Super Mario Bros. 3 while still a good game is overrated. The complete lack of a save feature when other NES games of similar length or shorter had one means that it’s very easy to lose lots of progress. Super Mario Bros. 2 is the best of the NES Mario games in my opinion.
The SNES and GBA versions soften that with a save feature on both versions which made them a bit better. Speaking of which, I played the latter and didn’t do the extra levels yet because I don’t have an E-Reader accessory along with the game’s cards.