Super Mario Bros. 3 — The Peak of 8-Bit Platforming
World maps, the Tanooki suit, and a game that knew it was a play.
If one game is the high-water mark of NES platforming, it's Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990 in the US). Everything clicked: a branching world map, inventory items, secret routes, and power-ups galore: the raccoon tail, the frog suit, the Tanooki statue, the Hammer Bros. suit.
It launched on a wave of hype unlike anything before it, even getting a feature-length commercial disguised as a movie (The Wizard). And it had a sly secret: look closely and the stages are a stage play, bolts and platforms hanging in front of a black curtain.
The warp whistles, the airships, that overworld theme. For many of us this is simply the best the NES ever produced.