Super Mario 3: Evil Family

Summary
A young boy and his mother are trying to carry on after the death of his abusive father. They watch his playthrough of Super Mario 3, but things start to take a rather bizarre--and frightening--turn.

Introduction
Hello, dear reader. My name is Pomeroy.

It was years since my abusive father had been killed.

And I was grateful for it. I mean, he would beat me just for being a few seconds late. If I had taken several minutes too long to obey a command he would have the right to punish me harshly. One to five minutes, maybe--if the order was urgent enough. But a few seconds?

And to confess, I was the one that killed him, but let me say in my defense that it was self-defense. And my mother would vouch for me on that, especially since she suffered as well. What I did to my dad was did a crane kick when he came after me at the top of the stairs with a metal pipe to beat me with. I mean, a wooden spoon or a yardstick would've been punishment enough, but a metal pipe was overdoing it. As for where I learned the crane kick, it's amazing what you can learn from watching the Karate Kid over and over. With the crane kick, I was able to unbalance him and cause him to fall down the stairs--his neck snapped from the fall and he died from that. No charges were pressed, because who would've believed a youngster was capable of killing? Sure there were those tales of other young killers, but to my small town's beliefs, those were outliers, and they thought no child in our small town was capable of that.

But anyway, my mom and I tried to press on as we could, trying to get our minds off of what had happened to us in the past.

My go-to pastime to escape was video games, especially the old NES Super Mario 3. Sure, there were the remakes, but I preferred the NES version better. If the cartridge wore down, we'd get it repaired at Vacs 'n' Videos, since those people were VERY good at restoring vintage video games.

I myself had beaten it several times, without warping, playing all levels, and beating all Hammer Brothers on the maps.

But one day, on the anniversary of my dad's death, as my mom was watching me play, we were in for a big shock.

World 1
I started out as usual with going to the first stage, and played as normal... getting the first Super Mushroom, then getting the Raccoon Leaf, beating the Goombas and flying for the first time. Often I would get the 11 coins, make the tens digit a one, and get the even number on my clock when stopping the clock to trigger the Treasure Ship. However, when I passed through the gap in the pipe to get to the goal, the screen froze a bit, and the sky was reddish, with the clouds showing sadistic looks. If you've played Monster Party and seen how the first level switches from cheerful to scary at a certain point, this is very similar. I didn't bother going back. I just cleared the stage and triggered the Flying Treasure Ship to appear. The map was still normal at the time. Though I couldn't help but notice the "dancing trees" have slightly frightened looks, despite being eight bit.

In World 1-2, I did the 1Up trick with the Goombas to get a big stock of extra lives, and then got moving again. I also did the P-Switch thing and went down the pipe for a few more coins. But as I passed the hill just before the two note blocks, the screen again shifted into something nightmarish. The usually green hills turned ash grey, the sky was a dim red, the clouds looked evil looking with red glowing eyes, and even the Goombas looked more sinister than normal. The Paragoomba near the end was more erratic than usual. While it didn't drop the Micro-Goombas as usual--and I was grateful for that--it did pursue me. Thankfully, the goal worked as normal and the enemy turned into a coin.

I soon began World 1-3, and I didn't bother doing the Warp Whistle thing--just saying that up front--because I wanted to go through the whole game. Anyway, I beat the usual Boomerang Brother and unlocked the secret Note Block that would send me up to Coin Heaven in that area. But when I went up there, it was anything but heavenly--the music was in a lower, minor key, unlike how it usually did. It was a black sky, and the clouds were grey, as if a storm was brewing. I was still in Raccoon form so I flew up to the 1-Up block, but when I did, I noticed an evil smiling face in the cloud with it.

"What the heck is going on?!" I asked. I had played it many times the days prior to this, and it was normal then. It was at this point I knew someone was trying to screw with me.

After clearing through Coin Heaven, I went down the pipe, and was relieved that the rest of the stage was normal. I didn't bother checking out the White Block, as I wasn't planning to get the Warp Whistle.

I was also glad the Toad House worked normal, and I picked one of the chests. I forgot what item I picked up, but it didn't matter to me at the time, as long as I got something.

I began World 1-4, which I remembered had the first of the secret White Mushroom Houses. In certain stages of the first seven worlds, you needed to collect a certain number of coins in each to unlock White Mushroom Houses--at least they were white in the NES originals. The level I was in was mostly normal... except the grass was dull brown and the sky was a deep red.

"Was this turned into a war zone?" I thought. "No... no, it couldn't be."

But other than the appearance, the level played as normal, and I got the number of coins needed to unlock the White Mushroom House. In this one, as did all the odd-numbered Worlds, this had a P-Wing, which allowed unlimited flight for a single stage, and afterwards reverted back to regular Raccoon.

I went to the Spade tile next, and it instead of a Toad had a Dry Bones. Now, I know that in the original Japanese version there'd occasionally be a Hammer Brother instead of a Mushroom person in the games, but not a Dry Bones. But otherwise the tile match thing was normal, and I got a Mushroom for two extra lives.

I soon went to the Mini-Fortress of the game, which kind of served as the midway point in some worlds. Again, I wasn't going to bother with Warp Whistles since I wanted to go through the whole game. So I went ahead and picked up the Fire Flower. However, I noticed the Podoboos--the fire bubbles that leapt in and out of lava in these levels, had twisted faces on them, like Jack-o-lanterns. This was odd, since the Podoboos wouldn't have faces until the SNES era in Super Mario World, where they were renamed "Lava Bubbles".

But my focus then continued to the Mini-Fortress. The Rotodiscs, which replaced the firebars from Super Mario 1, were easy to dodge. And I took down the Dry Bones, albeit momentarily, with a stomp. I didn't bother getting the leaf here.

Passing the spiked ceiling was easy, though I noticed reddish specks on some of the spikes that I could only assume to be blood. Given what I've seen so far, I wouldn't be surprised that whoever messed with this game would add that. No way that Nintendo would allow something like this back in the day.

I soon made it to Boom-Boom, the boss of the Mini-Fortress levels, and took him out with fireballs before he could be a threat. And then I picked up the Crystal Ball to clear the level.

After the fortress collapsed and the locked door opened, the N-Spade appeared. Unlike the regular Spade tiles, N-Spade lets you do a matching game. And I was thankful this time it was normal. I got a few matches before I missed twice and caused the mini game to end.

World 1-5 started, and this was the first of the "underground" stages. I did the sliding thing to knock out the Buzzy Beetles and leapt over the pool of water to get to the other side. I also found the Coin Heaven Note Block, and was relieved that the Coin Heaven was normal this time, though I didn't have the Raccoon suit to fly up to the 1Up. It didn't matter much, since I had a stash of extra lives at this point.

But when I got down from Coin Heaven, the normally bluish ice was replaced with brownish color, and the sky was dimmer. But otherwise, the level played as normal, and I made it to the goal a-okay.

It was when I got to World 1-6 that things REALLY spiraled out of control. The sky was a dark gray--almost black--and the platforms were a light gray, as if the wood was petrified.

"Could this have been a nod to World 6-3 back in Super Mario 1?" I thought.

I then noticed the bushes and grass hills were a dull brown, as if they dried out. Otherwise the level played as somewhat normal, and I got to the other side--I was even lucky enough to get all three star cards to get five extra lives.

After returning to the map, though, I noticed all the bushes (or trees, or whatever they were) had become still, and turned brown, as if they all died. The music then changed slower and to a minor key, but otherwise was still the same overall tune.

I then approached the Treasure Ship. The sky was black, but otherwise the Treasure Ship was normal, and I gathered up all the coins, since I knew which "path" to take to get them all. When I went down the pipe, it was that one Hammer Brother--normally Treasure Ships had a pair of Boomerang Brothers to take out. But the Hammer Brother was taken out relatively easily, and I got the Starman that was from the Hammer Brother that usually was there.

I quickly visited the Toad House. The boxes functioned as normal, but the dialogue there read:

"Please, Mario. Avenge our slain king."

Avenge the king?! Since when did Mario games take such a dark turn?

I soon went to the Castle and found the King's dog form, but he was lying on the ground, dead. The Toad sat down, as though weeping, and said:

"That vile Koopa killed our king after transforming him! Teach him a lesson!"

I soon went on Larry Koopa's Airship. Larry Koopa was the first of the seven Koopalings to fight. The airship played as normal, but when I got to where the Koopaling was, the timer stopped momentarily, a text box appeared, similar to what you'd see in the Toad Houses, Spade areas, and even the Castle Dialogue:

"Did you think you'd get away with it?"

"Get away with what?", I thought.

But after the text disappeared, the timer resumed and the Koopaling battle began. I was able to stomp him three times to defeat him. Yes, I had Fire Flower so I could've easily taken him out with fireballs, but the thought escaped me at the time. I picked up the wand and returned to the castle. The king's body was gone, so the wand went to the Toad. The Toad said:

"The previous king had been laid to rest. We will soon begin a set of rites to determine the next king.  Oh, and this note is here for you."

The letter soon appeared, and it read:

"I know what you did years ago.

"Don't think you can really escape your past. In due time, it will catch up to you."

The letter troubled me a bit, but luckily, it still gave the P-Wing the letter usually enclosed. I was soon off to World 2.

But what did the letter mean? I had to find out.

World 2
The second World of Super Mario 3, the desert world (also called the "Koopahari Desert" in the official Nintendo Power Strategy Guide), had begun, and I went to the first area of it.

I took out the first block Microgoomba easily, and got the Raccoon Leaf. The Raccoon tail was the only thing at the time, aside from the Starman of course, that could take out the Fire Snakes that were in the area. I also did some flying and entered the first bonus room all right.

But after exiting it, I noticed the area was ablaze, albeit only in the background. I knew the NES was capable of animated backgrounds, as indicated in such games such as Ninja Gaiden II, but what was it doing in a Super Mario game? But otherwise the game played as normal, and I went into the other bonus room.

When I got through that, the fire was out, but the sky was grayish, as though it were smoke. When I got to the end of the level, the pyramid outlines seemed to imply the pyramids were broken. But it didn't matter to me at this point, as I touched the box to clear the level.

I soon began World 2-2, and got through to the oasis. The water for some reason looked greenish, as though it were polluted. The Cheep-Cheeps were no longer there, perhaps due to being killed by the pollution, but it was still safe to swim in. I was lucky enough to get all the coins and get the White Mushroom house. Now, in the even-numbered worlds (except for World 8, for reason that ought to be obvious) the White Mushroom House had an Anchor. And what the Anchor did was it kept the Koopalings' airship in place, in case you lost a life in them, because otherwise the airship would fly off to other areas.

