According to
David Sheff's book
Game Over, Super Mario Bros. 3 sold 7 million copies in
USA, 4 million in
Japan and 3 million in
Europe, making it the most popular
NES/
Famicom game that wasn't packed in with the console.
How to jump from World 1 to World 8A
warp whistle is in World 1-3. Get it by jumping on the last big white block in the level, holding down until you fall through it into the background, and running to the end of the level before you return to the foreground. Instead of touching the card box, you'll go to
Toad's House and get a whistle. Don't use it yet.
Another is in the first Mini Fortress. Get it by getting the Racoon Leaf at the end of the first room, don't go in the door, then fly around and above the ceiling. The camera won't follow you up but you can keep rising, and eventually you'll land on top of the ceiling. Walk right until you hit a wall, then push up into a door, then you'll get another whistle and skip the boss.
Once you have both whistles, use one, then you'll land in the Warp Zone with pipes 2, 3 and 4 beside you. Instead of entering them, use the remaining whistle to go to pipe 8.
Have fun in world 8! You won't have many lives or power ups, but you sure have saved a lot of time!