Poll of the Day > Super Mario Bros 3 is the most overrated Nintendo game of all time

(+) Yeah! (+)

The levels are all so short, the game doesn't live up well if you aren't nostalgic for it, it's honestly a very overrated game considering how people seem to think it's perfect.
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Huh, that's a new one. Usually people just say Ocarina of Time.


Super Mario 64 is the most overrated Nintendo game that I've played.

Splatoon.
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Imagine watching The Wizard as a kid and seeing Mario 3 unveiled as the final challenge in the movie before the game came out. That was the ultimate hype.
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Firewood18 posted...

Imagine watching The Wizard as a kid and seeing Mario 3 unveiled as the final challenge in the movie before the game came out. That was the ultimate hype.

80's kids lol

I guess as a 90's kid I always saw SMW as the best
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Metroid

The game downright sucks
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So many games that are overrated and you pick Super Mario 3? I respectfully disagree, sir.
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Mead posted...

Metroid

The game downright sucks

The original yeah, but then again I can see why people love it for the way it inspired game design.
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Peterass posted...

So many games that are overrated and you pick Super Mario 3? I respectfully disagree, sir.

Simply because so many people act like it's the best Mario when I find it to be among the least enjoyable
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jayj420 posted...

Mead posted...

Metroid

The game downright sucks

The original yeah, but then again I can see why people love it for the way it inspired game design.

You be quiet
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Firewood18 posted...

Imagine watching The Wizard as a kid and seeing Mario 3 unveiled as the final challenge in the movie before the game came out. That was the ultimate hype.

I was just telling my wife the other day how hype that was when I was a kid. Personally, my favorite Mario game is Super Mario World. IMO it took everything SMB3 did well and expanded on it, with more exploration in levels, all the secret levels, etc. That being said, SMB3 is still a ton of fun, maybe there's some nostalgia attached, but I was 9, going on 10 when it released. The variety in levels and power ups was mind blowing at the time. We went from the Star, Mushroom and Fire Flower and added the Tanooki Suit, Raccoon Suit, Frog Suit and Hammer Bros Suit. Having that many new power ups was amazing back then. To the TC, you have to rate a game against what was going on at the time, and at the time, there was no doubt that SMB3 was the best game of it's kind, hence why it's rated so highly.

jayj420 posted...

Peterass posted...

So many games that are overrated and you pick Super Mario 3? I respectfully disagree, sir.

Simply because so many people act like it's the best Mario when I find it to be among the least enjoyable

I think you're in the minority here but that's ok. Personally, I do think it's one of the better games of the genre.
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I think SMW is much more overrated. It's great, but I like SMB3 better because it's so quirky and experimental. Also, SMW just gets confusing to play through with so many of its levels being stuck behind all these different secret, branching paths. Yeah, the secret levels are a cool idea, but why do they make up so much of the game? I think a more linear map style serves this style of gameplay much better; the core appeal is the levels themselves, so I don't want to spend a bunch of time backtracking and wandering through the world map to get the full experience. Yoshi is OP and seems to be implemented at the expense of having oddball rare powerups that SMB3 had.

Mead posted...

Metroid

The game downright sucks

I agree that the first Metroid is pretty lame, but I don't think it's really held in high enough regard to be considered overrated. That reminds me, though, the first Legend of Zelda might be my new answer instead of SM64.

DorkLink posted...

I think SMW is much more overrated. It's great, but I like SMB3 better because it's so quirky and experimental. Also, SMW just gets confusing to play through with so many of its levels being stuck behind all these different secret, branching paths. Yeah, the secret levels are a cool idea, but why do they make up so much of the game? I think a more linear map style serves this style of gameplay much better; the core appeal is the levels themselves, so I don't want to spend a bunch of time backtracking and wandering through the world map to get the full experience. Yoshi is OP and seems to be implemented at the expense of having oddball rare powerups that SMB3 had.

Mead posted...

