Hello, all.  Here's a short Super Mario Bros. 3 question that I've never been able to find a definitive answer for:

We all know of the three warp whistle locations:

Level 1-3
Level 1 Fortress
Level 2 Map beyond the rocks / beyond the sand dunes hammer bros.


BUT I've also repeatedly seen information to suggest that there is a warp whistle in level 3-9.

Most notably, the Digital Press Collector's Guide 7 has this warp whistle listed in the entry for SMB 3!  I've seen it in several other places, so it's not a DP typo.


Some other websites have this information, but most do not.  I've tried what is recommended repeatedly and it does not work.


Just curious if anyone knows where this rumor came from.  I imagine it is based in fact, because it seems to persist despite all evidence to the contrary.

It's something I've never been able to crack.

BTW, the official stand-alone SMB3 guide from Nintendo does not list this whistle.

Any help? Thanks.


edit:

I've been sorting through websites still trying to figure this out.  I came across this four-page spread in Nintendo Power about the designing of SMB3:

http://nintendope.iodized.net/smb3/info.html

Kinda cool, but what really caught my eye was the following on the last page:  


Quote:

Among Myamoto's current projects are planning games for the Super Famicom (like Super Mario Bros. 4 and Zelda 3).  He is also working with Shigesato Itoi, another famous Japanese copy writer on a role playing game set in modern times that will probably be available for the NES next year.

Earthbound, anyone?   :)

News to me, I have never heard of this either other than sheer speculation.  I don't think it exists.  The game did have a -1 revision though, so it might be on one copy and not the other maybe?
~~NGD

The following is the entry in the DP guide:*


Quote:

Easter Eggs:  Get to World 3-9, then make your way to the second pipe (the first one going down.)  At the second pipe, you'll notice a white block.  Go to the block and squat down.  After approximately five seconds, you'll fall through and end up behind the scenery.  Now run to the right to enter a hidden room with a warp whistle.

Everything matches up with the description, and I don't think the description is confusing it with world 1-3.  IIRC, I run out of time as a background sprite before I reach the far right of the screen.  Someone more skilled might want to try it sometime.


* The above quote from the Digital Press guide is a small snippet only a few sentences long.  The above quote is not intended for commercial purposes.  This quote is believed to qualify under the Fair Use - Educational Use provision of copyright law in the United States of America.

I will give it a try right now, what the hell.
~~NGD

I just played it and it didn't work for me either.  You couldn't run behind the wall anyways because you have to jump over those white throwable blocks and then it goes straight into the dark blue edge wall.  I am calling BS.
~~NGD

Ok.  I'm gonna give it a try with an emulator and see if I can game genie modify the amount of time I'm in the background vs. the foreground.  

I know there were two released revisions of SMB3. The Mushroom Kingdom site talks about both of them.  I have the -1 revision with the fixed text in the Toad/Roulette card game.  Has never worked there, but I'll try a few mods and see if maybe it is possible.

I seriously doubt the 3-9 whistle still exists and probably the whole idea of using the white block to drop back and then race behind the end was moved to World 1-3.  It is interesting though that they didn't take the white block out of 3-9...

It is also interesting that such bad information continues to persist -  you would have thought at some point someone would have said "this doesn't work" enough times that it would be dropped.


Anybody else care to give it a shot?  Directions above in thread.


edit:
Heck, now that I think about it, I should just go through with the discombomulator and see if there is a pointer or anything suspicious.  I'll let all know.

Did anyone check the strategy guides for SMB4 Advance?  They made an official Nintendo one and a Prima guide...not the exact same game, but damn near close enough.  Just a thought.

I gave it a try, seems like a hoax to me also.

Well, I discombobulated it, and I can't find a ROM pointer or anything to suggest that there is currently a way to get a warp whistle in level 3-9.  I tried both the English -1 and Japanese verisons, though I don't have a ROM of the original English (not -1) version, so someone might want to look at that.

Evidence suggests that at one time this was a valid set of directions, but for whatever reason it was removed prior to the game's release.  I've always thought that two warp whistles in the same world, occuring immediately after one another on the game map (World 1-3 and World 1 Fortress) was a little weird.  The fortress whistle seemed almost like an afterthought, like someone ran out of time to figure out where to place that whistle and so they just carved out a little area in the fortress and stuck it in there.

Anyway, one day we'll have a prototype (I firmly believe that it exists), and the mystery might actually be solved.  Thanks all for your help, and if anyone else wants to try it, directions are upthread.

Corse that might be possible yeah, there could be proto containing this mysterous whistle. Maybe DreamTR has a proto of it, can't think of anyone else who could own one but him.

Yeah it would be he if anybody who owned one.  In my thinking though, it would actually be a Famicom proto, not a NES proto, right?  Because the cart was virtually unchanged except for the English translations, there wouldn't really be a NES proto.

Anybody here from Japan?  I know a heck of a lot less about Famicom protos than NES ones.  Do protos even ever show up in Japan?

Indeed i think it must be a fami proto. There are also alot fami proto's though we hardly see them cause alot of them still use yahoo auctions.

There is a third smb3 variant so it might work on that.

Wait, what?

Japanese SMB3
Original US Release of SMB3
US -1 Release of SMB3

There's another variant besides those?

Info please!

In theory it could be from a Euro SMB3 as well.  Lots of stuff to have to test to be 100% sure.
~~NGD

Its actually a long shot but there was an SMB3 on ebay a while back that had a slightly different sticker label than the other two versions.  I'll post a pic once i get home.

Cool!  I look forward to seeing the pic.

And, as NGD suggested, it could be a variant on any number of international / Euro carts.

