite game as well!
I love that giant world!
Me too. But I don't have an NES anymore so this was my main motivation for getting a Raspberry Pi for retro gaming.
My all time favorite is super Mario world but this is close second
It's been over 30 years and I still get chills when the movie guy shouts "Super Mario Brothers 3!" and the screen slides open.
I'm age 31 🤗 gonna be 32 in few months
Born may 3 1990 early 90s
@@unknownwolf4046 ok?
This is probably the best video I have ever seen on UA-cam. It's hard to express how much Super Mario 3 means to me, it's my favorite game of all time. This was an incredible documentary, I don't know where you got so much footage and images from the original development. Bravo and thank you for making this, it gave me shivers to think about the creation of something that has achieved such mythical status
This game is one of the best games of all time.
Indeed! It is a flawless gem of a game.
I replay it every few years. It never gets old.
I still play it on.my Wii.
I still occasionally fire it up. One day I'm gonna beat it without warps.
I should replay it sometime. I loved the game when I was little but haven't played it since 2006 or so.
19:28 That theme song holds alot of happy memories, thanks Koji
In my eyes Kondo is perhaps the best of all time. Him and Yasunori Mitsuda worked on some of the most iconic games of all time. Most people don't even know there names which is a shame but you can bet that if you remember and hum the tune of nes and snes games, they were most likely composed by one of these 2 men
Is that guitar rendition on Spotify?
Me to but I started on the og which is iconic
I can’t believe he played so much of it. Hope our dude doesn’t get a strike.
They're all beautiful, but the game's ending theme is what really got me emotional..about childhood gaming years gone by..
The airship theme IS THE BEST 8BIT SONG EVER!!!
It's so ominous like "We coming to take over!!!"
You can hear it in New Super Mario Bros Wii, and yes, it sounds like a "we are marching off to war" song.
I was gonna comment and Steven put it nicely enough - very march like, very war like song, invoking something from a war or large scale fight scene in a movie.
@@SumeaBizarro the crescendo just gives me goosebumps
Yea that New Super Mario on the Wii has nice music, I love the castle themes on there
I still play SMB3 on my 3ds from time to time and I still get chills everytime I hear the airship theme 😬
I appreciate being apart of this generation!! The old school generation, the new game system are great but back in the day this was all we had “simple gaming ! No online playing! Friends hanging out playing this was the way to go. Thanks for this!!
I'm glad these old mario games made their way onto the GBC/GBA(also the DS systems that can play gameboy cartridges) They found a new niche in the modern day as perfect play-on-the-go games. They're straight forward and no nonsense fun. They sure as hell are better than 99% of mobile games even to this day
Tooooo many games now. A blurr if garbage
@@chadpatrick6795 ok boomer
I remember when super Mario 3 came out , I was so shocked at how much of an improvement it was over the old Mario titles. It was a light bulb memory for my childhood gaming.
I remember hearing about the “bear suit” when the game came out many many moons ago....
Turning into a statue to avoid enemies was mythical
i can't even remember how i figured out you could turn into a statue but somehow i did, that's how games were back then, you just learned this stuff on your own
One of my all-time favorite games. And definitely deserves to be considered one of the best ever.
Holding back the tears at 46:00 🥺
This music is so nostalgic. If ever anyone asks me what is happiness, I would direct them to this music ❤️🎶
The cover was even iconic...I was born in 1992 and one of my earliest childhood memories is crying because I wanted to play the flying Mario game!
I feel old. I was born in 1977.
I was thinking that myself. Such a simple, clean design. Bold, crisp colors; large, uncluttered title text in a friendly font, and Mario, big as life, doing something he'd never done before.
With a game that good (and complex), the simplicity of the box it came in was a stroke of marketing (and artistic) genius.
I remember rumors that mario could fly in the new game. When i saw my buddy actually had the game and it was true i couldnt believe it. It felt like a dream of wonder and amazement lol. One of the best games of all time...agreed
Yeah, that's the amazing thing. SMB3 is STILL fun to play. Not very many games have that timeless quality to them that transcends technological limits. Miyamoto seems to be involved in far more than his share of the ones that do.
"He wanted to add eyes to just about everything."
Are we sure this isn't a Rare documentary?
True rare even added eyes to the collectibles in banjo kazooie
That 'just about' is the important distinction.
Ubisoft
Or a Resident Evil documentary lol
The hills have eyes...
Super Mario 3 was my first video game love. I can remember we were at circuit city and I saw it locked inside the video game case, my mom said “maybe Santa will get it for you”. Right then and there my grandma said I’ll get it for him.
This game is so special to me. It’s a masterpiece
Great memory
This could have aired on Netflix I kid you not. Such high production values.
Love watching videos like this
Maybe Norm could be less flat sounding
This dude is nice with it!