Metroid

The game downright sucks

I agree that the first Metroid is pretty lame, but I don't think it's really held in high enough regard to be considered overrated. That reminds me, though, the first Legend of Zelda might be my new answer instead of SM64.

Games like Metroid and Zelda kind of created the mold for their types of games. Both have been surpassed by later entries in their respective series, but they laid the groundwork for them to improve on. Super Metroid took what Metroid (and Metroid 2) did well and perfected it, same as a A Link to the Past.

I just hated hearing for years (until BotW came out) that Nintendo wouldn't make a Zelda game that's "true to the series" or however people sugarcoat it. The first Zelda was like that because it was primitive, and the added structure of later games made the series better. I'd say that a dozen+ sequels are more indicative of what's "true" to the series than hanging on to ideas from one game just because it was the first.

I'll admit BotW was awesome, but its approach to open-world was honestly quite different from the first LoZ and a lot of what made it good comes from concepts in other Zelda games besides LoZ.

DeathMagnetic80 posted...

Firewood18 posted...

Imagine watching The Wizard as a kid and seeing Mario 3 unveiled as the final challenge in the movie before the game came out. That was the ultimate hype.

I was just telling my wife the other day how hype that was when I was a kid. Personally, my favorite Mario game is Super Mario World. IMO it took everything SMB3 did well and expanded on it, with more exploration in levels, all the secret levels, etc. That being said, SMB3 is still a ton of fun, maybe there's some nostalgia attached, but I was 9, going on 10 when it released. The variety in levels and power ups was mind blowing at the time. We went from the Star, Mushroom and Fire Flower and added the Tanooki Suit, Raccoon Suit, Frog Suit and Hammer Bros Suit. Having that many new power ups was amazing back then. To the TC, you have to rate a game against what was going on at the time, and at the time, there was no doubt that SMB3 was the best game of it's kind, hence why it's rated so highly.

Yeah but that doesn't do anything for people who didn't grow up like that. Most people who play games these days didn't grow up as an 80's kid.
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DorkLink posted...

I'll admit BotW was awesome, but its approach to open-world was honestly quite different from the first LoZ and a lot of what made it good comes from concepts in other Zelda games besides LoZ.

I don't think anyone really wanted a purely NES Zelda approach to open-world. I think most people just wanted less hand holding and more freedom to go almost wherever in the world whenever you want. Where the process of exploration leads you to discovering new objectives and rewards.

The pure NES Zelda approach would require you to burn a completely random bush in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no hint given anywhere in order to progress through the story.
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DorkLink posted...

I think SMW is much more overrated. It's great, but I like SMB3 better because it's so quirky and experimental. Also, SMW just gets confusing to play through with so many of its levels being stuck behind all these different secret, branching paths. Yeah, the secret levels are a cool idea, but why do they make up so much of the game? I think a more linear map style serves this style of gameplay much better; the core appeal is the levels themselves, so I don't want to spend a bunch of time backtracking and wandering through the world map to get the full experience. Yoshi is OP and seems to be implemented at the expense of having oddball rare powerups that SMB3 had.

Mead posted...

Metroid

The game downright sucks

I agree that the first Metroid is pretty lame, but I don't think it's really held in high enough regard to be considered overrated. That reminds me, though, the first Legend of Zelda might be my new answer instead of SM64.

I always hear people complain about Yoshi in SMW, but you didn't have to use him and he honestly held you back from being able to perform some maneuvers.

I just think the levels are a lot more enjoyable in SMW, they have the perfect length. In Yoshi's Island they were too long, in SMB3 they were too short.
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jayj420 posted...

I just think the levels are a lot more enjoyable in SMW, they have the perfect length. In Yoshi's Island they were too long, in SMB3 they were too short.

But SMB3 has a lot more levels AFAIK. And some levels were short to take advantage of a concept, like the one where you have to run on all the Munchers and collect stars. That level wouldn't be fun if it was really long. And it's such a simple idea, but it was novel, and it's the kind of risk Mario games since don't really take. Having more levels also means more opportunities to take risks.

