Mario Forever

Mario Forever
Mario Forever v7.02's main menu.
Developer:	Buziol Games (until 2006) Softendo (since 2009)
Built with:	Multimedia Fusion 1.2 (v1.15 - 1.16.1) Multimedia Fusion 1.5 (v2.16 - 4.4) Multimedia Fusion 2.0 Developer (v5.0 - 6.01) Clickteam Fusion 2.5 Developer (v7.01+)
Latest version:	7.02-31
No. of worlds:	15 (8 main, 7 extras)
No. of levels:	72 (32 main, 40 extras)
Download link:	[1]

Are you looking for the fan-made remake, Mario Forever Remake or the more recently released Mario Forever: Community Edition, or its Flash version, Mario Forever Flash, or maybe its harder counterpart, Mario Forever: Advance Edition?

Mario Forever (also known as Super Mario 3: Mario Forever) is a PC fan-game based on one of the most popular Nintendo games, Super Mario Bros. The game has been developed by Softendo (Buziol Games until 2009). It reproduces classic styles of the Super Mario Bros. platformer series, with slightly different graphics and some soundtrack from non-Super Mario games. The game has become popular, reaching the highest position in Platformer Games in CNET Download (a website that Softendo themselves used to distribute the game), receiving more than 10 million downloads.

Version History

Mario Forever has gone by numerous updates throughout the years since its first version in 2003. The latest version is 7.02-31.

The following is a table which contains all known versions of Mario Forever developed and released.

