<Please turn on Word-Wrap>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        The Mario Bros. 3 Challenge!
                              Are you up to it?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents:
  1) What is The Mario Bros. 3 Challenge? and Disclaimer
  2) Requirements
  3) Installation
  4) Current Progress
  5) Future Progress
  6) The Story
  7) The Levels
  8) Tips and General Comments
  9) CHALLENGES
  10) Credits/Contact
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) What is The Mario Bros. 3 Chalenge? and Disclaimer

   The Mario Bros. 3 Challenge is a freeware, not-for-profit new edition of the classic NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) game, Super Mario Bros. 3. The patch was created using Mario Improvement 3. 

                                    DISCLAIMER
   The makers of this patch are not associated with Nintendo or any other involved companies, nor are they affiliated with the makers of Nesticle, Mario Improvement 3, Snestool or any other programs mentioned in this document. If you install this patch on your computer, you do so completely at your own risk. The makers of this patch cannot be held responsible or liable for any possible damage that may occur from use of this patch, be it damage to your computer, or legal damage to yourself.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) Requirements

   To use this patch, you will need the following:
   * A 386 or higher for absolute minimum performance (A 486 should do fine though)
   * A VGA video card
   * Some version of DOS or the Windows familiy
   * The NES Mario Bros. 3 ROM. (Don't ask me for this!)
   * A NES Emulator with mapper 4/mmc3 support, such as Nesticle or FWNES or the like
   * An IPS patch applier, such as Snestool.
   * An unziping program, such as PKzip or Winzip. If you are reading this document, it is assumed you have an unzipping program. :)
   * A sense of adventure and a lot of skill or patience!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) Installation

   Installation is not hard, you just have to get the programs you need off the internet and then use them. :)

   Unzip the contents of this archive into a directory and then use the IPS program that you downloaded to apply the IPS patch included in this archive to your Mario Bros. 3 ROM. Then just configure and run your Emulator and select your ROM and you are ready to go! There should be readme files included with whatever programs you choose to explain how to do the above steps. The process will be different with each program, so there is no need for me to go over any other steps here.
 
   NOTE: You will want to back up your Mario 3 ROM! The patching is permanent and cannot be undone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4) Current Progress
  
  8/6/99 What is this? Two releases in one day? Yep, version 4.0 is out now. Also, the message boards and the feedback forms are up on the website!

  8/6/99: The Official Homepage has been improving over the last few days, and people having been pouring in from Zophar's Domain, off the internet, and from the ZSNES Message Board. Today version 3.4 is released!

  8/3/99: Today the webpages have been put up! No graphics or anything yet, but I kind of hope to do that later on. Right now it was just important to get all the sections open and running. not only that, but there is a new version of the game, version 2.3! New in this version is level 2-2, 2-3, and the World 2 Fortress. See the levels section for more info on the levels.
 
  8/2/99: Woo hoo! Today I was pretty busy. I re-did level 1-6 and the World 1 Doom Ship (which is awesome), and I edited to World 2 Map and completed level 2-1. anyway, the big news is that today I am releasing the first version of the patch, version 2.1! (World 2, level 1 is where the version number comes from, by the way. This will make it easy to tell what progress has been made at a glance on the web.)

   8/1/99: So far the first 5 levels of World 1 have been completed, as well as the World 1 Fortress.

   7/31/99: Today I and The_Ren flew through the creation of levels 1-2 and 1-3. These levels were a fun challenge to create and to play. We had so much trouble beating level 1-2 that we had to tone it down a slight bit. Now it is possible to beat, but still really really hard!

   7/30/99: Today I discovered the new version of Mario Improvement 3, and now that the editor supports enemies, I've decided to start the Mario 3 Challenge Project. After much hassle and learning the keys, functions, and millions of quirky things about the editor, level 1-1 is complete!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5) Future Progress

   Well, the rest of the levels have yet to be completed. This patch will be updated frequently, so if you like what you see, check back at the site you got this from regularly. Once the entire game is finished, I may go back and make some final tweaks to the game before I delcare it "finished," but all in all I am being very thorough in each level, so there isn't too much to be tweaked (that I know of, anyway).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6) The Story