The sun chase level is also a similar idea, and that one is iconic.

DorkLink posted...

jayj420 posted...

I just think the levels are a lot more enjoyable in SMW, they have the perfect length. In Yoshi's Island they were too long, in SMB3 they were too short.

But SMB3 has a lot more levels AFAIK. And some levels were short to take advantage of a concept, like the one where you have to run on all the Munchers and collect stars. That level wouldn't be fun if it was really long. And it's such a simple idea, but it was novel, and it's the kind of risk Mario games since don't really take. Having more levels also means more opportunities to take risks.

The sun chase level is also a similar idea, and that one is iconic.

SMW had tons of levels, and a lot more secrets.
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I still think it had fewer levels overall, and some of the levels being secrets diminished their impact for me. The Star World and Special World levels were memorable, but I would have been fine with just those levels. The in-between secrets scattered all over the place were unnecessary. And I'd rather play two short levels with few secrets than one level with a secret exit that requires me to play the majority of the level twice to get both paths.

jayj420 posted...

DeathMagnetic80 posted...

Firewood18 posted...

Imagine watching The Wizard as a kid and seeing Mario 3 unveiled as the final challenge in the movie before the game came out. That was the ultimate hype.

I was just telling my wife the other day how hype that was when I was a kid. Personally, my favorite Mario game is Super Mario World. IMO it took everything SMB3 did well and expanded on it, with more exploration in levels, all the secret levels, etc. That being said, SMB3 is still a ton of fun, maybe there's some nostalgia attached, but I was 9, going on 10 when it released. The variety in levels and power ups was mind blowing at the time. We went from the Star, Mushroom and Fire Flower and added the Tanooki Suit, Raccoon Suit, Frog Suit and Hammer Bros Suit. Having that many new power ups was amazing back then. To the TC, you have to rate a game against what was going on at the time, and at the time, there was no doubt that SMB3 was the best game of it's kind, hence why it's rated so highly.

Yeah but that doesn't do anything for people who didn't grow up like that. Most people who play games these days didn't grow up as an 80's kid.

True, but, IMO Nintendo still hasn't really surpassed SMB3 or World when it comes to 2D platform Mario games. The New Super Mario Bros series is fun, but doesn't quite scratch that itch for me. They feel more influenced by the original Super Mario Bros and building on that feel vs 3 and World.

DorkLink posted...

Huh, that's a new one. Usually people just say Ocarina of Time.


Super Mario 64 is the most overrated Nintendo game that I've played.

I didn't care for that one either though I am not big on Mario games. They're all hard. A few years ago I played Super Mario World on game boy advance til I got stuck in it and couldn't beat the 2nd boss level. The only Mario game I could beat was Donkey Kong on Gameboy. Also I think the most overrated game of all time is Tetris. That game is boring.
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Super Mario Land had pretty long levels. I think a lot of people don't realize it because of everything being so tiny, but on average, most of the levels are longer than Super Mario World's levels (and even the shortest level is longer than most Mario 3 levels).

Super Mario Bros. 3 has levels as long as they need to be, really. Short levels aren't necessarily bad. A lot of levels would run out of steam if they were made too long.
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GreenGoblinOck posted...

I didn't care for that one either though I am not big on Mario games. They're all hard. A few years ago I played Super Mario World on game boy advance til I got stuck in it and couldn't beat the 2nd boss level.

Wow, you suck at video games

DorkLink posted...

GreenGoblinOck posted...

I didn't care for that one either though I am not big on Mario games. They're all hard. A few years ago I played Super Mario World on game boy advance til I got stuck in it and couldn't beat the 2nd boss level.

Wow, you suck at video games

I admit I do. I usually can't beat any modern game except on the easiest difficulty. Except Spider-Man Web of Shadows though that doesn't have difficulty levels.
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GreenGoblinOck posted...

DorkLink posted...

