Doing so takes Mario off-screen and gradually lowers him by a tall pipe.
In a dare of sorts, the coins ask the player to throw caution to the wind and make a blind leap into the unknown. The newly acquired flying ability is quite thrilling and liberating, and having just earned an extra life, it stands to reason that most players would want to pursue the extra treasure. The clouds continue to the right creating another clear runway that ends with a trail of coins. This similarity encourages the player to interact with it in much the same way, i.e., by hitting it, which yields the first 1-Up Mushroom.
World 1-1Īs soon as Mario lands on a series of clouds, he finds an isolated Brick Block that floats in the air much like the “?” blocks. All these events signify that something important is happening, and when the player jumps and soars into the sky, the screen - for the first time in a Mario game - begins to scroll horizontally and vertically at the same time. When the player starts running, a HUD meter fills up, the running animation changes, and an urgent sound effect begins looping in the background. The player must jump over a bottomless pit at the end of this runway and is encouraged to collect the coins, so it makes sense for him to get a running start and jump as high and far as possible. World 1-1įollowing the three Goombas (which don’t respawn if killed, leaving the strip clean of enemies), a diagonal trail of coins leads up into the sky. Immediately to the right, a strip of flat land with three enemies - one of them a red Paragoomba - lets the player experiment with Raccoon Mario’s glide and spin-attack mechanics. If the Koopa Troopa is touched while in this state, it quickly slides away from Mario. Although the big white block is a bit in the way, the player can still accomplish this feat fairly easily. If he does, he’ll learn that shells can be used to activate “?” blocks (which is the only way to do it in this case as the block cannot be hit from below) while discovering the game’s new powerup: the Super Leaf. Immediately after collecting the mushroom powerup, the player is presented with a red Koopa Troopa, an enemy that hides in its shell after a successful jump attack. Although the player can’t go down this particular pipe, the fact that an enemy emerges from it hints at the possibility of Mario being able to do the same. The red Venus Fire Trap is also introduced here and - in typical Mario fashion - doesn’t respawn if killed and only comes out if Mario isn’t standing next to its pipe (or on top of it). In addition to being positioned over Mario’s head, a slowly approaching Goomba encourages the player to jump up and discover that hitting the blocks from below can yield rewards (in this case, some Coins and a Super Mushroom). Since they utilize a fairly universal symbol for a question, they inherently invite the player to investigate. World 1-1Īs with the original Super Mario Bros., the “?” Blocks are encountered as soon as the game begins. It’s been my habit as well, but this time I resolved to experience SMB 3 in its entirety.Ī lot of small, geometric stages later, here’s an overview of what I found to be the most notable points in the first world.
This also means zooming past a plethora of well designed levels. I suspect that the majority of people who replay the game are familiar with the secret and use it to skip to the last world. The sequence is fun to watch, but it also serves as a great preview of numerous game mechanics. SMB 3’s playful title screen has Mario & Luigi messing around with a bunch of enemies and powerups. I recently decided to play through the All-Stars version of SMB 3 without using any Warp Whistles.