The Weird & Unexpected History of Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario Bros 3 is one of Nintendo's most beloved games in their Super Mario series. However, did you know that it was originally going to include a 2 player mode, similar to New Super Mario Bros Wii? Or that the Tanooki suit was originally going to be a Centaur suit? Find out as we follow the journey of developers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka!
CHECK OUT THE GAME'S CUT CONTENT: • The Cut Content Of: Su...
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NOTE: Parts of this story may have been dramatised/expanded upon for narrative effect. This video is not a substitute for original research.
SOURCES
- archive.org/stream/Nintendo_P... (Nintendo Power Issue 10)
- www.nintendo.com/nes-classic/...
- iwataasks.nintendo.com/intervi...
- www.nintendo.co.uk/Iwata-Asks...
- www.deviantart.com/pxlcobit/a... (Centaur Mario Mockup)
- www.nytimes.com/1988/03/12/us...
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_fa...

[@ThomasGameDocs]

NOTE: The music examples in this video sound completely messed up on certain speakers, especially phone speakers. I have no idea why that is - if you listen with headphones or from a laptop, the music sounds completely normal!

[@TheRogueMaverick]

Thomas Game Docs - It does indeed sound odd, but in my NES emulator I have on PSP, I would intentionally disable random sound channels! I loved hearing my favourite NES tracks in a different way!

[@ascentfevers]

I think it's because some channels have inverted polarity, making them silent in mono-speaker devices. This might happen with certain emulators. Also, nice video, I'm subscribing.

[@TheRogueMaverick]

ascentfevers - That makes sense seeing as the NES was pretty much a mono only system. I’ve heard mentions of the system outputting in actual stereo, but I’ve been unable to find anything concrete

[@packerman1203]

Mario bros 3 music is weird like that

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thanks! Also, that makes a lot of sense, actually. I can't think of any other device having mono speakers, so that would explain why it only seems to be happening on phones. Thanks for the explanation!

[@TheShinyDude]

4:38 "As I’m sure you’re aware, Mario 2 is notorious for its high high difficulty" *Dies intentionally*

[@joshfgaming3915]

Yes

[@finn8665]

Jesse 'Shiny' Edwards dang I was just about to comment that!

[@Duran12617]

That's my only beef too. There are endless moments in that game that are utter bullshit to pull from haha.

[@orinlee6123]

To a casual... given the current state of idiocy regarding the public at large... I can almost forgive this. xD

[@Duran12617]

@@orinlee6123 We were all casuals in 1986

[@reinmargrau1298]

Mario Bros 2 is hard, but what you showed is just like walking into a cactus in real life

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Haha yeah, I needed footage of Mario dying in the game, but maaaybe I didn't make it look natural enough...

[@moormonkey]

Suicidal Mario

[@sylvierose2799]

@@ThomasGameDocs lmao

[@scarlyrot]

Thomas Game Docs he looked at the jump and said “nope.”

[@HaydenManka]

@@moormonkey when mario becomes a teen

[@lazarstankovic2505]

Did you know?When mini goombas attach to mario his jump is smaller.Nintendo wanted to increase his weight but that was hard on the NES,but Shigeru Miamoto stepped in and told them to just put a invisible block ontop of Mario's head

[@OKBranflakesYT]

I thing you mean Myamoto

[@lazarstankovic2505]

@@OKBranflakesYT I don't remember writing this

[@OKBranflakesYT]

Lazar Stankovic it was a year ago

[@lazarstankovic2505]

@@OKBranflakesYT That's a long time tho

[@rmbss9203]

Ikr

[@ajen003]

14:42 "it would actually be another year and a half until europe saws the game" **proceeds to show 1936 Europe map**

[@palaceswitcher]

Yeah, my great grandpa used to play Mario 3 when he was a kid.

[@suffermore66]

“Finally the ancient treasure chest! What the- Mario 3?!”

[@declanmoore]

4:34 "Known for its high, high difficulty." Walks backwards into a piranha plant.

[@wxlfie_sunflower7986]

Was that copied-

[@Dreemore]

stolen

[@moth.monster]

1980s: We can't make another mario game that looks the same as the old one 2019: here's a re-release of the third 2d mario game in a row that looks the exact same

[@Phobos_Anomaly]

"As I'm sure you're aware, Mario 2 is famous for its high, high difficulty..." *Walks backwards directly into Piranha Plant* Lol Excellent vid!