GreenGoblinOck posted...

I didn't care for that one either though I am not big on Mario games. They're all hard. A few years ago I played Super Mario World on game boy advance til I got stuck in it and couldn't beat the 2nd boss level.

Wow, you suck at video games

I admit I do. I usually can't beat any modern game except on the easiest difficulty. Except Spider-Man Web of Shadows though that doesn't have difficulty levels.

Well at least you have a good attitude
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Are you old enough to have played it when it first came out?

Duck-I-Says posted...

Are you old enough to have played it when it first came out?

No, not that old thankfully

I grew up with SMW
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Amen

SMW Feather >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> shitty raccoon suit

And it isn't even close.
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I asked because unfortunately most NES games that were revolutionary at the time don't hold up when played later. It's kind of like how young people are always talking about how Seinfeld doesn't hold up and is just like dozens of other comedy shows without realizing that's only the case because a ton of other later comedies borrowed heavily from it.

SMB3 wouldn't even be in the running for most overrated Nintendo game.

jayj420 posted...

The levels are all so short, the game doesn't live up well if you aren't nostalgic for it, it's honestly a very overrated game considering how people seem to think it's perfect.

Some of the levels are short, other levels are of a good length. Otherwise your complaints are nonspecific and vague. Hardly a compelling case.

And, in general, it still keeps much of the difficulty absent from later games and there's less content that feels like filler. The only other 2D Mario that *might* approach it is the NSMB Wii although even that has its issues, especially given the slow start which is typical of the NSMB series.

DorkLink posted...

Huh, that's a new one. Usually people just say Ocarina of Time.

Super Mario 64 is the most overrated Nintendo game that I've played.

I prefer SM64 to the remake. And yeah, the buzz for OoT is far bigger than anything else Nintendo has done.
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Duck-I-Says posted...

I asked because unfortunately most NES games that were revolutionary at the time don't hold up when played later. It's kind of like how young people are always talking about how Seinfeld doesn't hold up and is just like dozens of other comedy shows without realizing that's only the case because a ton of other later comedies borrowed heavily from it.

I'm especially annoyed because the cape died.

Why would I want to tap A when I can hold A?? Why wouldn't I want those weird flying controls instead of not having them? It even looked better imo, but every Mario from now on has the raccoon suit.
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Yellow posted...

I'm especially annoyed because the cape died.

Why would I want to tap A when I can hold A?? Why wouldn't I want those weird flying controls instead of not having them? It even looked better imo, but every Mario from now on has the raccoon suit.

The cape was pretty awesome, but I prefer the hammer suit and tanooki suit.

mostly agree, it's always been ok at best. SMB1 was mind-blowing as a kid, SMB2 was also awesome, SMB3 was ok, and then SMW was more than mind-blowing (really you have no idea how orgasmic the jump to the SNES was...).

I remember being at a video game party where you had a gaming station and could ask for any NES game and they'd bring it and you could play it. I asked for "mario" expecting SMB1 but they brought SMB3, and I was like "wtf is this shit!?".
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Zeus posted...

I prefer SM64 to the remake.

To the remake... of what? Of itself? Ocarina of Time? SMB3? I didn't mention anything about a remake so I really don't know what point you're trying to make here

Duck-I-Says posted...

Yellow posted...

I'm especially annoyed because the cape died.

Why would I want to tap A when I can hold A?? Why wouldn't I want those weird flying controls instead of not having them? It even looked better imo, but every Mario from now on has the raccoon suit.

The cape was pretty awesome, but I prefer the hammer suit and tanooki suit.

The cape (much like Yoshi) was overpowered. In open air levels you could just fly over pretty much the whole thing with the glide. Of course they still could have nerfed it for later games, but then it would basically just be like having the Tanooki. I understand why they went with the Tanooki suit/tail, because it's more iconic. It was introduction to Mario flying. A cape is also very generic, but the Tanooki is this mystical power that most non-Japanese audiences associate specifically with Mario (although it actually comes from Japanese legend and Nintendo didn't invent it).

jayj420 posted...