@@Jakeinlivincolor isn't the whole point of a documentary to have a calm quiet voice so you're easily understood
@@HyperrealisticLuigi Calm, yes. Downright downtrodden to the point of roboticism? No
I cannot exaggerate just how hyped up this game was back in the day
The GOAT
What a wonderful thing to watch. Being someone who was old enough to remember the Nintendo craze and the release of all Mario's... This really feels nastalgic and was a pure joy to watch. Thank you
Dude. This is gonna sound silly lol. But this vid literally brought me to tears. I played this game with my family growing up. All of us in the same house loving life. How times have changed. Great video man. Keep it up
I remember playing SMB 3 for the first times in the 90s… I just couldn’t believe this was an 8bit NES game at all, it was cooler than all other games out at that time, by a mile. what an incredible unforgettable masterpiece… the team that made this game should have enough self fulfillment for a lifetime
I remember I'd spend HOURS playing it, I had it in a cartridge called Mario All Star for the SNES, I just loved it
Yeah that was awesome
yeah! those ware days
Yeah even my mom has it
I still have it! So rad.
Yeah I had that same cartridge mario all stars for snes! I'd spend all my summer vacation every year playing it!
Even today, Super Mario Bros 3 is still regarded as one of the most iconic title in the franchse and one of the best games of all time.
It is quite a fun and challenging game. Glad to hear its origin story from way back before I was even born.
Stop making me feel old.
Regarded by whom?
I was 9 years old in 1990. I had Nintendo Power. I saw the Wizard. I live through the frenzy. This video is not exaggerating how crazy it was. The hype was bigger than anything I've ever experienced. Finally opening that yellow box and playing the game was the most glorious experience ever.
I’m glad we live in a world with Nintendo.
The world should be nintendo
yeah, without Nintendo, gaming would not have a future, we are very grateful that Nintendo exists to save us from the video game crash of 1983.
Mr LaFours but yet I have more fun playing PS4 then Switch lol
Mr LaFours considering the Joycons were designed for people with elf hands I beg to different
@Mrck Ree Gon he's refering to console gaming.
"A team of over 10 people" - funny to think that was a big team just a few years ago.
@Lassi Kinnunen Umm, this is crap.
Lassi Kinnunen
What are you trying to say??
Modern games are so much more complicated than 8-bit games, so they have huge teams working on them, sometimes for years. That’s why they cost millions to make. One team can easily have a hundred people working on it.
Compare that to Mario Odyssey, which has hundreds of names listed in the credits.
The industry certainly has grown a lot, and we have Shiggy and his portly little plumber dude to thank for it.
@@Brinta3 "8 bit" game is very hard to make on NES because you need to code in 6502 Assembly.There's also the sounds and sprites are very long to make if you make everything from scratch
A few years ago? Don’t you mean 30 years ago?!? 😂
The early 80’s and 90’s were great. Im glad i got to experience all of this excitement as it came out.
The zenith of American society
Found my old nintendo and hooked it up the other day. Blew and blew and blew and finally games started to work. My 7 year old sat and played this game for quite a while. Was surprised as he plays a lot of fortnite, forza 5 etc etc.
This is the only christmas gift I'll need this year.
2d systems were the most fun!
this was the reason why nintendo still number one in japan, they make fun games and memorable
100% agreed
While I think their corporate decisions are absolute dogshit, their developers are a completely different story.
@@ObviousTrollFrom2007 I can respect that
The Japanese are a very loyal people. I've always had a lot of respect for that. I have always held my loyalty very high. Whether it be brands, stores, or people. If they are loyal to me, I will always be loyal to them.
I remember playing this with my mom when I was 5 or 6 and when we'd finish the airships, my dad would pick me up and act like i was falling thru the sky and I get to do that now with my kids when we play it 30 years later. Thank you for this GH, this was a wonderful slice of my childhood I had forgotten.
So comfy and feel good. Thanks for sharing
Honestly just one of the best videogames ever made. I pick it up every few years and best it all over again. It never ever ever gets boring.
Same here
Not gonna lie, had a few beers and the nostalgia just hit me hard in so many parts where I teared up. I love this game and I thank so many for making my childhood awesome. Thank you.
Nostalgia is an amazing thing... I frequently watch LongPlays of games I played as a kid. The music usually hits me the hardest.
Dude me too. Teared up.
Yeah... A "few" beers will do that sometimes. lol
@Corby Dinsburger try an emulator
dont be embarrassed, we all teared up. This cats documentaries are the finest!
These are the type of guys i would take a selfie with if i knew who they where when seeing them on the streets. These guys raised me in there virtual worlds and gave me a warm childhood. Thanks guys!
We didn't really appreciate the struggle our parents went through to provide this entertainment venue. Very well made documentary, sir. Loved it. I remember all this history like it was yesterday. 30+ years ago now.