Mario Forever version history
Version	Release date	Description	Changelog
v1.15	September 8, 2003	This is the very first known version of Mario Forever made by Buziol Games, although it hasn't been subject of acknowledgement. This version has been lost, though it's not known if forever.
v1.16	January 2, 2004	A slight update of 1.15. This version has been lost too. It is believed to be the first public version of the game.	Unknown
v1.16.1	January 30, 2004	This is the oldest version still around the internet so far, notable for a preliminary English translation of the game and of MF Info (the installer is entirely in Polish). The only major secret is the warp from World 1-2 to World 4-1.	Hardware improvements. Difficulty altered. New secret bonus area added. Some displays have been fixed (not 100% sure). Changed enemy frequencies. More items were added in levels. The intro can now be skipped. Decoration changes in some levels. World 7-2's softlock was fixed. Some levels' length have been increased. Fire Piranha Plants' frequency of shooting fireballs have been fixed.
v2.16	June 25, 2004	One of the most famous older versions, v2.16 is notable for redoing much of the game's English translation and introducing the Human Laboratory World (then known as World WWW.GRY.o2.PL).	World 8-4 has been made easier, with some hazards removed. The final Bowser battle has been made easier, with Princess Peach giving 5 powerups instead of just 1. Added WWW.GRY.o2.PL world. The directory for the game's data has been changed to the installation directory, instead of C:\Windows. Added the pause key (P). The intro English text has been rewritten with better language use. The English in MF Info has been corrected as well. World 4-2 time limit increased. End level gate's music has been slightly altered. New bug: The default control scheme incorrectly uses the P key as the Move Up action key, necessitating a rebind to play comfortably.
v3.0	December 31, 2005	This update appears to have mostly consisted of bug fixes and quality-of-life changes, however, v3.0 was the first version bundled with the infamous Mario Forever Toolbar.	Darkness in World 3-4 has been decreased, thus reducing difficulty. Fixed a bug where pressing multiple action keys at the same time would not register either of them. Fixed the default key for the Move Up action being the P key as opposed to the Up arrow key.
v3.5	January 16, 2006	This was a major content update for the game, introducing several new extras and features. The original release included a major bug in World 4-2 that resulted in this level and therefore the game itself being unbeatable, so v3.51 was released shortly to address this issue.	Added Hardcore Worlds 1 and 2. Added Mario Minix minigame. Added Goomba Party extra level. Now the game can be played in both window and full screen modes (without the use of the /NOF command line switch). Added a website loader, which requires the player to wait some time before starting up the game. All world map graphics have been redone to use 2 layers with transparency as opposed to 1 layer, with the "World Completed" screens no longer using unique graphics. This was done in order to decrease the file size of the game. Removed the Polish language (possibly due to maintenance concerns). World WWW.GRY.o2.PL has been renamed to Human Laboratory World. World 1-1 layout has been changed, making it longer and adding a new area in the Bonus Room. New bug: World 4-2 is missing several platforms partway through the level and therefore is unbeatable. New bug: Pressing space bar in World 7-4 teleports Mario to an area before the Bowser fight. New bug: Selection of the removed Polish language is still possible by navigating the Options screen with a joypad and moving the cursor over to Credits.
v3.51	February 3, 2006		Fixed World 4-2 missing platforms issue.
v4.0	August 16, 2006	One of the most known versions so far.	Added Mario Worker level editor. Added The Lost Map. Added Koopa the Devastator level. Added Funny Tanks?. Added World 3-1 passage to World 1-4. Added World 8-1 passage to World 3-1. Added the Secrets section to Save Game Room. MF Info has been removed. Added Beetroot to the Save Game Room shop, making it easier to enter Goomba Party. The main menu design has been changed. Removed a debug key in World 7-4. New bug: Getting a game over in The Lost Map transports the game to World 3-3 with 0 lives. New bug: Dying in any Hardcore World level softlocks the game due to its unique death theme being removed. Copying file ktkm78.dll from the previous version can solve the problem. New bug: Pressing the A key in Mario Minix spawns a Koopa shell flying across the screen, defeating the point of the minigame entirely.
v4.1	November 28, 2006	The last version released under the name Buziol Games. The actual game executable is the same as v4.0.	Updated Mario Worker.
v4.15	May 5, 2009	After a very long release drought, Buziol has been rebranded to Softendo and released a new version of Mario Forever.	The startup screens and menu credits (but not the end credits) now refer to the developer as Softendo. The game has been renamed to "Super Mario Bros. 3: Mario Forever". Mario Worker has been removed. Funny Tanks? was removed due to technical issues. New bug: Entering The Lost Map keeps the save game room soundtrack playing for a while.
v4.4	July 8, 2009	New version containing some new extras.	Added Koopa Troopa Liberation. Added Starman Running. Funny Tanks have been added back. Checkpoints added in almost all main levels. Removed debug keys from World 7-2. Removed a debug teleport key from the save game room. The Hardcore Worlds now play a generic death theme heard in other levels, fixing the softlock introduced in v4.0. Fixed the save room soundtrack playing in The Lost Map. Getting a game over in The Lost Map now correctly moves to the title screen. Fixed a bug where the Polish language could be selected with a joypad. New bug: Grabbing a checkpoint in World 7-3 and then dying makes the level impossible to beat. New bug: Completing Funny Tanks does not count towards the secrets progression.
