In my opinion, Super Mario World outdoes SMB3 in every aspect possible besides power-ups. Oh, and a cloud world.

@dtewi

You know, 20 years ago gamers had the choice of playing either Arcade or console gaming and most gamers went with console gaming even though it was massively inferior, even though the Arcade scene was huge at that age?. People go to where quality is, and quality is found whether is a 20 year old game or a new release.

In all entertainement medium is the same thing. It's like you're saying that people 70 years ago wouldn't see Gone With The Wind just because they Have District 9 now.

Nostalgia to you may warp feelings, don't project your thoughts and feelings on the subject unto others, you're making leaps of judgment and assumptions you're not qualified for.

Lufia 2 is a SNES game, I may explain what it is to you, but it's best if you find out for yourself, which I doubt you'll ever consider ;)

what do brand recognition, hype, and success have anything to do with a game being great?

it sucks that 60% of your reasons have nothing to do with the hallmarks of a good game.

They would probably be too amazed by the graphics of SMG to really understand anything else!

Let's keep in mind that one of the reasons Nintendo has decided to make NSMB Wii isn't just because of nostalgia, but because that type of 2d gameplay is easier for mainstream gamers to grasp. Because of this, a 3d mario has never sold as much as a 2d mario.

You probably don't understand the concept of greatness. The combination of reasons I have listed are (in my opinion) highly likely among the things that allowed Super Mario Brothers 3 to achieve the level of greatness that it has achieved.

I think what makes me prefer SMB3 over SMW is the difficulty. I find SMB3 harder, and think that is a positive attribute going for the game.

SMB3 is the greatest Mario game of all time (just edges SMW for me), although it's not my favorite game of all time. It blows away all the 3D Mario games.

Nostalgia is definitely a factor. People even like bad old games if they played them as a child. However, those who argue "nostalgia" whenever someone says they like an old game better than a newer one should answer two pertinent questions:

1. Is there not also a feeling present in many current gamers, yourself possibly included, that older games suck because they are old? Is this not the reason why many current gamers (young 'uns for the most part) pooh-pooh 2D graphics and non-licensed soundtracks?

2. What do you say to someone (myself included) that can pick up an old game they've never played before and like it? Is that nostalgia? If I play Little Samson for the first time 15 years after it came out and like it, is that because of nostalgia?

Because at the time it was probably the most mind blowing unbelievable piece of video game that people had ever set their eyes on.

The movie industry has not had any advances though to make it better since the 40s. I'm arguing that SMB3 hasn't aged as well as people hoped. The arcade was inconvenient, and the home console brought convenience and the same games. But that's a different tangent entirely.

SMB3 may be quality, but it is quality in terms of the 2D era. The 2D era simply can not compare to the 3D era. After twenty years have gone by, we either look at a game much more fondly or with much more disgust. Such is the process of aging. That is basically what I think nostalgia is, looking at something more fondly as you get older.

This of course skews someone's feelings, age. We either tend to forget or accentuate the flaws and all that's left is a pile of crap or pure gold. Everyone undergoes this about something. This has made some people look at SMB3 as the epitome of perfection, the master of platformers, and they simply scoff at newer games. SMB3 was considered great in the late 80s, but twenty years later, it simply can not compare to other games that have released.

Also, I looked up Lufia 2, and it seems like a cross between Final Fantasy and Zelda. I can see why you would like it because I doubt any other game executed that idea.

Super Mario World is better.

There are all sorts of reasons I could give, but I only need one:

Yoshi