We’re getting to that point where most of the games I have yet to cover fall somewhere on my “Top Favorites” list. I haven’t talked about most of them since I fear I won’t be able to do them justice. But since I can’t put them off forever, have one of my faves.

See, of all the traditional platforming Mario games (aka, not Kart/RPG/etc.) … this has always been my favorite:

Maybe it’s the solid gameplay. Or the catchy music. Or the quirky design. Or all of the above. All I know is that sometimes, when I have 20 or 30 minutes to kill and nothing else to do, I can pull out SMB3 and play through the first world for the millionth time and enjoy every freaking second of it.

Come on, guys. You KNOW this music makes you happy.

There were a ton of secrets in this game– getting “behind” the trees and bushes for one, or those warp whistles that would take you to far off levels. I knew and played around with all the secrets, but one day I sat down, determined to play through the whole thing from start to finish without the whistle.

…I got to about halfway through world seven and couldn’t get any farther. Curse you freaking pipe maze!

Still, seven of eight isn’t bad, and eight is pretty near impossible anyway from what I’ve played by using the whistles, so it’s not like I ever would’ve beaten it anyway.

Man. Thinking about that Pipe World still makes me shudder a bit.

Really, though, have you ever just sat down and thought about the Mushroom Kingdom? It’s filled with flying turtles, pipes with plants that shoot fire at you, airships, raccoon suits that make you fly, and shoes that you can bounce around in.

…

I want to live there.

I hope it’s the SMB 3 version.

P.S. – WHO REMEMBERS THE MCDONALDS HAPPY MEAL TOYS??

Because I seriously had all of them. The Goomba didn’t work very well, though.