Super Mario Bros. 3 [Model HVC-UM]

Super Mario Bros. 3 was released on October 23, 1988 (Sunday) in Japan at a retail price of 6,500 JPY. It was considered by many as the best in the series. Including export versions, the game sold nearly 30 million copies worldwide.

The development of this game took approximately 2 years, making a debut in September/October 1986.

The Fujitsu FM R-50 HD business computer was used to create all the pixel art for Super Mario Bros 3. It was an IBM-PC compatible which ran a version of MS-DOS.

Super Mario Bros. 3 was previewed in the movie 'The Wizard', starring Fred Savage. And it was also previewed in the US market via the PlayChoice-10 machine BEFORE its Nintendo NES release.

During the game, Mario can find Warp flutes (see Tips and Tricks section for more information), which will take him to a new area of the game. When using the flutes, the tune played is the exact melody used from the flute in The Legend of Zelda.

During a 2-player game, the Battle Mode (a variation on the original Mario Bros. arcade game from 1983) can be accessed when Mario and Luigi occupy the same spot on the map screen.

The names of the Koopalings were influenced by many pop culture icons as well as one historical icon:
* Ludwig Von Koopa is named after composer Ludwig Von Beethoven
* Lemmy Koopa is named after Lemmy Kilmeister (the lead singer of Motorhead)
* Morton Koopa is named after controversial talk show host Morton Downey Jr.
* Iggy Koopa is named after Iggy Pop
* Larry Koopa is named after talk show host Larry King
* Roy Koopa is named after singer Roy Orbison
* Wendy O. Koopa is named after shock rocker Wendy O. Williams