It’s funny what you remember as a kid. I didn’t even know that Nintendo had released a new home console until one fateful day my parents brought me to the store and I spotted a kiosk. This was for Super Mario World, and I absolutely had to have it. I admit that I was a bit of a brat in my younger day and I threw a fit when I didn’t get a shiny new Super Nintendo for Christmas in 1991 despite throwing out some pretty heavy handed hits. My parents still rented my brother and I the console a few times in the following year, and the next year I went ballistic (think Nintendo 64 kid levels of excitement) when the system was sitting under the Christmas tree in 1992. I was one of the lucky kids because not many had parents that were willing to shell out some serious dough just so their children could play the newest video games. Packaged in with the console was Super Mario World, and this was only a year or so after I played the third game on the NES. This quickly gripped my heart and for years never let it go. Super Mario World still to this day stands out as one of the best platforming games ever released, and though it’s not as good as the previous title it does enough different to stand out and on its own two feet. Now, let’s get to the review.
Super Mario World is the first main game in the series to take place outside of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool are vacationing in Dinosaur Land after their defeat of King Koopa in Super Mario Bros. 3. The princess soon goes missing, and it turns out that Koopa is once again behind the nefarious scheme. Like its predecessors this is a platforming based side scrolling adventure. As Mario (or Luigi if a second player is participating) you must select levels, which are divided into different worlds, from a map screen. Unlike the last game you can return to any level you’ve previously completed which is really cool. Mario and Luigi can still jump freakishly high, as well as walk/run both left and right. The main method for dispatching foes is still by jumping on their heads, but even many of the standard enemies need more than one of these to be dispatched. You lose a life either when touched as regular Mario/Luigi (which happens when it by an enemy when you have a power-up) or by falling down a pit. Gone is the inventory you could store items and other power-ups in, and instead it has been replaced by an item box at the top of the screen. This can be activated directly within a level by pressing the select button at which time it will slowly fall to the bottom of the screen.
The new power-ups are the true highlight of this release. There’s less of them here than in part 3, and they’re less unique, but I’ve always been a fan of the ones included in this game. You have the typical super mushroom which causes your character to grow and be able to smash bricks, and the ever popular fire flower that allows you to throw fireballs, as well as the super star which grants temporarily invulnerability. Gone are the animal based suits, but that isn’t a big issue. Now you’ve got the super cape which allows Mario to fly. Soaring through the air is a more complicated process than before even with the absence of the power meter; you must get a running start, jump, and them repeatedly press the opposite direction you’re moving in to make your character gain elevation in short bursts. It’s possible now to fly all of the way through certain levels, but it’s never certain where you’ll land and therefore it’s pretty risky. Also new is Yoshi, and he’s the most dynamic power-up in the series up to this point. He’s a small green dinosaur that you ride on and take control of. Because he wears shoes he can walk over what would otherwise be damaging terrain, and has the ability to shoot his tongue out and eat certain enemies. While riding Yoshi if you’re hit by an enemy he runs off, but you can chase him down and jump back on him provided he hasn’t gotten too far away. In addition he can boost your jump because you can leap off of his back by pressing the A button instead of B. He can spit out shells for various effects.
What makes up for the lack of power-ups are the new abilities that Mario/Luigi have. Bricks have been mostly replaced with blocks that rotate when hit and can be passed through. Furthermore specific blocks can now be picked up, and doing so underwater gives you significantly more control while underwater. You can even throw them, and other enemies (such as goombas) are now turned upside down when they’ve been jumped on and can be thrown as well. Yoshi himself has quite a few abilities. The color of the shell for the koopa troopa he has inhaled directly affects his abilities. The typical green shell can only be spat back out as if it was thrown, but grabbing a red shell allows him to shoot three fireball trajectories, a yellow shell allows him to pound the ground and hit any enemies that are close enough, and a blue shell allows him to fly. After a while Yoshi will automatically swallow the shell, but the game has a Yoshi wing power-up that allows him to fly endlessly through the level. In addition there are different colored Yoshis that get these effects specifically regardless of whichever color the shell they hold in their mouth.
Where the game excels is in level design, and in this sequel it’s both better and worse than Mario Bros. 3. Enemies are smartly placed, and power-ups/coins are often hidden and require you to scour every inch of the levels. There’s some intricate platforming involved here, but unfortunately it’s just not as difficult a game as the last one. To make up for this Nintendo planted a ton of secret exits. I didn’t realize this until years later, but every level from the world map select screen is colored either yellow or red, and the latter signifies more than one exit. These are extremely well hidden, and even as a kid I spent hundreds of hours simply exploring to find new ends to the levels. There are alternate paths in every one of the world maps, and some places even have two secret exits. Unfortunately the game is a little too easy, and the only stages that are challenging in modern times are the special stages accessed only by a secret path in the star road.
The graphics are a definite step above those in any of the NES Mario titles. Nothing looks particularly pixelated (except in the final encounter when Bowser zooms in and out of the screen). Significantly more enemies can be displayed on-screen at once. They all have much more detail, and their animations are more charming. In addition the game is extremely colorful; moreso than you would see in the typical Genesis title even years after release. What’s especially impressive is how many enemies can be on-screen at once, and thanks to that Nintendo polish there’s never a single moment of slowdown. A few of the ghost house levels feature somewhere in the realm of fifty boos moving separately from one another, and that was the very first scene I saw which completely sold me. Despite the change of setting this was a nice evolution of the general style. The graphics are bright and colorful, but were surpassed by second generation SNES titles.
The soundtrack is also really well done. Even for a launch game the composer was able to hit just the right notes, and each composition features significantly more depth than what you would hear in the previous generation. I’m especially fond of the world map themes (many worlds feature their own music) and Nintendo made several different songs to accompany the level type. Standard stages, as well as those that take place inside caves, ghost houses, and underwater offer a huge variety of different themes. What I’ve always found unique is the fact that when you are riding on Yoshi’s back extra drums are added to each theme. It’s a nice touch that I’ve always enjoyed. The sound effects have been completely re-done; Mario’s jump now sounds much softer, and even throwing fireballs is more in depth audio-wise. Everything is just sound in Super Mario World.
Who hasn’t already played Super Mario World? I feel like this review was almost unnecessary because it’s such a classic platforming title, and has been re-released several times throughout the years and on many subsequent consoles. The level design isn’t quite as tight, but the power-ups and new abilities more than make up for it. You’ll have a hard time finding every secret which makes this almost infinitely replayable. If there was a class on games this would be a requirement.
