You have to realize that the missing features you complain about hadn't been introduced in the era of SMB3.
The map and being able to choose a route through the game (even if it is limited) had never been done before. Complaining it doesnt have features that no other game had isn just silly, its like saying Half Life 1 wasnt all that because it didnt have incredible physics gameplay or dual wield. So many elements of the scrolling platformer were born in SMB3, that is why its regarded so highly.
Ofcouse SMW, NSMB and so on are better, they are sequels to SMB3 and have taken elements from SMB3 and improved them.
If you were a NES gamer (or in fact any gamer) when SMB3 was launched it would have blown you away.
I had a NES and bought the game and at the time my friends had megadrives, 16bit Amiga/Atari computers and so on and everyone was impressed by it.
As for it being too hard, thats how hard games used to be back then, if you are playing the GBA version then you had the luxury of being able to SAVE! Not play the game from the beginning every single time you turned it on. Hardcore gaming in a differelnt realm to the so called hardcore of today.