v5.0	November 24, 2010	This version of Mario Forever got drastic changes in soundtracks, transitions and plenty of bugs. This is due to its move from MMF1.5 to MMF2 Dev.	Game engine changed from MMF1.5 to MMF2 Dev. Framerate changed from 50 to 60 FPS. Added a bonus room in World 2-1. World 2-2 final part has been enhanced. Fixed World 7-3 being impossible after dying with checkpoint. Red Koopa Troopas and Red Spinies' speed slightly decreased. Tutorial-like signs added in Worlds 1-1 and 1-4. New audio engine, due to the old one being incompatible with MMF2. Hardcore World 1-4's music is now the same as the regular World 1-4. Fixed a possible random crash after completing World 3-3, which could happen in all previous versions. New bug: Green Koopas in World 2-1 are twice as fast as in any other level. New bug: Mario Minix spawns some enemies right on top of Mario. New bug: Bricks in World 3-4 do not fall. New bug: Bowser in the final fight has only 1 health point. New bug: Electric corals in The Lost Map do not damage Mario.
v5.01	January 14, 2011		Splash screen on startup has been changed, and "dissclaimer"(sic) has been removed. Fade-in transition of the save game room has been increased from about half a second to 2 seconds. Some background elements added in v5.0 to save game room have had their draw order changed, with some completely removed.
v5.011	June 22, 2011	The actual game executable is the same as v5.01.	Updated setup.
v5.013	July 8, 2011	The actual game executable is the same as v5.01.	Updated setup.
v5.05	July 21, 2011		The game executable now has a code signed certificate.
v5.08	August 28, 2011		Added some mini-games to the first 3 worlds, which are actually ports of some Flash games released around the same time: The Star Finder mini-games, accessible by collecting the question mark coin in Worlds 1-1 and 2-1, with 3-1 one being bugged and inaccessible. The Dark Dungeon mini-game, accessible after defeating Bowser in World 1-4. Added Hammer Bro fights after Worlds 2-4 and 4-1. Massive graphical changes and additions throughout the game, replacing some graphics without alpha transparency with completely new ones. New audio engine, fixing the cut-offs at the beginning of soundtracks. The game, once again, mentions Buziol as the author, for some reason. Fixed falling bricks in World 3-4. Fixed the final Bowser fight having only 1 health point. New bug: World 8-4 is broken and unbeatable. New bug: The Go to Save Game Room option now restarts the game. New bug: The Full Screen option does no longer work correctly.
v5.08B	September 12, 2011	The actual game executable is the same as v5.08.	Updated setup.
v5.08dx	November 28, 2011	The dx in version name refers to the fact that the game is now built with DirectX 9 display mode from now on, instead of the Standard mode used in all previous versions.	Added shaders to some levels, like World 2-2, utilizing the new hardware accelerated rendering. Added even more shiny graphics, utilizing rotations and scaling, thanks to the DirectX display mode. New bug: Due to some translucency effects being incompatible with DirectX mode, some sprites, like Roto-Discs and Starman effect, are completely opaque. New bug: Pressing X/Shift on the map to skip walking animation softlocks the game. New bug: Hardcore 2-3 background is no longer transparent. The game is generally even more crash-prone than before.
v5.9	December 12, 2011		Added game over continues. Not available in World 8 and The Lost Map. The game now properly mentions Softendo as the author again. Closing the game opens up the Softendo website in browser now. Fixed the map softlock from the previous version. More random crashes.
v5.9s	April 2, 2012		Updated setup. Website loader has been removed from startup screen. New bug: Worlds 1-4 and 6-4 have messed up graphics and crash the game. Other changes are unknown.
v6.0 Beta	February 22, 2013	This is the first version to contain a fan-made world made by someone else. Some players have reported glitches existing on World 8-3.[clarification needed]	Added Syzxchulun's World 9 (although it isn't the original, since Softendo has changed it). Huge bug fixing, thanks to Syzxchulun's bug reporting. Added World of Stupidity. World 8-4 has been fixed and is now playable, although it displays as "World 8-2" in HUD. The Star Finder mini-game in World 3-1 is now accessible. Fixed the "Go to Save Game" option. Removed the website loader, eliminating the requirement to wait before starting the game. New bug: Yellow Cheep Cheeps may now appear in non-water levels, flying across the screen. New bug: In some levels, like Worlds 4-3, 5-1 and 6-2, warping in pipes can result in a hit from the piranha plant. New bug: Completing some extra levels can lead to World 9-2.
v6.01	May 9, 2013		Even more bugs have been fixed. New bug: Entering the World 8-4 boss fight crashes the game.
v6.1	December 2, 2015		The game now opens the browser with Softendo website every time the game changes frame. Added more shiny graphics and fog across the whole game. Some Save Game Room changes: World of Stupidity section does no longer mention the "Sylvester Stallone Zone". The "Out of Memory" section has been removed. Removed the "Worlds created by fans" section, with World 9 pipe changing its location. World 9 difficulty has been tweaked: 9-1 now features water at the bottom, and more powerup boxes have been added to levels. Fixed question block collisions in World 9-1. Fixed a crash occurring after entering the pipe in World 8-4. New bug: Holding Space bar skips frames in a predefined order. New bug: The "Go to Save Game" option moves to otherwise inaccessible World 9-3. New bug: World 9-2 soundtrack is broken.
v6.11	August 12, 2016		The game does no longer open the browser with Softendo webpage every time the game changes frame. New bug: World 9-1 spawns the player slightly further in the level. Other changes are unknown.
v7.01 Beta	October 21, 2017	From this point on, the game is no longer bundled with other software.	Game engine changed from MMF2 Dev. to CTF 2.5. Main menu music has been changed. Added 2 screen filters (HD Window & Old TV NES Style). Removed the Space bar debug key. New bug: Mario's jumping height in World 9 is now much lower. New bug: Exiting the main menu in any way other than pressing the Start Game button (e.g. by selecting an option from the menu bar) will lead to the main menu music playing indefinitely.
v7.02 Beta	October 25, 2017		Added Great Journey world by LuigiMann and Hagalta. Added World 0 by Crist1919. Added an option for disabling special visual effects before entering the main game. Fixed a softlock after completing any level of World 9 (9-3 and 9-4 map frames are swapped, though). World 9-2 music is now the same as 9-4. Reverted the Save Room layout changes from v6.1. Additionally, entering the Fan Worlds section now enables free-scrolling. New bug: Completing Level 5 of the Great Journey world leads to a broken cutscene, making it impossible to progress further. Plenty of reported bugs have been fixed, thanks to the members of Mario Forever Forum.

