Haven't been able to find my Super Mario Bros 3 cartridge

[Ichinisan]

I want the real NES experience with an NES Advantage joystick on a CRT television. I don't want the latency of a Wii controller on an HDTV.

It was late last year or early this year, I moved some of my stuff around between my apartment and a gaming manboy cave at my brother's place. I've looked everywhere for it at least a dozen times since then and can't find it. I own duplicates for a lot of my NES games and I've had more than one copy of SMB3, but I can't find a single one. I moved that one together with at least a couple other good games when I brought it there, but I don't specifically remember which titles. I seem to have all the other games I've looked for. I still have a good-condition SMB3 box on the shelf...with no game cartridge.

I probably lost one copy of SMB3 when a friend's apartment building burned down. He was borrowing one of my NES systems with Zelda 2 and probably a copy of SMB3 (no way I could remember for sure with my terrible memory). Before you say something: My NES didn't start the fire. It was his neighbor's dryer.

So I finally decided I would just buy the game again. I went to the flea market (a long way from home) and found that 2 vendors had it. Both carts were in terrible condition and way over-priced (considering that this is one of the most common NES games ever made). I couldn't overcome my frugal instinct. If the carts didn't look terrible (brown junk, writing everywhere, almost nothing left of the label), I probably would have bought one.

There's a retro game shop in town that I've checked multiple times and...THEY DON'T HAVE A SINGLE COPY. One of the most common games ever made. It's like the universe doesn't want me to ever play this game again.

[2014-11-22]
Checked the far-away flea market again and the guy had put out a different cartridge in decent condition, so I bought it for $14. Hours later, someone responds to my Craigslist request from 1 week ago...$12

Maybe I should buy that one too, in case this happens again

 

[HeXen]

Have you checked online? It's loose price actual value is $11, sealed is over $100 but you'll likely pay around $20 at least for a used cart. Some video games are like old toys, their sought after by collectors so they can be pricey. Common yes but it's also one of the most popular.

Oh, here you go. i found one on eBay going for $3.75 plus shipping and the auction is about to end in an hour, maybe you can snipe it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Mario...5546?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item4adf9ef15a

 

[TeknoBug]

OMG SMB3 was my all time favorite console game, SMWorld was a hard follow-up to that game.

 

[effowe]

I would spend some extra money to get one of these..

http://krikzz.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=59

Or these (one of which I own..)

http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=34

They even have save state support built in, totally worth it.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I want the real NES experience with an NES Advantage joystick on a CRT television. I don't want the latency of a Wii controller on an HDTV.

It was late last year or early this year, I moved some of my stuff around between my apartment and a gaming manboy cave at my brother's place. I've looked everywhere for it at least a dozen times since then and can't find it. I own duplicates for a lot of my NES games and I've had more than one copy of SMB3, but I can't find a single one. The one I moved was with at least a couple other good games when I brought it there, but I don't specifically remember which titles. I seem to have all the other games I've looked for. I still have a good-condition SMB3 box on the shelf...with no game cartridge.

I probably lost one copy of SMB3 when a friend's apartment building burned down. He was borrowing one of my NES systems and with Zelda 2 and probably a copy of SMB3 (no way I could remember for sure with my terrible memory). My NES didn't start the fire. It was his neighbor's dryer.

So I finally decided I would just buy the game again. I went to the flea market (a long way from home) and found that 2 vendors had it. Both were in terrible condition and way over-priced (considering that this is one of the most common NES games ever made). I couldn't overcome my frugal instinct. If the carts didn't look terrible (brown junk, writing everywhere, almost nothing left of the label), I probably would have bought one.

There's a retro game shop in town that I've checked multiple times and...THEY DON'T HAVE A SINGLE COPY. One of the most common games ever made. It's like the universe doesn't want me to ever play this game again.

Never thought I'd say this..but it's time to fvcking move on. You are delusional thinking that the old way is better. Hell you can play this game in a browser, on a GBA pretty much anywhere. It's like the girls complaining they can't find a man.

 

[ImpulsE69]

OMG SMB3 was my all time favorite console game, SMWorld was a hard follow-up to that game.

SMWorld beat 3 hands down (and yes, I agree 3 was great) and is still better than, 90% of the SMB they put out since.

 

[Ichinisan]

Never thought I'd say this..but it's time to fvcking move on. You are delusional thinking that the old way is better. Hell you can play this game in a browser, on a GBA pretty much anywhere. It's like the girls complaining they can't find a man.

I've been into emulation since 1996, and I know just how inaccurate they are all are.

