My Favorite Game

1. Super Mario Bros. 3

Some might say that Super Mario World was the best Mario game, but I beg to differ. Super Mario World took the concepts that Mario 3 had already laid down and added thing to them, but for true trailblazing, Super Mario Bros. 3 wins hands down.

It wasn't just that they added slanted surfaces for the first time, along with some basic physics (It was more difficult to run up a hill than down it, for the first time!). It wasn't just the great suits, like the Raccoon Suit or the Hammer Suit, that made Mario 3 great. It wasn't the wide variety of levels, like the awesome Sky World that was connected with a tower to the mainland. It was the rock-solid level design that pushed Mario 3 over the top.

In every level, there were secrets and areas that you didn't know existed, sometimes until years later. There were multiple ways of finishing most levels. The game was challenging at points, but not impossible. There were optional castles and levels. Then you had one of the best, most atmospheric final worlds in gaming history, combined with an excellent final castle and legitimately unique boss battle, and all of it ended up to be one of the best games of all time.

Now, I'm not saying that Mario 3 was perfect. They should have let you go back and replay levels, and some of the levels were far too short. They took a lot of these ideas and ran with them in Super Mario World, but Mario 3 did it first and Mario 3 did it best.