Something I don't get about Super Mario Brothers 3

[NEScollector1982]

When you beat each world, the princess delivers a letter with a tip and a power up enclosed. However, a few of these "tips" are often for worlds you have already conquered. "The Thief that stole the whistle has escaped to the east side of the sand dunes" referring to the hidden 3rd set of boomerang brothers, however this occurs in world 2 (Desert Land), and you get this tip after conquering world 4 (Giant Land). After you defeat world 6 (Ice World), she informs you that the lost whistle is behind the dark area on world 1, level 3...but you are already on world 7 at this points. Why Princess?

[Kitsune Sniper]

When you beat each world, the princess delivers a letter with a tip and a power up enclosed. However, a few of these "tips" are often for worlds you have already conquered. "The Thief that stole the whistle has escaped to the east side of the sand dunes" referring to the hidden 3rd set of boomerang brothers, however this occurs in world 2 (Desert Land), and you get this tip after conquering world 4 (Giant Land). After you defeat world 6 (Ice World), she informs you that the lost whistle is behind the dark area on world 1, level 3...but you are already on world 7 at this points. Why Princess?

The Postal Service doesn't guarantee next-day delivery in the Mushroom Kingdom.

[bangtango]

When you beat each world, the princess delivers a letter with a tip and a power up enclosed. However, a few of these "tips" are often for worlds you have already conquered. "The Thief that stole the whistle has escaped to the east side of the sand dunes" referring to the hidden 3rd set of boomerang brothers, however this occurs in world 2 (Desert Land), and you get this tip after conquering world 4 (Giant Land). After you defeat world 6 (Ice World), she informs you that the lost whistle is behind the dark area on world 1, level 3...but you are already on world 7 at this points. Why Princess?

She is pointing out what you missed for the next time you play. The Princess could have chosen to be a little bit ruder and said "You wouldn't have had to play through Worlds 3 and 4 if you'd grabbed that damn whistle in World 2."

[Frica89]

The Postal Service doesn't guarantee next-day delivery in the Mushroom Kingdom.

lol I think that's the best explanation. At least the items are helpful.

[joshnickerson]

I was always a bit confused by that when I was younger; I had assumed maybe they had flipped up the messages with other worlds when they translated it. But I think bangtango is right on the money.

[Magnum]

that's not half as perplexing as why all the best items are always one or two of a kinds

[DigitalSpace]

bangtango said it best.

I was pretty confused about it when I first played the game as a kid, but I eventually figured it out.

[Push Upstairs]

that's not half as perplexing as why all the best items are always one or two of a kinds

Ebay in the Mushroom Kingdom:

OMG RARE KURIBO SHOE! HTF!

[Chaz From Phantasy Star 2]

HTF?? (I added another question mark so my post would have enough characters)

[FantasiaWHT]

HTF?? (I added another question mark so my post would have enough characters)

On some keyboards, H is right next to W. It's probably a typo of WTF.

[Emuaust]

or Hard To Find maybe?, pff sif not know that.

[jcalder8]

She is pointing out what you missed for the next time you play. The Princess could have chosen to be a little bit ruder and said "You wouldn't have had to play through Worlds 3 and 4 if you'd grabbed that damn whistle in World 2."

Does that mean if you get the items but still play through the whole game you get a different letter?

I'd agree that HTF is probably Hard To Find

[BocoDragon]

Remember how SMB was a game that lived by it's secrets, and in a pre-internet age, Mario secrets were power?

I always thought that the princess tips were kinda like getting advice from the playground.

No it couldn't help you on that particular playthrough, but now that you had the tip, the next game would go differently....

[Push Upstairs]

Yes HTF means "Hard to Find".

As much as Ebay is used I figured that shorthand would have made it to the mocking stage just like "OMG" "RARE" and "OOP".

[FantasiaWHT]

Sorry, I forgot to show sarcasm when I made my post ;p

[richard_in_jpn]

Pretty basic game design stuff here.

Why would they tell you how to skip half or more of the game you just bought? On the contrary, they'd want to make sure people wouldn't find the whistles on their first playthroughs.

And then on subsequent playthroughs you'd still have a way to skip to your favorite levels or to where you died before.

It's replay value, the mystique of secrets, and having a way to get around not having a save feature.

[Edmond Dantes]

You know what I've always wondered about SMB3?

Why the back of the box shows a level that doesn't exist in the game.

Also, I wonder at people's ability to find secrets. Seriously what possessed some kid to duck on the white block for ten seconds and discover the ability to go behind the black? How do people even find out about stuff like that? (I know there's Nintendo Power et al, but even they must've found out somehow)

[TimTendo]

You know what I've always wondered about SMB3?

Why the back of the box shows a level that doesn't exist in the game.

Also, I wonder at people's ability to find secrets. Seriously what possessed some kid to duck on the white block for ten seconds and discover the ability to go behind the black? How do people even find out about stuff like that? (I know there's Nintendo Power et al, but even they must've found out somehow)

I was always under the assumption that Nintendo Power and various other magazines back then had gotten those tricks directly from Nintendo (being that the magazine was affiliated with them, it's not surprising at all). Of course, this was to sell more magazines; more exclusive tips (until word-of-mouth comes into play) equals more subscriptions. With the advent of the internet and people dissecting every bit of the code in a game, this little marketing ploy might as well be dead, heh.

[jb143]

Why the back of the box shows a level that doesn't exist in the game.

I thought it did exist in the game...there just isn't any normal way to get to it without using a game genie.

[Jorpho]

I thought it did exist in the game...there just isn't any normal way to get to it without using a game genie.

There's a nice writeup of all the inaccessible levels at http://themushroomkingdom.net/smb3_lost.shtml .

As for what the picture is doing on the box, I understand it is not uncommon for box art to be finalized before a game is actually completely finished, so screenshots of beta versions are not uncommon on boxes in general.