Super Mario Brothers 3: The Encore

If you could describe me in a single word, "collector" would not be that word. That honour will have to go to my friend Howard. Well to be more precise, he acts more like a hoarder than just a simple collector. Anything he's ever had in his life, he's kept in his life. It'd be hard to approach the guy usually but thanks to a near obsessive compulsiveness to keep things tidy, it's usually just pretty neat to visit him every once in a while. His house is practically stuffed to the brim with shelves upon shelves of everything he has ever gotten in his life. Books, DVDs, collectible soda cans. And of course, video games. Ever since his parents got him a PS1 he's been addicted to them ever since. These days he usually spends his pay checks mostly on any kind of game he can get his hands on, recent or otherwise. Mentioning all of this stuff about him and not me right now because you'll find out about me later on in this little story of mine. Choose for yourself if you want to believe me, I'm just saying what I know to be true.

So this whole thing started a couple weeks back when I came to visit Howard. It'd been a good couple of weeks since I last saw him so I decided to stay the night. He hooked me up with the guest bedroom which was a lot more cosy than my dirty shack of a bedroom. Had an old CRT TV in it too, with a SNES plugged into it. Asked him if I could play any games he had and he pointed me towards the snes shelf he had by the kitchen. Decided to grab a couple of them to be sure I had decent to play. Hadn't played SNES in a while so I just grabbed the ones that had Mario on them to be on the safe side. Me and Todd played around with Mario Kart and Super Mario World a whole bunch before we had some dinner.

After that, we sat back down and got the last game off of the pile. Looking at the cover though, I was shocked to see what was on there. While I'd thought I had grabbed a regular old copy of SMB3, I had ended up picking something called Super Mario Brothers 3: The Encore. From what I could guess of the title, it was something like The Lost Levels for SMB but with 3 instead. Asked Todd about it and he couldn't remember when he got it, although he had a memory of playing it when he was a kid. All that he could remember was that it was a "pretty intense experience." Just sounded like music to my ears at the time so after that, we decided to plug this hidden treasure in and get to playing it.

Immediately, we were surprised with a brand new intro for the game. Instead of Mario and Luigi running out both at the same time, it was Mario alone who ran out to start the show. All of the powerups and turtle shells were already on the stage, which Mario played around with a bunch. Ran off the stage faster than the old intro though, cutting the whole thing short. After that we were given our next surprise with a new world overlay. Instead of the dancing green trees, we had some stationary brown ones. Guess some time had past since the original game, moving on from spring to autumn. Soon enough we got the first level started and the quality of it just blew us away. It was like a remixed version of the first level for SMB3, taking on a decidedly more difficult turn. We felt like kids again playing SMB3 for the first time, amazed at the level of consistent and new sprite work. In my mind, this was as official as it could get.

It even had the warp pipe secret still in from the original level but instead of a "3" it was an "E". It was odd though that the blue blocks were considerably darker than before, with some added details to make it look...aged, in a sense. Our best guesses was that this part of the "stage" hadn't been spruced up in a while. Anyways, the rest of the levels we played together were more or less the same in terms of quality and charm. We even decided to leave the warp whistle for now because we just genuinely wanted to explore what the game had to offer. But eventually though Howard had to get to bed as midnight was starting to pass. I wished him goodnight and made an attempt to sleep myself. But the allure of playing the rest of this amazing game was just too much for me to ignore. So as quiet as a mouse, I turned the TV back on and got back to playing the game. We had stopped just before the airship stage for this island. When I pressed A to get to the stage, I was greeted with a different cutscene than usual. Toad stood in place in front of the King's chair and gave out this piece of dialogue:

Oh it's just awful! Bowser's children are causing havoc from the sky! Please stop them before its too late!

His kids again? Guess once Mario took down the old man, the children want to take control. Getting to the airship part, I was surprised again to see that the airship took on the same quality as those blue blocks from the first level. Just like from then, it looked old and messed up. I'm not even sure the ship was flying, as the mini cutscene showing Mario jumping on the ship didn't have the ship fly away. The level moved as normal too, I wasn't being forced to continuously go right. The cannons still worked as intended though and I wanted to check out the rest of the game as soon as possible so I kept a move on. Eventually got to where the boss fight was and got myself ready to face off against Ludwig. But instead, all that was there was the magic wand. Where did he go? I shrugged my shoulders at point and just decided to grab it.

