Super Mario Bros. 3/ja-en

This translation is intended for people who already know English and are learning Japanese. It is not intended to be used to learn English, because the sentences in English may use strange or awkward wording in order to illustrate the vocabulary and grammar of the original Japanese.

This game's text originally used little to no kanji. We have added kanji in case they would be of interest.

Vocabulary

Enemy names

These don't appear in the game itself (with the exception of クッパ, コクッパ, and クリボー), but they will help you communicate with other people who have played the game.

English name	Japanese name	Reading	Meaning
Big Bertha	巨大プクプク	きょだいプクプク
Blooper	ゲッソー		"Geso" means like squid
Bob-omb	ボム兵	ボムへい	Bomb soldier
Boo Diddly / Boo Buddy	テレサ
Boom-Boom	ブンブン
Boomerang Bros.	ブーメラン・ブロス
Bowser	大魔王クッパ	だいまおう　クッパ	Great Demon King Koopa
Bullet Bill	キラー		Killer
Buster Beetle	リフト・メット		A Met that "lifts" its blocks
Buzzy Beetle	メット		"Met", derived from "helmet"
Chain Chomp	ワンワン		Bow-wow [a dog's bark]
Cheep Cheep	プクプク
Dry Bones	カロン
Fire Bros.	ファイアー・ブロス		Fire Bros.
Fire Chomp	ケロンパ
Fire Snake	ファイアスネーク		Fire snake
Goomba	クリボー		The Japanese name is why its shoe is called "Kuribo's shoe"
Hammer Bros.	ハンマー・ブロス		Hammer Bros.
Hot Foot	ウォーク		Walk (a candle's fire walk)
Jelectro	しびれくらげ		Numbness jellyfish
Koopa Troopa	ノコノコ
Koopa Paratroopa	パタパタ
Koopaling	コクッパ		Little koopa; koopa offspring (from 子 + クッパ)
Lakitu	ジュゲム		The Japanese name is why its cloud is called "Jugem's cloud"
Lava Lotus	スイチューカ		水中花, a flower in water
Missile Bill	Ｕターン・キラー		U-turn Killer
Muncher	ブラック・パックン		Black Pakkun
Nipper Plant	プチ・パックン		Petite Pakkun
Para-Beetle	パタ・メット
Para-Goomba	パタ・クリボー
Piranha Plant	パックン・フラワー		Pakkun Flower
Podoboo	バブル
Ptooie Plant	フーフー・パックン		フーフー indicates the sound of blowing
Rocky Wrench	プー
Sledge Bros.	ヒマン・ブロス		Fat Bros.
Spike	ガボン
Spiny	トゲゾー
Stretch	ネッチー
Thwomp	ドッスン
Venus Fire Trap	ファイア・パックン

Game text

Most of the game text uses only hiragana, i.e., without katakana. Hence, words that normally take katakana will appear as hiragana, with the sole exception of Peach's name. This is because of technical limitations; they couldn't make the font large enough to add a complete katakana font.

Mushroom house

Japanese

すきなはこひとつだけ
あげる。きっとなにか
のやくにたつから・・・

Kanji

好きな箱一つだけあげる。きっと何かの役に立つから・・・

English

I will give you the contents of the box of your choice. I'm sure it'll come in useful for something...

好きな(箱) literally means "(the box) you like", but is often used to mean "(the box) you most like". Much like "take whichever you like".

役に立つ means "be useful". Adding 何かの means "be of some kind of use".

White mushroom house

Japanese

あれ　みつかっちゃった

よそにはない　とくべつのものばかりだよ

Kanji

あれ、見つかっちゃった。他所には無い特別の物ばかりだよ。

English

Oh, so you found it. [Here are] only special things that are nowhere else [to be found].

• 他所 is ateji, that is, its reading does not consist of the separate readings of 地 + 所 respectively.

Mushroom house with whistle

Japanese

この　ふえ　ふいたら
とおくの　くにへも
ひとっとび！・・

Kanji

この笛吹いたら、遠くの国へもひとっとび！・・

English

If you play this flute, even far-away countries are just a single bound away!

There is an implied を after 笛.

ひとっ飛び is an emphasized version of 一飛び （ひととび）, literally meaning "a single bound" or "one jump", but it can also refer to any kind of short flight. For example, dic.yahoo.co.jp has this sentence: 上海まで一飛びだ "It's just a short flight to Shanghai."

