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Best NES Super Mario Bros.?

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Robot2600
02/16/2025
02:13 PM
#1
Best NES Super Mario Bros.?
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ReturnOfDevsman
02/16/2025
02:14 PM
#2
I go back and forth on 1 or 2.
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#3
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#4
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StephenYap3
02/16/2025
03:06 PM
#5
Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels for me, though I liked all four games.

This one, in particular, is my favorite due to giving me actual sense of challenge left and right (the other three were "fairly easy" at the hardest for me), as well as World 9 and other additional worlds.
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Mr_Karate_II
02/16/2025
04:15 PM
#6
3 with Lost Levels aka the real SMB2 at a close second.
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Justin2Krelian
02/16/2025
04:49 PM
#7
I like how 3 and LL each have one comment yet 3 leads LL in the votes 34:1 at this point
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BewmHedshot
02/16/2025
04:51 PM
#8
3 is the most fun and the peak of 8bit platforming.
archizzy
02/16/2025
05:18 PM
#9
Honestly the best one is 3. But my personal favorite is 2 (North American 2). I just liked the style of 2. I liked the light/dark element of the potion part and I loved being able to choose 4 characters with different strengths. I always used Luigi as I liked his jumping better.

It just had a much different feel and charm to it. But 3 is amazing too. They are all good games but looking back on 1 it feels pretty generic and dated while I still feel like 2 and 3 hold up.
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#10
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Turbam
02/16/2025
05:36 PM
#11
This isn't even a contest at all, imo.
3 is so far above the other two that it's insane.
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Robot2600
02/16/2025
10:23 PM
#12
Lost Levels is pretty fun though for being the only one I didn't play 100s of times growing up.
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tripleh213
02/16/2025
10:28 PM
#13
3 is the best
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_Blur_
02/16/2025
10:33 PM
#14
Turbam posted...
This isn't even a contest at all, imo.
3 is so far above the other two that it's insane.
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Solar_Crimson
02/16/2025
10:35 PM
#15
SMB3 is easily the best of the NES games. It basically takes the foundation of the original and expands on it to tremendous degrees.

Lost Levels is just a kaizo level pack, and SMB2/USA is just too different due to not being a Mario game to begin with.
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Evolician
02/16/2025
10:36 PM
#16
Lost Levels voters are such contrarians oh my god
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Sayoria
02/16/2025
10:58 PM
#17
3 and it isn't even a question. 3 is arguably the best Mario game ever.
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ablegator
02/16/2025
10:58 PM
#18
3 but love them all.
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NightRender
02/16/2025
10:59 PM
#19
Isn't 3 the only time that powerups work as expected? That is, if you have fire flower and get hit, you go big instead of peewee.
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Mr_Karate_II
02/16/2025
11:04 PM
#20
Evolician posted...
Lost Levels voters are such contrarians oh my god
How?
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rick_alverado
02/16/2025
11:12 PM
#21
They all have good points to them.

Super Mario Bros. started the style, and has a certain simplicity to it that is quite charming.

Super Mario Bros. 2 (The Lost Level) plays with the setup of the first, and introduces the idea of Mario and Luigi playing differently.

Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA) goes in a very different direction. A lot of people say that's because it didn't start as a Mario game, but in fact it did start development as a Mario game before getting shelved because they couldn't get certain things working the way they wanted to. Later when they could they released it a non-Mario game in Japan, before making it a Mario game once again for North America. It further expands on different characters playing differently, as well as vertically scrolling levels in addition to the horizontally scrolling levels (that was the thing that they originally couldn't figure out).

Super Mario Bros. 3 goes back to more to the style of the first game, but greatly expanded and with lessons learned from 2 (USA). One of the biggest things in the game for me is the variety of power-ups.

It's hard for me to rank them as they are all fairly different games, other than 2 (The Lost Levels). But I think my ranking is:
  1. Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA)
  2. Super Mario Bros. 3
  3. Super Mario Bros.
  4. Super Mario Bros. 2 (The Lost Levels)
Robot2600
02/17/2025
12:22 AM
#22
NightRender posted...
Isn't 3 the only time that powerups work as expected? That is, if you have fire flower and get hit, you go big instead of peewee.

Sort of? The Japanese version of SMB3 had you go directly to small mario, but they changed it for the NA release.

In SMW (SMB4) they standardized it the SMB3 USA style for powerups. In New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Maker (plus Wonder) the powerups work as you expect.

---

I remember as a kid I rented Super Mario Bros. 3 and I was so freaking excited. When I opened the case at home I saw they gave me Super Mario Bros. 2! I was devastated, lol. We couldn't go back to the video rental place.

I spent a lot of time playing all 4 games. I was really hyped about Lost Levels from Nintendo Power. That was an exciting time, discovering all these "hidden" games that weren't released over here.

I still think it would be really cool to play Lost Levels but with SMB1 graphics. The "updated" graphics look worse in every single instance. The SNES graphics have a certain charm, but the NES versions feel "snappier" and the graphics are better. They messed up all the bonus rooms in SMB1 and SMB3.
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Azardea
02/17/2025
12:27 AM
#23
3 and it's not even close tbh.
Robot2600
02/17/2025
12:31 AM
#24
One of the greatest guides ever made:

https://tinyurl.com/yf2zwe6c

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KyasarinTsuu
02/17/2025
12:34 AM
#25
2025 and people still feel the need to specify, every single time, what game "Lost Levels" refers to. The trivial fact that everyone knows yet still needs to show off anyway.
Robot2600
02/17/2025
12:46 AM
#26
KyasarinTsuu posted...
2025 and people still feel the need to specify, every single time, what game "Lost Levels" refers to. The trivial fact that everyone knows yet still needs to show off anyway.