And then the game took a bizarre turn. The wooden floor below Mario broke down as he was fell down into the basement. Mario was alone in pure darkness as he sat up and shook his head. Footsteps on creaking wood approached him from behind. They stopped as soon as whoever's shoes belonged to the mystery man entered the spotlight. Dark red. Up above those shoes was a double sided axe. White text appeared on the screen soon after:

missed the spotlight, didn't you? selfish little plumber. you seemed to have forgotten

WE WORK AS A DUO

Before I realised it, Mario was grabbed by this thing and he held an axe above his head. He slashed it down and the screen cut to black just as soon as it went into his chest. When I got back to the level select screen, Mario was missing a life. Things got even stranger when I tried to move Mario to the next level. The map was broken into two with the slash of an axe as all of the pieces of it fell down into the floor, taking Mario with it.

THIS PLAY IS A TRAVESTY!

IT''S NOT LIKE YOU TO RUMINATE ON JUST ONE MEASELY ADVENTURE.

ALTHOUGH...

YOU REMEMBER THIS ONE FOR ALL OF THE WRONG REASONS, DON'T YOU?

From within the darkness, this thing appeared. The lower half of its face was covered up with a broken piece of a Shyguy's mask. The upper half of its face was covered with a green cloth that had eye holes cut into it. That thing stared at me with nothing in its eye sockets.

YOU'LL NEED TO ACT AS A MIDDLE MAN FOR OUR LITTLE PLAY.

DO YOUR PART AND GET TO MY STAGE.

I'LL BE WAITING...

He faded back into the darkness and the loading screen finished to get me into the new game. Fitting in with the blue blocks and the air ship, this place could only be properly described as decrepit. Cobwebs drifted all over the world while the trees had been reduced to blackened, empty husks. No background music was playing, just pure silence. There weren't a lot of levels to choose from, three normal ones before another airship one would have to be done. Without wasting any time, I got travelled to the first level and started playing this bizzarro version of a game I love. The level began off stage with a intro cutscene, with Mario attempting to leave the play he starred in. Rushing in through a door in the background, Mario found himself in the outside world.

A vast and empty dead land.

Overgrown mushrooms towered over Mario as I took control and started to play the level. Any enemies that could've been faced here were just skeletons or gravestones. No music here but there was the sounds of wind blowing through the mushroom forest. The only challenge the level presented was platforming wise. Spikes that were coming out from underneath ground that had seemingly been ripped up were all over the level. If I didn't have a tanuki suit on, this would've been a horrible challenge to overcome. But by the end of it, I was able to finish the level. Not by exiting stage right but by making it to Peach's castle. A weird thing that I noticed before the level ended was some words painted in green that were just above the castle doors. Could barely manage to see them, even played through the level again to see what it said. It was a phrase that gave me a name for this thing.

BEWARE OF THE VERDANT WRAITH

WHEN HE GRINDS HIS AXE

LIVES ARE LOST

AND THE KINGDOM WEEPS

Now by this point, I remembered the warp whistle I collected earlier. While my morbid curiosity hadn't ran out at this point, I was still interested in seeing how much of the game I had left before I got to the end. So to test my luck, I used up the whistle to see what would happen. In response to that, an arm appeared from behind the map and held onto the Warp Whistle. It pulled it out from its place and, behind the map, snapped it in two before letting it fall of the screen.

SORRY.

HE GOES AT MY PACE.

With that, I was missing a warp whistle and now had to go through the game as regular. Nice. Anyways, after that failed experiment I just decided to move onto the next level of the game. Mario came in through the front door and grabbed a torch as soon as he noticed how dark it was inside. This level was different from the usual ones as I needed to use the torch to properly see where I was in the level. The only sounds this level had were dripping droplets hitting the stone floor. Water was a very dangerous part of the level, in the sense that if you accidentally let a droplet hit the torch you were as blind as a bat. And because of the near omni-present spikes, I ended up losing my first life to this world. Only had two more left so I needed to make them count. I was still enthralled with the challenge the game presented, along with the sprite work for this. Level design wise it was still professional but the subject matter? That was an entirely different story. I had to keep playing this game in order to discover its secrets and get to the end. So when I got to a door with a sign next to it saying "Toadstool's Room", I didn't hesitate in entering the room. Barely anything was there.