Slots game

Japanese

えあわせ　えあわせ
うまくいったら・・・おたのしみ
いっかいきりのだいちゃんす！

Kanji

絵合わせ、絵合わせ！　上手く行ったら・・・お楽しみ！　一回切りの大チャンス！

English

Match the pictures, match the pictures! If it goes well... well, see for yourself! One shot at a big prize!

Card game

Japanese

くるりん　くるりん　かあどを
めくって　いろいろあたる。
おてつきは　いっかいだけ。

Kanji

クルリン　クルリン・カードを捲って色々当たる。お手付きは一回だけ。

English

Turn around cards and hit various [items]. There is only one "touching a wrong card". [You may make a mistake only once.]

クルリン is a 擬態語（ぎたいご）/mimesis and refers to "turning around". Interestingly, there is a game for the GBA called 「クル　クル　クルリン」 where you have to navigate a spinning sticks through obstacles.

The king has been transformed

Japanese

たいへん！たいへん！
おうさまがこんな
すがたに　かえられ
たよ！
まほうのつえを　とり
かえしてください。

Kanji

大変！　大変！　王様がこんな姿に変えられたよ！　魔法の杖を取り返してください。

English

It's terrible! It's terrible! The king has been changed into this (awful) form! Recover the magic wand!

こんな (stemming from この様な) literally means "this kind of". It has a negative connotation here, ie the "awful"-part is implicit. Consider the English "Such a form the king has turned into!" for a similar connotation.

Castle revisited after airship has left

Japanese

はやく！　はやく！

はやくこくっぱから
まほうのつえを　とり
かえしてください。

Kanji

早く！　早く！　早くコクッパから魔法の杖を取り返してください。

English

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry and recover the magic wand from the koopaling!

The King restored

Japanese

よかった　よかった
もとのすがたに　も
どれたありがとう

ピーチひめからてが
みがきております。

Kanji

よかった、よかった！　元の姿に戻れた。有難う！　ピーチ姫から手紙が来ております。

English

Thanks heavens! I have returned to my original form. Thank you! A letter from Princess Peach has arrived.

• よかった is a general expression of relief or glee. Literally, it is the past of 良い（よい・いい） - "good".
• 居ります（おります） is the polite form of 居る. The kanji-form is uncommon, but it clearly shows its meaning. It is the humble form of 居る（いる） - "to be". 来ておる means 来ている - "has come [arrived]". A テ-form of a verb + いる is a construction meaning either "has verbed" [perfect], "is verbing" [continuative] or "usually verbs" [custom/habit]. Which of these possible meanings is intended must be figured out by the context. Not that for the perfect meaning, transitive verb would use ある instead of いる (eg 書いてあります - "[someone] has written [something]" as in "is written",　compared 閉めてあります(transitive) - "[someone] closed [something]" with　閉まっています(intransitive) - "[something] is [closed]").

If Mario is wearing frog suit

Japanese

あれあれそんなすが
たにかえられてしまっ
て・・・
このつえでもとの
すがたにもどし
てさしあげようか？

Kanji

あれあれ、そんな姿に変えられてしまって…　この杖で元の姿に戻して差し上げようか？

English

Oh my, you've been transformed! Shall I restore you to your original form with this wand?

• Using the テ-form for the sentence turns turns it into an ellipsis, ie open sentence, which is further emphasized by using 「…」.
• テ-form + 上げる is a polite expression for "to do something for you". テ-form + 差し上げる is even more polite and certainly appropriate when you are talking to a king. ("It is an honor for me to restore you to your previous shape."]
• 変えられて仕舞（しま）う is a construction like above, a テ-form with a (helper) verb, which happens to be 仕舞う this time. First of all, note that 仕舞う is 当て字/ateji and the less-common form, which hints to its meaning is 終う. The kanji 「終」 refers to "end" and しまう means "to finish", "to do something completely", "to put an end to". Thus, 変えられてしまう literally means "the action of him being changed is finished" or "was completely changed". This construction often bears a negative connotation, that it is a bad thing the action was completed, which leads us to something like "What a pity you were turned into this form...".

If Mario is wearing Tanuki Suit

Japanese

しんせつな　たぬき
さん！
どうもありがとう

おなまえを　きかせて
ください。

Kanji

親切な狸さん！　どうもありがとう。お名前を聞かせてください。

English

Kind tanuki! Thank you. Please tell me your name.

If Mario is wearing Hammer Bros. Suit

Japanese

そのふくを　わしに
ゆずってくれないか
・・・
だめか・・・

しかたがない。

Kanji

その服をわしに譲ってくれないか？・・・駄目か？・・・仕方がない。

English

Would you give me your clothes? ...No? ...Oh well.

