Highlights
Super Mario Bros. 3, released over 30 years ago, continues to be a beloved and influential game with new discoveries still being made by players.
The roulette mini-game within the game was discovered to be unfairly manipulated in favor of the house, posing challenges for players seeking to acquire additional lives beyond the levels. However, despite this unfair disadvantage, players continue to derive pleasure from uncovering hidden features in video games, which ultimately adds to the enduring charm of Super Mario Bros. 3.
One of the mini-games in Super Mario Bros. 3 was discovered to be rigged against players. Even after more than thirty years, Super Mario Bros. 3 players continue to uncover new findings.
Super Mario Bros. 3 was released on NES between 1988 and 1991, depending on the region. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time. It introduced numerous elements that have since become integral to Mario's platforming adventures. The game has also received multiple remakes, ports, a short-lived TV series, and even had a canceled PC version. Nearly all Nintendo platforms are able to play some version of Super Mario Bros. 3, and Nintendo itself continues to reference the game in various ways throughout the franchise. This includes referencing its visuals, remixing its music, and reviving its power-ups.
Super Mario Bros. 3 has gained notoriety for its challenging nature, even acknowledged by Nintendo itself. However, a YouTube channel called Retro Game Mechanics Explained has uncovered one aspect that contributes to this difficulty: the arduous task of acquiring extra lives outside of levels. It turns out that the roulette mini-game, which offers Mario 1-Ups when all three rows match, is actually rigged through its coding. Super Mario Bros. 3 employs a 15-bit Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR) to generate random numbers, which are then allocated to each row of the roulette. These numbers determine the duration before the roulette begins to slow down and the range of frames expands with each row. In simpler terms, while the first two rows spin at a manageable pace for matching, it is the third row where the manipulation occurs. This row spins rapidly enough to complete an entire rotation of the roulette. Consequently, many players struggle with the mini-game because they have no control over where the third row ultimately lands.
The mini-game in question has gained a notorious reputation among fans of Super Mario Bros. 3. While some viewers claimed they had no trouble with it, many expressed a sense of relief upon seeing evidence that it was rigged. Others mentioned the easier card-matching mini-game, which the same video explained was originally intended to be completely random. However, the developers eventually settled on using eight pre-determined card arrangements.
Whether these occurrences are intentional Easter eggs, mere coincidences, mistakes, or even intentional trolling on the part of the developers, uncovering secrets in video games is always enjoyable, regardless of their age. Super Mario Bros. 3 is no exception to this phenomenon. While this may not be the main reason, it certainly contributes to why some games continue to be played for decades.
Super Mario Bros. 3 is available on Nintendo Switch and legacy platforms.