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Haha, thank you! But yeah, maybe I should've made it less obvious that I was trying to die, haha!

[@alienxotic5028]

@@ThomasGameDocs the best way is to just play the game. Lmao. This game is hard as hell

[@suffermore66]

“Watch-a this!” *Commits suicide*

[@willmatheson]

Right after Tanooki Mario is mentioned, Raccoon Mario is shown. They are different forms. Tanooki Mario does everything Raccoon Mario does, plus one critical distinction: Tanooki can turn into an invincible immobile statue briefly.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Yeah, that's true. My original version of the script made the distinction a little clearer, but when I read it to my brother he thought when I said Racoon Mario, I just didn't know that it was called a Tanooki Suit. Because of that, I kinda smushed them into one. In retrospect though, maybe I should've kept that distinction in the video. I was under a lot of time pressure when making this video, so there's a couple of things I would change if I could go back!

[@metaltom2003]

This

[@bland9876]

Doesn't Kirby turn into it at one point when you use the statue Rock power up

[@risunokairu]

And Tanooki Mario can kill flames.

[@bland9876]

@@risunokairu by "flames" do you mean the "lava bubbles" from mario maker?

[@DavidWonn]

Super Mario Bros. 3 was actually available to play in the arcades here in the States during the summer of 1989 on Play-Choice 10 machines. The machines allowed you to select from one of 10 NES games to play, but most people simply selected SMB3 for obvious reasons. The drawback was that it had a timer, forcing you to drop in another quarter every 300 seconds (5 minutes.) Those machines ate up a lot of my quarters that summer, but boy was it worth it to have a half year head start on the game! And when it did finally arrive the next February, I was very lucky again to get it at launch, but that’s a story for another day.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Oh, that's super interesting! Thanks for sharing that story!

[@DavidWonn]

As I write this, there is a 1989 version on eBay containing SMB3. Fun times indeed!

[@rsmith02]

I went to Pizza Hut to play it.

[@prixelderp5231]

YES!!!! My first time for both SMB3 and Punch Out was this in a now long gone mall. I'm old as fuck.

[@TRJ2241987]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaXYoH6knNefjpI This has always been one of my favorite KZbin videos, and hardly anyone has ever viewed it. It is a kid at a Big Y Supermarket in Massachusetts playing Mario 3 on the Playchoice-10, the Summer before it was released on NES. This video should have millions and millions of hits! (edit: unfortunately it doesn't have audio anymore, he must have hit a copyright due to the footage of riding in his grandmothers car with the radio on)

[@NonisLuck]

Nice, the usual high quality content. I miss your ending piano, but I will survive.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thank you! I totally understand that some people miss the ending piano by the way, but cutting that part of my videos means I can spend a lot more time on the rest of it. I would like to include more piano in the future though, like with my last video! Making a whole video themed around a song or the piano itself would let me include the piano more.

[@Flrere]

i, however, won't

[@caganer1753]

wat

[@NonisLuck]

@@caganer1753 Firere died

[@deez2037]

FR

[@Phobos_Anomaly]

After having watched several of your videos, I must say I am very impressed. I watch tons and tons of Nintendo-focused KZbin channels that produce videos about things like cut content, history of Nintendo games, Easter eggs, glitches and so forth. And I love to scour wikis, news articles, interviews and the like for more information - just for my own enjoyment. And yet, I've watched several of your videos discussing things I have never come across. So many of the channels I like oftentimes repeat the same information. IMHO, you're doing exactly what you should be doing as a content creator on KZbin - finding things to share that no one has talked about before (or at least is hard to find other videos about) that's how you stand out and make a name for your channel. Better than some channels that simply wait till another uploads something new and then literally blatantly copies the info to release a new video of their own for views 😒 I've subscribed, and I hope to see your subscriber count grow! Keep up the great work.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thank you so much, that's so kind! My view on things is that it would just be boring, even if only for me, if I just talked about the same exact things as every other Nintendo / game dev focused channel. I mean, the video would just be pointless, in my view. And like you, I love it when I stumble across something super weird in an interview that I've never heard before! And while some of motivation is wanting my YT channel to be successful, for sure, a bigger part of it is just wanting to share that weird trivia with the world! Anyway, I'm rambling. Basically, your comment really flatters me and I feel honored that you feel that way about my videos. Thank you so much!

