Developers : Nintendo EAD
Publishers : Nintendo
Platform : SNES, Gameboy Advance, Wii Virtual Console.Original Released (EU) : June 4th 1992
Genre : Platform
I will first state this is my all time favourite game (why I'm reviewing it first :) ) and nothing can compare to it in my eyes. It was the first game I played on my first console (the SNES) which originally belonged to my dad. So many great memories. I even managed to complete it in 14 minutes which is only 4 minutes off the all time world record. I was so annoyed that day, must have completed it dozens of times trying to beat 14 minutes.
So on with the review,
Super Mario World was released on June the 4th 1992 developed and published by Nintendo as a pack in launch title for the SNES. It got the award for best selling platform game selling 20 million copies world wide. The game was re-released three times. As part of the Mario All Stars SNES pack, remade for the Gameboy Advance, and released as part of the Wii Virtual Console range.
The plot of the game consists of yet again another typical Mario adventure where Bowser has kidnapped the Princess Toadstool and Mario must travel through a number of lands in order to save her.
Super Mario World is a side scrolling platform game, where the player can choose to be either Mario or Luigi. The game plays like any other Mario game, where Mario must make his way through the eight new worlds of Dinosaur Land, completing each level in turn. Levels can be completed by jumping, running and swimming, use warp pipes, collect coins (collecting 100 earns him an extra life), defeat enemies, navigate platforms, open doors, and avoid abyss, lava, and other hazards. At the end of each world stands a castle containing one of Bowser’s Koopa kids. The kids are, Iggy Koopa, Morton Jr. Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, Ludwig Von Koopa, Roy Koopa, Wendy O. Koopa, and Larry Koopa. The game was the first in the Mario series to feature Yoshi. For those who do not know who Yoshi is he is a green dinosaur Mario rides. He can swallow enemies as well as use different colour Koopa Troopa shells to give him power-ups, for example, a blue shell allows Yoshi to grow wings and fly, a red shell allows him to spit flames once, a yellow shell allows him to stomp down to the ground, knocking over surrounding enemies. These Power-ups (other than flames) work only until Yoshi swallows the shell. Yoshi is normally green, however once the Star Road is unlocked by using some levels secret exits, you can find red, blue and yellow Yoshi’s. Each of these use Koopa shells the same, however, depending on the colour of the Dino, another Power-up is use, I.e., if a blue Yoshi eats a yellow shell, it gains the ability to stomp but due to its blue colour, it also grows wings as if it had eaten a blue shell. Shigeru Miyamoto stated that they wanted Mario to have a dinosaur companion ever since Super Mario Bros., however it was not possible because of the limitations of the NES. He said that "we were finally able to get Yoshi off the drawing boards with the SNES."
The game was also the first to feature the feather, which gave Mario a cape. The cape had the edge over the leaf in Super Mario Bros. 3 as in Super Mario World, the P bar was taken out enabling him to fly for as long as the player kept pressing the left on the D-pad and kept at the right height. This made completing levels so much easier as for some, it was possible to fly all the way over.
As a side quest in the game the player can find secret exits to levels marked with red dots on the map. These secret exits can lead to short cuts along the game, and even into secret worlds such as Star Road and the Special World. Star Road is a world containing five levels which are only completed by finding the Secret exit. Nearly all speed runners use Star Road as the first secret exit leading to it is only a few levels after the first boss, and in completing Star Road, the final portal leads straight to Bowser’s Front Door, therefore completing the game in only thirteen levels. This is how the world record attempts are set and done.
The Special world, is unlocked after finding the secret exit in the final level of Star Road. It contains only eight levels, all with only a single exit, yet are described to be the hardest levels in the game. One I found exceptionally hard was the level ‘Tubular,’ as it meant getting a P balloon, as flying across a mine field of enemies, hitting the right blocks in turn to gain another P balloon in order to stay a float, and if you are hit once, you balloon wears off and you simply fall to your death.
In the original game, Mario and Luigi’s sprites were exactly the same just coloured different. Throughout the years the game has been remade on many occasions. Firstly in 1994, the game was re-released to be packaged with the SNES, along with Super Mario All Stars. In this version of the game Luigi’s sprite was different so as to tell the difference between Mario and Luigi.
In 2002, the game was remade for the Gameboy Advance as part of the Super Mario Advance series. The game was released as Super Mario Advance 2, and many amendments were made such as, Luigi was given yet another sprite, however this time, he was able to jump higher and for longer, however not run as fast and the personality of Yoshi changed when rode by Luigi (he did not swallow normal enemies straight away). The game was made a ‘Player’s Choice’ game on Release. The game also featured rewards for collecting all of the Yoshi coins, and enemies changed when all 96 levels were completed, for example, Koopa Troopas lost their shells however replaced them with Mario masks, which basically acted in the exact same way as shells, just a different sprite.
The game was also released as one of the original line-up to be released on the Wii’s Virtual Console, and was released on the 9th of February 2007, with NO gaming changed, so stayed, exactly how the original was.The game was followed by an animated series based on the game however many names and places were changed such as Wendy O. Koopa became known as Cutie Pie. This was the last Mario Series to be Produced.
So for scoring :
Story : 8/10 (Same old Mario story however was set in a different land. Now it is boring but back then, a repeat of a Mario Adventure was always welcome as the games sold so well)
Gameplay : 9/10 (Simply Amazing. Cape is better than the feather, Yoshi was introduced, side areas such as the Special world and Star road were introduced and having ninety six levels gave a great deal to get through so becomes very addictive, especially finding all of the secret exits without any help from online walkthroughs etc.)
Graphics : 9/10 (For the SNES, I believe these graphics were amazing. Very well animated, very smooth, and come on the game sold twenty millions copies, so it must be good)
Controls : 9/10 (Keeping it real, simple, easy to adapt to, great for a Retro Mario game, unlike today where Mario games are getting more and more complicated yet easier in places compared to the good old days, Mario galaxy for example)
Music : 9/10 (I totally love this, it really brings back memories. It’s amazing, and just fits in really well with the Gameplay. I always listen to this on my iPod when I’m stressed out or working out in the gym.)
Overall score : 44/50
Final comments : This game is awesome, amazing, quality, and words to describe how much I love it. It just brings back so many memories to me. So for this review I’d like to really thank my dad for a) giving me his SNES, b) introducing me into the gaming world and c) showing me this amazing kick ass game. A big thank you there to everyone especially my dad
Azay ‘Samus Aaron’ Jinks
