Super Mario Bros. 3Mix is a ROM hack of Super Mario Bros. 3 that was released in 2014. Although, it plays nothing like the Super Mario Bros. 3 that I grew up with or any other Mario game for that matter. I don't know where Southbird got the idea to do this hack, but the gameplay is like nothing else out there. I can't even think of any actual Mario games that have this kind of level design! There are: bonus levels, Star Coins, secret exits, the works. Super Mario Bros. 3Mix is not only unlike any other Mario hack, but it is also unlike any other classic Mario game I have ever played!  

Graphics 8/10: The graphics of this ROM hack are the only thing that reminds me of Super Mario Bros. 3. It really isn't all that much different. Some parts of the game look kind of bland, but then there are other parts with cool backgrounds just like in the original SMB3. This is probably due to the hardware limitations of the NES. Southbird tried to bring in other sprites from games like Super Mario World, but they don't look very good in this game. Just like with Super Mario Bros. 3, my opinion of the graphics are somewhat mixed. In some ways it is a great looking game with some of the sprites and backgrounds, but then some of these elements look dull in other levels of the game.

Music 9/10: Unfortunately, the music of SMB3 Mix also has this problem somewhat. There are many parts of the hack that sound exactly like the original but not all of it. There are new tracks brought in from Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Land that liven things up. Still, these songs are held back by the hardware of the original NES. There are also some more musical numbers added from games like: Super Mario World and Super Mario Land 2 that don't sound as good in 3Mix. The music of this hack is also a mixed bad for me just like with the graphics. Although, it is somewhat better than Super Mario Bros. 3 with the tracks from Mario Galaxy. The soundtrack has issues, but it is a great sounding game still. 

Gameplay 10/10: To start with, this is a very original video game in terms of gameplay. From what I've heard there are some similarities to later Mario games. You can re-enter levels, but you can't exit the levels without beating them again. At least you can re-play them unlike in the original SMB3 to find Star Coins and secret exits. That's what I like most about 3Mix, the levels encourage you to explore them in order to find items and pathways to other levels. I love exploration with level design, and Super Mario Bros. 3Mix goes crazy with that! Players will spend a lot of time with this hack looking for these optional levels and collectables.

Collecting Star Coins unlocks world 0 after beating the entire game including the comet levels. It is easier to find all 3 coins on a level before beating the game because afterwards the stages have been hit by both the purple comets and the red comets. In all of these comet levels, the Star Coins you previously collected are gone, and you have to clear these levels again in order to regain them. In order to clear the purple levels, you have to collect a certain number of purple coins in the level. With the red comet levels, you have to simply beat the levels, but you have to beat them without any power-ups or checkpoints!

I don't mind the purple levels, but I hated doing the red levels. I found myself dying a lot on these parts, and this was one part of the game I didn't enjoy. Although, you have to do it in order to play the remaining locked areas of world 0. So, I guess that I don't mind doing this too much. If you successfully finish all the comet levels and find the Star Coins on all the other levels you get to explore the main levels of world 0. However, you can go ahead and play parts of this world before finishing the regular game by finding secret exits in worlds 2, 4, 6, and 8. There are also other secret exits in some of the other worlds of 3Mix.

There are 4 mini-games in world 0 also that you can access after beating the secret levels of world 0 via worlds 2, 4, 6, and 8. If you win the mini-games, you are given a key to unlock one of the gateways on the overworld map of world 0. However, you cannot play the mini-games until you have completed these secret levels. By this point, Super Mario Bros. 3Mix becomes a real puzzle of a game that is really hard to explain! There are so many different parts of this puzzle such as: keys, Star Coins, comet levels, beating the normal game that have to be put together to play the 4 main levels of world 0 and the final boss. This is of course optional, but players will really enjoy putting the pieces of this puzzle together in order to finish SMB3 Mix 100%!

SMB3Mix also shows you how many Star Coins you have collected on a level with the overworld map. This is very helpful, and there are also many other things about this hack that are helpful too. You can collect an infinite number of items unlike in SMB3 where you were limited to 28. These are found in Toad Houses that have been replaced by the card matching games from the original but matching up a certain number of Bowser cards ends the game. I liked the memory matching card games from the original better. This is just more of a luck based deal, but there are some really cool items in 3Mix that are easy to find on the levels themselves.  

The items of this hack are: The Mushroom, Fire Flower, Leaf (which turns you into Tanooki Mario without the ability to transform into the statue), Carrot (from Super Mario Land 2 which acts the same way it did in that game), Penguin Suit (a lot like the Frog Suit but with the ability to shoot ice balls and freeze your enemies, and you can also walk on land with it), Boomerang Suit, Star, and the 4 keys to the locked levels of world 0. I found it hard to win these items in the card games, but they are pretty easy to get in the levels themselves. 3Mix has a better item selection than what Super Mario Bros. 3 had. The Penguin Suit is way better than the Frog Suit. You can even use it on land levels and use it to freeze enemies! This is just yet another reason to play this game.