I soon entered the mini-fortress of World 2, and it was all greyish sand blocks. I did the Dry Bones 1-Up trick for a bit to get a few more extra lives, as I had a gut feeling I'd need them. Then I continued on. The Thwomps in the level, as they made their debut here, had some red specks on them, which I could assume to be blood--perhaps they had been successful in crushing intruders earlier. Near the end, I saw Boo for the first time--back in the day, they were called Boo Diddly's, a parody of the name of sports superstar "Bo Diddly". When I turned my back they'd fly toward me, but their faces looked even more demented than usual. I got away and made it to the next sections, and the spikes also had specks of blood on them. At this point I was starting to expect that.

When I made it to Boom-Boom, he had a really sadistic looking face, but he otherwise played as normal, and I was able to take him out with three stomps. Once I got the Crystal Ball, the fortress as usual collapsed, but then I noticed the water on the map turn from blue to a sickly green. Normally one could chalk that up to the cart showing its age, but from what I've been seeing so far, it was more than that.

Before continuing on, I got to take on one of the two Boomerang brothers of this stage. The area showed the stumps of the palm trees, as though they had been cut down. But I defeated the enemy and got the Music Box. For those who don't know, the music box makes wandering Hammer Brothers--or in the case of World 7, the map's Piranha Plants--go to sleep for about two turns, allowing you to slip by without facing them, which is helpful if you're not prepared to face them.

I soon entered World 2-3, which was the world with multiple pyramid-like structures, albeit ones you couldn't enter--that'd be near the end of the second World. But there were places you could get power-ups.

The first two pyramids had some gaps in them, but unlike the last times I played this game, they had some demented looking smiles, not unlike what you'd see in the final boss battle of the Japan-only game "Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti."

Lucky, those were only decoration, and the level otherwise played normal, including the Koopa shell that broke open the blocks near the end. I was glad the goal block's area still had the regular pyramid outlines. I had a mix of cards, so I got one extra life.

Next up was the Quicksand area of World 2, one of the two unnumbered action stages of this World. And it was one of two places in the game where you encountered the Angry Sun enemy. I got past the small quicksand pits and got a Koopa shell, and got past the tornado--which would later be named "Tweester" by Nintendo.

But after passing it, the sky changed from blue to deep reddish, and the Angry Sun looked even more sinister. It also spun and dove faster. I dodged two times and kicked the shell into the sun before the Koopa would reemerge from its shell. You bet I was thankful the sun got knocked out easily. I quickly got to the goal before anything else would pop up.

After that stage I went to the Toad House, but this Toad had a blindfold on and a cane for the blind.

The Toad said, "I see you defeated the Sadist Sun. Thank you for avenging my blindness."

Wait a minute, I thought. This game was getting darker and darker in tone as I progressed. But I picked up the power-up--I forgot which at the time, but it didn't matter to me.

World 2-4 started up, and it was one of two stages that had the orange like sky, as if a sunset or really bearing sun. I took out the Paragoomba and took off. But I saw the water was purplish, like the poison water of New Super Mario Bros. This is strange, since that game--heck, the Nintendo DS--would not be out for two decades from this game. Heck, not even the Game Boy Color had come out at the time, and the Game Boy Advance was still but a twinkle in the eyes of Nintendo's geniuses back in the day.

Nevertheless, I decided to not chance it and not go into the water. But I got the rest of the coins in the level and made it to the goal, taking out the Boomerang Brother at the end before hitting the goal box.

The second Boomerang Brother came up next, and I took it out as usual, claiming the Hammer Item. This item allowed the breaking of one boulder in the path, which under normal circumstances would be needed here to get the third Warp Whistle.

But after defeating the Boomerang Brother, I noticed the water in the level changed from the sickly green to dark purple, as if indicating poisoned water. Now there was no longer doubt that someone was messing with me with this game.

My next stop was World 2-5. This world was where the enemy Chain Chomp made its debut. I noticed that the Chain Chomps had some red specks on its teeth, which means it was lucky to get some unsuspecting meals earlier. But otherwise they played as normal, and I was able to get through to the vine hidden in the block and entered the pipe to the hidden room. I gathered as many coins and stuff as I could.

When I exited the hidden room, however, the sky got dark, and some stars showed, not unlike the stars seen in Super Mario 2--the USA version I mean. I slowly floated down using Raccoon power and made it to the goal, hitting the block to turn the guarding Chain Chomp into a coin.

Afterwards I went up to the block and destroyed it with the Hammer. When I crossed it, however, the river that usually made the numeral "III" was replaced with "666", and was of the poisoned water.

"Definitely would not have been allowed back in the early NES days," I said with a nervous chuckle.

My mom, sitting next to me, agreed.

I went into the Toad House there, and this was the one with multiple Frog Suits. The Frog Suit item was slow on land, but made swimming much easier--which was a godsend in World 3 that would come up next.

The Toad in the house said:

"The one responsible for the trouble is releasing some evil influences."

I totally agreed, given the demonic number in the river outside. But I was also grateful the Toad House still had Frog Suits.

After getting the Frog Suit, I went to take on the Fire Bros that were in this world. The Fire Bros spat out fireballs similar to the ones Mario throws as Fiery Mario. I couldn't help but notice that the sky wasn't the usual orange-ish, but the night sky. I took the enemies out quickly before they could take away my Raccoon Power, but instead of a Warp Whistle, I got a Starman. I was surprised, but it didn't affect me much, since I played to go through the whole game anyway.

My next stop was the pyramid level of World 2, the other unnumbered level of said world. Nintendo Power, including the SMB3 Strategy Guide, called it the "Pyramid of Mushroomkhamen" (an obvious pun on the name "Tutankhamen"). The night sky was there still at the start when I went in.

The inside of the pyramid was normal at first, and I cleared out the walls with both Buzzy Beetles and my Raccoon tail as usual, since I still had it. I also went into the "treasure room", and the night sky was still there.

After coming back from the treasure room, the interior had changed from red-brown to a dingy grayish green--not unlike the color of the mini-fortress of this World--and some areas seemed to have waste drums near the exit.

"Since when was toxic waste included in a Mario game?" I asked aloud.

That didn't matter to me. I had to get out. And I was able to, thankfully.

I made it to the exit pipe, and it was daytime again.

"Did time skip?" I wondered. But it didn't matter to me. I got to the goal safely.

I was shocked when I went into the castle, when the king's spider form had been squashed. It was the relatively tame cartoony squash, but the X's on the eyes made it clear the king was now dead.

The Toad in the castle said the same as before, that the Koopaling had killed the king after transforming him.

The airship played as normal, but the sky was completely black.

The Bullet Bills here were the Missile Bills, which was weird, since normally they wouldn't show up till World 4. The Missile Bills were Bullet Bills that flickered, and after flying a bit, would turn around to fly the other direction. The cannonballs from the diagonal cannons seemed to fire quicker than usual.

This airship had the debut of the Rocky Wrenches--mole enemies that emerged from certain spots to throw wrenches at you. I quickly stomped them to get out of the way--I didn't bother getting the Fire Flower here--and quickly descended down the pipe.

Once in the Koopaling's cabin, Morton Koopa Jr., the boss of World 2, spoke (once again pausing the timer). He said:

"Did you think your deeds would be lost in the dust of antiquity, Pomeroy?"

Wait, how did this game know my name?

The dialogue closed, the timer resumed, and the fight began.

I dodged his shots as best I could, stomped him three times, and got the wand.

After I landed back in the throne room, the wand went to the Toad, who told me:

"The king has now been mummified and laid to rest in the pyramid. We will soon begin the rites to select the new king.  Here's a letter I found."

When the Toad mentioned a pyramid, I assumed he meant the one I got through prior to reaching the castle. The letter read:

"No matter how much water you use to wash, you can't wash away your past."

I knew something was up, but at least I got the Lakitu's Cloud. It was also called Jugem's Cloud, since Jugem was the Japanese named of Lakitu.

World 3
The Island World, World 3, had begun, and I entered the first level. The sky was black, which was odd, since it was usually a brighter blue--the darkened sky wouldn't be until the SNES remake, and even then, it was mostly blue. I swam as usual through the water and made it to where the Fire Flower is, thankful it was still there. I hadn't noticed any enemies changed up here, so I thought the troubles were mostly behind me. I usually stayed near the top, since it would be easier to evade enemies that way.

I made it to the exit pipe and to the Goal Box. But back on the map screen, I noticed that the bridges stayed connected, which was odd because normally the bridges would open and close interchangeably between the levels. Still, I decided to take advantage of this later.

World 3-2 was up next, but the sky looked gray except for the clouds, and the water looked putrid green. The Cheep-Cheeps were all sickly looking, and the Koopas looked sadistic.

"What the heck?!" I said aloud. But soon my attention returned to playing, and was thankful the Starmen were in their locations. I definitely used them to my advantage to reduce the chances of me getting hit.

And yes, I am well aware of the hidden spot that could only be accessed with Raccoon power, but I wasn't Raccoon Mario at the time, so it didn't matter to me. I just needed to get to the goal.

Before continuing on, I went to the Toad House, and was very thankful that it worked as normal. I soon got an extra Frog Suit, as I knew I'd need it.

I shuddered as I prepared to enter World 3-3, as this was one of two stages where the player would encounter Boss Bass. For those not in the know, Boss Bass was a giant Cheep Cheep who'd leap out of the water and would swallow you whole, even if you were fully powered up, thus resulting in an insta-kill.

The water was again putrid green, the sky was again greyish--only the clouds were normal--and the Boss Bass was all skeletal! Even though he really couldn't swallow me, he could still damage me with the touch.

I was very thankful my fireballs could get rid of him, albeit temporarily. I just quickly made it to the exit pipe and to the goal before I took any unnecessary damage. But I was curious the rest of the water wasn't polluted. But that wouldn't last for long, as I would soon find out.

Before I could get to the first Mini-Fortress of this World--this world was the first to have more than one Mini-Fortress, I should add--I faced one of the two Wandering Hammer Brothers--this one in the water. I was glad I was still Fiery Mario, as small Mario would have an even harder time here. I quickly defeated both, lucky enough to maintain my powered-up form, and got the item. I kinda forgot what I got, but it didn't matter right now.

The first Mini-Fortress of World 3 had an interesting gimmick, where you had to pick the right door or you'd fall into the water. I remembered which doors led to what, but there was something bothering me.

In the "entrance area", the windows looked broken, as if they'd been vandalized. Did perhaps Boom-Boom get upset at one point?

I first went through the fifth door, as that had a platform with a 1-Up mushroom. But I noticed the water again was a sickly green, and the Cheep-Cheeps were all skeletal, almost like a "precursor" to the bonefish in Super Mario World. But the Super Nintendo, at the time called the Super Famicom, had yet to be known outside Japan at the time... assuming it had even existed yet. I decided not to take a chance in the water. I went through the correct door to where to get to Boom-Boom. And yes, I do know of the door that led to the treasure room, but I didn't care at that point in time.