Trivia

• Interestingly enough, Version 4.1 was updated on October 28th, 2008 but was not given a new version number. The modified date on Mario Worker in the copy we have and the date being changed on CNET Download at the time corroborates this.
  • The only changes seem to be the updated Mario Worker executable and the installer providing a toolbar, which is also corroborated by reviews on CNET Download from October 29th (the earliest time there is a snapshot from around then) complaining about one while reviews from October 26th, just three days earlier, being overly positive and not mentioning any toolbars.
• Most of the new graphics from version 5.05-6.0 such as the hills and the sky come from a DeviantArt user called KeR-.

Worlds and Levels

Mario Forever contains eight basic worlds, as well as numerous extra worlds and levels, accessible from the Save Game Room, or from some levels of the main game.

Worlds
Name	Theme	Author	First appearance (version)
World 1	Overworld/Underground/Rockland	Buziol Games	1.16.1
World 2	Overworld/Underwater
World 3	Starland/Underground
World 4	Skyland
World 5	Overworld (afternoon)
World 6	Pipeland
World 7	Waterland/Underwater
World 8	Darkland/Tanks/Castle
Human Laboratory World	Overworld/Overcast		2.16 (as world WWW.GRY.o2.PL)
Hardcore World 1	Overworld (afternoon)		3.50
Hardcore World 2	Overworld		3.50
The Lost Map	Skyland/Underwater		4.0
World of Stupidity	Overworld	Softendo	6.0 Beta
World 9	Sunset/Starland/Volcano/Tanks	Syzxchulun	6.0 Beta
Great Journey	Overworld/Overcast	LuigiMann, Hagalta	7.02 Beta
World 0	Overworld (afternoon)/Underground	Crist1919	7.02 Beta
Levels
Name	Theme	Author	First appearance (version)
Goomba Party	Sunset (?)	Buziol Games	3.50
Koopa the devastator level	Castle		4.0
Funny Tanks?	Tanks		4.0
Koopa Troopa Liberation	Skyland	Softendo	4.4
Starman Running	Skyland		4.4

Criticism

Many people still believe Mario Forever is a "malware-infested game", even though the game itself never had anything malicious. Some websites distributed installers which would install the game together with potentially unwanted programs, such as CNET Download or Brothersoft. In addition, the game's sequel by the original author, New Super Mario Forever 2012, which is often confused with the original game, received criticism for issues with the game's art style and programming flaws. Likewise, later versions of the original game received a mixed response for the graphical changes and an increased amount of introduced bugs, with one of the most noteworthy issues being that v6.1 opens Softendo's website in the browser every time the game changes frame.

Below is a detailed overview of bundled software originally distributed by Buziol Games/Softendo with Mario Forever (and other games released in parallel):

• v1.16.1-v2.16 were released without any third-party bundled software.
• v3.0-v3.51 include a toolbar by Candeo Technologies (Wayback Machine website copy) and SLI Systems. If it's not already installed on the machine but an eligible browser is found, the toolbar installer would require the user to either agree to install the toolbar to proceed, or to cancel the installation. Agreeing to proceed would extract the installer of the game itself (a separate EXE file) into a temporary folder and launch it in order to finish the installation of the game. In order to uninstall the toolbar, one would have to uninstall the game first.
• v4.0-v4.1 are the same as above, but the Candeo toolbar can be uninstalled without uninstalling the game with it.
• v4.15-v4.4 include a toolbar by ClientConnect (owned at the time by Conduit and now owned by Perion Network). The toolbar installer extracts the game's installer into a temporary folder and runs it, and afterwards it offers to install the now-optional toolbar. Additionally, starting with these versions, the game installer adds a noticeable amount of Softendo website links to the user's Start menu.
• v5.0 and several later versions^{[clarification needed]} run the ClientConnect toolbar installer from the game's installation folder at the finalizing step of the installation, likely as a means against circumventing the toolbar installation for the previous versions.
• Various later versions such as v6.x^{[clarification needed]} would be distributed as Conduit downloaders that download the game's installer and run it after an optional software offer. (Example EXE download on Wayback Machine, use Task Manager to kill the application)
• v7.x aren't known to contain any third-party bundled software.

