Super Mario World
Original Release Date: 1990
There’s quite a lot of debate about whether Super Mario Bros 3 or Super Mario World is the better game. Speaking as someone who only recently played both, and has no nostalgic attachment to either title, I have to say that Super Mario World is hands down the more solid game, and easily blows all of the NES Mario games out of the water, even 3.
Super Mario World managed to incorporate the more advanced features of SMB3 while recapturing the elegant simplicity of the original SMB. The end result is the best of both worlds, a game that has depth and yet is incredibly straightforward and approachable.
The challenge is just right, with a gradually rising difficulty curve and obstacles that are tough but fair. While it retains the rather archaic lives system of the NES era, it compensates for it by including mid-level and mid-world checkpoints. This gives the player more breathing room, and avoids excessively punishing them for mistakes.
Each world has the same basic elements while adding new ones and changing the environments a little each time. This gives the game a constant feeling of familiarity without becoming repetitive, as tended to happen with the original game.
Finally, the audio and visuals of the game are incredibly charming, and hold up much better than those of its 8 bit predecessors.
Honestly, there’s not much else to say about Super Mario World. Everyone says it’s a great game, and, yeah, it is. If you don’t like Mario games, then you probably won’t like this game, but otherwise, it’s a title that definitely should be checked out.
How well it holds up 4/4
Personal Enjoyment 3/5
Overall quality 9/10
Recommended
For further information about the game:
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