[@Leethepiggypro]

I like how he made a long comment and you replied with a long comment

[@wookiebear514]

Huh... Never even noticed that the SMB3 title screen even had that almost 3d effect there. Cool lol

[@jonmichaeljoshua9164]

4:38 “Mario 2 is most famous for its high high difficulty” runs into piranha for no apparent reason THAT WAS HARD!!

[@pwdallies]

Never even noticed that, lol

[@MikeB-fl4id]

That map of Europe it’s super outdated. Definitely not 1991 lol

[@popular_dollars]

14:45 bruh that's a pre-wwii map

[@HansOilaf]

xD

[@bigdank166]

Wii*

[@fzr850]

@@bigdank166 wwii > World War 2

[@duffman18]

@@fzr850 it is technically a pre-Wii map too though

[@CringePoop]

This is such a great video! You deserve much more recognition for the high quality content that you produce!

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thank you so much!

[@lucapook2]

You got into my recommended feed and all i can say is that you deserve wayyy more subs! You put so much effort in your vids, and I appreciate it! Keep up the great work!

[@thumbtak123]

2 player version sounds fun. I have the game, but never had the chance to play it two player.

[@TCCO]

Nice!

[@VictorCN]

Wow! This is nice to know that at some point 2 player co-op was planned, Nice video as always.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thank you!

[@accountwontbeusedanymoee7434]

Hey Vicenete! Didn't know I would find you here

[@VictorCN]

@@accountwontbeusedanymoee7434 Hi Sparkle!

[@0DRONZER]

i'm so glad that you showed smb 1 9:54 early sprites, i searched so much and i only found now

[@Person-ig6yv]

Man, I just found your channel, and your style of making videos has me hooked, keep up the good work!

[@Cute___E]

9:40 This is the most adorable thing I have ever heard oh my god

[@hsdkitty-chan_official]

I called the original Super Mario Bros 2 the Lost Levels

[@PaulStompbox]

Reminds me of Lemmy and Ludwig's 1st place animations from Mario Kart 8, as they both do this (so adorable!). We can thank Takashi Tezuka for inspiring this!

[@TheOnlyOriginalName]

Buddy, you’ve just hit the KZbin algorithm right in the sweet spot. Your channel is about to explode into popularity. At least I can say I was here before 10k.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Haha, I feel pretty overwhelmed right now - 10,000 doesn't feel real!

[@yosukesaurus9917]

@@ThomasGameDocs ‼️

[@tobias2702]

When talking about the tanooki suit, you showed racoon mario.

[@JJourdenaisART]

yup!

[@DevynGreen5]

Seems about right

[@KairuHakubi]

it's still a tanuki. there's just tanuki _tail_ (shippo mario) and tanuki _suit_

[@DylBro101]

“Known for its high, high difficulty” Runs straight into a piranha plant that was easy to see

[@bnmc]

How do you have only 14k subs? This is higher quality content than most other channels I watch on KZbin! You deserve much more, I think a lot of people (including myself) will want to keep coming back for more.

[@tomthroffle]

14:42 That's not quite how Europe looked in 1990 🤔

[@helloiamenergyman]

it seems to be a map from the time between WW 1 and 2.

[@byter9819]

Same thing I thought.😂

[@enriquepinero707]

I love how Miyamoto pushed for coop for so long. Good local coop is an art that is lost in many in favor of online or single player. Heck, even he Switch is the completed vision of all encompassing local coop done right. Many thanks Miyamoto!

[@kingbowser4542]

14:30 "It's all Mario?" "Always has been."

[@MrWayneDX]

I’m new here but by far you deserve way more subscribers. Your content quality is WAYYYY too high for where you are now. It’s amazing. Keep it up. I’ve already recommended you to a few friends of mine.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that!

[@buttheadrulesagain]

Mario 1 has a simultaneous 2 player hack and it works great

[@jacobprice8048]

Wait what? Is it acceptable?

[@rebelscum7870]

Your channel is growing like crazy! Great channel, good luck.

[@Rafaelnewyorkcity]

The music on this show is part of what makes it so amazing.

[@MsCerealCat]

4:38 That's not high difficulty, that's someone's dog hitting left on the Dpad.

[@thelogster8715]

What about the versus mode in New Super Mario Bros. DS? I know it’s not the main story, but you can still be in the same level at the same time.

