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SMB3 or SMW, which was the better 2D Mario platformer?

SMB3. SMW was phenomenal, but I have to give it to three for it's challenge, and for being the first game that "blew me away" as a five year old kid getting into games.
 
World let's you pay however the fuck you want play, to the point that you can "break'' the game and make it stupidly easy. It's still the best 2D Mario whatsoever.
 
I think Super Mario World is the better of those 2.

But I'd rank New Super Mario Bros. U as the best 2D Mario now.
 
ViewtifulJC said:
SMB3 is a legit platformer

SMW is a gigantic boring key-hunt, with maybe two good songs, bereft of any challenge with flying/spinning mechanics you never really learn(and when you do, they break the game even worse) and slippery play control. Its incredibly dull.
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I think this is the one game I really disagree with you on, lol.
 
Oh man this is really hard.

All the time I used to go back and forth between SMB3 and SMW, which one I prefer the best.

Now I think NSMBU + NSLU just might've took the best 2D Mario crown

Right now I want to say I prefer SMW to SMB3, but that's probably only because SMW was what I played most recently. Ask me again next week after SMB3 is released on Wii U VC, and I'll probably say SMB3.

The point is, those 2 games are both great, and I really like both of them almost equally.
 
E-Cat said:
SMW for fun, SMB3 for the pure platforming experience. But if I had to choose, SMB3.
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This is probably why I like SMB3 more, I love hardcore platformers. Don't care about exploration, I just want great challenges that test your abilities. SMB3, especially the last world, is such a challenge.
 
I have fonder memories of World, but I feel like SMB3 had better and tougher levels. It sucks going back to SMB3 though because it's a fairly long game and there's no save files.
 
Elija2 said:
I have fonder memories of World, but I feel like SMB3 had better and tougher levels. It sucks going back to SMB3 though because it's a fairly long game and there's no save files.
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Actually, that's one of the things I like about Mario 3. If you know what you're doing, you can go to any world within a few minutes, despite starting the game from the beginning.

However, it does suck if you want to, like, beat the game with a Hammer Bros. suit.

(Plus, there's always the SNES and GBA versions... The latter of which has more power-ups and levels, too! Though I prefer the NES game still.)
 
SMW is still the greatest Mario game. SB3 was the best NES mario but SMW surpasses it on every level, control, music, graphics, and secrets.
 
No! Anything but THIS question!

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SMB3 was always more fun to me. Plus it has sentimental value. I still remember playing through it with my dad one sunny Saturday some 16-17 years ago.
 
SMB3 has the best platforming physics of all time. The shorter, more straight forward platforming, and more challenging levels easily puts it over the top.

Super Meat Boy > SMBW

I should get around to playing NSMBU more, as NSMBWii is one of my all time favourites, but the game just feels so dull at this point.
 
Both are excellent 2D platformers, but World took it up a notch and earns my vote with the addition of Star World for post game content
 
Sixfortyfive said:
Super Mairo World is a game about carrying keys across largely hazard-free stages. It de-emphasizes platforming in favor of exploration that was done better in the 3D games that followed it. It gives you a ton of new abilities but never asks you to master any of them.

I'd put SMB3 in the top half of mainline Mario games. SMW is at least bottom 3.
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Unfortunately, I don't have my getout.gif handy.

What are you smoking? Maybe 10 or so levels in World emphasize key carrying, and at least half are in areas either above ground or underneath a platform.

The game has what I still consider the best control scheme in a Mario game - every action is geared towards absolute precision. The cape in particular is a huge game-breaker when utilized the right way - sure, you don't have to master it, but you didn't have to master any abilities in the previous games either.

Likewise, it's highly disingenuous to compare it to the 3D games. Within the 2D installments, it's still on par with SMB3.
 
SMB3 is the quintessential platforming experience. If I want nothing but the best platforming right here, right now, then I'll quickly load it up to get my fix. SMW is more a game that you slowly explore and conquer, I feel, whereas SMB3 is everything great about immensely well-designed platforming one could ever hope for.

My main gripe with SMW is the cape abuse that is possible. That simply doesn't exist in SMB3. I've always said that granting Mario a flying ability is a risky from a design perspective. SMB3 doesn't let you overuse it to the extent that SMW does. Flying abilities are mostly the antithesis to the intense platforming I want from a Mario game. It's one of the reasons why I absolutely love the parkour design of SM64 and mostly hate the more theme-park-esque Sunshine. It feels less tight and the saves possible due to FLUDD annoy me for some reason.

By the way, I still love the way SMB3 just throws you right into the action. No tutorials, nothing. The game starts, then go! It's so textboxless, it just feels good to play. SMW is close, too. The only thing I don't like about SMB3 are the autoscrollers. So... slow...
 
Well, World was a bigger part of my childhood, so I will go with that. But I nonetheless recognize how great of a game SMB3 is.
 
This is a seriously hard question.

Both of these games are legendary. I love the secrets in World, and love the variety and powerups in SMB3.

If I absolutely HAD to choose, I would choose SMB3 only because of how innovative it was at launch. It was so far above and beyond SMB 1&2 it was mind-blowing to me as a 9 year old. I had never played anything like it.

As excellent as World is, it is an expansion of sorts on the basic concepts of SMB3. Not as groundbreaking is what I guess I'm trying to say.
 
World has better flying controls and revisiting levels was rewarded once you unlocked '!' switches. On top of that the whole world's appearance changes once you've beaten the game once.

3 has more sub boss variety, better theming to the separate worlds and is a much more challenging game if you don't exploit warps.

Edge goes to world, because Yoshi is a bro.
 
SMB3. The variety of power ups and levels is unparalleled. I remember being slightly underwhelmed by SMW when I first got it as the packin with the SNES. Of course, Sonic was already out at that time and had made a real impression...
 
SMB3 had a lot more repetition. The world design in SMW was also far superior with better secrets.

SMW wins, but as a disclaimer I have never completely finished 3.
 
Something about SMW's art design felt off and "un-Mario" to me (even more so than Doki Doki Pa-er. SMB2), like it wasn't finished. So SMB3 by a landslide. SMW's Bowser Battle >>>>> SMB3's Bowser though.
 
I grew up with both and SMW was far more enjoyable. The game was bigger and being in the SNES the graphics and sound were superior to SMB3 in many ways. It's hard to tell if it was the new console thing, but I played SMW to death. I played SMB3 a lot too, but I just remember SMW more fondly.
 
SMW but I love them both.

However I still rank Yoshi's Island and Sonic 3 & Knuckles above them. Possibly DKC2 as well but I don't know if I'll go that far.
 
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