Played it for the first time in last year and beat it. Such an awesome game, still stands as one of the most creative and greatest 2D platformers ever made, this is one of the pinnacles of core, pure 2D platforming.
At least half of the levels in Mario 3 (and every world in the game too of course) introduces new enemies with new behaviors and also new kinds of platforms or gimmicks overall. The game constantly builds up them until in Worlds 5 and 6 they are finally ready to fully cut loose and mix almost all of the enemies, gimmicks and platforms previously introduced together! The result is the most creative level design in the game, pure, creative and challenging platforming bliss at its purest, core essence that makes earlier worlds seem tame in comparison. This is no criticism of the previous worlds, they are really well designed too, it's just that World 5 and 6 in retrospect are clearly more exciting, this should be expected and it is a sign of good game design because it shows how well paced the game is when introducing new enemies, platforms and gimmicks in previous worlds: the constant additions hold the player's interest and keep the game from becoming stale while the game is also careful to not overwhelm the player with them, it's almost perfectly paced. With exception of level 6-5, the design of Worlds 5 and 6 is near faultless, a model of consistency and tight level design.
The best and most creative fortresses in the game are also from Worlds 5 and 6. Traditional platforming at its pinnacle even today! Worlds 7 and 8 still have good levels with creative ideas, but they lack the consistency and pure platforming focus that Worlds 5 and 6 have. That's why I don't think that Worlds 7 and 8 are as good as Worlds 5 and 6. With this exception, I would say that each world in Mario 3 gets progressively better and more interesting, more exciting, than the previous one, though I rank World 3 slightly above World 4.
I would rank the worlds in Mario 3 like this:
1-Ice Land (World 6)
2-Sky Land (World 5)
3-Pipe Land (World 7)
4-Water Land (World 3)
5-Dark Land (World 8)
6-Giant Land (World 4)
7-Desert Land (World 2)
8-Grass Land (World 1)
At least half of the levels in Mario 3 (and every world in the game too of course) introduces new enemies with new behaviors and also new kinds of platforms or gimmicks overall. The game constantly builds up them until in Worlds 5 and 6 they are finally ready to fully cut loose and mix almost all of the enemies, gimmicks and platforms previously introduced together! The result is the most creative level design in the game, pure, creative and challenging platforming bliss at its purest, core essence that makes earlier worlds seem tame in comparison. This is no criticism of the previous worlds, they are really well designed too, it's just that World 5 and 6 in retrospect are clearly more exciting, this should be expected and it is a sign of good game design because it shows how well paced the game is when introducing new enemies, platforms and gimmicks in previous worlds: the constant additions hold the player's interest and keep the game from becoming stale while the game is also careful to not overwhelm the player with them, it's almost perfectly paced. With exception of level 6-5, the design of Worlds 5 and 6 is near faultless, a model of consistency and tight level design.
The best and most creative fortresses in the game are also from Worlds 5 and 6. Traditional platforming at its pinnacle even today! Worlds 7 and 8 still have good levels with creative ideas, but they lack the consistency and pure platforming focus that Worlds 5 and 6 have. That's why I don't think that Worlds 7 and 8 are as good as Worlds 5 and 6. With this exception, I would say that each world in Mario 3 gets progressively better and more interesting, more exciting, than the previous one, though I rank World 3 slightly above World 4.
I would rank the worlds in Mario 3 like this:
1-Ice Land (World 6)
2-Sky Land (World 5)
3-Pipe Land (World 7)
4-Water Land (World 3)
5-Dark Land (World 8)
6-Giant Land (World 4)
7-Desert Land (World 2)
8-Grass Land (World 1)