I made it to Boom-Boom's room, and noticed the windows were broken as well. Boom-Boom's eyes looked like they were glowing red. Other than that, the battle was normal--and yes, I also remembered that this was the first time you'd encounter Boom-Boom with wings in this fortress. I still had Fire Flower, though, so I defeated him with fireballs so I wouldn't have to deal with that form.

After the fortress collapsed, all boulders disappeared as well. Normally I'd have to use up a Hammer to pass one, but they all vanished. I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I decided I'd use the paths before going to the castle of this World.

The first place I went to was the Spade game. This time, a Blooper was at the game table. This was odd, since I knew there were Koopas from time to time in the original Japanese version, but not other enemies--not to my memory, anyway. Still, the game played as normal otherwise, so I got the Fire Flower for three extra lives.

I soon went to World 3-4, and was relieved this stage played as normal, even with the usual sky color and the bluish water.

That was... until I made it to Lakitu.

Lakitu in Super Mario 3 had two tactics as opposed to his first incarnation back in Super Mario 1. In this game, he'd either release red Spiny Eggs that hatched into Spinies as usual, or green spike balls that rolled around.

But this time, he was tossing Bob-Ombs... which was REALLY bizarre since usually they'd first appear in World 3-9. Either way you slice it, I hightailed it to the Goal before he could be too much a menace.

Next on the docket was World 3-5, the second of the major Swimming worlds. I got my Frog Suit ready and began to swim. Not only would a Frog Suit make the level easier, but certain pipes required you to wear the Frog Suit to go in. And I did since there'd be three extra lives in one spot.

After exiting the bonus room, however, I noticed the water starting to take on a bit of green. Near the exit pipe, I saw a metal drum dropped in. I just went through the exit pipe.

After exiting the pipe and getting back to solid ground, I saw the game stop a brief bit, and the water went from blue to jungle green.

Did it get polluted? No... it couldn't be.

I was so focused on the game, I didn't noticed that I had the conditions for another Flying Treasure Ship.

I soon got on the Treasure Ship. Unlike others, it looked more metallic than wooden, as one would've expected from a Treasure Ship. But otherwise it was as usual. I got all the coins and finally encountered a pair of Boomerang Brothers, who are usually fought at the end of a Treasure Ship. I had forgotten which item I got from there, but it really didn't matter at this point.

But after that Treasure Ship, I noticed all the water in that map turning purplish. Did all the water become poisoned? No... I must be imagining it, I thought.

I soon made it to the Toad House northwest of where World 3-4 was, and the Toad there looked really eff'ed up, like a Picasso painting. The text read:

"The Little Koopas are polluting Water Land. Please stop them!"

I picked up an item--I think it was a Raccoon Leaf--and continued on.

Next stop was World 3-6. Since this was the NES version still, I was expecting the sunny yellowish sky. But it was a dingy gray sky, and even the spirally clouds were gone. The platforms where pale white, and the bushes a dead brown.

Of course, it was an auto-scrolling stage, and was thankful it was the usual pace--I wasn't sure if I could handle a quick auto-scroll so early on.

I made it through to the goal, but instead of outlines of green hills, it looked like an outline of a cemetery--the gravestones not unlike what one would see in Zelda II: Adventure of Link. But it didn't matter to me at this point, as I just hit the goal and got out.

My next stop was World 3-7. This was where the enemy Spike made his debut. For those who haven't played Super Mario 3 yet, or at the very least didn't get this far yet, Spike was a small turtle enemy that would spit up a spike ball and throw it at you. He is technically listed as an "underground" enemy--i.e. an enemy encountered in the underground levels--but he makes his debut above ground.

Anyway, this stage had the grayish sky--even the usually clouds are gone--the wood brown areas replaced with cold stone, similar to the stone in the World 2 Mini-Fortress, and the vegetation is dull brown.

"I'm starting to think the pollution is spreading," I said.

"You may be right," my mom agreed. And my mom saw me play this game before, so even she knew something's up with this game right now.

I got to climb the vine--the only thing right now in this stage that's still green--and got the coins. For some reason, the Note Block for Coin Heaven was gone, so I had to exit the stage in the usual manner.

The second Mini-Fortress of World 3 was a flooded one, so I prepared the Fire Flower. In the entrance hall, I noticed some metal drums. But thankfully, the water was clean. I went down the pipe and fought off the Cheep-Cheeps in the first flooded hall.

The second flooded hall was the ghost enemy called Stretch--since this was the level where the enemy made his debut. I swam as carefully as I could, as I wanted to keep my Fire Flower for my battle with Boom-Boom.

When I got to Boom-Boom, I used my fireballs, as again, I didn't want to deal with the winged form.

When this Mini-Fortress collapsed, I saw the water really deepen its purple. I started to get nervous.

I went into the Spade game area, and the Toad there looked REALLY warped, as if the Toad in that Toad house wasn't weird enough. I'm not sure how to describe his appearance, but needless to say, it was a bizarre looking Toad. But the game played as normal, and I was lucky enough to get the Star for Five Extra Lives.

I shuddered as I entered World 3-8, as this is the second of the two levels in this World where Boss Bass appeared. And what made this level worse was the islands sink even deeper.

But the sky this time around was black, and the water was purple and bubbled like the lava. So I knew this had to be the poison water. I decided not to take a chance with it.

Also, Boss Bass was all skeletal in this. I quickly got the vines to escape the bone Boss Bass. This was also one of the levels that made a White Mushroom House appear, but I didn't get it--I decided it wasn't worth the risk.

As I made it through the exit pipe, I was thankful the bridge was still intact over the now Poisoned Water, and I made my way to the goal.

World 3-9 was up, and I went across the black sky, grayish ground, steel metal blocks (as opposed to the colorful blocks), and dead brown vegetation. But none of the pipes down to the water portion worked. It may have been just as well, as the water was now poisoned.

But I did dodge the Bob-Ombs, and fended off Bullet Bills as I could. The pipe at the end that usually led down to the water portion led me straight to the goal. I was thankful for that, because--as stated earlier--the water had become poisonous here.

Before heading to the Castle, I went to the other islands for the Toad Houses and Spade tiles, and was thankful they were normal.

At the Castle, I saw the King's Kappa turtle form, but he was decapitated.

"When did Mario games take THIS graphic a turn?!" I asked.

Again, the Toad spoke of the king murdered by a Koopaling and asked me to pursue the airship. I soon got on board. The sky was blackish, but the airship's wood was still bluish.

Aside from the cannonballs and Bullet Bills, this Airship debuted the flame thrusters, and I waited for the thruster to turn off before passing each. I soon went to Wendy O. Koopa's cabin.

The timer paused and Wendy spoke:

"Feel the sweet taste of revenge, Pomeroy!"

"Okay, I've GOT to find out how this game knows my name!" I said as I prepared to do battle.

The battle started, but in this, she released all three of her Candy Rings at once--normally she'd release one at first, a second after the first stomp, and a third after the second stomp. I managed to defeat Wendy, but not after losing my power-up and turning back to Super Mario. But I did defeat her nonetheless and got the Wand.

The Wand again went to the Toad, who said,

"Thank you. The tribe will soon begin the rites to determine the new king.  By the way, this note came for you."

The note soon read:

"Remember, boy--all sin starts small.

But eventually, it grows."

What was this note talking about?

I was wondering what it meant, but was glad I still got the Music Box attached.

World 4
World 4 soon began, and after using the pipe, I started the first level of that world.

Now, World 4 is the place where (almost) everything is giant-sized. I got my Raccoon power and went up to the special waterfall. And it is here I found the swimming area with Big Bertha. Now, unlike Boss Bass, Big Bertha doesn't try to swallow the player, but she is a giant fish enemy, and it spits out Baby Cheep-Cheeps to try to hit them. I dodged them and got the extra lives.

After leaving the pond and getting to the end of the level--I was glad that level was normal--I was surprised to see the boulder in front of the Toad House broke. I hadn't used the Hammer on it, but I didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. I was glad the Toad House was normal, and I got the Tanooki suit here. Yes, believe it or not, this is often where one gets the Tanooki suit for the first time.

I began World 4-2 and it started as normal--was thankful I never had to deal with Boss Bass again--and made it to the Ice Blocks and got another Raccoon Leaf, if only for points. But as I grabbed it, the screen froze momentarily. When it unfroze, the sky went black and the water changed to Poison Water! So I did all I could to avoid it--this meant I wasn't able to get the White Mushroom house here, but it didn't matter to me at this point. I had the only Anchor I'd need, and just got to the goal quickly. I was thankful that the pipe that led to the goal made the sky and rest of the level go back to normal.

After beating World 4-2, I took on the first of the three wandering Sledge Bros here. The Sledge Bros were the giant versions of the Hammer Bros, and when they landed from a jump, it would make the ground shake--so if the player was still on the ground when the screen shook, they'd be stunned, leaving them vulnerable to one of the giant hammers. Thankfully, this battle was normal, and I defeated the enemy and got the prize.

I entered World 4-3, and it started as normal, including two Sledge Bros guarding the entrance. They were taken out as normal--and with caution--and I entered the pipe.

When I got to the cave, instead of the usual brownish set-up, it was almost a green-gray, and some areas had some toxic waste drums in the background. In addition, sometimes the screen shook--thankfully it didn't stun Mario here--and some debris fell. The debris thankfully didn't cause any damage, but it was distracting.

Otherwise, the stage played as normal, and I even used the Raccoon power to fly to some spots to get some coins and some safer paths. The bouncing wood blocks made things a bit nerve-wracking, but I got out safely all the same.

My next stop was the first of the two Mini-Fortresses of World 4. This fortress debuted Hot Foot, the walking candle flame. Like Boo, Hot Foot would move when the player turned its back on it, and stop when the player faced it. This fortress also had the horizontal-moving Thwomps for the first time. The Thwomps this time, however, had skulls--almost like a precursor of the skulls that made the rafts in Super Mario World, in a sense. Luckily, I was able to go through the pipe in the secret area to get a power up--the Fire Flower--as well as a few coins. Also, Boom-Boom was back to being a normal Boom-Boom, instead of flying. But the platform would've made it hard to stomp him three-times, so I did the fireballs to take it out.

Before progressing to the next major stage, I went to the Spade game, and was thankful that it was normal. I got the 2-Up Mushroom, which was fine with me--I was pretty much stacking up on extra lives anyway.