Super Mario Bros. 3Mix is a game that is big on secrets and collectables with its level design. Not only that, but it also pays homage to a lot of other Mario games. There are stages similar to: Super Mario Land 2, Super Mario Bros. 1 and 2, Super Mario Land, Super Mario World, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. Mario can even walk on the ceiling in this game! LOL! However, these gimmicks aren't used as much in this hack like they were in The Lost Adventure series. Although, I liked the way a lot of the music is brought in from those games. The new musical numbers along with all the exploration and secrets make for some of best gameplay and level design in a hack or video game ever!

Story 10/10: Super Mario Bros. 3Mix has a very complex storyline that starts out in The Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser has kidnapped the Princess just like in SMB1. After rescuing her; Mario, Luigi, and Toad go to Subcon where they board an airship piloted by Bowser Jr. and Wart. So basically, the Mario Bros. and Toad travel though about 7 different games until Princess Peach is kidnapped again by Bowser and taken to Dark Land like in the original SMB3. This plot does have some similarities to that game, but at the same time there are no Koopa kids or 7 kings that have been transformed into animals.

The story has some twists and turns with probably even more than what it had in Super Mario Bros. 3. It doesn't copy that game entirely, but it isn't that much different. It is similar, but at the same time it is also interesting mainly towards the end with new characters such as: Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy making an appearance. Bowser Jr. also causes a lot of problems for our heroes as they travel through many different kingdoms from previous Mario games. This is still a cool story, despite how it is still similar to the original with Peach being kidnapped at the end and taken to Dark Land. It is a plot that stands on its own just like with the other Mario games.

Content 10/10: Super Mario Bros. 3Mix has a ton of content and extras to it! This game will keep you busy for a long time, but it never gets dull or boring. The only part I didn't enjoy was the red comet levels. To start with you have: The Mushroom Kingdom, Subcon, Boo's Woods, Dinosaur Land, The Birobuto Kingdom, Isle Defino, The Greater Galaxy, and Dark Land. After defeating Bowser in Dark Land the player has the option to go back to play the purple and red comet levels in order to regain The Star Coins they have already found on those levels. Even before players are able to do this, they can still visit world 0 via: Subcon, Dinosaur Land, Isle Defino, and Dark Land to find those Star Coins on these hidden stages and collect the 4 keys needed to unlock the gateways to the main levels of world 0.

That is a lot to do, and it was a very confusing puzzle until I looked it up online. That's how I learned how to complete this game 100%. Once you make it to world 0, the rest is pretty short. You only play 4 levels, fight 2 mini bosses, then go through a short castle where you fight some of the other mini bosses from the normal game, and finally fight The Final Boss. After doing all of this, you get an ending similar to the end of one of The Karate Kid movies. I think SMB3 Mix has more content and levels to it than anything I've ever played and will keep you busy for hours.

Difficulty 4/10: Super Mario Bros. 3Mix isn't a hard game, but you do have to remember to hit Start and select Save and Continue from time to time to save your game in case you get a Game Over. It is especially good to do this when you start running low on lives. This game doesn't save automatically, and you don't get save messages like in Super Mario World. 1 - 2 is kind of a bad level after the first half with all the barrage of flying fish that come at you randomly. You don't have many lives built up here, and if you don't remember to save you'll find yourself restarting from the beginning. I felt like this was the only badly designed stage of this game.

Everything else is pretty easy, and unlike a lot of other hacks, this is a fun and laid back type of game. Players can take their time and explore the levels for optional challenge. I like how 3Mix puts more emphasis on optional challenge instead of mandatory/hardcore difficulty. If you don't want to 100% the game, it isn't hard once you complete level 1 - 2. There might be some crappy levels, but I can't remember any. I don't think 1 - 2 is even that bad, I might get a Game Over here, but I can still go back and continue playing. After several minutes, I was able to beat it and before much longer found myself making real progress with this new game that I hadn't even played before.

The only thing I found hard was the red comet levels. Those are optional, so I guess they don't count. It's really just these optional levels and collectables that I found myself having real trouble on. Even they're not too hard once you look them up on YouTube and try to memorize them. SMB3 Mix is a fairly easy game with only one or two bad levels that are still reasonably difficult.     

Overall 9.4/10: This is a good ROM hack of Super Mario Bros. 3 that is done right. However, it still looks a lot like the original SMB3, and that's part of what holds it back from being that great of a game. With the NES hardware, there was only so much that could be done graphically and musically to make this game really good. The gameplay is the strongest part of Super Mario Bros. 3Mix. It feels more like an actual video game instead of a ROM hack. There is so much creativity and exploration with these levels with more emphasis put on exploration and optional challenge.