Super Mario Bros. 3

I think the sequel that had the most impact is probably Super Mario Bros 3. In terms of quality and innovation, it was leaps and bounds better than the original Super Mario Bros 2 released in Japan. Much better powerups, a map that let you choose what levels you’d go to, tons of little secrets to find, warp whistles, and overall so much better when it came to gameplay and level design. – Straw Hat

Super Mario 3 had an impact that no Mario game had until Mario 64, but even then. Nintendo was at its peak of dominance in the US market. You didn’t go play video games, you went to go play Nintendo. Everyone had a Nintendo.

Maybe some kids got a Genesis, but never had a NES…but every kid I knew had an NES. I was in elementary school, every boy in class talked about Nintendo games, Captain N and the Super Mario Brothers Super Show were on TV (with Zelda on Fridays), and there was cereal. Nintendo’s comparative dominance was insane. They marketed the fuck out of that game. – BigBudd45