[@astraquila702]

Just thinking you re one of the best game doc youtubers out there, and got your community rising in an astonishing speed. Godspeed

[@alex.s5300]

I really like the style of your videos Your videos are really awesome, continue the good work 👍

[@Pluike]

Entertaining and high quality as always! I just wish I could've played two player Mario Bros 3 now...

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thanks! And I totally agree - it would've been super cool to try out!

[@ChocolateTaco221]

Closest I have ever seen was an SMBX Mario 3 mapset

[@coltrne]

Wow, I just came across this channel yesterday, and I can't believe how great your videos are for being made WEEKLY. I've been spoiled, and as a result, you get a subscribe AND the bell ding :D

[@alepiga]

7:18 as I’m italian, I soon recognized the Super Mario World box art sold by GIG. The blue text under the Nintendo logo means: “Favolous! Explore 9 worlds and 96 different game levels!”.

[@nerdalicious2347]

12:38 Funny that's John Stossel from the 1988 20/20 report on why the NES craze was going on

[@bud9450]

I love how The Wizard movie trailer's tone is opposite of the actual movie😂 Great vid!👍👏

[@ShadowWolfe]

Miyamoto was relentless with his ideas, I applaud him for sticking with them.

[@TeacherGus]

I foresee this channel growing BIG in the next months.

[@jetfromgladiators7382]

Man, I remember having to wait SO patiently for this game to hit the UK. But it was worth the wait.

[@Outside998]

I never expected a T-Square mention. Awesome.

[@immortalsun]

9:05 Just a small correction: You showed a picture of Tanooki Mario but showed clips of _Raccon Mario._ The Tanooki Suit (which turns Mario into Tanooki Mario) and Super Leaf (which turns Mario into Raccoon Mario) are two different power-ups. The Super Leaf is the regular power-up commonly found throughout the game, while the Tanooki Suit is a much rarer power-up. The difference between them is that the Tanooki Suit lets Mario (or Luigi) turn into a stone statue, whereas Raccoon Mario/Luigi has no such ability.

[@JustanOrdinaryTomatoKay]

Dude you literally upload my kind of videos to a T. Love your channel my guy, keep up the good work💞

[@AAWTV87]

This is very good stuff. Subscribed! 👍🏼

[@s_e_r.]

Great work! You have been spoiling us with such good quality videos. Keep it up!

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thank you so much! Glad you liked it!

[@achachak133]

Your channel is gaining subscribers fast and you earn it!

[@nicks4802]

I have some very deep memories of me and my big brother playing the bonus vs levels on SMB3….. For HOURSE we’d climb the ladders and chase each other around, and it would usually end in a fight over who got to win the previous bonus level. Whoever got that final coin was gonna get yelled at by the other lol then we’d play again. I really miss those days. I haven’t played a game with my brother in over a decade :(

[@TerryTettey]

Id honestly rather watch this channel other than anything Game Theory is pushing out these days. Very good quality content. Keep it Up!! :D

[@ThePonyWithoutAName]

I think you're going to go big. You're well informed about what you talk about and you have a nice voice to boot.

[@Duran12617]

14:16 HOLY CRAP I HAVEN'T SEEN THIS COMMERCIAL SINCE CHILDHOOD. MY ENTIRE BODY IS GOOSEBUMPS.

[@FocusSight]

Hey, these documentaries you’ve got are really quite good! Well researched, edited, written... it comes off really nicely. I’ve always wanted to make something like this about the development cycle of Sonic ‘06, given that as a speedrunner of the game we’ve found cut content that has made me genuinely interested in what the original idea for the game was like. Not sure if you’d be interested in something like that?

[@michellec4061]

I’m loving your videos! They’re so easy to watch, and not to mention interesting. 🤗

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thank you so much! That's really kind!

[@nickz1lla]

It sucks how underrated your channel is

[@LPkukin]

Another fascinating video, Thomas! Thank you very much :p

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thanks for watching it!

[@Giannithegreatest]

9:06 Thomas: Tanooki Suit. Captions: Racoon Suit.

[@DeAthWaGer]

1.7 billion dollars is the stat from almost a decade ago, and doesn't include Virtual Console sales since 2011. The 17 million copies also INCLUDES bundled ones that came with the later NES systems, which may not even be part of the sales. Great video!