GBA doesn't have the right resolution or aspect ratio. They have to squash the screen and combine lines using a flicker effect, or render off the screen (which impacts gameplay when you can only see part of the screen). Also, NES emulators on GBA are extremely inaccurate because of the programming shortcuts that make it possible to be emulated at all on that hardware. Also, I can't use my NES Advantage joystick with a GBA.

PC emulators are OK, but none are perfect and I always suspect there's some amount of latency. No NES emulator has the color palette correct. Some games look best with interlaced scan lines on a CRT and their special effects can't even be reproduced correctly on an LCD.

When I finally finish Castlevania, it will be done on a real NES system in one sitting. I wouldn't want to feel that the accomplishment is tarnished by some inaccuracy in the emulator that made it slightly easier.

The first time I completed Ninja Gaiden was on Wii (virtual console). The ending was messed up because the temple never crumbled. Nintendo never fixed that emulation glitch.

Anyway, I like the experience of blowing in game paks to make it work.

 

[Ichinisan]

...and for the record, ImpulsE69, I do have various ways I could play that game. I own the GBA version (terrible) and multiple versions of Super Mario All-Stars on SNES (also significant differences from the NES game).

I want to play the NES version, but I'd play one of those before I'd do it on an emulator.

 

[HeXen]

No way emulation beats playing on actual hardware with a CRT. I don't even know where to start with that but try to do a review of such games on Youtube using an emulator and you'll get torn to shreds in the comment section.

SMWorld beat 3 hands down (and yes, I agree 3 was great) and is still better than, 90% of the SMB they put out since.

World was more childish. That's when nintendo started increasing the cutesy artstyle along with pop up tutorials treating the player like they were 4 yrs old.
I'm currently playing Lost Levels on my 3DS, I still don't understand why they didn't go ahead and realease it in the US back in the day, it would have made a fine stop gap between the SMB 2 that we got....which I also liked and wouldn't mind another SMB like that.

 

[Ichinisan]

No way emulation beats playing on actual hardware with a CRT. I don't even know where to start with that but try to do a review of such games on Youtube using an emulator and you'll get torn to shreds in the comment section.



World was more childish. That's when nintendo started increasing the cutesy artstyle along with pop up tutorials treating the player like they were 4 yrs old.
I'm currently playing Lost Levels on my 3DS, I still don't understand why they didn't go ahead and realease it in the US back in the day, it would have made a fine stop gap between the SMB 2 that we got....which I also liked and wouldn't mind another SMB like that.

I know a lot of Famicom Disk System games were eventually released in the USA on cartridge (Zelda, Metroid, etc). I think those releases were usually years after the Japan release. Probably too late to release something that was basically a Super Mario Bros Master Quest.

 

[effowe]

I would spend some extra money to get one of these..

http://krikzz.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=59

Or these (one of which I own..)

http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=34

They even have save state support built in, totally worth it.

No reply? You can play any game on the original hardware, no emulation required. Shit, if you pay for shipping I'll send you my copy of SMB3 if you send it back when you're done with it.

 

[purbeast0]

No reply? You can play any game on the original hardware, no emulation required. Shit, if you pay for shipping I'll send you my copy of SMB3 if you send it back when you're done with it.

damn that is freaking awesome. had never heard of something like this before.

 

[effowe]

damn that is freaking awesome. had never heard of something like this before.

I've got ones for the NES, SNES, Genesis, TB16, N64, and DS. Besides a few games not being supported due to mappers or add-on chips (Like the SuperFX chip for StarFox) they are flawless.

 

[CZroe]

No reply? You can play any game on the original hardware, no emulation required. Shit, if you pay for shipping I'll send you my copy of SMB3 if you send it back when you're done with it.

Thanks, but Ichinisan has known about those since they were in development (twin brother here). Hell, we can program and toss an EEPROM in a donor cart and make an SMB3 cart if we had to. We've been using flash carts far longer than most people have been aware of them (Bung Multi Game Doctor series, for example). Never really wanted a PowerPak or Everdrive because they cost too much. Want to buy his spare Dr.V64jr 512? Heck, we even have official Nintendo flash cards (BSX Satellaview and Xexyz prototype EEPROM game pak).

 

[Ichinisan]

No reply? You can play any game on the original hardware, no emulation required. Shit, if you pay for shipping I'll send you my copy of SMB3 if you send it back when you're done with it.

I'm aware of flash carts. I had the GB Xchanger for Game Boy Color in 1998. Before that, I had the Dr. V64 for N64.

Especially with older systems, timing differences with ROM/RAM chips had an impact on game compatibility and gameplay accuracy. ROM and RAM were mapped together as one big addressable block of memory. Some SNES backup devices had compatibility issues due to timing differences and some copy protections were even based on it. I believe this was still a factor with Nintendo DS.