World 4-4 came up, and this was the water area with giant corals and wood blocks, as well as Lakitu using Spiny Eggs as makeshift depth charges. I didn't bother going for the secret treasure room... just swam for it! But along the way, I saw some corals seemed to have some drowned Toads... as though some boulders, millstones, and anchors dragged them down.

"What the heck?!" my mom and I both said.

There was no way Mario would've taken a macabre turn THIS early in his video game lifetime.

But I had to continue swimming, as Lakitu continued raining Spinies on me. I got out just in time. After clearing the level, the N-Spade came up.

When I went to the N-Spade game, it was a Goomba instead of a regular Toad. The Goomba said:

"What causes you to keep coming back?"

I got about three matches before I got kicked out for missing twice. But I did go to the Toad House after World 4-4 was, and was glad it was normal.

I soon took on the second of the three wandering Sledge Brothers. The arena was normal when I fought and defeated it, and got the prize from it. But the the third one walked in, automatically triggering the encounter. This time, there were some gaps there, as if the previous battle had shaken up the ground more so than normal. But I was able to defeat it without dying, and got the prize there.

With all three wandering Sledge Brothers defeated, I proceeded to World 4-5. This was where normally the Missile Bills debuted, as I mentioned earlier. This was also where you could get a Tanooki Suit from a big block for the first time. After getting the Tanooki Suit, I triggered the P-Switch as normal, and made it down. When I went to the exit pipe, the area before the goal looked dead, with a blackish sky. I decided to get to the goal box before anything else happened. But back on the Map Screen, the map looked brown, dry, and dead. The palm trees near the start were now stumps--as though someone chopped them down--and the giant flowers became withered. And, you guessed it, the water turned to poison water. Even the music started to be foreboding, despite it being a similar tune to the normal overworld theme of World 4. Both Mom and I were starting to get nervous.

I went to the Spade tile that was after World 4-5, and was thankful it was normal. I was lucky enough to get a Fire Flower and a 3-Up.

World 4-6 was my next stop. This was the level with magic doors where you went through one, and the giant enemies were replaced with regular-sized enemies, and if you went through it again, the giant enemies were back. But this time, the doors were gone, both giant and normal-sized enemies were there, and the strange landscape was back. By that, I was referring to the dead vegetation and black sky. The music was slower and in a minor key, but otherwise the same tune.

"What is going on?" my mom asked.

"I wish I knew, Mom," I answered.

But I went through as best I could, and even I was amazed I was able to get through the stage without losing my power-up or even a life.

The Toad House after World 4-6 had a really disfigured Toad, who said:

"The pollution is spreading into Big Island! Please help!"

I picked a power-up--I forgot which it was at this time--and continued on.

I soon proceeded to the second Mini-Fortress of World 4. The Nintendo Power Strategy Guide called it the "Fortress of the Hidden Quarter". I remembered long ago where it was, and thankful the door still worked. The pipe part sort of served as a preview for what would come in the seventh world. But in there, I noticed some of the pipes look busted up. Thankfully the transport pipes still worked. I went through the other rooms and got the extra lives, and then proceeded to Boom-Boom, who looked a little bit more demented than usual. He didn't have the wings, but he for some reason shot out shots that resembled the Roto-Disks. Thankfully, they didn't go in a spiral, but just in a straight line. I defeated Boom-Boom quickly before he got too abusive and gained the Crystal Ball. The Bridge to the Castle was soon completed.

I braced myself when entering the Castle, since I by now knew what to expect.

Indeed, I saw the bones of the king's dinosaur form, and again the Toad weeping of the king's death at the hands of the Koopaling.

This airship was known for having only fire thrusters, with the occasional Rocky Wrench thrown in. The wood of the stage was still its usual color, but the sky was black, and this time had an occasional lightning flash. This was odd, since Super Mario 3 didn't have lightning flashes in the original NES version--they did have them in the SNES and GBA remakes, however. Otherwise, the stage was as normal, so I carefully made it to Iggy, with my Tanooki Suit still intact, and went down the pipe.

Before the boss fight started, a text box--implying Iggy speaking--appeared. It read: "Big transgression, big punishment, Pomeroy!"

I was really starting to get nervous, as I was slowly beginning to figure out. But I had to know for sure.

Iggy was much quicker than the other Koopalings, and could do a double shot occasionally. I used the Tanooki Suit's Statue Form occasionally if I knew I couldn't dodge in time. After taking out Iggy and getting the Wand, I returned to the castle. The Toad said:

"Thank you! The giant council will soon begin selecting a new king.  Oh!  This letter is for you."

The letter showed up. It read:

"You think you got away with your sin, Pomeroy. But heaven sees everything!"

On one hand, it was appropriate since the sky level was next, but on the other hand, it was creeping me and my mom out!

World 5
The fifth world began, and it started out on the earth part. I went to World 5-1. This was where the enemy Buster Beetle made his debut. He just ran as normal, and I used my tail of the Tanooki suit to take it out easily. Later on in the game, he would reveal his ability to through ice blocks. I could've used my flying ability to use the pipe to get the Music Box and end the stage early, but that thought escaped me at the time.

I went over the arch, shocked to see poison water already here.

"Is the poison already leaching in?" I asked.

This level also debuted the Nipper plants, small Piranha Plants that would leap slightly if Mario tried to leap over them... luckily, Mario's jump was higher so I cleared a few. And I was glad I was able to get the Starman to clear out a few Nippers near the end of the level and hit the goal box.

Next up was World 5-2. Normally I'd take the higher route, which was easier, but the blocks to assist the road up were no longer there, so I was forced to take the longer, lower route. I was very thankful the Poison Water wasn't there. However, it was the lower route where Buster Beetle first showed its ability to throw ice blocks. I was unfortunate to lose my Tanooki Suit at a lucky shot, but I quickly stomped Buster Beetle before it could try again. I had to be cautious but quickly, trying to get to Ice Blocks to take out some enemies, and try to dodge Ice Blocks so I wouldn't lose my Super form as well.

When I made it to the exit pipe, the area before the goal had a gray sky, as if a storm was brewing. I went to the goal box before I could find out.

I went to the Toad House, and was thankful it was normal. I picked up a Tanooki Suit, and after returning to the map screen, used the one I got from World 4 to replace the one I lost.

I soon entered World 5-3, which was where the Shoe Goomba resided. The Goomba's Shoe, also called Kuribo's Shoe (Kuribo being the Japanese name of Goomba) allowed for the player to stomp a lot of enemies--even Spinies. Too bad it could only be had for that level. This level also debuted the Munchers... they might've appeared in a previous World, but I had forgotten at that point. What mattered to me is I used the Goomba's Shoe to get through the level safely.

The only oddity is the sky was gray, and not even the normally pleasant white clouds were there.

I didn't want to stay any longer than usual and find out what weirdness was in the stage. I just got through it quickly.

After that stage, I went to take on the first of the two wandering Hammer Brothers on the ground part of the stage. The sky was gray again, but otherwise the battle was as normal. I defeated the Hammer Brothers and got the prize.

After defeating them, the second set of Hammer Brothers came up to me. This time, the sky was not only gray, but had occasional lightning flashes. And the Hammer Brothers sprites had reddish eyes. I started to get nervous, but the battle still played as normal, and got the prize from beating them.

I soon entered the Mini-Fortress of the ground part of World 5. The lava in the level was replaced with a greenish stuff--I assumed it to be toxic waste. There were no Roto-Disks, which was strange since they usually were here in this stage. But the Boo Diddly's and the Thwomps were more sinister looking than usual.

Did the toxic waste affect them? No, no, it couldn't be.

I continued on through the fortress--I could've gone to the secret passage to get the extra lives, but I didn't want to chance it. I soon made it to Boom-Boom, and defeated him like normal.

After the mini-fortress crumbled, and the bridge formed, the water started to darken, and the grass started to wither--even the bushes turned brown.

I made it to the spade tile, and was glad it was normal. I got the Star and got five extra lives. I started to feel I would really need them!

I next went to the tower. The normally grayish black walls were black and red, like the second fortress I would soon face, which I will get to later. The bluish blocks were grayish. The Thwomps in the stage looked gleeful and demented--and even had some specks of red on them, as if they got lucky with their targets. The outdoor areas had dark gray skies with occasional lightning flashes, instead of the usual blue skies that they normally were. I was glad the extra lives were still there. I could've used a P-Wing to get the extra lives in the secret spots, but that thought escaped me at the time.

The higher up floor just before the exit, that was normally darker gray, was instead completely black, except for the lanterns there. The vine worked as normal and I made it to the top.

When I got to the sky map, it was a grayish cloud, and the stars were replaced with ghosts. The pipe downward vanished as well, so even if I wanted to go back down, I wouldn't be able to. There was no other option but to continue forward. The music of the sky portion was the same overall tune as "Coin Heaven", as it would usually be, but the key was in a minor key.

I started the first sky section of World 5, that being World 5-4. The sky was black, the background clouds were dingy gray, the foreground platform clouds were light gray, and there were even occasional lightning flashes. The Rotary lifts were ALL spinning, even those that usually were stationary!

Luckily I had my Tanooki Suit so I was able to fly to the more stable clouds.

I then flew some more to make it to the goal pipe... as I floated down, I saw the waterfall was teal-green instead of blue.

"Could that be acid rain?" I asked. "No, it couldn't be? What could acid rain be doing in a Mario game of all places?"

Once I went through the pipe, Lakitu was there as usual being the guard of the goal. I pulled off the same trick as usual to get an extra life with Lakitu and four Spinies.

The next sky stage on the docket was World 5-5, and this was the "Donut Lift" bridge, as I liked to call it.

The sky was black and cloudless, as opposed to the usual blue sky and small clouds there. The Wood Blocks were greyish, and the Donut Lifts were whitish--which was odd since they wouldn't be that way till the next World.

And the Fire Chomp came after me way earlier in the stage than usual. I was lucky enough to enter the main pipe before it could tag me to take my Tanooki Suit. But I gathered all the coins in the stage... and lucky enough to get the White Mushroom House to get another P-Wing. I had a gut feeling I'd need it.

Before resuming the levels, I went to the Toad House in the upper right corner of the map, and was relieved it was normal. Well, normal aside from the message text:

"Koopa is defiling our haven! Please purify our heavenly home!"

I was puzzled, but picked up a Raccoon Leaf from the box. May not have been a Tanooki Suit, but it'd work in a pinch.

I then went to the Spade Tile, and saw, of all things, a Boo Diddly running the game. Since when was there a Boo Diddly in the Spade Game? But I was able to get the Mushroom match for two extra lives.

I began World 5-6. Again, the sky was dark, gloomy and stormy.

This stage was where the player would encounter the Parabeetles, and would need to ride them as stepping stones across the big gaps. But the player had to land on them from above, as since they counted as an enemy, the player would take a hit if they approached from the side.

