''Super Mario World,'' known in Japan as is a
platform
Platform may refer to:
Technology
* Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run
* Platform game, a genre of video games
* Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models
* Weapons platform, a system ...
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
developed and published by
Nintendo for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South ...
(SNES). It was released in Japan in 1990, North America in 1991 and Europe and Australia in 1992. The player controls
Mario
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the '' Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his c ...
on his quest to save
Princess Peach
is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise, created by Shigeru Miyamoto and introduced in the 1985 original ''Super Mario Bros.'' installment. She is the Queen regnant, princess regnant and ruler of the Mushro ...
and Dinosaur Land from the series' antagonist
Bowser and his minions, the
Koopalings. The
gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pla ...
is similar to that of earlier ''
Super Mario
(also known as and ) is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every m ...
'' games: players control Mario through a series of
levels in which the goal is to reach the goalpost at the end. ''Super Mario World'' introduced Monty Mole, an enemy.
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD and formerly known as Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department (abbreviated as Nintendo R&D4), was the largest software development division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. It was p ...
developed the game, led by director
Takashi Tezuka and producer and series creator
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he i ...
. It is the first ''Mario'' game for the SNES and was designed to make the most of the console's technical features. The development team had more freedom compared to the series installments for the
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
. Yoshi was conceptualised during the development of the NES games but was not used until ''Super Mario World'' due to
hardware limitations.
''Super Mario World'' is often considered one of the best games in the series and is cited as one of the
greatest video games ever made
This is a list of video games that multiple reputable video game journalists or magazines have considered to be among the best of all time. The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from differ ...
. It sold more than twenty million copies worldwide, making it the
best-selling SNES game
This is a list of video games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game console, known as the Super Famicom (SFC) in Japan, that have sold or shipped at least one million copies. The best-selling game on the SNES is ''Super ...
. It also led to an
animated television series of the same name. It has been rereleased on multiple occasions: It was part of the 1994 compilation ''
Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World'' for the SNES and was rereleased for the
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
as ''Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2'' in 2001, on the
Virtual Console
A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Un ...
for the
Wii,
Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
Th ...
, and
New Nintendo 3DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It is the fourth system in the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld consoles, following the original Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL, and Nintendo 2DS. The system was released in Japan on October ...
consoles, and as part of the
Super NES Classic Edition
The Super NES Classic Edition is a dedicated home video game console released by Nintendo, which emulates the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The console, a successor to the NES Classic Edition, comes with twenty-one Super NES titles p ...
. On 3March 2016, it was released for the New Nintendo 3DS XL. It was released in 2019 for
Nintendo Switch Online
Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) is an online subscription service for the Nintendo Switch video game console. Nintendo Switch Online features include online multiplayer, cloud saving, voice chat via a smartphone app, access to a library of Nintend ...
as part of the
classic games service.
Gameplay
''Super Mario World'' is a 2D
side-scrolling platform game
A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action game, action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform game ...
in which the player controls
Mario
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the '' Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his c ...
or
Luigi
is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's mas ...
, the protagonists of the game. The game has similar
gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pla ...
to earlier games in the ''
Super Mario
(also known as and ) is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every m ...
'' series''
Super Mario Bros.'', ''
Super Mario Bros. 2'', and ''
Super Mario Bros. 3''but introduces new elements. As well as dashing and jumping, the player can also fly or float with the aid of the Cape Feather and P-Balloon and can execute the new Spin Jump move.
The game has 96
level
Level or levels may refer to:
Engineering
*Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights
*Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical
* Canal pound or level
* Re ...
exits in total.
The player navigates through the game via two game screens: an
overworld map and a
side-scrolling course. The overworld map displays an overhead representation of the current world and has several paths leading from the world's entrance to a castle. Paths connect to action panels, fortresses, ghost houses, castles, and other map icons, and allow players to take different routes to reach the world's goal. Moving the on-screen character to an action panel or castle allows access to that course. The majority of the game takes place in these linear levels, populated with obstacles and enemies, which involves the player traversing the stage by dashing, jumping, and dodging or defeating enemies.
