Super Mario World all day long.

SMB3 was an absolute banger and revolutionised the platforming genre while making the hardware run things it had no business doing, so much so that even id Software took inspiration from it.

World just improved the formula in every single way though. Far from ragging on SMB3, World just took an amazing game and polished it up beyond what was expected.

SMW for me but that's not to downplay just how unbelievably good SMB3 was at the time.

World has everything 3 introduced and more with better visuals. So SMW is the right answer.

Really it comes down to level design. And IMO, the secret star road levels are some of the best even counting later games. Tubular! Gnarly! Radical!

But if Yoshi's Island was an option...

The choice is obvious.

3 has Tanukis.

I can't see SMB3 without remembering that once I was playing it with my brother and my dad comes in, saying he hates that game.

Later, we ask him why does he hate the game, he says he's really got no reasons, but still hates the game.

As much as I love SMB3's powerups (hammer bro 4 life), I'd go with World because you can replay levels and even castles with L+R. Fuck Tubular, tho

SMW. Peak Mario on SNES.

SMB3 was a revolution. SMW was an evolution.

I personally prefer SMB3 because the controls feel tighter, where SMW sometimes feels "floaty". But it's a subtle difference. SMW gives you way more content, but not all of it is as good or as well-designed as the levels from SMB3 (though again, the difference is subtle.)

They are both all-time top games, as is Mario 64.

3 is my favorite of the two, but World was objectively better in terms of mechanics and overall design. Still, I'll always play 3 if given the choice between them.

World and is not close

It's a very interesting question. In terms of which game I'd rather play, it's SMW. But in terms of technical achievement, SMB3 is unquestionably better (in my opinion of course).

SMB1 was a watershed moment for gaming - perhaps the biggest that there ever was. SMB3 was a revolutionary improvement on top of that. In light of that, SMW almost feels like a bland port. This isn't to say it's bad by any means, but in terms of the impact that it had on gaming as a whole, it's not very significant and just feels like an iterative improvement.

SMW is still a great game! And if I could only play one for the rest of my life, I would choose it over SMB3. But in terms of historical impact on gaming, I would say that SMB1, Mario64 and SMB3 were more revolutionary.

Yoshi's Island is my favorite however.

SMB3 easy choice for me. I like the NES soundchip over muddy SNES just in general and the physics in SMB3.

World.

The meme options should have been B then A

SMB3 has gotta take this but just barely.

3 is extremely cool and all, epecially for what NES can output. But SMW has an insane mechanics with higher skill ceiling. Speaking as a player who haven't played any of these two but watched some pros/speedrunners play them.

I have played and beaten both games too often to count, and while they're both excellent the way Mario controls in SMW always throws me off for the first couple of minutes. I can't quite put my finger on it, but SMB3 just feels better, more weighty I guess.

SMW, easily. Being able to freely use the map to play levels at will and unlock secrets still hasn't been matched by any other 2D Mario game.

Graphics and music-wise, it's fair to use the SNES version as a comparison, so that's mostly a wash.

Super Mario world is obviythe better game because that's the one I have more nostalgia for.

SMB3 is peak Mario, but Super Mario World is probably second place.

Tough choice but I’m reluctantly picking World. It’s probably because as a kid I had a NES, but never a SNES, so all my SMW play was at friends or the demo kiosk at the store.

Not until I was a 20something when I traded a used motherboard for an old SNES and played the shit out of it.

SMB3, it's simpler.

Apples and oranges they’re both the best game ever.

B. For the simple reason the color palette doesn't look like shit.

also it is full of more variety,Yoshi, better secrets, better audio, Yoshi, better physics, you can go backwards and Yoshi,

I liked 3 a lot, it introduced a lot of new elements paving the way for world. But world IMHO is better.

I'm gonna go apparently against the grain and agree with OP. Choosing is hard. Both amazing games.

I'd pick SMB3 on the SNES/GBA vs. NES over SMW.

Why choose when you're an All Star, baby!

Edit: oh right. Only one version of All Stars included SMW, hehe

World. 1000%

Me: pencils in SM64

Teacher: “I have nothing left to teach you.“

SMB3 controls better.

ET.

Between those two? SMW. Of all Mario games? That's a much more interesting question.

SMW was my very first video game, so that's my choice. I've played both, but definitely prefer SMW because of its better controls, level design and graphics/sound. 3's levels are a bit too short for my liking, which is probably due to being crammed on an NES cart.

3 over World, but SMB2 is the best Mario game on the NES.

They should’ve made a sequel to the Wizard that featured SMW

Actually it's Kitsune Tails.

I played and beat world with my dad on a rented Super Famicom before Super Nintendo came out.

We didn't have an instruction booklet and all the tutorial stuff that came up was in Japanese so we went the entire game without knowing you could throw shells upwards. So when we got to Bowser at the end we thought you had to be able to fly so you could dive-bomb the motherfucker. Took us so many tries getting there with a cape and a backup before we eventually each got it. Man, did I feel dumb when SNES came out and I learned the truth, but also a perverse pride, like being one of the few people to beat something before it gets nerfed.

Not really related but this made me think of that for the first time in years.