The Parabeetles in this case, however, looked more intimidating, and it looked like they even were carrying skulls underneath them. But they were rode on as normal, and I barely defeated a Fire Chomp in time to maintain my power form and get some coins.

And when I got the extra life courtesy of Lakitu and the Spinies, I was surprised that I was able to trigger a Treasure Ship--honestly, it was luck!

The Treasure Ship I definitely made my next stop, and the dark sky did little to deter me from the trip. This time, the Treasure Ship was golden like--almost like a heaven's treasure ship.

I quickly snagged up all the coins, remembering the usual pattern of how to get them all. Defeating the Boomerang Bros was the usual fare and I got the prize--I kinda forgot what it was, but it didn't matter to me at this point.

I soon stepped into World 5-7. Again, the stormy clouds gathered around the dark sky. Prior to entering, I used a Starman on the map, since this was one of those stages where you could extend your Invincibility by hitting certain blocks while still invincible to get another Starman.

I did so and also used the pipe to momentarily visit the ground of the World. But the land was desolate, and even the bushes and trees were dead. There were lightning flashes, but luckily none touched the ground, so I didn't need to worry about flames. But since the White Block wasn't there, I couldn't do that one trick where if you used it, then quickly went back up the pipe, you could be in the background for the rest of the time there till you made it through the Warp Pipe. That didn't matter to me. I wanted to continue on.

I made it back to the sky portion, and went through the warp pipe. It was strange that this had different clouds--the Lakitu Clouds--instead of the usual "cloud ground" of the rest of the sky worlds. But I still did the trick to get an extra life upon hitting the goal.

I soon visited the Mushroom House which was between 5-6 and 5-7, and it was a Toadette Angel! This was weird since the Toadette form of Toad wouldn't appear until at least the Nintendo 64 days or thereabouts.

Anyway, the Toadette Angel warns:

"Someone from your past has made a pact with Koopa! Beware!"

"Someone from my past"? Could that be how the game knew my name, and what they were talking about when they mention my "wrongs"?

My mom started to look worried. So did I. We were slowly starting to get a suspicion on what--or who--was causing this weirdness.

My attention soon returned to playing, and I picked a random box.

I soon became even more determined to get to the bottom of this!

Next was the second fortress of World 5. It had the red and black walls, as I mentioned in the tower segment. But it also had a LOT of lava--perhaps pertaining to hell. When I went down the pipe, it wasn't just the weird splotchy stonework in the background. Some spots showed regular skulls, horned monster skulls, and ominous faces. The Podoboo bubble enemies also were in full force--some of them even plunging from the ceiling and retreating back upwards. I had to really take my time through here.

I soon got to the pipe on the other side, but when I went up it and made it to Boom-Boom, there was--instead of a window--a red inverted pentagram there. There was just NO way Nintendo would've allowed that kind of stuff back in the day.

Boom-Boom soon awoke and began his starting attack. When I stomped the first time, he sprouted wings and even dropped Podoboos from his mouth that split into fireballs that shot from the sides. Thankfully it wasn't rapid fire, so there were enough gaps to dodge, and then wait for him to swoop down to land the second stomp. I then stomped him a third time before he could go super quick.

Upon retrieving the crystal ball, the gate opened and the mini-fortress crumbled, as normal. Only two levels were left before taking on the next Koopaling.

Next was World 5-8. This was infamous for having Lakitu chase the player throughout the area. That combined with possible drops from the clouds made it more treacherous.

It was already gloomed up because of the dark sky and dingy clouds replacing the usual blue skies and white clouds.

But this time, the Lakitu had a dingy cloud, and dropped lightning bolts instead of Spiny Eggs.

Could this have been a sort of predecessor to Lakithunder, who'd appear in New Super Mario Bros much later on?

That didn't matter right now--what mattered was me getting to the goal before I lost a life from this menace.

There were no other enemies in this stage, which was odd since there were a few Troopas and Paratroopas normally. But again, that didn't matter--I had to get to the goal QUICKLY!

I got to the goal pipe just before the thunder-shooting Lakitu could get me with a lucky bolt. The Lakitu near the end thankfully was normal, and again I did the trick.

Before the castle was World 5-9, which was infamous because it was a Diagonally scrolling stage. I decided to use a P-Wing here to make the going easier.

Since I was hidden above the screen, most threats missed me. But a lot of lightning flashes shone in the dark sky behind the gray clouds.

The exit pipe looked a bit cracked, even before the Fire Chomps self-destructed. Luckily it wasn't destroyed before I could exit it. I pulled the trick one last time with Lakitu.

Before entering the castle, I used the Anchor I got way back in World 2. As stated earlier, if you lost a life on the Airship of a Koopaling, the airship would wander to another place on the map. The Anchor prevented it from doing so. This was good because in the old NES version of World 5, there was a bug where sometimes the Airship would reach an untouchable part of the map, thus putting the player in an unwinnable situation. The Anchor would prevent THIS headache!

I soon entered the Castle. Mom and I gasped to see the bones of a large bird, and the crown tipped over nearby.

"Did they roast the king after he was turned into a bird?!" I asked. "This is getting WAY too dark to be an official Mario game!!!"

The Toad again said the king was killed after being transformed. My character again boarded an airship.

This airship would be the last time cannons and Bullet Bills would be on an airship level. Again the sky was dark, with lightning flashes, and this time the airship's wood was remodeled to look like metal instead. The level still played as its normal counterpart.

Near the end of the airship was a segment that the Nintendo Power Strategy Guide called "the Gauntlet", as it was several diagonal cannons made to be a dangerous path. Luckily, I jumped on one cannonball to reach the top part, for a safer path.

I soon went down the pipe to face Roy O. Koopa. The text box appeared, which read:

"Time to take your heavenly beatdown, Pomeroy!"

The battle began. Now, Roy, along with a later Koopaling, would jump and land, which would do a quake similar to the Sledge Brothers, so it is wise to be in the air when he lands from a jump. Since I had Tanooki Power still, I was able to do a float in the air when Roy did his jumping. With three stomps, I put the big Koopaling brute away and get the wand.

When I landed, the wand went to the Toad, who said the heavenly priests would soon select the next sky king, and I again got a note. The note read:

"Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.

"And you'll know the chill soon enough.

"Just keep going, Pomeroy, and you'll see who has it in for you!"

While nervous at first, I was thankful I still got the Lakitu Cloud the note came with. Onto World 6, the Ice World!

World 6
I soon went to the first stage of World 6. This level was the debut of the Ptooie Plants--Piranha Plants that balanced spike balls on their mouths and breaths, almost as though they were large spitballs, hence the name. The breath made their heights vary, so you had to jump at the right time. I still had my Tanooki suit, luckily, so I timed a jump right to use the Statue form to squash one of them.

However, the spike balls that the Ptooie Plants were balancing looked a bit off--as if they had some gleeful faces, not unlike what one would see on Jack-o-lanterns. I didn't take a chance to find out what they'd do, however. I just continued on to the goal. I could've flown to the secret door area hidden in this stage, but that thought slipped my mind at the time.

Before continuing on, I went to the Spade Tile, and was relieved that it was a normal one. Of course, luck was not on my side this time around, as I wasn't able to get a correct picture this time around. It didn't matter much since I had a ton of lives already.

I soon went to World 6-2, another auto-scroll stage. And this one even had me using the clouds to ascend certain walls. I used my Tanooki tail to smash open the bricks to get past some barriers, but I had to ascent the clouds to get past the wood block wall. When I was doing so, however, the sky started to darken--this didn't happen originally, not even in the remakes. I did get enough coins from the multi-coin block before continuing on, and was quick enough to get the extra life during the downward route before going down the exit pipe.

On the other side, however, the sky was dark, and the water that usually was there had turned to Poison Water.

"What the heck?!" I thought. I had thought I'd already gotten past the Poison Water at this point.

I quickly went on to the goal.

Since one of the three Wandering Hammer Brothers was nearby, I decided to take it on and get it out of the way. Since this is the Ice World, it was difficult to maintain footing, so I ended up losing my Tanooki Suit, but maintained my Super form at the end of the battle. I defeated the Hammer Brothers, and gained the prize.

I put on a Super Leaf for now to make things easier, and got the vine to go to the pipe thing. It was in here I got a Tanooki Suit to replace the one I lost, as well as flew upward to get some coins. But on exiting the pipe, I saw the sky get dark, and a blizzard was falling. I knew the NES was capable of weather effects, if Ninja Gaiden 2 was any indication, and was thankful the wind wasn't blowing hard, but still, it was a bit unnerving. Luckily I got to the goal before blizzard was distracting enough to cause me to lose a life.

I soon went into the first of the Mini-Fortresses in World 6--I remembered there were three of them in this World--and got on the moving platform. I used the Statue Form in certain spots for extra safety. Before going through the door, I noticed some bones, and a few red specks, on the spikes at the pit. Perhaps some had entered here before and met their ends here? But I soon returned to going through the first fortress.

After using Statue form to take out some Roto-Disks and flew up to get an Extra Life. But I noticed the windows were broken in some parts, showing the darkness outside. Carefully descending down, I safely went across the other spike pit and went through the door. I could've gotten the Starman and took out the Boom-Boom easily, but I didn't want to chance it. I went into Boom-Boom's chamber and began the battle. I noticed the window in his area was completely broken, as though he must've had a serious tantrum while waiting. But I was able to take out Boom-Boom before he got abusive. But after the first Mini-Fortress crumbled, the two islands on the top of the map sank into the water.

I was puzzled by what was going on with the islands sinking, but then went into the Toad House that was before the fortress--I could've gone in before, but the thought slipped my mind at the time. But in this, the Toad looked like it was sweating profusely. The Toad said:

"The person of your past is making us suffer to make you fight. Please be careful."

What was going on? My mom and I had our suspicions, but we had to find out for sure. I picked one of the boxes--I forgot what prize I got at the time--and continued on.

Next I went into the Spade Tile before the fourth level of this world, and saw a Hammer Bro instead of the usual Toad. But this time, I got lucky to get a star for five Extra Lives.

I entered World 6-4, and the sky was dark gray--even the usual clouds with their eyes were no longer there. There were some lightning flashes occasionally, but thankfully nothing that would send down fires. I did the hidden note block to Coin Heaven--and was glad that area was still normal. I got the coins, went down to the usual stage, and continued. I was able to take out Fire Chomp before he got abusive, and made it to the goal--and yes, I'm well aware of the hidden brick cross Easter egg, but didn't want to look for it at the time.