The player is given a number of lives, which are lost if Mario comes into contact with an enemy while Small Mario, falls into a bottomless pit, gets crushed, touches lava, or runs out of time. The game ends when the player runs out of lives, although the player can continue from the most recent save point (a successfully completed castle, fortress or haunted house) by selecting "
Continue
Continue may refer to:
* Continue (video gaming), an option to continue a video game after all the player's lives have been lost
*Continue (keyword), a programming language keyword
* ''Continue'' (film), a 2022 American drama film
Music
*''Continu ...
". Each world features a final stage with a
boss to defeat; each of the seven worlds features fortresses controlled by one of the
Koopalings, and the player also battles
Bowser in his castle in the seventh and final world. ''Super Mario World'' includes a
multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
option which allows two players to play the game by alternating turns at navigating the overworld map and accessing stage levels; the first player controls Mario, while the second player controls his brother, Luigi.
In addition to the
power-up
In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chos ...
s from previous games, such as the
Super Mushroom and
Fire Flower, ''Super Mario World'' has a new power-up named the Cape Feather, which gives Mario a cape and the ability to fly, glide in the air, and use the cape as a sail. The game also introduces the ability to "store" an extra power-up in a box at the top centre of the screen. For example, if the player obtains a Fire Flower or a Cape Feather, then a Super Mushroom will appear in the box. If Mario gets hit by an enemy, the stored item in the box will automatically drop. Alternatively, the player can manually release the stored item at any time.
The game introduces
Yoshi
Yoshi is a fictional dinosaur who appears in video games published by Nintendo. Yoshi debuted in ''Super Mario World'' (1990) on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's sidekick. Yoshi is the title character of the List of Y ...
, a dinosaur companion Mario can ride who is able to eat most enemies. If Yoshi attempts to eat a
Koopa
Koopa Troopas, known in Japan as , are fictional footsoldiers of the turtle-like Koopa race from the ''Mario'' media franchise. They are commonly referred to generically as Koopas, a race that includes Bowser, King of the Koopas, the Koopaling ...
or its shell, he can spit it out and fire it at enemies. If the player fails to spit the shell out within a certain amount of time, Yoshi will swallow it, rendering it useless. When holding any Koopa shell in his mouth, Yoshi gains the ability that corresponds to its color: a blue shell enables Yoshi to fly, a yellow shell causes him to emit dust clouds that defeat nearby enemies, and a red shell allows him to produce three fireballs that defeat enemies. Flashing Koopa shells produce all three abilities, while green shells produce none. The default Yoshi is green, but the game also has hidden blue, yellow, and red Yoshis; the player can obtain each colored Yoshi by finding its egg in hidden areas and feeding it five enemies or one star, Super Mushroom, Fire Flower or Cape Feather, causing the baby Yoshi to mature.
Although the main objective is to navigate through seven worlds to reach the end of the game, the player can beat the game much faster by using secret Star Road routes. To access a hidden world, the player needs to find keys scattered throughout the game's levels.
When a key is found, it must be brought to a keyhole to unlock either a new level or a Star Road. Exploring these secret stages can lead to other stages, such as the Special World. Completion of the Special World permanently changes some of the enemies'
sprites and alters the overworld map's color scheme.
Plot
After bringing peace to the
Mushroom World in ''Super Mario Bros.3'', the brothers Mario and Luigi decide to go on vacation with Princess Toadstool to a place called Dinosaur Land, a prehistoric-themed world swarming with dinosaurs and other enemies. While resting on the beach,
Princess Toadstool is captured by Bowser. When Mario and Luigi wake up, they try to find her and, after hours of searching, come across a giant egg in the forest. It suddenly hatches and out of it comes a young dinosaur named Yoshi, who tells them his dinosaur friends have also been imprisoned in eggs by the evil Koopalings. Mario and Luigi soon realise it must be the evil King Bowser and his Koopalings. Mario, Luigi and Yoshi set out to save Toadstool and Yoshi's dinosaur friends, traversing through Dinosaur Land for Bowser and his Koopalings. To aid him, Yoshi gives Mario a cape as they begin their journey. Mario and Luigi continue to follow Bowser, defeating the Koopalings in the process, and save Yoshi's Yoshi friends. They eventually arrive at Bowser's Castle, where they fight him in a final battle. They send Bowser flying into the sky and save Princess Toadstool, restoring peace to Dinosaur Land.
Development
The game was directed by
Takashi Tezuka, while
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he i ...
, the creator of both ''
Super Mario
(also known as and ) is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every m ...
'' and ''
The Legend of Zelda
''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-releas ...