[@10DollarAssassin]

14:35 imagine being on a spaceship and you suddenly hear millions of people shouting ‘Mario’ and a giant Mario face made of people

[@PunsandPixels]

Oh my gosh!! I remember that movie the wizard!! I had totally forgotten about it

[@WaffleAD]

This channel is a gift

[@arthurstickel]

There's some damn good content. Love the love that goes on these videos. Question, what's the name of the background songs?

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Oh gosh, it's all music from Epidemic Sound, but I'd be hard-pressed to name any of the individual songs themselves. Sorry about that!

[@bahochman]

Great video, thank you for sharing! In Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES, Racoon and Tanooki Mario can only fly for a short time. But did you know that if you have the P-Wing, you have a Racoon Suit with infinite flight power that you can use in one stage. If you are hit by an enemy before you finish the stage, you will lose the power. The P-Wing is a magical item that can be found in letters from the Princess when you beat certain castles and in some White Mushroom Houses. You can make the White Mushroom Houses appear by collecting the required number of coins in one stage in each World. Worlds 1, 3, 5, and 7 have hidden White Mushroom Houses which contain a P-Wing.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

I never knew about those white mushroom houses! I've never been very good at Mario 3 - world 4 is about my limit...

[@pepebroccolo6728]

7:17 why is the box in italian?! XD

[@TimeXD_]

Kondo: so which piece of music should we use? Miyamoto & Tezuka: both. Both is good

[@Rothiseph]

Hey dude, first time watching and really dig this video! Will def check out more. =) Only gripe was seeing the exact same footage of Mario 3's first level many times over.. maybe worth getting different takes and different levels for a bit of variety? Nice work otherwise!

[@imperiallarch7610]

It's funny because as a little kid I was convinced that I had once played a Mario game with two-player simultaneous co-op, but obviously nobody knew what I was talking about when I tried asking about it because there wasn't one. I don't know where I got the idea, but it's interesting that the designers really wanted to include it.

[@jacobhayes1305]

In the movie wizard when the kids are in the finals of the championship and fred savages characters screams out "GET THE SECRET FLUTE". How the hell did he know about the flute? They said no one had ever played the game before. That scene always pissed me off even as a little kid.

[@GordieKat]

Almost every sequel to every game ever is programmed from the ground up, instead of just editing the original, and Super Mario Bros 3 very possibly started this concept.

[@ExperienceExplosion]

15:28 the third sprite is used, there are very rare situations where Mario can pick up a hammer suit while sliding. When this happens, Mario doesn't go into the shell but instead slides.

[@automationwithcode8216]

This is my favorite channel now, thanks youtube algorithm

[@CriticalHealing]

Nice content mate! keep it up

[@BOBJONES-vm8qj]

I've watched almost all of your videos I hope you get more subscribers love the content!

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Thank you! I really appreciate that!

[@SupaCold63]

“For it’s high, high difficulty.” Walks into piranha plant on purpose

[@JohnMartin-ll9cw]

“He’s back. All you had to do…was ask.”

[@popixel]

I like how Mario died, in what it looked like as an intentional act, when you talked about the difficulty of Mario 2.

[@Tangowastaken]

Great content. Subbed!

[@jonathangoodman9089]

"Shortage of memory chips has industry scrambling" Sounds like a headline from late 2020/ early 2021.

[@PackerFanGamer]

Whoa yesterday this channel was at 10 k, now it's at 12 k

[@InkyPart]

You should have WAY more subscribers. I really love your content

[@nickfarace9339]

Fucking hell, seeing that commercial again gave me chills and a tear. I will never forget being a kid and so desperately wanting that game. I went to a local rental store every day trying to grab one of the copies before someone else did, and it took like a month and the cashier finally feeling bad enough to hold on to it for me to snag it. I don't remember when we finally were able to buy it, but yeah. The hype was so real back then. I definitely saw The Wizard in theaters too and it definitely was the most effective ad.

