Super Mario Bros. 3

The jump in quality from SMB1 to this despite both being on the same system is crazy

it's actually insane how this is an NES game

Best 2D Mario game[2]

This is probably the hardest a 2d platformer can get without entering the realm of "unfair" which is a huge feat to pull off. 2 wasn't that hard but it had some cheap "gotcha!" moments, here it is just blatantly challenging by genius level design. 90% of the deaths can be prevented by taking it slow and plotting your next move, everything is telegraphed to give you juuuust a chance on the first go if you're paying attention. And it does indeed feel ahead of its time for the NES, it makes the first game look like random geometry. Sometimes I feel it gets a little TOO hard but idk if that's a real complaint lol

my word i suck at these games, can barely get past the second world :(

Best 2D Mario game[3]

I'm tapping out at world 8, fun game tho. Not too difficult up to that point except for maybe world 5 which is jarringly difficult at least for me.