'', served as producer.
Shigefumi Hino took the role of graphics designer.
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD and formerly known as Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department (abbreviated as Nintendo R&D4), was the largest software development division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. It was p ...
handled development with a team of ten people, including three main programmers and a character designer, most of whom had worked on ''Super Mario Bros.'' In a retrospective interview, the core team said Miyamoto wielded the most authority during development.
''Super Mario World'' was the first ''Mario'' series game developed for the then-upcoming
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South ...
(SNES). As such, the team anticipated some difficulty in working with new and more advanced hardware. According to Tezuka, the software tools were not yet fully developed, and the team had to "go along with starting something new". Miyamoto acknowledged the team no longer had restrictions on certain
mechanics
Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects ...
such as scrolling and the number of colours they could implement. As a hardware experiment, the team ported ''Super Mario Bros.3'' to the SNES. However, it felt like the same game to them, despite the improved colours and sprites. After that, Miyamoto realised the team's goal would be to use the new hardware to create something "totally new".
Miyamoto said he had wanted Mario to have a dinosaur companion ever since ''Super Mario Bros.'', but Nintendo engineers could not add such a character into the game due to the limitations of the
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
(NES).
The inspiration for Yoshi can be traced back even further; Miyamoto designed a green dragon for the 1984 game ''
Devil World
is a maze video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released for the Famicom in Japan on October 5, 1984, and for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europ ...
'' which shared many similarities with Yoshi. During the development of ''Super Mario Bros.3'', Miyamoto had a number of sketches around his desk, including an image of Mario riding a horse. As development of ''Super Mario World'' progressed, the team opted to set the game in a "dinosaur land", so Tezuka asked designer Shigefumi Hino to draw a reptile-like creature based on Miyamoto's sketches.
Hino originally produced a design that Tezuka deemed too reptilian, and "didn't really fit into the Mario world", so he encouraged the designer to create a "cuter" character.
Tezuka speculated that Miyamoto's love of horse riding, as well as
country and western
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while t ...
themes, influenced Yoshi's creation.
Reflecting on how he had created different melodies for ''Super Mario Bros.3'', composer
Koji Kondo decided to reuse the same themes for ''Super Mario World'', albeit in a
rearranged form. By doing this, he assumed players would be able to recognise the same melodies, while exposing them to new variations of music as they progressed through the game. As ''Super Mario World'' was the first game developed for the SNES, Kondo felt "overjoyed" at being able to compose music by using eight sounds at once. To express the technological novelty of the new console, he used several different instruments, implementing them all one after the other in the game's title song.
As development progressed, Kondo grew concerned over how people would react to his unusual combinations of instruments as he noted the use of more traditional
square wave
A square wave is a non-sinusoidal periodic waveform in which the amplitude alternates at a steady frequency between fixed minimum and maximum values, with the same duration at minimum and maximum. In an ideal square wave, the transitions b ...
s and
triangle wave
A triangular wave or triangle wave is a non-sinusoidal waveform named for its triangular shape. It is a periodic, piecewise linear, continuous real function.
Like a square wave, the triangle wave contains only odd harmonics. However, the ...
s had "gained acceptance" with consumers. For the game's sound effects, Kondo decided to use a variety of musical instruments, as opposed to square waves, to emphasise that the game used traditional technology with a hybrid of new materials.
It took Kondo around a year and a half to write all the music for the game.
''Super Mario World'' was produced during the
console warsa result of the rivalry between Nintendo's SNES and
Sega's two-year-old
Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan as ...
systemwhich outsold the console and led to intense competition between the two, being the first time since December 1985 Nintendo did not lead the market though it eventually overtook Sega.
Sega's mascot,
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformer ...
, was seen by many as a faster and "cooler" alternative to Mario. After the game's release, Miyamoto admitted publicly he felt it was incomplete and development was rushed toward the end.
Release
''Super Mario World'' was released on 21 November 1990 in Japan.
It was one of two launch games for the SNES in Japan, along with ''
F-Zero
is a series of futuristic racing video games originally created by Nintendo EAD with multiple games developed by outside companies. The first game was released for the Super Famicom in Japan in 1990, and along with North America’s Super Nint ...
''. The game was released in North America in August 1991.
Nintendo also issued a version for
arcade cabinets so players could try the game before buying it.