download.marioforever.net is a community-maintained website with downloads, offering portable versions of all Mario Forever releases and all the available installation packages (when applicable). The portable versions exclude irrelevant content such as website link files, and the main installer downloads for v3.0-v4.4 are the extracted game installers that don't include the toolbars (for the purpose of preservation, the full installers can still be found in the Files section). You may alternatively choose to play one of the fan-made recreated versions, such as Mario Forever: Community Edition.

Gallery

Title Screen

• 
  v1.16.1
• 
  v2.16
• 
  v3.0
• 
  v3.5 - v3.51
• 
  v4.0 - v4.1
• 
  v4.15
• 
  v4.4
• 
  v5.0 - v5.05
• 
  v5.08 - v5.08b
• 
  v5.08dx
• 
  v5.9
• 
  v6.0 - v6.01
• 
  v6.1 - v6.11
• 
  v7.01
• 
  v7.02

Logos

• 
  Mario Forever's old logo, which was used from v1.16 till v3.5.
• 
  The second and current logo of Mario Forever, which was used in v4.0, and is being used in the newer versions.

Icons

• 
  The game's first icon, which features Mario in it. It was used from v1.16 to v4.4
• 
  Mario Forever's second icon, which was made by Softendo. It was used from v5.0 till v6.01.
• 
  The third and current icon of Mario Forever. It's used in all versions of 7.0.
• 
  Mario Forever Info's icon, which is the same as the game's icon but with the "INFO" text at the bottom right.

Others

• 
  The image in the installer's setup from Mario Forever v1.16 till v3.0.
• 
  Ditto, but smaller.
• 
  The image in the installer's setup from Mario Forever v3.5, which has a bigger logo with a small v3.5 near it, and shows the website's name and the developer.
• 
  Ditto, but smaller, with a small v3.5 near the logo.
• 
  The image in the installer's setup from Mario Forever v4.0 till v4.1. It's the same as the v3.5 one, but with a v4.0, and the website's name has been replaced with +MARIO WORKER, telling that it comes with Mario Worker 4.0.
• 
  Ditto, but smaller and has v4.0 instead of v3.5 near the logo.
• 
  An image of Mario Forever in Buziol's website on 2004 when 1.16 and its next version were released.
• 
  Ditto, but in 2006.
• 
  A cover for the v2.16 update of Mario Forever.
• 
  An advertisement of Mario Forever by the Polish forum WWW.GRY.o2.PL about their extra world. We invite you to the first computer game in Poland, in which you can you play with the editors of our site!!! ATTENTION!!!
• 
  A cover for the Music Collection of Mario Forever, which featured seven musics in it (Notice the layout of the level being World 5-2, but with the cloudy platform getting replaced by a regular platform, and the different logo).
• 
  A wallpaper of a map, which is from Buziol's Extras.
• 
  A wallpaper of a level, which is from Buziol's Extras (The logo is different from the original one)
• 
  Ditto, but the wallpaper is smaller, which has the Buziol Games logo on the right side, and a part of the level is missing.
• 
  Another wallpaper, but with an entirely different logo.
• 
  Ditto, but with a different red background, and a yellow logo.
• 
  A logo of Mario Forever during v4.0's era, which was used in Buziol's 2006 website.
• 
  Ditto, but during v4.0's development.
• 
  A Polish promotion of Mario Forever from 2006. OUR RECOMMENDATION. A bad dragon Koppa attacks again with his herds of servents! Only You can stop him! So, are we rescuing the Princess? :) NOW FOR! SALE! 0.00 zł With every download we add your smile for free! *sale time is unlimited :D !

External links

• Mario Forever - Softendo
• Download links for all archived versions of Mario Forever
• KeR-'s DeviantArt page