Super Mario Bros. 2 was not actually released in America. The game you think is SMB2? It's actually called Doki Doki Panic and it was made as a promotion for the Japanese Olympics.

Because it was so difficult, Nintendo of America made the equally difficult decision not to release the game, and instead reskinned Doki Doki Panic as Super Mario Bros. 2.

However, the game was so popular in the States that it became legendary and was re-released as Super Mario USA in Japan.

Years later, North America would finally receive the original Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, except this time it was called "The Lost Levels." "The Lost Levels," aka Super Mario Bros. 2, was actually only eventually released as part of Super Mario All-Stars, a 16-bit re-envisioning of some of the original Super Mario Bros. games.

However, many things were changed and you could argue the entire vibe of the re-release is off.

The re-releases would later see a second re-release, this time packaged with Super Mario World and called Super Mario All Stars + Super Mario World.

I hope this clears up any confusion.
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CRON
02/17/2025
12:51 AM
#27
3 > 2 > 1 > Lost Levels
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rick_alverado
02/17/2025
01:17 AM
#28
Robot2600 posted...
I still think it would be really cool to play Lost Levels but with SMB1 graphics. The "updated" graphics look worse in every single instance. The SNES graphics have a certain charm, but the NES versions feel "snappier" and the graphics are better. They messed up all the bonus rooms in SMB1 and SMB3.

It's one of the NES games on Switch Online if you have that.
ReturnOfDevsman
02/17/2025
01:26 AM
#29
Solar_Crimson posted...
Lost Levels is just a kaizo level pack, and SMB2/USA is just too different due to not being a Mario game to begin with.
I don't agree with either of these.

LL really isn't that hard; Nintendo just asked literally one guy who worked in the warehouse what he thought before deciding to import. Bros 1 World 8 is way harder than anything in LL. It's true that guy went on to become important at NoA but that doesn't mean his opinion in the 80's was somehow correct.

And 2 US is absolutely a Mario game. It was always designed as Mario but with other characters. Made by the same people and everything. They had to redo stuff at times because it was creeping into being too much like Mario 1.

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PraetorXyn
02/17/2025
01:30 AM
#30
3, and its not close with actual NES versions. Lost Levels AKA the real 2 from All-Stars would be closer competition though.
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Relm_Arrowny_87
02/17/2025
02:00 AM
#31
3 > 1 > 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2JP

SNES Lost Levels and Famicom SMB2 are two different beasts.
The SNES version is challenging, but fine. They rebalanced a couple things. I'd put that much closer to the others.

The NES one is miserable. Instead of game overs taking you to the start of the level (like in SNES), game overs take you to the start of the world.
It also has that dumb thing where you have to beat the game 16(iirc?) times to unlock bonus levels. SNES took that out too.
(And this isn't a case of 'get gud', I've beaten the NES one, I just don't like it.)
What a fuddy duddy.
Lillymon
02/17/2025
02:22 AM
#32
3, and if you disagree you are wrong.
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ReturnOfDevsman
02/17/2025
08:38 AM
#33
Lillymon posted...
3, and if you disagree you are wrong.
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Arguing on CE be all like:
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Newave
02/17/2025
08:47 AM
#34
I like 2 and 3 equally, they both offer great qualities across the board with good music, visuals, level design, lots of variety and content and both with their own set of unique features and mechanics I enjoy

since it's a literal toss up for me I randomized it, it landed on 3 so that's what I voted, but seeing the results I wish I'd vote 2 instead to give it a much deserved boost
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Southernfatman
02/17/2025
08:56 AM
#35
The best is 3 because it's so well made and expanded so much on the first one. My favorite is still 2. The US version. Screw the real one. It was like one of those hard as balls rom hacks before rom hacks. That is at least from what I remember. It's been forever since I've played it. I just remember not having a fun time at all when I did.
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Robot2600
02/17/2025
09:44 PM
#36
Lost Levels is fun though, replaying it recently. It's not nearly as hard as Celeste, for example. You do need to do the 128 lives trick to have a decent shot at it.

It's got troll moments but you just have to laugh at them.
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#37
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Sephiroth_C_Ryu
02/17/2025
10:14 PM
#38
This really isn't a contest. SMB2 (non-secret levels) is the closest it could come to reaching SMB3, and even it is almost like a Krabby clawing desperately towards the clouds in the sky.

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Robot2600
02/17/2025
10:33 PM
#39
Godnorgosh posted...
I've played through the entirety of 1 and LL and lolno

Lost Levels World 1 is the same difficulty as SMB1 World 6.
Lost Levels World 2 is close to SMB1 "theoretical" World 9 difficulty.

It quickly reaches IWBTG around World 4 or 5.
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Shotgunnova
02/17/2025
10:34 PM
#40
SMB3, easily.
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GGuirao13
02/18/2025
02:13 AM
#41
Definitely Super Mario Bros. 3 .
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TomClark
02/18/2025
08:07 AM
#42
3 by a massive margin.
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Robot2600
02/18/2025
10:05 PM
#43
shout-out to @StephenYap3 fuck the haters you called it like you saw it

the only person to vote for Lost Levels
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Current Events » Best NES Super Mario Bros.?