Yeah but that doesn't do anything for people who didn't grow up like that. Most people who play games these days didn't grow up as an 80's kid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_culture

The average age of someone who plays games is 31 years old. In fact, more gamers are over the age of 36 than between the ages of 18 to 35 or under the age of 18.
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Smarkil posted...

jayj420 posted...

Yeah but that doesn't do anything for people who didn't grow up like that. Most people who play games these days didn't grow up as an 80's kid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_culture

The average age of someone who plays games is 31 years old. In fact, more gamers are over the age of 36 than between the ages of 18 to 35 or under the age of 18.

So most gamers are 90s kids. The difference between 80s kids and 90s kids is huge as far as video games go.
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Sahuagin posted...

SMB2 was also awesome, SMB3 was ok

You're the first person I've ever seen rank 2 over 3.

Duck-I-Says posted...

Sahuagin posted...

SMB2 was also awesome, SMB3 was ok

You're the first person I've ever seen rank 2 over 3.

well, I was describing my initial reaction to them as a kid. as an adult I would say that SMB3 is probably a technically better game, but I still enjoy 2 more.

3 does lots of things good, too, though. for one, it's an impossibly good NES game in terms of technical quality. it almost might as well be a SNES game except for the lack of colors and lower sound quality.

3 has one of the best Bowser fights ever, it has the whole dark world army thing, nothing beats the airship theme especially accompanied by the cannon blasts and lightning. (though now that I think of it, ALL of that is significantly better in Mario All-Stars)

also, I am glossing over a time when I did think it was the best mario game so far, but it was very shortlived. SMW is better in almost every way except maybe challenge. and nowadays I just don't enjoy basically anything about 3 except maybe as I mentioned the airship theme and world 8.

what's great about 2 is how unique it is; it has such interesting and innovative gameplay for a 2d platformer, it's too bad there aren't more games that borrow its style.
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I wonder if Nintendo will ever make a sequel with the same gameplay as Super Mario Bros 2.
That game is underappreciated as fuck.
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You say that as if all NIntendo games are equally as overrated.
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zelda
splatoon
mario party
pokemon snap
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Duck-I-Says posted...

Are you old enough to have played it when it first came out?

I am. Though as a kid my parents did buy a NES til they got rid of it when me and my 3 older siblings would fight over whose turn it was. Frankly because of lack of multiplayer modes, there wasn't really a good solution to that. We never had another game system after that. Except a PC which we weren't allowed to play anything but education games like Carmen Sandiago or Kid Pix.
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Too lazy to try and untangle the SMB 2 discussion via quotes on mobile, but you're also forgetting that SMB 2 was already a reskin of a game called Doki Doki Panic. It's sort of a side story that was adopted into the Mario lore in a dream, which raises many questions about how enemies like Birdo and Shyguy show up in nearly every title since. The actual SMB2 was what was released in the west as "The Lost Levels" and was deemed too hard for Western audiences.

Now for SMB 3. Judging any retro title through the lens of modern gaming is extremely unfair, just as it is for television shows and movies. SMB3 was a product of it's time and the limitations of it's hardware and was remarkable for it's time, and as a platformer I still feel it holds up quite well. So does SMW in fact.if anything, I'd say those two games alone have withstood the test of time better than any remake or remaster of something like SM64 ever will.
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I think pokemon snap is the most overrated nintendo game. Pretty decent concept, but sooooo boring.

It's definitely the best of the Mario bros trilogy but yeah SMW and SM64 are both superior if you ask me

BotW is easily the most overhyped game Nintendo has ever made. That was the final nail in the coffin for them as far as I'm concerned.
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SlashmanSG posted...

BotW is easily the most overhyped game Nintendo has ever made. That was the final nail in the coffin for them as far as I'm concerned.

Did you even play it, or are you one of those people who gets angry when people are excited over something that doesn't excite you