Super Mario Bros. pioneered the platforming genre as we know it. After Super Mario 2, a reskinned port of a definitely-not-Mario-game called Doki Doki Panic, Super Mario 3 was the first pure-blooded sequel that took 2D gaming to the next level and arguably secured the Super Mario Brothers as a perpetual success. SM3 introduced an overworld hub that acted as a mission select screen, a series and genre tradition to this day. For the first time ever, players could pick up and throw koopa shells and even fly with one of the most imaginative power-ups ever to grace gaming - the raccoon suit.Up until this point, few games had embraced the open-ended playfulness that Super Mario 3 encouraged. As the game allowed us to backtrack through levels, no matter how far we'd come, gamers discovered secret portals and magic flutes that skipped whole worlds at a time. Hidden rooms, strange enemies and treasure chests full of frog suits, hammer juggling and sock hopping were had. Super Mario 3 is responsible for the modern platformer, not only for the design choices and mechanics that so many others have counterfeited, but for simply establishing Mario as a reliably polished, yet innovative franchise with long-term brand potential and forward thinking game design.