Another question:  Does anyone know the chain of distribution for Mario games?  What I mean is, does Nintendo Japan directly translate the cart for every market, or do they just do a generic English version and then someone else (NOA, for example) does the Euro work?

Just curious, because I (might) have a lot fewer to check if I could figure out the lines of distribution!!

Thanks for everyone's help on this.

Here it is.
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/9525/b0bb2gf0.jpg
Too bad the seller used a cheap phone camera to take the picture.  I also wished i could of seen this before the auction ended.

What is different about it?
~~NGD

Hmm!  That is interesting!   :D

The difference is the position of the "Bros." abbreviation under SMB3.  As far as I knew there were only two versions (click for larger images):

NES-UM-USA:

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/5941/smb3ab0.th.jpg


and

NES-UM-USA-1:

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/1292/smb31bj1.th.jpg


The "Bros." moves from one side of the logo to the other - that's how you can tell the two versions apart at a glance.

But now there's a third version???

Darn, I would have liked to pick that up, just to check it!  

From what I can see in the picture, it also looks like a NES-UM-USA-1.  

If anyone knows anything about the cart with "Bros." in the middle, or if you see another one, let me know.


Does anyone know of an international version with "Bros." in the middle?

I knew the first 2 and didn't even pay attention to the placement of the one Jordon posted...very interesting for sure.
~~NGD

If anyone knows about this it would be this guy
http://davidwonn.kontek.net/
and he mentions nothing about a 4th whistle.

True.  But he does mention that there is a place in world 3-9 where you can walk through walls:


Quote:

Walk through a wall in Bowser's Castle! sent in by Victreebel64 Before going into the last Castle (the very last one, with Bowser) use a P-Wing. Get to the last room where there are donut lifts and Bowser shoots fire at you even though he's in the next room. There should be a statue thing over the door to Bowser's room. Duck down and start flying, then land on the statue's head. Stand up, and Mario will go straight through the wall! You end up somewhere else in the castle. DON'T DO THIS TRICK A SECOND TIME! If you do you'll get stuck in the wall and you'll have to wait for time to run out before you can escape! [Ed. Note: Many levels in SMB3 have places where you can walk through walls. This property of the game existed since the original SMB. Try W1-1, W3-9, and W6-1st Mini Fortress for starters....]

I don't know what he's talking about, but I'm not 100% convinced yet.

I'm going to the public library soon and looking up a copy of the old "Best of How to Win at Nintendo Games" by Jeff Rovin and see if maybe it is in there.

Yes, but having different labels doesn't mean updated code. I opened a nes-um-usa-1 bros to the right cart tonight and the roms were both no revision.

For example the prg said "nes-um-0 prg" 1 would mean first revision, 2 second, etc. Usually it's just the prg rom that's updated and not the chr.

cdb900 wrote on 04. Dec 2007 at 16:26:

True.  But he does mention that there is a place in world 3-9 where you can walk through walls: Quote: Walk through a wall in Bowser's Castle! sent in by Victreebel64 Before going into the last Castle (the very last one, with Bowser) use a P-Wing. Get to the last room where there are donut lifts and Bowser shoots fire at you even though he's in the next room. There should be a statue thing over the door to Bowser's room. Duck down and start flying, then land on the statue's head. Stand up, and Mario will go straight through the wall! You end up somewhere else in the castle. DON'T DO THIS TRICK A SECOND TIME! If you do you'll get stuck in the wall and you'll have to wait for time to run out before you can escape! [Ed. Note: Many levels in SMB3 have places where you can walk through walls. This property of the game existed since the original SMB. Try W1-1, W3-9, and W6-1st Mini Fortress for starters....] I don't know what he's talking about, but I'm not 100% convinced yet. I'm going to the public library soon and looking up a copy of the old "Best of How to Win at Nintendo Games" by Jeff Rovin and see if maybe it is in there.

Actually, that trick was sent in by a site reader (Victreebel64), not David Wonn himself (who unfortunately seems to have disappeared and is no longer updating his site.) It's a pretty easy trick I actually discovered on my own years ago when SMB3 was one of the few NES games I owned. Although that person is describing it in a different room of Bowser's castle from where I know how to do it. I don't even think you need a P-Wing for my version, but in the room that has some Bowser statues and a giant "staircase" like structure in the middle, when you get over it to the other side, you can find a hidden 1-Up mushroom block against the right wall. After getting it, jump up while in the ducked position and try to squeeze Mario between the block and the ceiling. When you stand up, he goes right through the wall, which (IIRC) makes it easier to get up on the higher donut lifts in the next. (This is what I did the time I beat Bowser with a Hammer Bros. Suit.)

Limbofunk wrote on 11. Nov 2007 at 13:30:

Did anyone check the strategy guides for SMB4 Advance?  They made an official Nintendo one and a Prima guide...not the exact same game, but damn near close enough.  Just a thought.

I've got that and it mentions nothing about a 4th whistle.

This thread is an interesting read.  I think a SMB3 proto would be the only proto I'd ever buy.  I know a dude at another forum who has a Fami SMB3, I'll ask him to check it out.

There might have been a review-only version of SMB3, like we've seen with other games.  If someone wrote a guide based on that, or if someone based cheat/code/strategy research on a cart like that, it is the most likely to have had code and design rearranged or removed before the final version.  Remember a recent example of this is how SquareEnix removed the 2-player mode from Sword of Mana on the GBA after it was previewed/reviewed, because of a serious glitch.

Still, I remember that white block.  I remember wanting it to do something, anything, for most of my childhood(and whenever I happen to play the game again, as an adult).  I can honestly guarantee that I could find no secrets in that level via the white block, and I own a first release edition of the cart (got it the day it was released).