   Hearing a call of distress from Princess Toadstool through the pipes leading from the Mario Bros' Plumbing Shop to the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi leapt into action, heading through the pipes and straight towards the Mushroom Kingdom Palace. Upon arriving, they found the place a complete wreck (Once again).
   Recognising King Bowser Koopa's handiwork, the Brothers knew what they had to do. The trail of destruction led to an area that the Brother's hadn't visited in ten years or more--The Grasslands.
   Just as they had all those years before in their third adventure, Mario and Luigi set out to cross the eight worlds, heading for Bowser's Castle to rescue the Princess. However, a lot can change in ten years, and a lot has. Though many things were the same or quite similar to what the Brothers remembered, many things were quite changed. Koopa has had ten years to beef up every area between the Mario Brothers and his Castle, and he has used the opportunity well. The Mario Brothers are in for their toughest challenge ever.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7) The Levels

   Level 1-1: Lots of surprises here. The very first little area should tip you off that this game is harder than the origional. Hammer Brothers are involved!?

   Level 1-2: This area is a regular battlefield now. HINT: Run fast or you're meat.

   Level 1-3: Still a haven for Boomerange Brothers, but it is a lot harder now. Not all places lead where they seem to. Sometimes things that look good are really traps! Also, you won't be getting any whistles in this game. HINT: If you run into some hidden surprises that you can't figure out how to get past, go back a bit and look for another way!

   Level 1-4: Stick to your old tactics. This level is still easy, but you'll have to try serveral times if yo wish to find all the items. HINT: Sometimes when jumping it is better to be late than early.

   World 1 Fortress: Don't go looking for a whistle here either. No hints for this place.

   Level 1-5: Don't ever rush things. With good timing, lots of luck, and maybe a mushroom or better to start with, you shouldn't have *too* much trouble finishing this level. No new puzzles involved here, just skill and luck.

   Level 1-6: This level has always been too easy, and I'm afraid that was pretty hard to change. There are a few surprises, and in the origional game this level would now be considered decently hard, especially for World 1, but in Mario 3 Challenge, this is one of the breeziest levels.

  World 1 Doom Ship: Thinking about a shortcut? Chances are you should forget it. Bowser has packed a lot of new, high-tech weaponry into this new Doom Ship, including some revolutionary lasers.

  Level 2-1: Fire Snakes!! This under-used monster is out in force in this level, and you will find that they are much stronger in groups than alone. Don't let them gang up on you! Also, watch out for spots of erosion where the ground has caved in.
  
  Level 2-2: Be on awares. The hills and the oasis alike are infested with pirhana plants.
  
  World 2 Fortress: I don't like to brag, but I must say that this level is ingeniously laid out! Thwomps don't just go down, dry bones roam and run in packs, boo buddies get in just all the wrong places, and you had better be able to brawl in confined spaces at the end. Oh yeah, and you'll definitely need to time all your jumps just right, too. This level is as fun to play as it was fun to make!

  Level 2-3: This was an interesting level to redo. For some reason, when I tried to put in missle bills at the end of the level, certain enemies disappear, including the missile bills. I tried and tried to fix this problem, trying everything I could think of over an hours time. I couldn't (and still can't) figure out how to fix this problem, so to give myself a break I decided to play the level. The exclusion of the six enemies that were the problem created an interesting puzzle of how to exit this level. After much thought and many tries, I figured out three distinct ways to beat this level, two of which require the racoon tail, which can be found, as small mario, in this level. One of the ways is rather obtuse. CHALLENGE: Can you find all three ways to beat this level? E-mail me to find out if you are correct!

  Level 2-4: Chain Chomps! Yikes, these guys are nasty, and in some pretty tough places, too. Good luck!

  World 2 Quicksand: The angry sun is still angry after ten whole years, and now he has a much better chance of catching Mario on account of the much harder terrain below him.
  
  Level 2-5: As you will notice, levels 4 and 5 in world 2 were swapped, so this used to be 4. Now there are holes all around, 2 new puzzles of sorts, and a heck of a lot more challenge!

  World 2 Pyramid: These ancient pyramids have been turned upside down! Well, not the pyramids themselves--just the inhabitants. Beetles fly from the sky, and Mario had better be quick or he'll be dead instead.

