SMB3 Vs SMW

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

Two epic games in the Mario timeline- Super Mario Brothers 3 and Super Mario World. One epic question- which one is better? For many, this is an incredibly tough question to answer- so feel free to debate and state your reasons for the better title.

For me, the better of these two is probably Super Mario Bros.3. It had brought so many new elements to the table-zany powerups, the map screen, the koopa kids and gambling houses. Super Mario World hardly did anything more than just update the graphics and throw in Yoshi and two extra challenge worlds. The designs in Super Mario Bros.3 were also noticeably better. Aside from the traditional Grass,Desert and Snow worlds we had gotten more interesting levels. For example, one world featured huge monsters and another a tower in which you needed to climb in order to reach the sky levels. There's also the airships and battle scenes to consider.

[Leo_A]

They're both excellent games, but Super Mario World edges it out.

[DigitalSpace]

Super Mario World. Super Mario Bros. 3 is my favorite NES game... but SMW is my second favorite game of all time.

(And those of you who have seen my posts in most of the recent SNES threads already know the first one.)

[Jorpho]

Super Mario World. SMB3 was actually needlessly complex at times. I wouldn't even say the suits were that great; there's just too few opportunities to get the Hammer Bros. Suit, for example, and the Frog Suit had painfully limited applicability.

[Fatalstar64]

SMB3 and not even because it's a flat out better game I think it's just nostalgia because I didn't play Super Mario world until recently and I have fond memories of 3.

[Voliko]

SMB 3. SMW is way too easy and the level design in 3 is better. I do love the secret world in SMW though.

Also, hearing the same theme being remixed in SMW so many times gets tiring.

[Urzu402]

I say Super Mario World. because I enjoyed finding the hidden exits to the levels greatly, and Yoshi!

[DuckTalesNES]

Easy, Super Mario Bros. 3. Just think about which game you'd rather go play right now.

[buzz_n64]

What are you doing to me?!?!? I can't decide! That's like saying, would you rather have $5 or $5, or what kid you love more. They're both great, screw you for making me choose. No!!!!

[ConsoleAddict]

Super Mario Brothers 3 and Super Mario World are the two games that provided the templates for New Super Mario Brothers on the DS and the Wii. There's very little originality in the 21st century classic side-scrolling Mario games but when you've got these two titans of gaming to crib from, why bother messing with success?

Of the two, I would pick SMB3. SMW was a game that I played to perfection over and over again but it just doesn't have the variety, the toughness and the originality that SMB3 brought to the table. It's a tougher game and finding all its secrets will take some time.

Of course, I prefer the Super Nintendo version of SMB3 found on the All-Stars game cartridge or the Game Boy Advance. It has the save system that the NES version sorely needed.

[Baloo]

I prefer Super Mario Bros 3. Better music, better and more suits, and the levels were slightly more diverse compared to Super Mario World.

[Thrillo]

Of the two, I would pick SMB3. SMW was a game that I played to perfection over and over again but it just doesn't have the variety, the toughness and the originality that SMB3 brought to the table. It's a tougher game and finding all its secrets will take some time.

Yeah, I played through SMB3 hundreds of times, so I thought I played through every line of code and knew EVERY single secret in SMB3. Then I got stationed in Japan in '06 and bought a 1980's SMB3 hint book there (in Kanji, but with tons of detailed illustrations to make up for it).
Let's just say I was humbled, the Japanese found out nearly every cheat and exploit back in the '80s, while we were still finding them last decade. It blew my mind to see things I had never seen before.
SMB3: the gift that keeps on giving!

[Eyedunno]

The SNES is my favorite console ever. But SMB3 is the best game on the NES, and I have to say, it has the edge here. I just prefer SMB3's level design overall. But yeah, it is a really close call.

[todesengel]

Super Mario Bros. 3 for me, my favorite one of the classic Mario game's.

[vxkens]

The day I got my Super Nintendo and played SMW for 8 hours straight is one of the most treasured moments of my childhood. I've never had so much pure fun playing a video game, either before or after.

Super Mario 3 was a great game, but it never gave me that same feeling. Maybe it had something to do with owning a 16-bit system for the first time.

One thing about SMW though is it's loads easier. It was probably the first Mario game where they really started to dumb down the difficulty. Yoshi's Island excluded, just about ever Mario platformer since then has adopted the baby-ish difficulty level and curve of SMW.

[Peonpiate]

SM3 for me. I enjoyed SMW aswell, but the level design isnt close to being as good as 3's is. The downside as someone else said is world 8 which does feel like it was rushed out, but thats not enough to hold back the other 7/8ths of the game which I feel is side scrolling perfection to this day.

[Jorpho]

One thing about SMW though is it's loads easier. It was probably the first Mario game where they really started to dumb down the difficulty. Yoshi's Island excluded, just about ever Mario platformer since then has adopted the baby-ish difficulty level and curve of SMW.

Technically, the only 2D Mario platformers released after SMW were Yoshi's Island, New Super Mario Bros and New Super Mario Bros Wii.

And if you're going to talk 3D platformers, there has been much grousing over the difficulty of Sunshine.

[buzz_n64]

Technically, the only 2D Mario platformers released after SMW were Yoshi's Island, New Super Mario Bros and New Super Mario Bros Wii.

And if you're going to talk 3D platformers, there has been much grousing over the difficulty of Sunshine.

Well, since you counted New Super Mario Bros. for DS, don't forget Super Mario Land 2, Donkey Kong (GB), Mario vs. Donkey Kong... All 2D Mario platformers released after SMW.

[Push Upstairs]

I don't know if I would consider SML2 "dumbed down", I mean, "Super Mario Land" doesn't exactly cause me to break a sweat.

And this talk of easy 1-up's failed to take into account how easy it is in SMB3 to rack up tons of lives. I've never fished the game without at least 60 lives.

[Aussie2B]

I have a feeling we've had a poll like this before, but I'm too lazy at the moment to do a search. :P

Anyway, it's an easy choice for me: SMB3. I didn't play SMW through for the first time until a few years ago, and while some may argue nostalgia is making my choice, I don't think so because I constantly play older games that are new to me and I have no problem falling in love with them and even ranking them above childhood games. The real reason SMW doesn't come close is most of all the fact that it's so dang easy. Really, not much about the game has stuck with me, and I blame the fact that I blew through it like nothing, even getting all 96 exits. Even the so-called "difficult" secret world stages barely presented a challenge. SMB3 puts up a healthy challenge in many parts, especially if you play the Japanese version. Unlike SMW, I can still picture most of its stages in my head, and they're also so inventive too, more so than SMW I'd say. Some things stylistically about SMW don't sit right with me either. Like the football-themed enemies are just odd and feel out of place. Never really cared much about Yoshi either or the physics of cape-flying.

Don't get me wrong, Super Mario World is a fantastic game, but it doesn't come close to outshining SMB3.