TODO — Nuance of 譲る

Princess Peach's letters

World 1

Japanese

おげんきですか？

Kanji

お元気ですか？

English

How are you?

Peach begins every letter with this. It literally means "Are you healthy?". This is a very common greeting. As the literal translation suggests, it's generally used when you haven't seen somebody in a while.

Japanese

もしおばけに　であったら
せなかを　むけていると　おいかけてくる
のできをつけてくださいね。

Kanji

もしお化けに出会ったら、背中を向けていると追い掛けて来るので、気を付けてくださいね。

English

If you happen to meet a ghost, it will come chasing after you if you have your back turned to it, so please take care.

Japanese

たからものをひとつおくります。
なにかのおやくにたててください。

ピーチ

Kanji

宝物を一つ送ります。何かのお役に立てて下さい。
ピーチ

English

I send you [include in this letter] one precious item [treasure]. Please make it stand up to some role/purpose. [I hope it will prove useful to you.]

Peach ends every letter with this.

• 役 (etym.: "post", "service") is a common words used to express "fitting for a particular purpose".

World 2

Japanese

しろいぶろっくは　てきを　けちらす
まほうの　ちからがあるそうよ。

Kanji

白いブロックは敵を蹴散らす魔法の力があるそうよ。

English

It is said the white block possesses the magic power to kick enemies around.

• 蹴散らす＝蹴る(to kick) + 散らす(to scatter) and falls under the category of verb + (helper) verb, ie the first is the main action and the second verb (modifies/gives additional information to) the first. Thus "to kick is a manner of scattering", "to kick so that the enemies are scattered".

World 3

Japanese

くりぼうのくつをつかうと
いろんなてきを　ふみつけられるのよ。

Kanji

クリボーの靴を使うといろんな敵を踏みつけられるのよ。

English

If you use the kuribō's shoe, you can stomp various enemies.

World 4

Japanese

ふえを　ぬすんだどろぼうが
さばくの　ひがしに　にげていった
らしいわよ。

Kanji

笛を盗んだ泥棒が砂漠の東に逃げて行ったらしいわよ。

English

The thief who stole the flute seems to have escaped to the east of the desert.

World 5

Japanese

こおりのせかいは　きをつけて
こおりにとじこめられた　ものたちは
ほのおで　よみがえるはずです。

Kanji

氷の世界は気を付けて！　氷に閉じ込められたものたちは炎でよみがえるはずです。

English

Be careful in the Ice World! Things encased in ice are sure to come alive with fire.

World 6

Japanese

ピーチは　とても　げんきよ
いちわーるどの　みっつめの　ごーるの
かげできのぴおから　まほうのふえを
もらってください。

Kanji

ピーチはとても元気よ。一ワールドの三つ目のゴールの影でキノピオから魔法の笛をもらってください。

English

I'm doing very well. At the goal in the third stage of the first world, please receive the magic flute from Kinopio.

In case you're unaware, Kinopio is Toad's Japanese name.

World 7

Japanese

へっ！おまえがうろうろしてるあいだに
ピーチは　あずかったぜっ。

くやしかったら　おれさまのしろ　まで
きてみやがれ！

ぐわっはっはっはっ・・・

くっぱ

Kanji

へっ！　お前がウロウロしてる間にピーチは預かったぜっ。くやしかったら俺様の城まで来て見やがれ！　ぐわっはっはっは・・・
クッパ

English

Har! While you have been fooling around, I've taken Peach! If that is regrettable, [If you want her back,], come to my castle. Gwarh-har-har...

• ウロウロ is 擬態語 again. "hang about doing nothing/indecisively/aimlessing/with no purpose", loiter, drift, prowl around
• 俺様 is a very boasting way to address oneself. Do not use it.
• 連用形 / masu form of a verb + やがる makes your sentence show more condescension / hatred / contempt / disdain. Again, do not use it.

Ending

Japanese

ありがとう！　やっと
きのこのせかいに　へい
わがもどりました。
おしまいっ！

Kanji

ありがとう！　やっとキノコの世界に平和が戻りました。おしまいっ！

English

Thank you! Peace has finally returned to the Mushroom World. The end!

Miscellaneous

If you turn the Hammer Bros. into a treasure ship, the ship on the map will have the kanji 宝 on its sail. It's read たから and means "treasure". (This kanji is present in the English version of the game, too. If you haven't noticed, it's probably because its small size makes it look like a random fancy design.)