Which Nintendo game introduced the Koopa Troopas’ flying airships as major stages?

Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced the Koopa Troopas’ flying airships as major stages.

Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan in 1988 and internationally in 1990, Super Mario Bros. 3 expanded the series with an overworld map, varied worlds, new power-ups, and numerous stage types. Each major kingdom includes an airship level associated with one of Bowser’s children, commonly called the Koopalings.

The airships are large scrolling stages filled with platforms, bolts, cannons, and mechanical hazards. Their distinctive visual design helped make Super Mario Bros. 3 feel broader than the earlier games, which were structured mainly as linear courses grouped by world.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is sometimes confused with later games that also contain airship levels, especially Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. Airships became a recurring Mario setting, but their major-stage debut in the series is associated with Super Mario Bros. 3. The game also introduced the map-based world progression used in several later entries.