Re-releases
The game was re-released in a special version of ''
Super Mario All-Stars
''Super Mario All-Stars'' is a 1993 compilation of platform games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It contains remakes of Nintendo's four ''Super Mario'' games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the ...
'', ''Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World'', as a
pack-in game
This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players.
0–9
A
...
for the SNES in December 1994.
''All-Stars'' contains
enhanced remakes of the first four ''Super Mario'' games released for the NES: ''
Super Mario Bros.'', ''
Super Mario Bros.2'', ''
Super Mario Bros.3'' and ''
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels''. In contrast to the other games in the collection, ''Super Mario World'' is largely identical to the original version, but Luigi's
sprites were updated to make him a distinctive character rather than a
palette swap of Mario.
''Super Mario World'' was ported to the
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
as ''Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2'' between 2001 and 2002. It features the same number of levels as the original (albeit with a toned down difficulty), Luigi as a playable character in single player with his characteristic behaviour from ''
Super Mario Bros. 2'',
Game Link Cable
The Nintendo Game Link Cable is an accessory for the Game Boy line of handheld video game systems, allowing players to connect Game Boys of all types for multiplayer gaming. Depending on the games, a Game Link Cable can be used to link two ga ...
support for four players in the ''
Mario Bros. Classic'' mode, and the ability to save.
It received positive reviews; critics enjoyed its new inclusions and retention of the SNES original's "feel".
''
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' named it the best video game of February 2002.
The SNES version was released on the
Wii's
Virtual Console
A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Un ...
in Japan on 2December 2006, in the United States on 5February 2007, and in Europe on 9February 2007. It was released for the
Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
Th ...
in North America and Japan on 26 April 2013, and in Europe on 27 April 2013, along with the full launch of the Wii U Virtual Console. ''Super Mario World'' was also one of the 21 SNES games included in the
Super NES Classic Edition
The Super NES Classic Edition is a dedicated home video game console released by Nintendo, which emulates the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The console, a successor to the NES Classic Edition, comes with twenty-one Super NES titles p ...
in September 2017. On 5September 2019, Nintendo released ''Super Mario World'' on their
Nintendo Switch Online
Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) is an online subscription service for the Nintendo Switch video game console. Nintendo Switch Online features include online multiplayer, cloud saving, voice chat via a smartphone app, access to a library of Nintend ...
service as a launch title.
Reception
Nintendo has sold 20.61 million copies of the game worldwide, making it the
best-selling game for the SNES.
In the United States, ''Super Mario Advance2'' for the Game Boy Advance sold 2.5 million copies and earned $74million in revenue by August 2006. During the period between January 2000 and August 2006, it became the second highest-selling portable game in the United States.
''Super Mario World'' received critical and commercial acclaim. Review aggregator
GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
ranks ''Super Mario World'' as the seventeenth highest-rated game of all time with an aggregate score of 94% based on nine reviews.
The visuals and presentation were two of the most praised aspects of the game.
After its release, Rob Swan of ''
Computer and Video Games
''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...
'' noted that the graphics were an excellent example of what the then-new SNES was capable of, while in the same review, Paul Glancey similarly remarked that the visuals were stunning, and he was grateful the game came free with the console. Four reviewers echoed this in ''Electronic Gaming Monthly,'' but commented that the game took little advantage of the SNES's capabilities compared to other games available for the system. Retrospective reviewers agreed the game's visuals were still of a high quality. Karn Bianco from ''Cubed3'' enjoyed the game's relaxed visual style, and praised Nintendo for keeping everything "nice and simple" designing a game perfect for children.
''
IGNs Lucas Thomas heralded the game as a significant leap over the visuals of the
8-bit era, but in retrospect felt it did not distinguish itself from being a graphically-upgraded continuation of its predecessor, ''Super Mario Bros.3''.
In contrast, Frédéric Goyon of
Jeuxvideo.com
''Jeuxvideo.com'' (from ''jeux vidéo''; ; ) is a French video gaming website founded in 1997.
History
The website traces its history to a video game hint collection on Minitel, a precursor to the World Wide Web, and was founded by Sébastien ...
thought the game brought out the full potential of the SNES (albeit less so than ''
Donkey Kong Country
''Donkey Kong Country'' is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a Reboot (fiction), reboot of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'' franchise and foll ...