However, at this point, I found out I had gotten the conditions for one more Treasure Ship--World 6 was the final time one would appear, since World 7 was (almost) all Piranha Plants, and no Wandering Hammer Brothers anywhere.

Before I went to take on the Treasure Ship, I decided to take on the other Wandering Hammer Brother first. This battle had the same dark gray sky and lightning flash as earlier, but otherwise the same. I was just barely lucky to defeat both before the slippery flooring caused me to be hit with a lucky hammer. I claimed my prize and returned to the map.

I soon entered the final Treasure Ship. Again the sky was dark gray and stormy, but otherwise the Treasure Ship was the same, and I followed the same pattern as normal to get all the coins and lives... and once more I knocked out the Boomerang Bros to claim the prize.

World 6-5, even after I've beaten the game several times, was still a big pain in the butt. What one needs to do is get a Koopa shell and fly up to not only get rid of the blocks, but the Nipper Plants waiting to ambush you in the exit pipe. I first got rid of the Buster Beetles--I was still in Tanooki Form--so I wouldn't get hit. Then I quickly claimed a Koopa Shell and took off, launching the shell just seconds before the Koopa Troopa would reemerge. I thought the level would be normal, since even the outside sky had reverted back, but the area near the goal block had gravestones instead of the usual snow and ice block hills. It sent a shiver down my spine, you bet. I hit the goal block and got out of the level before the image could stay in my mind long enough to be nightmare fuel.

Clearing World 6-5 allowed me to enter the Toad House, and this Toad House had a lot of Hammer Brothers suits--this world debuted that suit in game. I was also glad the Toad House was normal, and claimed one.

What Hammer Brother Suits did was it allowed you to throw hammers like the Hammer Brothers, and these Hammers could take out more enemies than the Fireballs or Raccoon tail could. It could even take out Dry Bones, Thwomps, Boo Diddlys, and Stretches. And anyone who's beaten the game knows who else the hammers could take out. Also, if one ducked, Mario would be in a shell to protect from fireballs--not all, though. Anyway, I had to progress on.

I soon went to World 6-6. This was a cavern level that had some swimming as well. It also had miniature pits that Cheep-Cheeps could leap out and into, almost a sort of ambush. But luckily if one took out the Cheep-Cheep, another wouldn't respawn. But the Cheep-Cheeps were all robotic, and I saw why--the water looked green, as though polluted. Luckily it wasn't Poison Water, or it would've been unbeatable here. I swam as normal, and went and got the Fire Flower, since I would need it here. Near the end, Spike tried to ambush me, but instead of a spike ball, he looked like he was getting out an axe to throw at me. I took him out with a Fireball before I could find just how effective the attack would be. I soon made it to the goal as normal.

World 6-7 came up next, and again the sky turned dark gray with occasional lightning flashes. It was an auto scrolling stage, and I remembered that this was one of the levels with the White Mushroom House, but I had forgotten how many coins were needed to get it. At this point, I didn't care--I just wanted to get through it alive. The Fire Chomps that appeared at the time moved faster, and it almost sounded like they were laughing when they spat fireballs. I just took them out quickly before they could become a nuisance. When I got to the exit pipe, I saw the coins in ice--throwing fireballs would thaw them out. But I didn't care at this point either. I just wanted to get through quickly.

Coming up next was the second Mini-Fortress of World 6. Anyone who's played Super Mario 3 and got to this one remembers this one is made of ice, and the Thwomps move horizontally rather than vertically. This required a lot of planning to get through in one piece. Luckily there were two power-up blocks spaced well about to regain any power lost. However, the ice here was all gray or dark brown, as if the water had some pollutants when it froze. And the Thwomps looked muddied up, as if some of the sludge got on them.

The level still played as normal, and remember from Nintendo Power, I knew where the last horizontal Thwomp was to get to Boom-Boom's chamber. The Boom-Boom in here looked grayish, similar to the one back in World 2's Mini-Fortress. But otherwise the battle went as normal, and I picked up the crystal ball upon beating him.

But back on the map screen, however, I saw the trees turn into dead trees, not unlike what one would see in, say, the original Dragon Warrior, and also the ice mountains west of where the second Mini-Fortress was had melted, revealing the mountains they were.

"Is the temperature rising in this world?" I thought. "No, it couldn't be!"

I soon made my way to World 6-8, what the Nintendo Power Strategy Guide called the "Rough and Tumble Tundra." It was the only grassland style area in the otherwise wintery level. But the dark gray sky and lightning flashes were back. And the green grass was replaced with dead brown ground. The bushes were brown, with x's on the eyes indicating they were dead.

"What is going on here?!" I said aloud. My mom was just as perplexed.

The Buster Beetles seemed to be a bit faster than they usually were, and the water areas seemed to be Poison Water here, so I did all I could to avoid falling into it.

The Nipper Plants were spitting fireballs, which was odd because usually they only did that in a certain area of World 7. But they moved around AND spat fireballs. I lost my Tanooki Suit, but was able to reach the goal still in Super Form. Beating the stage unlocked the N-Spade Tile.

When I entered the N-Spade, the Toad was replaced by what seemed to be a Fighter Fly. I was pretty sure these weren't even in the original Japanese version. But otherwise, the mini game played as normal, and I was lucky enough to get all the remaining matches.

World 6-9 was up next, and this was the World where you could use either a P-Wing to clear it very quickly, or go down the pipe to swim. I had done the P-Wing route in the past, but wanted to do the underwater segment. So I put on a Frog Suit--I still had one in inventory--and went down the pipe. The waters seemed greenish, but still swimable, and the Cheep-Cheeps were replaced with what I can assume to be robotic versions of them. Also in the area where Munchers--the invincible Piranha Plants that for all intents and purposes could be considered living spikes.

With the Frog Suit, I was able to go down one pipe to get three extra lives, as if I didn't have enough to begin with.

Once I was done with that, I got out of the water and switched to the Fire Flower, since I would be needing it coming up. Then carefully I made it to the goal at the end.

I soon began World 6-10. Anyone who's played Super Mario 3 and went through this knew of the gimmick where if you hit the P-Switch and thawed the Munchers while it was in effect would turn the Munchers into coins. I was able to do so and got down the pipe before the P-Switch wore off. Because also in this level was the first time one would get the Hammer Brother Suit outside of a Toad House. I managed to get ahold of it and cleared the rest of the stage with it still. Oddly enough, this was one of the few stages in my play of the game that didn't have any weird changes to it. But I kept my guard up, because I knew the weirdness was gonna come back.

My prediction came true as I entered the third Mini-Fortress. The windows were broken, showing occasional lightning flashes outside, and there were some red specks on the spikes above, indicating some who entered before got careless.

I began throwing Hammers at every Thwomp, Boo Diddly, and Stretch I saw. I wasn't sure if the Hammers could affect the Roto-Disks, so I dodged them as best I could.

When I entered the door, I went to the far right and faced left to keep the Boo Diddly's at bay, throwing some hammers to give myself some breathing room. As the floor went up, I also noticed more broken windows, and the light bulbs above were cracked. I then went through the door, saw a few more broken windows, and upon entering Boom-Boom's chamber, saw an "evil eye" pattern spray-painted between the top two platform blocks. I used my Hammers to take out Boom-Boom before he could get abusive.

I got the Crystal Ball and opened the locked door, but upon doing so, more of the map showed melting ice, and some of the land sank in the water. I wondered what was going on?

I soon made it to the Castle of World 6, and saw the King's seal form, beaten to death. You may recall that the original Nintendo game Ice Climbers had the seals changed to miniature Yetis for USA release due to possible backlash from animal rights activists. Well, if the Ice Climber seal beating angered them before, let's just say what happened here would REALLY make them go ballistic! Again, the Toad laments the death of the king and asked me to beat up the Koopaling to avenge him.

The airship was the same color wood, but the sky was dark gray with occasional lightning flashes. Otherwise the level played as normal, and I got through as carefully as I could, especially during the flame thruster section, since I wanted to keep my Hammer Brothers suit, and was pretty sure the suit's shell didn't protect against them.

When I made it to Lemmy Koopa, the timer briefly stopped, and a text box read:

"The crime you committed was no joke, Pomeroy!"

"Crime I committed?!" I thought. "Could he be meaning..."

But soon, the battle began. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to hit him with Hammers, so I just used the clown balls he launched to get to him as best I could, and did the three stomps to take him out and get the wand.

I soon brought the wand to the Toad, and again he said they would soon begin Rites to select a new king. Then I got the note, which read:

"Don't think you can sow wild oats and just pray for a crop failure. Eventually they will sprout."

I was getting nervous, but at least I got the P-Wing. World 7 was coming up.

World 7
I soon entered the seventh World of Super Mario 3, the Pipe Maze--or, as Nintendo Power liked to call it, "Tube City" (I liked that name). The world map started out as normal, and I began by entering the first area, World 7-1. The sky was the yellowish kind, similar to most of the land levels of World 3. I entered the door, unprepared of what had happened.

Some of the background pipes were busted up, totally different from how I remembered previous plays through this game. Also, the wood blocks looked rotted in some parts. And the Koopa Troopas looked robotic--this was odd, since the Mechakoopas wouldn't been until the Super NES came along and brought Super Mario World. I started throwing hammers at the Koopas and Piranha Plants. Other than the weird changes, the level still played as normal, and I went through pipes the correct way as I remembered.

I went through the Exit Pipe, and saw the sky turned black, and even the cutesy cloud was gone. When I made it to the area the goal block was, the pipes were broken, snapped, and haphazardly lain. I punched the goal block before I could dwell too much on it.

When I returned to the map screen, the Piranha plants on that particular island World 7-1 was on just died and withered up.

"What the heck just happened?!" I said. Mom was just as perplexed, as she saw me play several times before and knew this usually didn't happen.

I went on to the next part, as I planned to visit the Toad Houses and Spade Panels later--as in, before I went to the Castle.

I soon began World 7-2, and went down the first pipe there. The sky was yellowish, but the pipes and sand were greyish, as though something had happened earlier. I remembered this was the last place to get a White Mushroom house, so I planned my moves carefully, being lucky enough to get all the coins needed. I did end up losing my Hammer Suit to a Venus Fire Trap's lucky shot, but was able to reach the goal before I could lose my super form.

After returning to the map screen, the Piranha Plants around World 7-2's tile withered and died, but I did see the White Mushroom House appear and got the P-Wing. I had a gut feeling I would need every P-Wing I could get.

The next area to enter was World 7-3. This world was an interesting one, as if you get the Starman at the starting point, and quickly hit certain blocks before the invincibility wears off, you can extend the invincibility for most of the stage.

