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Mind blown: a secret from Super Mario Bros. 3 I'd never heard of

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
So I was randomly came across this video on SMB3 by a guy called the Easter Egg Hunter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKy26kIokgA

Now, as one of my most replayed games of all time, I know SMB3 like the back of my hand. And as I was going through the video, there wasn't anything that I didn't already know. Until near the end, that is. Before this video I had never encountered the treasure ships, and going off by the requirements to get them, it's not surprising. That shit is convoluted as hell!

Anyone else knew about this?
 
I've gotten them plenty, but I still don't know to get them.
I didn't watch the video since I like the treasure ships as surprises. If I find out how to get it to spawn, I'll just always try to get them.
 

HUELEN10

Member
Yep, it's common knowledges for core fans of the series.

TMK said:
In Worlds 1, 3, 5, and 6, you can turn a Wandering Hammer Brother on the map screen into a lucrative Treasure Ship. Here's what you have to do:

Have at least one Wandering Hammer Brother on the map screen.
Enter a level.
Hit the Roulette Block at the end of the level.
After getting the time bonus, your Coin total must be a multiple of 11 (e.g. 11, 22, 33, etc., but NOT zero), and the tens digit (the second number from the right) of your score must match the repeated number in your Coins total. (Example: 55 coins, score of 27650.) A Treasure Ship will replace the Wandering Hammer Brother.
Of course, you get 50 points per second remaining after you hit the Roulette Block, which affects the all-important tens digit of your score, so you'll have do a little planning ahead. Keep in mind that if you stop the timer on an even number, your tens digit won't change. If you stop the timer on an odd number, your tens digit will increase by 5. So, if you're at the Roulette Block with 66 Coins and a score ending in -60, you'll want to stop on an even number. If you have 88 Coins and a score ending in -30, you'll want to stop the timer on an odd number.

The Treasure Ship contains 169 Coins and a hidden 1-Up Mushroom just before the end pipe.
 

random25

Member
I know the first secret, the one involving getting 3 flutes early on. And the costumes after defeating a koopaling. The treasure ship, I encountered that one though I never knew it needed specific number requirements to get it. A lot of these I never knew until now, I must admit.
 
I didn't know most of these. I think I only knew about 2 out of the 3 whistles.
SMB3 is also my favorite game of all time. I just for some reason never researched it in any meaningful way.
I suck.
 

Bass260

Member
I didn't know for about 15 years and than randomly came across one in another play through. Blew my mind that I'd beaten SMB3 about 50 times and there were still secrets to uncover! One of the best games of all time.
 
I was fortunate enough to have been given the Mario 3 guide by my cousin as a kid, so yeah, I've been getting the treasure ships for a couple decades now.
 

Sojiro

Member
Don't think i've ever seen the treasure ship, so that is really cool to see. I remember getting the racoon message before, but don't think I ever triggered the frog or hammer suit to the best of my memory. I love the chain chomp thing at the end though, if you wait it out that thing chases you throughout the level lol. Pretty cool stuff here.
 

UraMallas

Member
I don't know how you could have never ran across one of these if you've played SMB3 so much. I randomly got them all the time.
 
I saw them a bunch, but didn't know what caused them. I played a ton of Mario 3.

White Mushroom houses are an easier secret to pull off that many people may not know about.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I never knew how to get the treasure ships to appear, but I've gotten them quite a few times.

I never knew about the blue mushroom houses at all though.

Definitely never knew about the chain chomp one.
 
Had them spawn many times but almost always accidentally. We had the Nintendo power smb3 guide which detailed them as well but I wasn't smart enough to do it
 

Slime

Banned
That takes me back. I remember when my brother and I first discovered these. We called them "coin cruisers."
 

RetroMG

Member
I didn't watch the video, but IIRC, you have to
have your coins be a multiple of 11, (11, 22, 33, etc) then the tens place of the points has to be the same number at the coins, and then you have to end the level with the time counter on an... even number, I think?

Then it will turn a hammer brother into a treasure ship.
 