Just a treasure chest that had a tanuki suit.

And resting in her bed

The skeleton of Princess Toadstool.

There was a sign next to her, which was hard to read due to the torch mechanic but I wrote down as much as I could see. It read:

"Dear Mario.

Please come back home. We've all been experiencing the grief of the tragic incident just as much as you. But you can't stay in that theatre forever, relieving the memories you had. I understand that █████ meant the world to you but you have to let him go. Just come back home and we can work this through. Maybe we can enjoy some cake?

Yours truly, Toadstool."

I left the room soon after since the torch was running out. Questions about why Toadstool had died in the bed might be answered later. After that, getting to the end of the level came quickly as Mario left the castle and back into the world. Entering the penultimate level, I didn't have any expectations for what could happen next. But when I got in, I still found myself shocked. The whole level was coloured in red or black. A red sun was casting throughout the entire level, black trees blocking the sunlight. Where was black, there was nothing to be seen. In the red, there was just bodies. The land itself seemed to have been covered in piles of what used to be the Mushroom Kingdom. From enemies to allies, it was just nothing but misery. A droning ambience played in the background. Sounded like crashing metal. Despite the near nauseating choice of colours, it was the most unique and interesting level so far. At many times I had to do a leap of faith and hope to God that I didn't land on a spike. Unfortunately, it happened enough times on my first attempt that I lost another life. Just one more to go before it was game over. Got close at times, was reduced to one hit left by the end of it but finally, I had conquered the level. Now the time came for what seemed to be the biggest challenge: the airship. Just like the castle, words painted in green were on the airship:

THE VERDANT WRAITH CALLS YOUR NAME

THE PRESCENCE OF AN UNDESIRABLE MAN IS NEEDED

COME TO HIM

AND WITHSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES

Using the tanuki suit I had saved over from the second level, I was ready to face whatever the game had left to throw at me. The intro cutscene for this level had Mario run through a broken hole that was in the hull of the airship. It was a simple straight line going from point A to point B...at least at first. Soon the wooden floors and walls started to transform into...bricks. The castle theme from the original SMB3 started to play as the level transformed around Mario into becoming a fortress. Eventually he reached the lava bridge section. And waiting just at the other end of it was the Verdant Wraith. He was...abnormally tall. He reached the ceiling of the level. He still had that shyguy mask on. His clothes were faded and tattered, he looked like a ghost. He held a hand over the axe lever as Mario stood frozen.

you refused patience. couldn't help yourself to share the spotlight. just wanted it all for yourself.

well here i am. brought back from the dead. it happened soon after you murdered me.

you remember don't you? i was standing where you were. and you were standing here.

and with t h i s look on your face.

you killed me

The Verdant Wraith grabbed a hold of the axe lever and pulled it, letting Mario fall into the lava. The screams Mario made crackled through the speakers of the CRT TV, enough to the point that I'd thought they'd break. The Verdant Wraith then walked off the platform and joined Mario in his suffering. The white text returned to the screen as fire started to crackle throughout the level.

WE COME AS ONE AND DIE AS ONE.

AS THE CYCLE BEGAN, WE OWE IT TO OURSELVES TO END IT.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LETTING THIS COME TRUE.

FIN.

And just like that, the game ended. It went straight back to the start screen and when I checked to see if any changes happened, it was straight back to the start. Would've started playing again right then and there but when I checked the time, it was 3am. Didn't want to risk losing anymore sleep so I turned the TV off and finally got some rest. Once I got up and had breakfast with Howard, I talked to him about the game. Told him that I decided to be cheeky and played the rest while he was asleep and about the stuff that was on it. The memories he had of the game started to come back to him and he laughed it off, mostly just finding it funny on how he was allowed to play that kind of game when he was a kid. Asked him if he ever got past the castle stage in the bizzarro world, he said he did but he couldn't remember what happened past that point. Something about the Wraith losing his mask.

Eventually I left his house and got back to my normal life. Still haven't lost the memory of playing that game though. There's a big part in me that needs to explore the game to the point where I can beat that game and get a true ending. I don't want that story to end the way it did, there has to be a happy ending. I'll guarantee you this, this doesn't end here.