I still have my Super Nintendo that I got for Christmas and still play it when I have time. Takes me back to my childhood gotta say that I play here and there now I'm still fucking badass at this game.
Man, I damn near drove my mom crazy trying to hunt down a copy. She finally got it, and it was just as epic and then some! Fun times!
Yes sorry parents😅😅😅👍
My God, how much I begged my parents for games. Sorry parents!
@@CarlosCabrera-mx2to me too but I bought the SNES recently Even my 9 year old nephew loves ir. And now he asked me if I can but the N64 hehe
I just watched a top-notch, professional documentary for free. You guys are THE BEST.
Thanks! I really enjoyed this program. In '92, I was 27years old. Born in '65, I grew up as an enthusiastic member of the video game generation. I still have fond childhood memories of playing those old Pong knockoff consoles (that hooked up to your TV) with my little brother. I was later to be the proud owner of several home
computer consoles, such as the TRS-80 & the Commodore 64. So, I was witness to (and avid participant in) the computer chip revolution. I've owned Ataris (2600 & 7800), Colecos (Intellivision), early hand-held games of all sorts - even some multi-game units), & many, many computers of all kinds. So I've seen the evolution of both video games & computers (on which, to be fair, I've ALWAYS played games!) And in my 27th year, I was newly married, & in our 1st apartment; while we both worked & saved to buy a 1st home. That year, I told my new bride, "Honey, I WANT that new Super Nintendo!!! I'm going to save a little extra ($10-20/mo), in a separate Christmas fund account, & buy it." And so I did. I already owned an NES, so I was already in awe of (& in love with) SMB3. The SNES came with SMB All-Stars, & let me tell you, I fell in love with the whole SMB line of classic games all over again! Today I'm 54. I STILL own those same exact consoles! [I take good care of all my electronics.] I've added to my game collection, of course. I also have a color GameBoy (the purple one), & a metallic red DS Lite. On every console, I have at least one SMB game. Of them all, SMB3 is my favorite (& you should know that I even have Donkey Kong on one of my 3 laptops, for heaven's sake!) SMB3 was (by FAR) the most revolutionary leap. What they did with DK Country would easily otherwise be so, were it not for SMB3. In short, I love it. And in case you hadn't noticed, I'm a Nintendo kind of guy! Even my granddaughter grew up with a Wii. I've seen the whole depth & breadth of the computer & video game revolutions, & trust me: SMB3 stands tall. tavi.
Yeah, i saw that revolution too. I was 5 years old when i play my first game and it was Ms. Pacman at the arcades. Then a NES clone machine came in my possesion and then was SMB3. This clone machine was able to play oficial NES cartridges but the cartridge stuck really hard into the slot of the console. So in a trade of games with a friend, he gave me a game and i gave to him smb3, i broke his cartridge in an attempt to remove it from my console. And then he didn't gave me back my SMB3. It was like i lost my house equivalent. I was 11 years old then and that game was for me pure magic. SMB3 indeed stands tall in the games history. I didn't catch up the commodore era but i was later on a proud owner of an Amiga 500, the amazing machine that brought arcade games in home. Ataris as far i can remember was a total disaster from the day one of their release. :P
Right now more than ever, we really need videos like this to enjoy, and feel good watching.
Thanks for everything you do, Norman.
Hear, hear.
Yeah these videos are really Nice and happy (usualy)
Finally it's about time Mr. Historian... it takes time to be as in depth as you can be. . Thanks, dude.
Worth the wait indeed.
That ending music from super mario 3 and the description of each game developer brought a tear to my eyes. These are the guys that are responsible for the happiest memories of my childhood. Such an incredible documentary.
This is the best game of all time...and this video is AMAZING.
Maybe so. But my heart lies with Super Mario World. Maybe because I was just old enough to really fall for the hype. I mean how could you not when it’s being released with Nintendo’s next gen 16bit console?
The Last Dragon same i love super mario world. I actually bought a gameboy micro for that game.
I thought number 2 was better
Mario is a mega icon so there is a very strong argument and countless other mario games
@Yvonne Exell I didn't like the way Mario 3 looked...its presentation...like it was hand drawn on a piece of paper or something. Mario 2 looked better. And I liked how in Mario 2, you could choose to play 4 different character...each with strengths and weaknesses.
I love the longer format, even if it covers or reiterates information from other videos. They might take more time, but it's always worth the wait.
Fantastic documentary. In terms of quality, Video Game Historian is the best channel on UA-cam
BlueBoboDoo100 I was really surprised by the quality of this. Extremely well done.
Check out Game Makers Toolkit. Now that’s production value for a single UA-camr. Very high level of quality.
He's great but Ahoy (formerly Xbox Ahoy) is absolutely next level too. Nostalgia Nerd is also great.
agreed my favorite channel!
This is great stuff but it can’t touch Noclip as far as production quality.