Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario Bros. 3
Developers: Nintendo EAD, SRD Publishers: Nintendo (JP/US/EU/AU), Hyundai (KR) Platforms: NES, Arcade (PlayChoice-10) Released in JP: October 23, 1988 Released in US: July 15, 1989 (PlayChoice-10), February 12, 1990 (NES) Released in EU: August 29, 1991 Released in AU: 1991 Released in KR: 1990 This game has unused areas. This game has unused code. This game has unused enemies. This game has unused objects. This game has unused modes / minigames. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prerelease article This game has a Data Crystal page

Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the best-selling games of all time, and with good reason. It was a huge improvement over Super Mario Bros., with new powerups, more levels, Toad Houses, new mechanics, and so much more.

See also: leaked development materials for the SNES port included in Super Mario All-Stars.

Sub-Pages

Prerelease Info

Unused Levels 17 levels only accessible by hacking.

Unused Graphics Quite a bit packed in here.

Unfinished Bonus Games Bonus game data left in the ROM.

Version Differences "Miss twice and your out."

Developer Debug Leftovers

There are some leftover debug routines in the game, but none can be accessed without cheat devices or hacking.

Level Select and Debug Menu/Mode

On Japanese, US and European versions, Game Genie code KKKZSPIU activates a level select and debug mode.

On the title screen:

• Press Up or Down to select a world to start on.
• Press A to increase the number of lives by 5 (a tile will change each time you press the button).
• A + B + Down on Controller 2 warps you to the Princess' chamber at the end of the game.
• A + B + Right warps you straight to the final curtain.

When you start a game, your item box will be filled with one of every item plus an extra Warp Whistle, and the remaining slots will be filled with P-Wings. During gameplay:

• Press Select on Controller 1 to cycle through all of Mario's forms.
• A / B + Select gives Mario a Goomba's Shoe (it may look messed up in some levels, but will otherwise work fine).

Additionally, you'll have infinite time - it will still tick, but Mario won't die once it runs out.

The menu shown in the picture was found elsewhere in the ROM and hacked into the title screen; it doesn't appear if you use the Game Genie code by itself. Apply this IPS patch to a Super Mario Bros. 3 ROM to see it for yourself.

Originally, it appears that this menu would have been accessible from the "1 PLAYER" / "2 PLAYER" selection menu if player 2 was holding A + B. It is also possible that this served some other purpose, but the above menu would be the most likely candidate. See Disassembly source for PRG bank #24, search for "Title_Do1P2PMenu:" Interestingly, the button check is still there but the action it was supposed to perform was overwritten with a series of NOP (no operation) instructions, likely done just before release.

(Source: menu found by BMF54123; code created by David Wonn; disassembly by Southbird)

Disconnected Debug Leftovers

Even if you enable the debug mode above, there are a couple of leftover routines that remain inaccessible. These routines do not seem to pay attention to the aforementioned debug flag, so either the check is simply lost to time or these routines were hardwired to always work. The latter would make sense why they are disconnected from the source.

• Free Movement Mode - Unclear how this would be accessed, but would allow you to use the D-Pad to move around the level (see disassembly source for PRG bank #0, search for "$C3EA").
• Toggled Invincibility - Pressing Select would toggle whether you were completely invulnerable (see disassembly source for PRG bank #0, search for "$C91B"; this behavior could be easily restored by retargeting the JMP instruction or moving the Objects_HandleScrollAndUpdate label since this method would fall through into normal game code).

(Source: Southbird)

Unused 2P Respawn Feature

In a 2P Vs. match, there is an unused game code which causes a player to respawn when they die. They will respawn flashing and invincible until the player moves them. This behavior can be restored using Game Genie code ATUZPKOZ...which as a side effect also breaks logic for exiting after enough points have been earned.

(Source: Southbird)

Unused Objects

(Additional information: Southbird)

Object 00

Bank ID: ??
Object ID: 00
It has code that makes it move (up to a certain speed) based on player input when the player is "touching" it. What purpose this may have ever served is unclear. It may have just been used to test out collision.

Object 02

Bank ID: ??
Object ID: 02
This one is destroyed by its initialization routine if the player is not standing on two of the same tile, otherwise, it starts at a vertical height matching the player +32 (roughly at the player's feet) and moves upward at some changing speed by peculiar logic.

Object 04

Bank ID: 00
Object ID: 04

Note: This is not how the object actually appears in-game. Image is for reference only.

A very odd object. The tiles that actually make up this object are no longer in the ROM, but it was supposed to use tiles B0-BF. It faces the player upon initialization. If Mario/Luigi collides with this object, it will stick to him like a Micro-Goomba and will never come off, but it doesn't hinder his movement. It can be killed with a Koopa shell or Hammer.

Object 05

Bank ID: 00
Object ID: 05

Note: This is not how the object actually appears in-game. Image is for reference only.

Another weird sprite. The tiles that actually make up this object are no longer in the ROM, but it was supposed to use tiles A0-A7. This object walks around like a normal enemy. At a certain point in its walk cycle, it will jump up to Mario/Luigi's Y position and then fall back down.

Interestingly, walking into it will bounce Mario/Luigi in the opposite direction. The only way to get damaged by this object is to let it fall on you. It can be destroyed with a Koopa shell or Hammer.

