Super Mario 3's
main attraction was in the special
suits you could get. Well, maybe people liked the different
bosses, and the
wands, and the inventory system... or whatever. Personally, runner up number 1 is the fourth "giant" world.
Wholesome goodness is what I liken it to.
The Tanooki Suit
Turns Mario into a tanuki (spelling of tanuki fixed by asterphage), which is some crazy mythical character. Mario now has a full racoon looking suit on, the only real benefits of which are:
- Looking cute and fuzzy
- Turning to stone for up to five seconds
The Frog Suit
This suit allowed you to swim in the water very well. Walking on land made you into a total goon, although you could jump really high. The best part was beating a level with it, because Mario bounces off at super high speed, like he's on some controlled substance or something.
The Hammer Bros. Suit
Be a hammer brother. Kick ass. Take names. By far, my favorite suit, you get to throw hammers, you can reflect fire off your shiny, ducking backside, and you look a lot different than any other incarnation of Mario (except for the Tanooki's special power of, 'turn into a stone statue of an old cylindrical guy'). Fun indeed.
The Big Payoff
Okay, the best part about these suits was that if you could manage to beat a world with one of them on, the king of the castle would give you a different 'thank you' message. He'd express concern for the frog, and ask if you'd like be changed back. I believe "Thank you Mr. Racoon" is what the Tanooki got, and the Hammer suit takes the cake with a phrase that's something like, "Hey, nice clothes. How about lending them to me. No dice? What a drag."
Honestly... borrowing the clothes of a sweaty Italian plumber... It doesn't get any better than that.