This is without a doubt the best Mario game ever made. Period.
Super Mario 3 had it all. Memorable, and potentially infuriating, moments that played out in perfectly appointed levels and a backdrop of some of the earwormiest, and now most iconic, music and sound effects of all time. Thirty years later, I still haven't found a game that hits the same level of satisfaction as finishing a difficult level (probably in an all out sprint) and jumping into the slot-machine-style reward spinner hoping for a 1UP.
All that said, I'm going to take it step further though. I think it could be argued that this is the best video game ever made.
While it can absolutely be argued that games have gotten better (better graphics, better and more interesting control mechanics, etc.), perhaps they're just more, not better. More RAM, more processors, more buttons, more directions to move... Few games, if any, have taken the "more" they have to work with and accomplished what this game did with a plumber, a princess, and 8-bits.