Object 0A

Bank ID: 00
Object ID: 0A

Note: This is the best fit for this object's graphics, but it may not be correct; the graphics depicted here are those of the Bolt Lift object.

A simple stationary object that can be "pushed" by Mario/Luigi. Its collision detection doesn't seem to be complete, though, since it can be pushed into walls.

Object 1C

Bank ID: ??
Object ID: 1C
Probably the most perplexing object, this causes something to fly off towards the player, out into the sky, leaving a mushroom gliding along where it spawned. This might have been like the bushes in Super Mario World where you run by them and a mushroom pops out, though the functionality is not nearly complete enough to be used that way.

Card Objects

Bank ID: 00
Object ID: 21 (Mushroom), 22 (Fire Flower), 23 (Star)

Stationary object versions of the cards found at the end of each level! Collecting them will add the appropriate card to your inventory, but there's nothing in this object's code to handle when the card collected is the third card.

Getting to the goal with three of the same card won't trigger the 1-Up bonus. You still have to get the appropriate third card from the goal.

Peculiarly, this object calls a subroutine coined "Object_MoveAndReboundOffWall" (which would be a great function for just about every ground troop in the game, but only this object actually calls it), even though the object never moves.

Tan Cheep-Cheep

Bank ID: 00
Object ID: 88 (Single), D2 (Trio)

This Cheep-Cheep variant only appears in the seventh unused level. In that level, they always show up in groups of three (though sprite overload often keeps at least one from appearing), but a single enemy version is in the code.

It swims across the screen in a strange wavy pattern and is considerably faster than the standard red or green varieties.

Green Para-Beetle

Object ID: N/A

This can only be spawned with the unused Para-Beetle Swarm object (see below). It flies faster than the Red Para-Beetle, but otherwise, there's no difference between the two.

Bouncing Object

Bank ID: ??
Object ID: B3
A peculiar object that basically behaves similarly to a Spiny Egg, but has glitched graphics. It can also curiously be "bounced" by a bounce block to turn around. Its purpose is unknown, maybe it was a rolling spike ball or something of that sort?

Para-Beetle Swarm

Bank ID: 00
Object ID: B7
A control object that will spawn Green and Red Para-Beetles on the left and right sides of the screen. It's used in the ninth and tenth unused levels.

Unused Level Palettes

Some level types have unused palettes. Not many, though.

Fortress

Palette (Used)	Palette 2 (Unused)

Fortress palette #2 is a green version of the standard fortress color scheme.

Giant

Giant stage palette #2 uses shades of gray with blue water.

Plains

Plains palette #1, featuring a sky with a pinkish hue.

Palette 2 (Used)	Palette 6 (Unused)

Palette #6 is nearly identical to the used Palette #2. The only difference is that the blue rectangles are blue-green.

Hidden Objects

There are a few stages with objects or scenery hidden behind other objects, possible remnants of older level designs.

Hidden Tile	In-Game

A single brick is hidden behind the waterfall in World 4-1.

Hidden Tile	In-Game

A cloud appears behind the first slope in World 5-2.

Unused White Airship

There's unused, fully functional code that spawns a White Airship on the World Map after collecting enough coins in a level.

The logic for this is shared with the White Mushroom House spawner: a special sprite is placed in any level that can spawn a White Mushroom House/White Airship, and its Y coordinate determines the coin requirement. If it is even, the level will spawn a White Mushroom House, if it is odd, it will spawn a White Airship. However, because all levels in the game have an even coin requirement, they will always spawn a White Mushroom House, rendering the White Airship unused.

While the spawn logic itself is still fully functional and can be triggered by using a level editor to place the spawner sprite at an odd Y coordinate, the rest isn't: the White Airship will always spawn at a fixed position on the World Map, no matter if there actually is a path there, and entering the White Airship takes Mario to the underground part of 7-5; a level layout for the White Airship doesn't seem to exist in the game.

The White Airship logic was carried over to Super Mario All-Stars, and works the same way there, although the White Airship doesn't have a palette defined to it so it will just appear as a regular airship. It even works in Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, although entering the White Airship there just locks up the game.

(Source: Retro Game Mechanics Explained)

Oddities

"Toad Suit"

The Hammer Suit item that pops out of large ? Blocks doesn't look like the actual power-up. While this design has sometimes been interpreted as a "toad suit", it is most likely meant to be based on the Hammer Bros. themselves, judging by the shape of the "helmet". The other items stored next to it, the Frog and Tanooki Suits, match their inventory sprites, so why this one is different is a complete mystery. This oversight was fixed in the remakes.

Jelectro Coins

Hitting a P-Switch in a level with Jelectros will cause them to turn into silver coins. However, the effect is purely visual, and Mario/Luigi will still get hurt if they try to collect one. This doesn't occur in the remakes.

Opening Curtains

In-Game	Fixed

The curtains that appear before the title screen have two colors, just like the curtains that appear on the title screen properly and during the ending. However, the highlights are drawn using the transparent part of the palette, and since the background is black during the opening, this causes them to appear black as well, making the curtains look a bit odd. Switching around the colors using a graphic editor will fix this.