However, the sky was gray--not dark gray as some of World 6, but still dingy gray. Thankfully no lightning flashes this time. And the grass, usually green, was now brown. The bushes in the background were replaced with various rubbish piles and wreckage. I quickly started the invincibility thing and ran as quick as possible. I was very lucky to get to the end before Lakitu started getting lucky with his green spike balls.

I went to World 7-4 next to get it over with. I also put on my Frog Suit to make it more bearable. I soon went into the pipe and started swimming... it was a greenish water, and the seaweed usually in the background was gone. The coral usually there was replaced with some girders.

"Was there some sort of underwater construction?" I thought.

But the Frog Suit was donned to make what was coming up next more manageable... the Jelectro mine field. The Jelectros, which debuted back in World 3--I just forgot to mention them earlier--were the invincible glowing jellyfish, which served as sort of living underwater traps. I paced myself safely, dodging the skeletal Big Bertha, and the robotic mini Cheep Cheeps it spat out, and soon made it to more stable area. I had to watch out for the mutant Spiked Cheep-Cheeps that were about.

When I went through the Exit Pipe, the sky was still yellow and with the cloud, but the bushes were gone. When I went to the Goal Area, the bush silhouettes were replaced with some sort of graveyard silhouette--not unlike a silhouette of the graveyard area seen in Zelda 2. I just tagged the goal box before I ended up with nightmare fuel.

Before entering World 7-5, I switched to the Fire Flower.

The outside entrance area had the grayish sky. No clouds or bushes. I just went into the pipe.

The maze itself had in the background some bodies of killed Toads.

"What the heck?!" I said. My mom gasped too, since she knew this didn't appear before.

The enemies inside the level looked gleeful, as if they had been responsible for it. The Bob-Omb enemies also were a little bit quicker than normal. Spinies also made the area more treacherous. I moved as carefully as I could to get to the exit before I took an unnecessary hit.

On the other side, the sky was still gray, and when I got to the goal area, another silhouetted graveyard was there. I just cleared the area as quick as possible.

After clearing World 7-5, as you probably guessed at this point, the surrounding Piranha Plants just croaked and shriveled up. This was really starting to puzzle me even further.

In World 7, some Piranha Plant mini-stages replaced the Wandering Hammer Brothers--in fact, they'd fall asleep if one used the music box item on the map as well. I entered the first plant mini-stage. The sky was its yellow-orange tone, and the level played as normal.

But when I got to the goal pipe, the Munchers were all out at the bottom, instead of alternating as usual. Near the treasure box was a unicursal hexagram, similar to the Seal of Orihalcos from Yu-Gi-Oh. I just grabbed the P-Wing to get out.

I soon went to the first Mini-Fortress of World 7. Nintendo Power's Strategy Guide identified it as the "Abandoned Fortress", as the only enemy in this level was Boom-Boom. I used the P-Switch to unlock the hidden door so I could go down the pipe and get the Tanooki Suit.

The area leading to the main hall was normal enough, but in the hall leading to the pipe to Boom-Boom, the windows were busted up, various scary graffiti was on the walls. I quickly flew to the pipe in the roof and made it to Boom-Boom, and defeated him as normal.

When I got the crystal ball, the fortress fell and the door opened, but all the plants surrounding it withered, and I hadn't even entered World 7-6 yet!

And speaking of World 7-6, that was my next stop. When the level started, the sky was dark gray with lightning flashes--the stormy skies that were back in World 6 soon came here.

Inside the level, the wood blocks took on a grayish tone, and the donut drop platforms took on a white color. This also had the direction lifts last seen in the second mini-Fortress of World 4. Except unlike that part, this level now had spikes in certain spots--thankfully these didn't have the red specks implying blood. But the Koopas seemed a bit more menacing than usual.

The level played as normal, and I made it to the goal.

The dark skies were still there, and the bush silhouettes were gone in the goal area. It was just darkness and the goal cube, which I hit.

After going through the pipes to the next area, I soon got to the island that the next two levels were on. First stop was World 7-7, or as the Strategy Guide called it, the Muncher Mine Field. In this stage, to get across all the Muncher plants alive, you needed to use the Starman's power all the way to the exit pipe.

The sky was back to being yellow-orange like, but the bushes at the start of the stage were gone. I went through the pipe to the main event, but the sky started to change to reddish. I saw instead of small bushes the dead remnants of them. I picked up the first Starman and began my mad dash--picking up every Starman on the way. For some, I waited till the last possible moment before picking them up to extend invincibility, but I made it to the exit pipe safely.

On the other side of the exit pipe, it was a dark sky.

"Did it turn to night all of a sudden?" I asked.

In the goal area, it was silhouettes of broken pipes. Indeed it was weird, but I just tagged the goal block and made it on my way.

I soon began World 7-8. While there were Munchers here, it was mainly infamous for Venus Fire Traps, and a few Ptooie plants.

Once again, different from usual gameplay, the sky was dark, but not stormy.

The Venus Fire Traps seemed to have spikes on them, similar to how they'd appear later on in Super Mario Land 2 on Game Boy--since at the time, the Super Game Boy, let alone the Game Boy Color, still did not yet exist, and the Super Nintendo was still being tinkered with back in Japan, under its name "Super Famicom".

There was a Coin Heaven Note Block here, but I didn't care at this point. I did, however, go after the pipe the walking Ptooie Plant was guarding to get the Hammer Brother Suit.

This was also the stage where the Fire Spitting Nipper Plants usually were, though due to the weirdness in this play of the game, they were encountered earlier. I used the shell of the suit to protect me from fireballs, and chucked some Hammers to slay them to get to the Goal. Thankfully the silhouettes in the goal area were normal this time.

But as you can guess, the Piranha Plants on the island Worlds 7-7 and 7-8 were on croaked and shriveled. This was really getting weird now.

World 7-9 is an interesting level, as it is a platformer of smaller pipes, with some breaks in these small pipes one must go through to get through other parts, and some Ice Blocks to pick up and throw--they can be thrown at enemies, but normally one just picks them up to throw them out of the way.

But in this play of the game, instead of the usually orange-yellow sky, it was black with some flames near the ground part--similar to what is seen in the one level of Ninja Gaiden 2.

The Goombas and Koopas in the level were even more sinister looking than usual.

And they also moved a bit faster than usual, so I had to get the drop on them with the Hammers--I had to be careful not to pick up a Fire Flower when I didn't want to, as I wanted to keep my Hammer Brother Suit longer.

Once I navigated through that mess--even I admit that was just plain luck--I went through the exit pipe. On the other side, it was still dark sky, but the flames were extinguished, and I saw rain. I made it to the Goal area, and the pyramid silhouettes that were usually there were replaced with broken pyramids. I quickly tagged the Goal Box before I could dwell on it for too long. I just wanted to get through the game and get to the bottom of this.

I soon got to the second Mini-Fortress of World 7, the "Nightmare Fortress" as the Strategy Guide calls it. I can only assume that the creatures from the previous fortress had all moved here, and the Boom-Boom in that one was--pardon the pun--holding down the fort till it was time for him to move.

There were random creepy graffiti scribbled on the otherwise black background, and the Thwomps and Boo Diddlys--when my back was turned--looked even more demented in my encounter.

Oh heck yeah, I spammed the Hammers when I got the chance.

I had to pick up the Leaf and become Raccoon Mario in one part, though, to cross a gap of lava more easily. I went down the Goal Pipe not too long after.

The bluish blocks of the other side were replaced with somewhat red and brown tone. But the Roto-Disks and Thwomps normally there were gone--only the Dry Bones were there. I decided to take advantage of this, stomp the Dry Bones to get rid of them momentarily, and get under the gaps to make it to Boom-Boom.

The windows were stain glass--totally unlike what was usually there.

But it sure beat the broken windows I had seen in previous Mini-Fortresses.

Boom-Boom was slightly quick in all three phases of the fight, but luckily not super quick as he did in the third phase of fights usually. I defeated Boom-Boom and got the Crystal Ball.

The second Mini-Fortress fell, and the door opened. But the giant flowers near the Castle fell over dead, and then crumbled, and I hadn't even went to the second Piranha Plant stage yet.

I soon went to the aforementioned second Piranha Plant stage. It was again the dark sky, with some of the mushroom, flower, and star silhouettes usually scene high in the sky when flying. I had to time jumps when the Venus Fire Trap had sunk into the pipe. But during the alternating Munchers' sproutings, I noticed some red specks, as though the Munchers may have gotten lucky with snagging some victims.

The Raccoon power made it easier to get across the Note Blocks and make it down the pipe.

All Munchers were there underneath the pipe platform I was on in the treasure room. Just above the treasure box was a "spray-painted" inverted pentagram. There was NO way in hell that Nintendo of America would've allowed that image in their games back in the day.

I touched the treasure box, expecting to get the Super Mushroom, which is what was usually gained from it. But instead, I got a Starman.

Before crossing the bridge to the castle, I decided to backtrack and get the Spades and the Toad Houses. I used up some of my lesser items to make room, since the game had limited slots, and I wanted to keep my P-Wings.

But while the Toads in the Toad Houses were normal, they mentioned a person from my past gaining strength as I went along, along with his deal with Koopa. This made me a bit nervous.

It was a good thing I visited all those places before crossing the bridge near the castle, because after I got to the space next to the castle, the bridge collapsed, the green grass turned tan, and the water turned purple and bubbling, implying it became poison water!

I quickly entered the Castle, and saw that the King's Piranha Plant form is withered, the head even cut off. The head even showed a tongue sticking out, implying a cartoony death, but still death all the same.

Once more, the Toad told of the king's untimely demise, and asked us to avenge him.

The sky of the Airship level was black as night, with occasional lightning--totally different from the usually yellow-orange sky of the NES era.

The level still pretty much played the same, and again I had to plan carefully to get through it without dying or taking a hit. It was part skill, part luck, for me. But I soon made it to the final Koopaling, Ludwig von Koopa.

Before the fight started, the text box read:

"My father is meeting with a certain someone, and boy does he have a bone to pick with you!"

The battle began. Ludwig had the heavy stomp of Roy, and he shot a couple of smoke rings--the floor of the cabin didn't help much. I lost my Raccoon power after the first stomp, and shrunk back to regular Mario after the second stomp, but was able to win the battle alive.

I got the wand and returned it to the Toad. Again, I was told there would be a selection of a new king, and got the letter.

Before the letter showed, I gasped as I turned to see my mom stuck, as though between life and death. I wanted to help her, but I was paralyzed. Only my head and my hands were still movable. The letter read:

"That's right, Pomeroy!

"It's me--the father you killed!

"I've waited a long time for this--and made the characters in this game suffer so I can get close enough to you! Come to me and beat me again if you want this all to end!

"Ha ha ha!"

I knew what I had to do. If I wanted to live, and for my mother to live, I had to beat my abusive father in game!

