I had dreamed of owning the Famicom version of Super Mario Bros. 3 for some time now, I'm glad that I finally have it. A few notes on the particular cart I own. The cart is bright orange as in the picture, yes it is a pirated cart. The back of the cart has a label listing 21 game or so, I have no clue why since Super Mario Bros. 3 is the only game on the cart. Can you say...false advertising!!! Hmm.

Anyway the Famicom Mario 3 game is fairly similar to its western counterpart; there are some changes however. When Mario enters a stage, the screen does a fade in/out sequence which slows things down for the Japanese game. Even better, when Mario takes damage while holding a special power, he is docked down to little Mario. If Mario is wearing a Hammer Bros. Suit, Frog Suit, or Tanooki Suit, it "flies off" when Mario loses it. Kuribo's Shoe "flies off" as in the U.S. release, though it turns a weird orange color.

Throughout the whole Super Mario Bros. 3 game, there are minor graphical changes made here and there for no apparent reason. In the castles at the end of each world, the thrones are blue, as opposed to gold. There is also an extra pilar thrown into the sequence. In World 1 fortress, there are some extra spikes on the falling ceiling. In world 5-1, there is also a wall with a pipe at the end of the stage, omitted in the U.S. release. Why? I have no clue.

I've pretty much covered the biggest changes between the Japanese and American Super Mario Bros. 3 games. For more information on Mario, check out The Mushroom Kingdom, a very large Mario fan site. Thank you Calx, for the screenshots provided.