Super Mario Bros 3 Design

Super Mario Bros. 3 Level Design Lessons, Part 1 I recently decided to play through the All-Stars version of SMB 3 without using any Warp Whistles.

SMB 3's playful title screen has Mario & Luigi messing around with a bunch of  enemies and powerups. powerups. The sequence is fun to watch but it also ser!es as a  great pre!iew pre!iew of numerous numerous game mechanics mechanics.. I suspect that the majority of people who replay the game are familiar with the secret and use it to sip to the last world. !his also means "ooming past a plethora of well designed levels. It#s $een my ha$it as well% $ut this time I resolved to e&perience SMB 3 in its entirety.

A lot of small% geometric stages later% here#s an overview of what I found to $e the most nota$le points in the first world'

1). World 1-1

As with the original Super Mario Bros.% the ()( Blocs are Blocs are encountered encountered as soon as the game $egins. Since they utili"e a fairly universal sym$ol for a *uestion% they inherently invite the player to investigate. In addition to $eing positioned over Mario#s head% a slowly approaching +oom$a +oom$a encourages  encourages the player to jump up and discover that hitting the $locs from $elow can yield rewards ,in this case% some oins oins and  and a Super Mushroom. Mushroom. !he red /enus 0ire !r !rap ap is  is also introduced here and -- in typical Mario fashion -- doesn#t respawn if  illed and only comes out if Mario isn#t standing ne&t to its pipe ,or on top of it. Although the player can#t go down this particular pipe% the fact that an enemy emerges from it hints at the possi$ility of Mario $eing a$le to do the same. 2). World 1-1

Immediately after collecting the mushroom powerup% the player is presented with a red 1oopa !roopa%% an enemy that hides in its shell after a successful jump attac. !roopa If the 1oopa !roopa !roopa is touched while in this state% it *uicly slides away from Mario. Although the $ig white $loc is a $it in the way% the player can still accomplish this feat fairly easily. If he does% he#ll learn that shells can $e used to activate ()( $locs ,which is the only way to do it in this case as the $loc cannot $e hit from $elow while discovering the game#s new powerup' the Super 2eaf . Immediately to the right% a strip of flat land with three enemies -- one of them a red aragoom$a aragoom$a - -- lets the player e&periment with 4accoon Mario#s glide and spin-attac mechanics.

3). World 1-1

0ollowing 0ollowing the three +oom$as ,which don#t respawn if illed% leaving the strip clean of enemies% a diagonal trail of coins leads up into the sy. !he player must jump over a $ottomless pit at the end of this runway and is encouraged to collect the coins% so it maes sense for him to get a running start and jump as high and far as possi$le.

When the player starts running% a 567 meter fills up% the running animation changes% and an urgent sound effect $egins looping in the $acground. All these events signify that something important is happening% and when the player jumps and soars into the sy% the screen -- for the first time in a Mario game -- $egins to scroll hori"ontally hori"ontally and vertically at the same time. 4). World 1-1

As soon as Mario lands on a series of clouds% he finds an isolated Bric Bloc that Bloc that floats in the air much lie the ()( $locs. !his similarity encourages the player to interact with it in much the same way% i.e.% $y hitting it% which yields the first 8-6p Mushroom. Mushroom.

!he clouds continue to the right creating another clear runway that ends with a trail of coins. In a dare of sorts% the coins as the player to throw caution to the wind and mae a $lind leap into the unnown. !he newly ac*uired flying a$ility is *uite thrilling and li$erating% and having just earned an e&tra life% it stands to reason that most players would want to pursue the e&tra treasure. 7oing so taes Mario off-screen and gradually lowers him $y a tall pipe.

With no other o$vious place to go% the game stresses the significance of the pipe. If the player figures out how to enter it% its path leads him to a neat little 9aster 9gg' a room filled with coins that are arranged to form the num$er 3.

5). World 1-1

If the player misses the opportunity opportunity to fly up to the cloud passage% the ne&t two sections serve to introduce some new enemies. !he first contains a green 1oopa !roopa !roopa and three green 1oopa aratroopas that aratroopas  that drop from the sy ,hinting that there#s something up a$ove. !he aratroopas demonstrate their a$ility to jump onto and fall down from platforms% while the two pits to the sides serve as an opening to show that enemies can also fall to their deaths. !he second area contains a iranha lant and lant and a green /enus 0ire !rap. !heir pro&imity maes it more liely that the player will have to stop $y one of them on his route to the level#s end. If he does% he#ll have another opportunity to discover that the plants can#t come out of pipes if Mario is standing near them. !he immo$ile version of Super Mario will also encourage the discovery of crouching in order to dodge the fire$alls% and a 4accoon Mario will get a chance to dispatch the plants with his spin-attac. ). World 1-1

4ight $efore the level#s end% the player encounters two grounded piles of Bric Blocs. Since the player had two previous chances to pic up a Super 2eaf% he#s liely to try the spin-attac on these glowing o$jects as there#s no way to hit them from $elow.

In addition to this lesson% there#s also a solitary red 1oopa !roopa pacing atop the second group of $locs. Since the player already had a few chances to learn that 1oopa !roopa shells can tae out other enemies and activate powerups% he might try to do the same here. If he does% the shell will $rea through a $unch of Bric Blocs and leave one of them uno$structed. If Mario hits this $loc from $elow ,or spin-attacs it from the side% it will reveal a -Switch. !he -Switch functionality immediately turns all the remaining $rics into coins and plays a jaunty countdown theme. When the countdown ends% the remaining coins turn $ac into Bric Blocs% teaching the player that the transformation is only temporary. !he music change is important as there are no other visual cues to indicate if and when the $locs will return to their original form.

!). World 1-1

!he final part of the stage is segmented $y a jagged $lac line that spans the height of the map. !his clearly denotes the end of the level while eeping with Super Mario Bros. 3#s stage motif -crossing this $oundary is almost lie stepping $ehind a curtain.

!he only o$ject in this area is an animating +oal anel that instantly draws the player#s attention and ends the stage when touched. Since the floor leading up to it is flat% it encourages the player to run in at full speed and jump into the panel. More often than not% this rewards the player with a star% the $est possi$le +oal anel pri"e. "). World 1-2

As soon as the second level $egins% the player is introduced to slopes and gets to e&periment with how they affect Mario#s movement. :nce Mario reaches the f irst pea% he can also dispatch a +oom$a with the slide-attac while $eing pursued $y more +oom$as spawning out of a hori"ontal pipe.

#). World 1-2

!he second major area in the level shows an almost unreacha$le series of coins% a floating pipe with a /enus 0ire !rap% and some Bric Blocs located just a$ove the ground. !he player is liely to collect most of the coins and then attempt to $rea through the Bric Blocs% and perhaps learn the run-then-duc-to-slide maneuver.

If the first $loc is hit% it reveals a -Switch. 6nlie the -Switch in the first level% this one turns coins into other Bric Blocs. !his results in the coins ,or at least what#s left of them $eing transformed into a path that leads up to the pipe. !his clearly la$els the pipe as a destination and allows Mario to use it to get to another $onus room.

1$). World 1-2

!he final new o$ject introduced in level ; is the