Should I go from SMB3 to World, or from World to SMB3?

[Master Chuuster]

I have been on a Mario kick as of late. Having gone through Galaxy, 3D World, Bowser's Fury, and Odyssey in quick succession, I'm thinking of taking a bit of a break from 3D Mario and playing through some of the older 2D ones to properly familiarize myself with the roots of the series, which I haven't had as much of a chance to do.

The obvious contenders are SMB3 and SMW, both of which are thankfully available via NSO. I just don't know how to go about the pair, so I figured I'd turn to Era.

I have two questions:

• Which one do you think is better?
• More importantly, do you think it's more advisable to go from SMB3 to SMW, or from SMW to SMB3?

 

[Qikz]

I would play them in order and see which one you prefer overall. I personally like World more but they're both fantastic games.

 

[ignata]

Always chronological. All things always chronological.

 

[Josh5890]

Super Mario World is better, but I would go with SMB 3 first. That way you can see how the series improves from gen to gen

 

[sir_crocodile]

SMB3 is both better and more of a challenge.

SMW is a joy to play but waaaaaaaaaaaaay too easy. To this day I have never seen the game over screen.

 

[Android Sophia]

Play Super Mario Bros 3 first.

Super Mario World is such a mechanical improvement from Super Mario Bros 3 that it can potentially sour the gameplay starting with World first.

 

[WestEgg]

Play them in order. Super Mario Bros. 3 holds up very well, and I like it more than world personally though.

 

[.exe]

Go with release order, so from 3 to World.
If you're only going to play one, then... Today, I'd say 3 but it's a toss up. World's soundtrack though... Both demand to be played!

 

[Deleted member 10737]

play them in order. both are amazing games but you'd appreciate world more after 3, imo.

 

[SteveWinwood]

Always chronological. All things always chronological.

Click to shrink...

so he should play yoshis island first?

 

[Tansut]

When it comes to core gameplay, 3 is king. But World definitely evolved the series in terms of exploration.

 

[scare_crow]

Just play the games in whatever order you want. It won't have a huge impact one way or another.

 

[entremet]

SMB3 first. Gotta play the GOAT first.

 

[ignata]

so he should play yoshis island first?

Click to shrink...

Haha no, release chronological not like in universe.

Spoiler

He should never play Yoshi's Island.

 

[fontguy]

Release order. It's always, always release order.

 

[captmcblack]

SMB3 first. Gotta play the GOAT first.

Click to shrink...

.

 

[Unknownlight]

I prefer 3, but I can't see why you'd want to play World first before 3.

 

[TechnoSyndrome]

Playing World and then SMB3 would be going backwards in every sense of the word

 

[Kneefoil]

I think Mario controls better in SMW and I love the cape power up, but SMB3 is a noticeably better designed game. It doesn't matter at all in which order you play them.

 

[Clipo]

Play them in order. Both are excellent games, but you feel that some levels in SMB3, in particular in world 6 or 7, were not so well designed compared to early worlds. SMW is more consistent in that sense, probably due to its non-linear world map.

 

[Deleted member 91227]

Play 3 first. I like SMW quite a bit more and have it is my favorite 2D platformer of all time. If I'm doing a rare replay of some 2D Mario games I'll do the older ones first as if I do SMW first I have a harder time getting into 1-3.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

I dont know if 3 is a better game but the leap over the previous entry (either Mario 2 or lost levels) is a magnitude higher than the leap from 3 to world.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

In order as with most things, personally I think SMB3 is the best game in the series still but SMW is great.

 

[emperor bohe]

Play then in release order.

I still think SMW has the best physics in the series, why won't they let us throw shells/items upwards anymore? SMB3 probably has stronger level design for the most part but the levels can be sooooo short sometimes.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

I mistrust anyone who omits SMB1 outright.

 

[Deleted member 4179]

SMW is slightly better but both are top tier, just do it in order

I mistrust anyone who omits SMB1 outright.

Click to shrink...

but also this

 

[yyr]

Here's my expert opinion: flip a coin.

I personally prefer SMW but both games are fantastic and you don't seem to be turned off by going to older games from newer ones. There's no correct order in that case.

 

[Farmboy]

Play 3 first. It's entirely valid to like SMB3 better, even though I myself don't. But I don't think anyone can consider SMW to be 'a step back'; it's clearly an evolution. So playing 3 after World would just be weird.

 

[mute]

Personally I prefer 3 and think it should be played first. Release order and all that.

 

[hikarutilmitt]

SMW is still my favorite Mario after all these years, so I'd go 3 to W. It's also got a number of evolutions in design between the two, even if it's technically easier to "break" a lot of SMW compared to SMB3.

 

[FFNB]

SMB3 and SMW are two of my favorite games ever, and both hold up stupidly well. I played SMB3 back when it first released on the NES, so I have a ton of nostalgic love for the game as well, but I think I like World more, if only by a hair. I can never really decide which one I like more.

I recommend release order, personally, but again, it's probably because that's how I experienced them back in the late 80's and early 90's, and at the time, seeing the jump from SMB3 to SMW was mind blowing to me lol

 

[We_care_a_lot]

I'm gonna have to say it doesn't overly matter! Both games are great, you should play them both starting with whichever one catches your fancy. Try them both, see which one you like more and then stick with that for a while!

 

[thecaseace]

Love the which is better question:

For me if I had to rate both out of 100, the lowest score would be a 96...

They're easily both masterpieces I'd give a marginal edge to World but it's a small small edge.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

I like World more, but 3 to World just makes sense.

 

[balohna]

World is easier and also better (IMO), so I voted to start with that. Especially since it doesn't make SMB3 obsolete or anything. They're just different.

 

[Deleted member 5127]

SMB3 then SMW.

As for which is better, I can acknowledge that SMW is bigger and better objectively, but there's something about SMB3 that I prefer and I can't properly explain why.

And then play SMW2: Yoshi's Island, and expect something completely unique.

 

[skeezx]

World is more of a playground, SMB3 is more cut and dry good ol' mario platforming

i personally prefer the latter. physics are tighter, courses shorter and tightly designed

depends on what you want out of it, really

 

[molnizzle]

SMB3 is the best 2D Mario, but I'd still play it first just to get a feel for how the series evolved over the years.

Haha no, release chronological not like in universe.

Spoiler

He should never play Yoshi's Island.

Click to shrink...

Chronological specifically refers to in-universe. The "debate" is always chronological vs release order.

And it's not really a debate because the answer is almost always release order.

 

[FF Seraphim]

SMW is my favorite Mario game. However, you should play SMB3 first since its also a great game and you can see how they improved from SMB3 to SMW.

 

[onpoint]

Play them in order. I prefer 3 but World is great.

 

[ignata]

SMB3 is the best 2D Mario, but I'd still play it first just to get a feel for how the series evolved over the years.


Chronological specifically refers to in-universe. The "debate" is always chronological vs release order.

And it's not really a debate because the answer is almost always release order.

Click to shrink...

Then I will change my wording in the future to "release order" because I can't think of any series that should be played chronologically in universe. I'm including Yakuza 0 in that statement.

 

[HotStunt]

SMB3 holds up well enough that playing it after SMW won't feel like a shittier experience. Play them in whatever order you want.