Super Mario Bros. 3 was released today. ..

[MarioMania]

It's a great game, Remember The Wizard?

[fredJ]

My next door neighbor back in 1990 had it and I used to go play it at his house from time to time.  It just made every other game I had ever played to that point pale in comparison.

Coincidentally my wife and I have been playing it for the past week or so.  It is interesting to compare it to SMB, which we were able to finish all the way to the end after only a couple of tries.  With SMB 3 though we`ve been playing it for a week we haven`t gotten past the 4th world yet, even with the ability to continue.  Both of us had SMB as kids and basically memorized every inch of it, but neither of us had enough exposure to SMB3 to memorize it like that. 

Funny, I have never beaten SMB. I just never felt that I cared enough.
SMB3 I can beat anytime, every single level. A friend and me played with a nintendo power strategy guide back in '92 or so and I have played it many times since. I still have problems with 8-1 actually, so I use a p-wing there...
The game has so many tricks and secrets that will make it much easier. Getting extra lives can also be done in many places. I made some gameplay videos on youtube actually, famicom obviously.
It surprised me how much easier the super hard tank and flying levels on the last world are now. I think it is because we played them so many times that I have them memorized.

[P]

I'm surprised that you ignore such an iconic game as SMB but still play SMB3.

8-1 is tricky but if you can beat the airship armada and other hard levels without too much trouble I suggest to try it again without a P-wing. It's an extremely short level. As a kid I always warped to world 8 from world 3 using three recorders, then used Jugemu's Cloud on 8-1 and a P-Wing on 8-2 beause I could almost never beat them normally.