@MUWANdo

Banned
Nintendo should add these kinds of secrets to the NSMB games, at the very least. They'd be a perfect match for an integrated hint-sharing service like Miiverse.
 
Wow never made the connection between the level 3 music and the fairy fountain music. That bossa nova version is fucking gnarly!
 
Yep, it's common knowledges for core fans of the series.
You need to turn that shade down a notch boi
qBtLcVR.png
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
I never knew about the blue Mushroom houses and definitely ever knew about the chomp chomp

That's because they are white mushroom houses in the superior version of the game.

The only not really well known one is the chain chomp. I found that out goofing around one day leaving the game unpaused at the beginning of the level. Left me LEGIT SHOOK.
 

bumpkin

Member
Fun little video. I didn't ever make the connection about a few of them, but I had absolutely no idea about the Chain Chomp one. I got past those bastards as fast as I could, I never had any desire to stand and tempt them 50 times.
 

Roo

Member
I knew all of them except for the Chain Chomp one.
It's kind of amazing to discover little details like these after so long.
 

Justified

Member
I used to spwan the Treasure ships all the time, but never knew the conditions.


I thought this thread was going to be about how Super Mario Bros. 3 is actually a play that the characters are staring in..... (true story)
 

PureYeti

Member
Ah I remember getting the blue mushroom and treasure ships by accident. I was more blown about the treasure ship because it was rare to come out.

I knew there was something fishy behind those chain chomps at the beginning. I'm glad there was a secret.
 

AdanVC

Member
Fuuuuuuuu- That easter egg about the Japan shaped island just blew my mind so hard! Didn't knew about it! Mario 3 is simply one of the most well crafted games of all time. Thanks for sharing!
 
OP, I would've thought that you never knew that Chain Chomps could break free or that some worlds are shaped like this and that, but for me the real mind blowing fact is that you never encountered or apparently even heard of the treasure ships in SMB3.

I know that I saw one back when I played it on the NES for the first or second time, I just never knew how to get it to appear exactly.

Actually I knew about everything in this video, except for how to trigger the White/Blue Mushroom Houses and Treasure Ships.
 

VariantX

Member
I think I knew about them through the game's strategy guide.

Yep all this stuff was disclosed in a guide. Still good luck finding the exact recipe to unlock some of that stuff without a guide. You'd have to be very observant to pick up on the patterns. It was fun to blow peoples minds with this stuff back then.
 

Regiruler

Member
I spent way too much time on mario wiki for lord knows what reason so I did know about them and intentionally made them spawn in world 1.

My playthroughs usually never make it past world 1 though. I kinda drop it frequently.
 

Foov

Member
I used to know exactly how to get a treasure ship to spawn in 1-1, I had it down to exactly which coins and blocks to hit, and the time to land on. Don't know how I ever figured out the pattern needed, but that info has been lost from my memory.
 
My playthroughs usually never make it past world 1 though. I kinda drop it frequently.

It takes a few minutes to pass world 1. I think most of the playthroughs take around 40 minutes, with half of that time spent before world 8.

I've seen that boat a few times, but never knew exactly how to make it appear.
 

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Oh yeah, the chain chomp thing is the other thing I didn't know about either.

OP, I would've thought that you never knew that Chain Chomps could break free or that some worlds are shaped like this and that, but for me the real mind blowing fact is that you never encountered or apparently even heard of the treasure ships in SMB3.

I have this vague recollection of coming across it, but it happened so infrequently that I eventually forgot it existed.
 

PKrockin

Member
It takes a few minutes to pass world 1. I think most of the playthroughs take around 40 minutes, with half of that time spent before world 8.

I've seen that boat a few times, but never knew exactly how to make it appear.
I raced it recently (no whistles allowed) and took almost exactly an hour and a half. Even the speedruns are 50+ minutes. It's a long game. And the best game ever.
 

Het_Nkik

Member
It's funny because I would randomly unlock the treasure ships here and there as a kid but never once in my adult playthroughs have I ever got a treasure ship to pop up.
 
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