Mario 3: Vokrug Sveta

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Mario 3: Vokrug Sveta
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: KDS
Developer: BMB
Sound driver: VGM Music Maker
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code RU 2011?

Mario 3: Vokrug Sveta (Mario 3: Вокруг света), also known as Mario 3: Around the World, is an unlicensed game developed by BMB for the Sega Mega Drive. It is a Mario-based game that uses artwork and music from a variety of sources, such as Super Mario All-Stars. A sequel with most of the same assets, Mario 4: Kosmicheskaya Odisseya, was later released.

Story

The plot of Mario 3: Vokrug Sveta begins with a strange cloud that appears in the sky over the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnaps Princess Peach. Mario learns from the Toads that Wario is behind this phenomenon, so he sets out to rescue the Princess. Despite Wario being responsible, he makes no physical appearance in the game whatsoever.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot.

Although this is a Mario-based game, the gameplay only has the bare minimum for a Mario game, the physics are awkward and somewhat lacking, and the hit detection is very wonky. The button is used to run, and is used to jump; however, throwing fireballs is mapped to instead of sharing the same button as running. The only power-ups available to Mario are Super Mushrooms and Fire Flowers, and extra lives are gained by collecting 100 coins. The way jumping works is strange compared to official games; while holding increases Mario's jump as expected, letting go makes him drop immediately at a faster speed. Mario also has no real friction when he stops walking or running; instead, he'll keep walking/running if he's been moving for long distances or come to a complete stop if he has moved a short distance.

The game has a total of 22 levels; 11 Egyptian-themed levels, 6 Aztec-themed levels and 5 arctic-themed levels. Some of the pipes can even take the player to underground areas that skip parts of levels. The usual enemies are encountered throughout the game, such as Goombas, Koopa Troopas and Piranha Plants, as well as Flurries from Super Mario Bros. 2, Pile Driver Micro-Goombas that remain stationary rather than jumping, and Nipper Plants that behave like regular Piranha Plants.

The game is also infamous for stealing graphics and music from various sources, which is a trend seen in other games from the same developer. A lot of sprites are taken from Super Mario All-Stars, though Mario's sprites are taken from Mario & Wario. The artwork seen in the opening sequence, level intermissions, ending and various other screens were taken from various sources and downgraded to comply with the Mega Drive's graphical capabilities. The majority of the music was taken from the modules that are included with Shiru's TFM Music Maker, and two of the tracks appear to be conversions of Amiga tracks. Whenever Mario dies by touching an enemy, the game plays a short sample of a conversion of the first boss battle theme from Chrono Trigger done by Chris Kelly; if he dies by bottomless pit however, a DAC sample of someone screaming plays instead.

The most infamous case of stolen assets is the Continue screen, which shows strange artwork called "DeadMario" created by Bibs that was originally posted on Pxleyes.com. The music tracks that play on the Continue and Game Over screens are both taken from UWOL: Quest for Money, which Shiru had composed music for.

Physical scans

Mega Drive, RU (K&S)
Cover

Mega Drive, RU (K&S) (alt)
Cover

Multi-cart appearances

• A-10003 (as Mario 3)
• A-303
• A-501
• A-703 (as Mario 3)
• A-91002

Technical information

Main article: Mario 3: Vokrug Sveta/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 6f630ebd MD5 9c0f447146eca3c573e7129b808b635c SHA-1 167f17f3a9d24f5d3ed1fbf7d7310fae53015258	2MB		Cartridge (RU)