''),
and Nadia Oxford from ''
USGamer
Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...
'' also felt the game was a less rigid version of its predecessor.
''
AllGame
RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel.
Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...
''s Skyler Miller and Alex Navarro of ''
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' both praised the game's well-drawn characters, colourful visuals and pleasing animation.
Morgan Sleeper of ''
Nintendo Life
Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...
'' said ''Super Mario World'' was the "graphical holy grail" that retro-styled games aspire to, and he insisted that its design holds up well today.
Critics commended the game's
replay value
Replay may refer to:
* Replay (sports), a replayed match between two sport teams Technology
* Game replay, a recording of a game session.
* Instant replay, in motion pictures and television, a showing again of part of a film
* Replay Professiona ...
and unique gameplay in comparison to older ''Super Mario'' games.
Four reviewers in ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' praised the game's number of secrets and diversity among its levels, expressing appreciation that Nintendo did not recycle assets from ''Super Mario Bros.3''. Swan and Glancey enjoyed the addictive gameplay and the vast number of levels, while Dan Whitehead of ''
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
'' lauded the game's divergence from linear platforming and asserted that ''Super Mario World'' was an evolutionary leap for gaming in general.
Likewise, Goyon appreciated the option of being able to finish the game by using alternative routes.
Bianco opined that the game was "one of the smoothest platformers in existence" while Thomas thought its "masterful" and innovative level design enhanced the overall experience.
Navarro similarly felt the game featured some of the best and most challenging levels the series has offered thus far, saying "nothing about the game feels out of place or superfluous".
Miller considered the game's overall length to be its strongest aspect,
while Oxford thought ''Super Mario World''s gameplay could be both straightforward and complex, owing to the myriad of secrets the game contained.
In retrospect, Sleeper believed the game's biggest achievement was its
level design
In video games, a level (also referred to as a map, stage, or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progressively-increasing difficulty t ...
, calling it an "unrivalled master class" with a constant sense of momentum.
The game's audio was also well received by critics.
Swan believed the game utilised the SNES'
PCM chip to its fullest potential, and both he and Glancey agreed that the game's sound effects were "mindblowing". Thomas labelled the soundtrack "another one of Koji Kondo's classics," but in hindsight remarked that it was not as memorable as his earlier work.
Goyon praised the originality of the game's soundtrack, and thought the technical contribution of the SNES allowed players to enjoy a "globally magnificent" composition. Both Goyon and
Jason Schreier of ''
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History ...
'' felt its rhythmic sound effects were important and helped to reinforce the game's atmosphere.
Miller liked ''Super Mario World''s upbeat music, and particularly enjoyed the echoing sound effects heard when Mario was undergrounda sentiment shared by other reviewers.
Both Sleeper and Navarro wrote that the game featured the best music in the entire ''Super Mario'' series,
with Sleeper praising Kondo's "timeless" soundtrack and memorable melodies.
Awards
The game received 1991
Game of the Year awards from ''
Nintendo Power
''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Nint ...
'' and ''Power Play''. Many retrospective critics declared ''Super Mario World'' one of the
greatest video games of all time
This is a list of video games that multiple reputable video game journalists or magazines have considered to be among the best of all time. The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from diff ...
. In 2009, a poll conducted by ''
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' voted it "the greatest game of all time". In 2009, ''
Official Nintendo Magazine
''Official Nintendo Magazine'', or ''ONM'', was a British video game magazine that ran from 2006 to 2014 that covered the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, and Wii U video game consoles released by Nintendo.
Originally published by EMAP as ...
'' placed the game 7th in a list of the greatest Nintendo games of all time.
In its final issue in October 2014, ''Official Nintendo Magazine'' ranked ''Super Mario World'' the third-greatest Nintendo game of all time, behind ''
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'' and ''
Super Mario Galaxy
is a 2007 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the third 3D game in the ''Super Mario'' series. As Mario, the player embarks on a quest to rescue Princess Peach, save the universe from Bowser, and collect ...
''. In 2012, ''Nintendo Power'' similarly named ''Super Mario World'' the fifth greatest game of all time, a step up from its eighth best ranking in their 2006 poll. The game has appeared on several "best video games of all time" lists such as those from ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'', ''
Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 ...
'', ''
Retro Gamer
''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...
