Genre: Platformer
Year: 1990
Developed by: Nintendo EAD
Published by: Nintendo
Platforms: SNES, Game Boy Advance
#25
Feeling Like: A bit more Mario!
I STILL prefer Super Mario World to most platformers. New Mario games included. I compare the controls to Super Mario World, the levels, the power ups, the secrets and the charm. How many games can safely say they’ll tango with the big boys that have a 33 year advantage? Did we know how lucky we were to get this in the year 1990, when the Super Nintendo literally just launched?
All I knew is that this was something I needed to have. Despite not getting a Super Nintendo until 1994 (thank you Granny Skey!), I had already played Super Mario World a dozen times over at a dozen different friend’s houses. The moment I stepped within earshot, I could recognize the music, or the twang of Mario’s cape. It’s one of the most carefree, pleasant games to play or watch.
Yoshi! What a great addition to the Mario universe. Everybody likes a pet, everybody likes dinosaurs. The little bongos you hear when you first ride him is like the game encouraging you to eat everything you can. Man, Yoshi is awesome, along with all of the new power ups. The quantity is drastically reduced compared to Super Mario Bros. 3, but the quality was far superior. The feather, in particular, was a must grab. Something about being able to fly…I mean, even if the level didn’t call for it, I wanted it. I’m a sucker for flight (see Xenoblade Chronicles X).
Some games on the 500 have a large, emotional connection. I have affinity for them due to playing them with my dad, or with friends, or discovering something brand new, or figuring out what kind of video game I was drawn to. Others are just there, clearly titans in their respective genres but lacking that “je ne sais quoi” that typically inflate ratings. But games like Super Mario World are so fundamentally strong in every aspect that I’m forced to rate them as high as I do, even if I don’t have a strong personal connection.
Whether it was climbing on gates, punching yourself to the other side, dodging giant sprites, watching Mode 7 effects, keeping your eye on Boos, tackling the Koopa kids, finding a giant switch to fill in previously empty blocks, floating around like a giant balloon or taking on the secret world, every activity in Super Mario World is enjoyable. It’s the kind of game that I’d start over as soon as I beat it. The act of moving, ducking, jumping, flying (naturally), riding and running is perfect here, absolutely perfect. Every song announces what type of feel the stage has. Hidden exits means access to levels you didn’t even know existed. The notion that the world map could be changed and manipulated blew my 7 year old mind. I barely knew what a world map was to begin with.
The soundtrack is iconic at this point. You could tell Nintendo was still getting used to the new hardware, but composer Koji Kondo still produced some incredibly catchy tunes, like the Overworld, Athletic, the End Credits, and the Vanilla Dome. Bravo!
It’s a treasure. It showed off what the Super Nintendo could do, but it also announced to the world that Nintendo wasn’t just a flash in the pan. It was going to be a mainstay in people’s homes for a very long time. The spinning jump along with the new power ups made it feel completely different from any other Mario titles. Little quality of life upgrades like being able to bank a power for later use ensured the player always had options. You could go at your own pace – levels still had a timer, but they’re overly generous. The variety of challenges and enemies are beyond what most modern games throw at you. It’s an all-time classic, even if I’m failing to recall a specific instance that solidified my reverence. Playing Super Mario Wonder with Kyla and Mitch this year was the closest a 2-D Mario platformer has come to replicating the magic. It was hard not to feel like a kid again.
Penultimates complete. Onto the final portion of the 500, The Sensational Summit!
The 500 