Author's Note: This essay is my entry into community member Conrad Zimmerman's Corrective Lenses Competition. Click that link for more details. Now, the 500 words:



I know what you're thinking: Why would someone bother to write an essay or article about a game like Super Mario Bros. 3? It's been out for close to 20 years or so, and you'd figure that everything that needs to be or can be said about the game has probably already been done. But today I'm going to tell you about a memory I have of this game that I never hear get mentioned: The Frog Suit.



In case you need a reminder, the Frog Suit usually first becomes available somewhere in World 3, which I guess you could classify as The Water World. My fondest memories of this game take place in this world. I can remember that sense of wonder I got as a kid the first time I opened up one of Toad's chest's (The one's inside the giant Mushroom huts) and found the suit. I thought it was the coolest power up Mario had ever used, and I still do to this day. How can anything compete with a combo of Mario and Frogs? Not only was it adorable, but it was a blast to use, at least when I was a child.

You see, I always failed at water levels in Mario. I could beat them, but I always had difficulty. Not so with the Frog Suit. Mario could hang with any fish in the sea when he had this suit on. It's speed was particularly useful for avoiding those damn jellyfish enemies, but overall it just kicked ass when used properly. Of course, as I grew older I started to see through my nostalgia and have realized that the suit is almost completely useless if you're not underwater. It's just plain awful trying to hop around as a frog when a pyschotic Sun is chasing you through the desert (Love those levels too!).

Every time a new Mario game is released, I feel a twinge of disappointment that there is no Frog Suit to be found. I am not a fan of swimming in most games, as I find it’s one of the hardest mechanics to nail. Even Nintendo is not immune to this problem, as you’ll see if you play any 3D Mario title. It’s not bad, but not that great. But I can tell you this: If Super Mario Galaxy would have given me the chance to use the Frog Suit, my head would have exploded from the rush of nostalgia, especially considering how obvious it is that SMG was inspired greatly by SMB 3.

But I'll always remember the Frog Suit. To this day my loser older brother and I can still have a huge arguement about the merits of the Frog Suit as opposed to his favorite power up, the damn Tanooki Suit. I know in my heart it's true that the Frog Suit just doesn't cut it next to the Tanooki, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

It still fills me with childlike excitement whenever I see it.