'' and ''GameSpot''. In 2007, ''Retro Gamer'' ranked it as the best platform game of all time, while ''USgamer'' listed it as the best ''Super Mario'' platform game ever in 2015. In 1996,
GamesMaster
''GamesMaster'' is a British television programme which originally aired on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998. In 2021, it returned for a new series on YouTube and E4. It was the first UK television programme dedicated to video games.
Dominik Diam ...
ranked Super Mario World 3rd on their "The GamesMaster SNES Top 10." In 1995,
Total!
''Total!'' was a video game magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future plc. It was published monthly for 58 issues, beginning in December 1991 (cover-dated January 1992), with the last issue bearing the cover-date October 1996. A "1993 ...
listed the game 11th on its Top 100 SNES Games, at the time they opined ''Super Mario World'' is "a contender for the best game ever."
Legacy
As a pack-in game for the SNES, ''Super Mario World'' helped popularise the console, and became the best-selling game of its generation.
Shigeru Miyamoto has said that ''Super Mario World'' is his favourite ''Mario'' game.
Yoshi became one of the most important characters in the ''Mario'' franchise, re-appearing in later ''Super Mario'' games and in nearly all ''Mario'' sports and
spin-off
Spin-off may refer to:
*Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work
*Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity
* Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...
games. Yoshi appears as the main
playable character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
in ''Super Mario World''s 1995 prequel ''
Super Mario World2: Yoshi's Island'', which helped lead to multiple
video games focused on the character. A ''Super Mario World''
clone
Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to:
Places
* Clones, County Fermanagh
* Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland
Biology
* Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...
, ''
Super Mario's Wacky Worlds
''Super Mario's Wacky Worlds'' was a canceled ''Mario'' platform video game developed by NovaLogic for the Philips CD-i system. The game was conceived as a sequel to ''Super Mario World'', a game released for Super NES in 1990. An early proto ...
'', was in development for the
Philips CD-i
The Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-I, later CD-i) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was mostly developed and marketed by Dutch company Philips. It was created as an extension of CDDA and CD-ROM and specified in the '' Green B ...
device by
NovaLogic from 1992 to 1993, but was cancelled because of the console's commercial failure. In a poll conducted in 2008, Yoshi was voted as the third-favourite video game character in Japan, with
Cloud Strife
is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Square's (now Square Enix's) 1997 role-playing video game '' Final Fantasy VII'', its high-definition remake, and several of its sequels and spinoffs. In ''Final Fantasy VII'', Cloud is a ...
and Mario placing second and first.
DIC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...
produced an
animated series of the same name, consisting of thirteen episodes, which ran on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
from September to December 1991. ''Super Mario World'' has a large
ROM hacking scene, with fans using applications such as
Lunar Magic
Lunar Magic is a level editor created by FuSoYa for ''Super Mario World''. The program runs on Microsoft Windows and allows people to create custom graphics and easily edit block data, levels and the world map.
History
According to FuSoYa, he ...
to create levels and insert new graphics, music, and mechanics; ''
Kaizo Mario World'' is notable for being featured in many
Let's Play
A Let's Play (LP) is a video (or screenshots accompanied by text) documenting the playthrough of a video game, often including commentary and/or a camera view of the gamer's face. A Let's Play differs from a video game walkthrough or strateg ...
videos and popularizing the word ''
Kaizo'' to signify hacks of extreme difficulty. In a similar way, ''Super Mario World'' is one of the four games whose assets are available in ''
Super Mario Maker
is a 2015 side-scrolling platform game and game creation system developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U, released worldwide in September 2015. Players can create, play, and share courses online, free of charge, based on the styles ...
'', a
custom level creator released for the Wii U in 2015, in its
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...
to
Nintendo 3DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generati ...
in 2016, and its
2019 sequel.
The latter adds new snow and nighttime themes for ''Super Mario World'' levels accompanied by new music composed by Kondo.
Notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
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{{authority control
1990 video games
Game Boy Advance games
Pack-in video games
Dinosaurs in video games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
New Nintendo 3DS games
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development games
Side-scrolling platform games
World
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
Video games set on fictional islands
Video games developed in Japan
Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS
Virtual Console games for Wii
Virtual Console games for Wii U
Video games directed by Takashi Tezuka
Video games scored by Koji Kondo
Video games produced by Shigeru Miyamoto
Works about vacationing
Nintendo Switch Online SNES games