Super Mario Bros. 3 2nd Run is an incomplete ROM hack of Super Mario Bros. 3. Worlds 1 - 7 have been modified from the original game. When you get to world 8, it is basically the same levels from the original SMB3. However, this is still a pretty fun game to play overall, and it feels a lot like the game I was familiar with as a kid. It's disappointing that Recovery1 didn't take the time to finish this hack. There are a lot of cool concepts that never got done. The storyline feels unpolished, and it probably would have been a great hack if everything would have carried over to the very end.

Graphics 8/10: The next two categories of this review are exactly the same as the NES version of SMB3. Mario 3 2nd Run looks just like that game did. The sprites have quite a lot of detail to them, and the game looks pretty colorful. Although, like with SMB2, the backgrounds feel bland and dated. You can tell this is very much an 8-bit NES game but one of the better looking ones.

Music 8/10: The music also has some of the same problems. There are a lot of nice songs in SMB3 and SMB3 2nd Run, but both games have too many of them. This soundtrack is guilty of having too much variety. Some songs are wonderful and others sound boring and uninteresting. The music is a mixture of both, and that's why it is a good soundtrack but not a great one.

Gameplay 7/10: The same things that made SMB3 a fun game to play make SMB3 2nd Run an equally fun game to play as well. The item selection is still there and so are the short stages that don't drag out so much like the way they did in other Mario games. This hack still consists of quite a lot of levels but not as many as in the original. They are still fun to play because of their short length and challenge. The card games make a return as well. There are quite a lot of bonus prizes to be won here. Each world has the same theme as it had in Mario 3.

Although, there are some differences. World 7 is a cross between Pipe Land and Dark Land, but there are levels in that world that can't be accessed. I can't get to level 3 for some reason. Beyond Pipe/Dark Land, the game just goes to the same one from Super Mario Bros. 3. World 8 is the exact same! It also looks like Recovery1 didn't put much into the overworld maps. World 6 is just a plain white overworld with no other objects like in the original Ice Land. The mechanics of this hack are just as good as they were in the original game, but the game design is not so good.

SMB3 2nd Run is not hard like SMB2 2nd Run was. Players get plenty of lives, even though the levels are pretty challenging, but beyond World 7, there is no point in playing the game. Whoever keeps at it is just re-playing Super Mario Bros. 3! Things start feeling rushed and unfinished starting in World 6, and it only gets worse from there. I have mixed to negative feelings about the overall design of this hack. It had the potential to be really great if Recovery1 would have took more time to finish things. The control is still good, and Worlds 1 - 5 feel pretty fresh. The gameplay has the same cool feel that SMB3 had, but it would have been better if it would have gotten finished.

Story 2/10: The story for SMB3 2nd Run seems to be a lot like the story from Super Mario Bros. 3. Bowser has sent his 7 Koopa Kids to steal the magic wands from the 7 kings of Mushroom Land. They turn the kings into animals, and Mario must get back the wands and restore the 7 rulers to their human form. Somehow, Bowser's kingdom is not just limited to Dark Land. Pipe Land has been conquered by Bowser too and turned into a completely different world that is a combination of Pipe Land and Dark Land. After defeating Ludwig von Koopa in world 7, Mario gets the same letter from Bowser and is off to play the same world 8 from the original game.

The plot is the same plot from the original game, but it is supposed to be different in a way. Although, it isn't different, and not only that, it doesn't make any sense. It's like Recovery1 is trying to change the storyline with this hack, but it is incomplete just like everything else! You're dealing with a storyline and game that was never finished nor is it very original. The plot for 2nd Run is a very poorly constructed, one that never got finished, and is very confusing!

Content 9/10: Super Mario Bros. 3 2nd Run has a fairly decent amount of new content to it. It includes the same (Grass Land, Desert Land, Water Land, Giant Land, Sky Land, Ice Land, Pipe Land, and Dark Land) 8 worlds from the original game with worlds 1 - 7 containing different levels than before. Although, once you get to world 8, it is just the same game as Super Mario Bros. 3. It takes about 2 or 2 and 1/2 hours to beat worlds 1 - 7. After that, there is no new content, and the hacked portion of the game is over with. I still think this hack contains quite a lot of new levels and is worth playing for that reason.

Difficulty 9/10: Super Mario Bros. 3 2nd Run is a pretty challenging game just like with the one it is patterned after. 2nd Run takes all the things that made that game a challenge and made them even more challenging. Extra lives, items, and power-ups are still pretty plentiful, though. The platforming is even trickier and takes more trial and error than before. There are also some real puzzles in some of the Fortresses. I'm mainly thinking about the one in world 6. Recovery1 did well with making a hack that has the right amount of difficulty/challenge for this Mario hack unlike the one he made for Super Mario Bros. 2. If you keep at it, you'll beat it. World 8 is the easiest part of the game! LOL!

Overall 6.8/10: Super Mario Bros. 3 2nd Run is a pretty disappointing hack. It is fun to play because of the smooth controls and balanced difficulty. The gameplay is pretty addicting, but the design of the game still leaves room for improvement. Recovery1 did not finish it. 2nd Run has the beginnings of a good ROM hack, but I guess the person that made it had too many other things going on in real life to tend to that he or she couldn't get back to it. That's a shame, and I can relate.