[@LimeLoaf]

Cashier is the chad

[@the-NightStar]

I really don't understand why people keep saying that The Wizard was nothing but a commercial for Mario 3. It was barely even in 5 minutes of the movie. Universal Studios and even The Power Glove got more screen time than Mario 3 did. 80% of the movie is taken up with a road trip between 3 kids. Video games are merely a side-element and Super Mario Bros 3 was unveiled as a preview of the game, yes, but it was only mentioned at the very end, and like I said, got 5 minutes of screen time at best. It was a last minute product placement during the climax of the movie, it wasn't the entire thing. Also, you're wrong about the development of Mario 2. Doki Doki Panic WAS originally developed as a Mario game. It was CHANGED mid-development to have the branding of a world's fair type event in Japan called the Yume Kojo reskinned onto this Mario game that was already in development. After the Yume Kojo event came and gone, Super Mario Bros 2 was released in the US as the original form that it was in before the Yume Kojo event and the Arabian themed mascots of the event were put into it, and then later that original game was also released in Japan later as Super Mario USA.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

I wasn't giving my personal opinion on the movie, just documenting what some people thought of it. From the trailer, it looks pretty entertaining to me personally! Also, as for Mario 2/Doki Doki Panic - from what I've read, it WAS originally going to be a Mario game yes, but only very early on in development. The mechanic of picking up and throwing players was designed to be used in a Mario game, but Miyamoto felt that it wasn't very fun so the idea was put on hold. Then later, Fuji Television approached Nintendo suggesting the companies do a game based around Yume Kojo, and Nintendo decided to take another look at the dropped prototype, turning it into what eventually became Doki Doki Panic. If this is true, then by the time Kondo wrote the music, it was almost certainly in its Doki Doki Panic form. I haven't extensively researched the game's history or anything, but that's what I understand from a little reading here and there.

[@joekenorer]

The Wizard did reveal to me and my brother where to find the the first whistle. They didn't show it exactly in the film, but it was enough that we were like "wtf he went out of the screen!". We bought Mario 3 just after it was released by picking up aluminum cans off the side of the road and recycling them.

[@rsmith02]

Well, Mario 3 was why we watched that (disturbing) movie.

[@cubedude8690]

Fun fact: there was a unused 2 player mode in luigi's mansion too, hidden in the files!

[@Poodle666]

OMG the very beginning gave me PopFiction flashback. Nostalgia 100

[@jordanriley5556]

The Wii was the first console I ever played on and as soon as I saw the beginning I was hit with a nostalgia wave

[@araigumakiruno]

When you mention Super Mario Bros. 3,you must say *WHAT A GAME* afterwards and it making me uncomfortable

[@brandonconnell2598]

i haven't watched the wizard in so long but it was one of my favorite movies i completely forgot it existed until i watched this

[@AstralStriderZ]

15:25 Well, you can slide downhill while using the Hammer Bros. Suit, but you have to grab the powerup while already sliding to see this specific sprite for the duration of the slide. After that, you're unable to do it again unless you repeat the process...

[@fan0]

4:33 "As I am sure you are aware, Mario 2 is hard" *Proceeds to run into piranha plant for no reason*

[@mudkipgames1]

Well I've got 3 of your videos in my recommended today an liked all 3 of them Time to leave a sub

[@maple2441]

who hasn’t heard of takashi tezuka, he’s a huge part of all of this

[@Anthon1996]

10:55 When Nintendo of America declined localizing The Lost Levels, they requested a new, more player-friendly Mario game in its stead. So the team in Japan started work on a prototype that emphasized vertical scrolling and picking up and stacking objects (plus two player co-op), but they decided to suspend development when they couldn't come up with ways to make it fun. They bought back the project when Fuji TV told them to make a game featuring the mascots for their Yume Kojo '87 event (hence the supertitle), so they went and made a game out of that prototype. So yes, it was originally meant to be a Mario game.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Yes, that's true, actually! By the time Kondo wrote the music, the game would've already become Doki Doki Panic, but I should probably have better explained the whole Mario into Doki Doki Panic into Mario process a little better.

[@_Tzer]

you forgot about mario 64 miamoto tried to make that 2 player aswell

[@krealyesitisbeta5642]

Their golden triangle? You mean, their Tri-force? *Ba-dump, tish!*

[@kingofflames738]

I remember buying a sketchy multi game card in Turkey with 720 games. The first 24 were actually good games like SM64DS, Pokémon Heartgold and Soulsilver, a Mystery Dungeon game, Bowsers inside Story, etc. Among the first 24 was also a game called New Super Mario Bros 3. I didn't know what romhacks were at the time and was incredibly happy that I might be in possession of a prototype. It's a shame the card is dead because the romhack was actually pretty good.