Super Mario Bros. 3 | Best-Selling Video Game of All Time

Super Mario Bros. 3 is a platform action-adventure game for the Famicom and NES and is the fourth installment in the Super Mario series. It was released for consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990, and in Europe and Australia on August 29, 1991. Prior to its North American release on the NES, Super Mario Bros. 3 was ported to the Nintendo PlayChoice-10. The first game in the series since Super Mario Bros. to not derive its gameplay from another game, Super Mario Bros. 3 retains the same level-based platformer mechanics of previous titles. These core mechanics are iterated upon, featuring greatly expanded levels, several new power-ups, new enemies and bosses, a more fleshed-out multiplayer mode, a world map, and many optional levels and secrets. The game has gone on to become one of the most influential titles for the Mario franchise, and several elements introduced in this title have since become franchise mainstays, including landscape-themed worlds, the Koopalings, airships, and Toad Houses.

The game features a unique stage play-Esque aesthetic, with objects being bolted to the background or suspended by ropes, and casting drop-shadows. Additionally, the end of most levels features Mario traveling "off-stage" on a black backdrop to complete them. This led to a long-standing rumor that the game was a stage play put on by the Mario cast, an idea later confirmed by series creator Shigeru Miyamoto. Some of these aesthetic choices were changed or removed in remakes of the game.

Super Mario Bros. 3 has received near-universal critical acclaim since its release and is one of the best-selling NES and Super Mario games of all time. The game has received several re-releases on other platforms, including full remakes for the SNES compilation game Super Mario All-Stars and on the Game Boy Advance as Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. It is also featured on all of Nintendo's Virtual Console services, as well as Nintendo Switch Online.

A cartoon adaptation of the game known as The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 started airing shortly after the release of the game. In the cartoon, King Koopa and the Koopalings attempt to take over both the real world and the Mushroom Kingdom. The series was produced by DIC Entertainment Productions in association with Nintendo.