World 8
World 8 began, and even then, it was starting to unnerve me.

The music sounded more sinister than it usually did. I soon went to the Tanks.

The background showed a few volcanoes... I knew that the NES had some capabilities to make some cool backgrounds, if the Mega Man games were any indication, but even then, the original NES version of Super Mario 3 seldom had detailed backgrounds.

The tanks were metallic instead of wooden. The Bob-Ombs seemed to go off a little bit sooner than usual, so I had to really mind my step, as I was still regular Mario at the time. Also, the Rocky Wrenches seemed more trigger happy--not to mention more menacing in appearance--than usual.

Once I got my Super Mushroom, I was able to progress further with more confidence. I soon went into the boss tank cabin and fought the lone Boomerang Brother, winning the Starman upon doing so.

Before progressing further, I put on my Raccoon Leaf, since I knew I'd need it.

Luckily, the water didn't turn into Poison Water, which was good, since the level would be almost impossible if it did. But the ships here were metallic as well--which was odd since they were normally wooden. Perhaps my dad showed Bowser some metal materials to strengthen his forces?

There were lightning flashes occasionally in the background to add to the unease--and there weren't lightning flashes normally in the NES version.

The Bob-Ombs coming out of cannons more frequently, and the Rocky Wrenches emerging more rapidly didn't help matters either.

I didn't bother doing that swimming under the ships trick, because I wasn't sure if I could do so alive. I just braved the ships as best I could till I got to Boom-Boom's cabin.

The Boom-Boom in the cabin looked more sinister than usual, and almost looked like he had a pirate bandana on. But he still went down in three hits. I grabbed the Crystal Ball and opened the locked door.

I went into the pipe and down to the next part of the map, but after that, the pipe back up vanished, so there was no way back up.

The second map of World 8 showed a bridge and a small airship segment. The bridge was infamous for the "Hand Traps", giant hands that, if you stepped on a bridge segment when it was in a particular design, dragged you down to the level. But I often go to the stages deliberately, since clearing that stage got the player a Raccoon Leaf.

I went to the first segment and let the hand get me--only this looked like a green monster hand. The hand was not unlike the giant Wart hand in the intro of Doki Doki Panic, the game that was modified to be the American Super Mario 2.

The level was as usual, with a single Fire Brother spitting fireballs, which I took out, followed by two Hammer Brothers. During the regular Hammer Brother battle, I saw what looked like a skull and crossbones in the BG. Luckily it didn't do anything.

I went on to take out the Boomerang Brother and then the Sledge Brother--this Sledge Brother looked like it was REALLY crazy, but still went down as normal. I then progressed and got the Raccoon Leaf.

The next hand trap had me traversing over a lava pit with a LOT of the Podoboo bubbles leaping in and out. Since I didn't have a Hammer Brother suit on to fight off these things with Hammers, I had to dodge carefully.

Near the exit pipe, I saw an upright pentagram--still wouldn't have been allowed by Nintendo of America back in the day, unless the shape were completely filled in to be a regular star.

I then got the second Raccoon Leaf.

The third Hand Trap was a large bridge over Lava, with Cheep-Cheeps leaping out. Only these Cheep-Cheeps were surrounded by flames, and their eyes seemed to glow.

On one hand, it may be due to the eight-bit limits of the time, so the black was replaced with the red glow, but on the other hand, it may be to make it more fearful.

I didn't take chances with trying to stomp them. I just avoided them as best I could.

Near the exit pipe, above the "m" shape of coins, there was a "666" spray-painted in red. This was yet another thing Nintendo of America wouldn't have allowed back in the day. I soon proceeded to get the third Super Leaf.

I decided not to take chances and donned a P-Wing before going to the Mini-Airships level, since the level is much quicker than other auto-scroll levels.

Again, lightning flashes had returned, and these--as stated a couple times before--were not in the original NES version.

Also, the Airships had been replaced with metallic large jet planes!

"Did Bowser visit the real world and get these?" I thought. "No, it couldn't be!"

Using the P-Wing's unlimited flight, I was able to fly across, and was glad the lightning couldn't hit me.

On the airship that had the crate, the box was metallic with some straps holding it on. There was lettering on the box that read: "Pomeroy must pay!"

Since my dad had revealed he was in this game, it no longer surprised me.

I soon made it to the final airship to take on Boom-Boom, and it was one of the winged versions. The cabin also had an inverted pentagram spray-painted on the wall.

I fought the Boom-Boom, quickly landing the second stomp before he could get air-time.

Once Boom-Boom was defeated, I got the crystal ball. Another door locked, and I went down the pipe following, and once again, when I reached the other side, the pipe leading back up vanished.

But what was weird was the third map was fully lit--normally it was dark, with just the circle around me lit.

And the skulls eye sockets were glowing red. I knew I was expected.

I soon went to World 8-1, one of the only two "normal" levels of World 8.

The lightning flashes returned. Since my P-Wing had ended in the Airship level, and now I'm back to regular Raccoon, I had to do a running start to fly. I was glad the hidden room with the three extra lives was there. I mean, I was already at my max of 99 extra lives by this point, but it was best to get there so I wouldn't have to be bothered by the Boo Diddly.

For some reason, the Bullet Bill cannons didn't fire as much. It may have been just as well. Using the Raccoon, I was able to get across much safer from the Note Block to the Pipe than without it.

On the pipe, there was a unicursal hexagram sprayed in white on it. If there were Piranha Plants normally there, they didn't show up during my play here.

The goal area showed skulls on poles, instead of the usual bush silhouettes. I shuddered as I quickly tagged the goal box.

The second of the two "normal" levels in World 8 is World 8-2, which seems to resemble a dark desert.

The thunder stopped, but the clouds that usually were there were gone, and the bushes were replaced with dead trees with Toads impaled on them.

If my dad was sadistic in life, being down in you-know-where must've made him even more so.

I was thankful the quicksand shortcut worked. Since I was already powered up, and thus didn't need the extra Raccoon Leaf from the left pipe, I took the right pipe which led to a lot of coins.

After gathering all I could, I went to the exit. I didn't want to fuss with the Note Blocks over the gap, nor the Angry Sun--this was the second of two levels in the entire game that enemy appeared.

I simply ran down the hill and gained enough speed to fly across to make it to the goal--there were silhouettes of dead trees in the BG of the Goal Area, but I tagged the goal block anyway, so I didn't bother to check for impaled Toads there. It may have been just as well.

The last Mini-Fortress in the game is the most confusing of all. There are doors that lead from one half to another, and some even require P-Switches to reveal. I remembered the routes from past playthoughs, and was thankful they hadn't changed.

However, the background had spray-painted pentagrams, unicursal hexagrams, evil eye triangles, and even the words "Pomeroy Must Pay". I just knew my dad was sending the bad guys the message.

The Thwomps, Boo Diddly's, and Dry Bones also looked more sinister than usual, with glowing red eyes.

I soon got to the hidden door where Boom-Boom was, and instead of broken windows from past fortresses, they were stain-glass windows. Boom-Boom also had red glowing eyes, and sometimes sent out shots that looked like the Roto-Disks. Luckily, they were straight shots, and didn't do any weird spirals, so I could still dodge them.

I beat Boom-Boom without any major problems, aside from the conveyor belt floor, and got the Crystal Ball.

The door opened, and I went down the pipe leading to the courtyard of Bowser's castle, and once again, the pipe vanished from behind me.

The last obstacle before Castle Koopa was what was known as the "Super Tank". As has happened in this run, the normally wooden set-up has been replaced with metal, and Bob-Ombs were coming out in a more rapid fashion.

This forced me to be even more cautious in my moves, especially in the segment with many Rocky Wrenches emerging, as they seemed to spawn more quickly than usual.

I soon survived the madness and got into Boom-Boom's cabin--the last Boom-Boom in the game.

The chamber had a horned skull outline spray-painted in the cabin, with a menacing look. This Boom-Boom too was a flying one, but I was able to stomp it the second time before it could attempt to fly. I then defeated it and claimed the Crystal Ball.

The locked door before Bowser's Castle opened. It was time to end this.

I soon entered Bowser's Castle. I could've done the trick with the P-Wing to take away Bowser's Flame Breath, but that thought escaped me at the time.

All the windows were replaced with the stain-glass kind. The statues again shot lasers as I ran across, and I was lucky enough to avoid them.

The "wrong way" doors that would've sent me back to the beginning were gone, which was a good thing, since I didn't want to deal with that hassle.

Just before the candle with the Hot Foot, I saw the message sprayed on the wall: "Pomeroy, you will pay with your life!"

I carefully ascended up the stairs and then down the other side, so as to avoid the Roto-Disks.

After carefully passing some Donut Lifts and Podoboos, I took the center road. Sure I could've taken the upper door, but the Donut Lifts AND Bowser's fire would've been too much.

I then went through the door and dodged one last laser statue. The flame breath shot out in the same places as before, as I remembered from previous plays, so I could dodge them properly.

I soon made it to Bowser's arena. And when Bowser came down, I could see a vaguely humanoid face on him. The timer soon stopped for a bit, and it showed a close-up I recognized... it was my abusive father.

Yes, I remembered the NES could do somewhat photo-style graphics, if Total Recall or Die Hard on the NES were any indications.

The Super Mario 3 style textbox appeared, which read:

"We finally meet, Pomeroy.

"My death didn't end your pain, but amplified it.

"Now I shall punish you and your mom for what you did!"

It soon returned to the arena, and some falling Podoboos took away all but my last life, and shrunk me back to regular Mario.

A text box appeared again, which read:

"I'll take you to hell now!"

Just as he was about to jump on me, a Starman appeared.

I heard my mom fight to regain some consciousness, and say:

"You've caused enough pain to my son! It ends now!"

At that, the Starman tagged me, giving me invincibility. I wasted no time. I jumped up as Bowser was about to land on me, and the invincibility took him out in one hit.

I was able to move my entire body again, and my mom completely snapped out of the coma.

The victory music played as usual, and the door opened.

I entered and found Princess Peach--who was still called Princess Toadstool back in the day--and her text box read:

"You did it, Pomeroy. You are finally freed from the pain of your past.  Congratulations!"

The credits then rolled as normal. When the game showed up again, it gave the full supply of P-Wings as it usually did in "new game plus", but the game had completely gone back to normal.

Still, Mom and I knew what we saw was real.

I still come back to my Super Mario 3 from time to time, and it played normal. But on the anniversary of my dad's death, I try to play something else, for fear he might try again.

But it just goes to show, if you're playing a game on a certain day and/or time, and something doesn't feel right, or you feel some unexplainable pain or bad feeling, for heaven's sake, TURN IT OFF!!!