With NES games having so many different mapper chips in each game, I'd never trust that the flash cart has hem all perfectly emulated. I'll probably build or buy an NES flash cart someday for convenience, but it wouldn't satisfy my desire for authenticity.

Can you reset the system with a flash cart and not go back to the flash cart menu? I ask because sometimes you might want to reset without initializing memory. For example, you can reset Super Mario Bros and still continue the world you were in by pressing A+Start. If you had already beaten the game, world select and hard mode should remain enabled.

 

[John Connor]

I have something called Super Mario All-Stars & World that I run on the computer. All the games are there. There is a ROM with this name, but this is a program you run. I guess the program is a emulator with the ROM built into one. I still remember all the warps in M3. LOL Don't think I ever played the game straight through without warping.

 

[Ichinisan]

I have something called Super Mario All-Stars & World that I run on the computer. All the games are there. There is a ROM with this name, but this is a program you run. I guess the program is a emulator with the ROM built into one. I still remember all the warps in M3. LOL Don't think I ever played the game straight through without warping.

I have 2 of the actual SMAS+World cartridges.

The SNES version of SMB3 has some gameplay differences beyond the obvious cosmetic difference.

I've played straight through without warping.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

set up alerts for craigslist and ebay. you could also look on local facebook groups. (something like "moms in newnan flea market", "church of newnan sales", etc.)

Might take some time but you can get it. Or by the time you get it, you might not even want it anymore. Will save you money lol.

 

[CZroe]

I have 2 of the actual SMAS+World cartridges.

The SNES version of SMB3 has some gameplay differences beyond the obvious cosmetic difference.

I've played straight through without warping.

Some of the SMB3 differences I remember:
A notch is missing from the end of a ship in Dark Land (World 8), making it very difficult to jump up from the water. The notch was probably added to the U.S. localization of the NES version to make a shortcut easier and it was probably forgotten in the U.S. localization of SMA*S.
The letters from Princess Toadstool were changed with many corrections (Kuribo = Goomba).
The arcade-style Mario Bros. game accessible from the title screen is very different to the one inside the game.
You can play 2p with only one controller. The console detects the number of controllers and the game adapts (Mario Bros arcade style 2p simultaneous mini game is not available). Of course, the controller needs to be passed back and forth, but you are still getting your own score, inventory, lives, etc.

 

[HeXen]

This thread makes me want to watch The Wizard again. lol

 

[CZroe]

This thread makes me want to watch The Wizard again. lol

"It's so BAD."

 

[lamedude]

A notch is missing from the end of a ship in Dark Land (World 8), making it very difficult to jump up from the water.

I've probably taken that shortcut everytime only to go dafuq I remember this working back in the day.

 

[Ichinisan]

I've probably taken that shortcut everytime only to go dafuq I remember this working back in the day.

Yeah. It's still possible to get back up from there on the SNES version, but *extremely* difficult because your timing must be absolutely perfect.

 

[Ichinisan]

Checked the far-away flea market again and the guy had put out a different cartridge in decent condition, so I bought it for $14. Hours later, someone responds to my Craigslist request from 1 week ago...$12

Maybe I should buy that one too, in case this happens again

 

[CZroe]

Never thought I'd say this..but it's time to fvcking move on. You are delusional thinking that the old way is better. Hell you can play this game in a browser, on a GBA pretty much anywhere. It's like the girls complaining they can't find a man.

Ichinisan owns multiple GBA and SNES copies. The GBA version isn't even remotely the same as playing the original. The very second enemy has been nerfed (doesn't shoot fireballs anymore)! Even OFFICIAL emulation platforms aren't reliable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgQsuGwZPu0

Not that I nomally play with the analog stick, but you can't even jump left, reverse right, and press B with an official Classic Controller Pro on the Wii!

The analog stick mapping is screwed up for N64 games too. On Zelda Ocarina of Time, it's almost impossible to do the magic-less sword spin move. In Mario Kart 64, you frequently spin out for no reason thanks to a play control quirk originally meant to target players with unofficial 3rd party N64 controllers that let you oversteer (Blast Corps had an even nastier one that made you walk backwards). The emulated Donkey Kong Country on Wii has your characters continue swinging on vines when the game is paused even though they appear to be frozen (blink to where they would be if you had never paused it as soon as you unpause it). The castle during the ending to Ninja Gaiden on NES remains intact even though it is supposed to slide away piece by piece. This crap happens with ports too. The DKC games for GBA were missing secrets that the developers simply didn't even know were in the original games. For example, the 6-up balloon in the first stage of DKC is missing, and they added warps to every stage in the first two worlds to be more like DKC2 without realizing that some of those stages already had warps.

There is still something to be said for authentic and original. There was none of the sloppiness you get after handing the project to a B team.