PixlBit

Number 6

Like I’ve said many times before, I love Mario games. Platformers have always been my favorite type of game, next to rpgs. As I’ve said previously, I haven’t played every single Mario game out there, but I’ve played all of the main console Mario games.

I mentioned previously that Super Mario Bros. was the very first game I have ever played at the age of 2 and seemmed like it was fated I guess. Everyone loves Mario, be it the main games or spin-offs, the games are just fun.

A lot of people debate which is the best classic Mario platformer. Some people are fond of Super Mario Bros. because it was their first game or Mario game they ever played. Some are fond of Super Mario Bros. 2 for being different from the previous entry. Or even the Lost Levels for being a much more challenging game. But everyone is really fond of Super Mario Bros 3, and some say it is the pinnacle of the franchise. All of those are great games but my absolute favorite from the classic games is Super Mario World.

I remember playing this game as a kid. My cousin’s friend had it and one of my friends had it. Sometimes my cousin’s friend would bring over his Super Nintendo over with SMW and we all had a blast trying to make it to the end. I really never tried it again until 2003 when we went to Mexico. My cousin had a Super Nintendo and he had a Super Mario All-Stars + SMW cart. I took my Gamecube with a few games and a small tv that attached to the GCN but it didn’t work so well, so my cousin lent us his SNES. It was really fun and was glad I got to play it again. I really never played it again till 2010. I remember buying a points card and got Super Metroid and Super Mario World with it. It was such a nostalgia trip.

           
The game takes place directly after Super Mario Bros. 3, with Bowser kidnapping the princess yet again. This time Mario and Luigi are not alone in their quest, as the game introduces a new character called Yoshi. Yoshi is really neat and he/they can be found in various levels in the game. You can mount on Yoshi when you find him in an egg hidden in the levels and he is really useful. They can eat enemies and even get power-ups too. Power-ups vary depending on the type of shells from Koopas that Yoshi eats. In a way, Yoshi is a power-up that gains power-ups. You can dismount Yoshi at any given time and people even dismount him in the air in case they misjudged a jump along the way.

            
Not only that but Mario (and Luigi) has/have new tricks in their plumbing bag too. The game introduces new power-ups in the form of the Cape Feather that gives Mario (and Luigi) a cape that enables flight. It might not seem special since Mario has been capable of flight before, but it’s more different than the Raccoon and Tanooki Suit. With the Cape, you can glide, but you can also fly indefinitely through a whole stage. Yes you can actually use the cape to fly through an entire stage. You can even use these little ramps that allow you to run up walls. Mario even has a balloon form that allows him to float up really high. Classic power-ups from the first SMB game return here too.  

The doesn’t take place in the Mushroom Kingdom this time around. But the level design is really great. The worlds have a lot of variety. Levels look like what they represent, like rocky mountain areas, to jungles, and forests, to caves and haunted houses and more. Levels are also pretty big since you can use the cape to fly and a lot of them have alternate exists too as well as secrets to find. The music even changes depending on the level, it is really just a different variation of the main theme of the game but it sounds really good. Like the music changes when you’re underwater, and even slows down if you’re in a cave, and it adds more instruments when you’re mounted on Yoshi. It’s a very nice touch. And along with a new setting comes with new enemies, from dinosaurs to football playing enemies and more. 

           
The Koopalings are back too, but they have more variety to their fights, rather than just stomping on them like you did in SMB3. The game also has cutscenes too, like when you take down a fortress that one of the Koopalings was using. Bowser has more variety in his fight too. That final fight with Bowser was like nothing I have ever seen. He flies around his Koopa Clown car and he zooms in and out of the screen while trying to dodge his attacks. It’s one of the best boss fights in 2D Mario games.

To me, Super Mario World is the pinnacle of the 2D Mario platformers and probably the best game on the SNES. It just does everything so well. It took everything from the previous games, and it did it better. Better controls, really colorful looking graphics, great level design, versatile power-ups and the game has a lot to keep you coming back. I think this game has the most replay value out of all the 2D Mario games, with alternate exits in levels and the hidden world.

The gameplay feels perfect in my opinion. The controls are pretty tight and responsive and way better than the previous games. But that’s expected since the game is running on better hardware. I think, no I know this is by far the perfect Mario game from the 2D platformers, perhaps even the best of all the 2D Platformers in general. I remember 1up had a contest about which was your favorite 2D Mario game or something. I wrote a blog on it, and I won. I won some Mario related stuff that I haven’t opened, and I don’t think I will:

I could of easy just copy and pasted that post here, but decided to just write a new post on it. I do think that other post is better than this one, but I don’t want to cheat. I may repost it here at some point. Maybe.

All in all this game is just that good. It takes everything you loved about the previous games, and just improved on everything it did. But better. Even Shigeru Miyamoto once said that it is his favorite game in the series, and he has even said that the game feels incomplete to him. You have to wonder what he left out or what he wanted to include in an already great game. We may never know.

             
So that is it for this one. Did you ever play Super Mario World? What is you favorite 2D Mario game? Thanks for reading and later.