  World 2 Doom Ship: I like the Doom Ships a lot, from an editor's point of view. This one has swarms of the horrid Missile Bills that Mario must brave, and just as the World 1 Doom Ship is, this Ship is armed with some... innovative weaponry. The Boss room is also changed so the Morton has the distinct advantage over Mario. This Doom Ship actually lives up to its name!

  Level 3-1: This level is still very easy if you know the shortcut, but if you don't... it can be harder. Either way, you'll be in for a nasty surprise by the end.
NOTE: Due to a problem with the spikes found in release 3.4 of this level, in release *** the spikes were changed to electric jellyfish.
  
  Level 3-2: This level has only been edited slightly, but the effects are far-reaching. This level kicks butt--Mario's! 

  Level 3-3: What's meaner than a Boss Bass? Not much... except three Boss Bass!

  World 3 Fortress 1: Remember how hard this level used to be to figure out? Well, unless you have a much better memory than I do, you'll have to figure it out all over again--but this time with harder roto-disks, more thwomps that move in frustrating formations, cheep-cheeps that get in your way on the surface of the water, and (get this) no power ups this time. But that's not all. Once you muddle through and finally find the Boss room, you are in for the challenge of Mario's career. NOTE: It CAN be done!

  Level 3-4: This level is insanely hard, I think! Lakitu follows you through the whole level, chucking spiny eggs at you the whole time. At the end, he is joined by his brother, who chucks some too. If you can't kill Lakitu early, which is hard to do, then this level can be VERY trying!

  ...That's all! The levels have descriptions only throughout the first two public versions' levels. After that, you'll have to discover everything for yourself!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8) Tips and General Comments

   This new Mario Brothers game was made in the image of the origional Mario Bros. 3. However, this game is much, much, much, much harder. Some of the levels remain almost identical to their older counterparts. Some others may be hardly recognisable to you.
   My best advice is to take it slow and remember that this is a game. Don't get frustrated. I know that now that people have Save States of Nesticle, a lot of the harder NES games can be beaten easily merely by doing each level in small chunks over and over again--saving right before the hard part and doing it until you get it right, then saving afterwards.
   While I don't condone saving in the middle of the levels in Mario 3 Challenge, I don't particularly mind you saving in the overworld right before a level--in fact, I reccomend that for the average player. This will in a sense give you unlimited lives/tries, and this will prove almost neccessary for the average player to finish the game (or even the first world, in some cases) at all. For the truly skilled player, I challenge you to beat the game without saving at all! Quite a challange, isn't it?
   Mario 3 Challenge was built entirely to give the Emulator generation of players a good challenge. If you get stuck or need some tips, you can E-mail me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9) CHALLENGES

   This is a new section that includes extra challenges for certain levels. To meet these challenges, you may have to use exceptional playing skill, brain power, or both. Good luck! E-mail me to get your name into the Challenge Board on the official Super Mario Bros. 3 Challenge site!

   Level 2-3: There are three distinct ways to beat this level. Can you figure out and execute all three, entering the level as small mario? (There are, of course, many slight variations of my methods, but there are only 3 distinctly different ways to beat this level. I have managed to do it all three ways entering the level as small mario, so I know you can too! HINT: For two of the methods, having the raccoon tail is an absolute must.

   World 3 Fortress 1: This time the challenge is all skill. The Boss room of this fortress is the hardest Mario has ever laid eyes on. It is beatable, but it is very, very hard. The level itself is no cream pie, either. Can you, starting the level as any size Mario, play straight through the level and beat the bosses without dying, or saving and loading. If you can, catch it in a Nesticle .NSM movie and send to to me by e-mail. I'll watch it to make sure you did it, and then put your name on the Challenge Board!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10) Credits/Contact
 
   x-4000 : I wrote this document, and I am the main person doing this project. I have had a part in all levels, etc. Contact me at x-4000admin@mailcity.com.
   The_Ren : Thanks for helping with levels 1-2 and 1-3! You did a great job, I think everyone will agree!
   LincolnSoft : They made the great Mario Improvement 3 that alowed me to make this great new version of a great game!
   Zophar's Domain : For keeping me and everyone else up-to-date on what is going on in the emulation community!
   Bloodlust software : For making Nesticle, which is a great NES emu--and especially for the .nsm recorder, which allows for me to do a good portion of the Challenge Board!
