Super Mario World

Just a really fun Mario game. I loved riding yoshi.

Being a fan of Mario growing up but never actually setting time to pick up and play Super Mario World until now personally is a crime.

The original Super Mario Bros and Super Mario 64 are one of the first games I've ever played, yet World was just something I knew existed and was highly praised, but having played many 2D Mario games such as the original and NSMB DS/WII etc, I didn't really have much of an interest.

After loving Mario Wonder, I was craving more 2D Mario and finally decided to pick this game up. Instantly when my hands touched the controller and I moved Mario around, I knew this was going to be a special experience.

Mario World is probably the best feeling 2D Mario to play. The controls are really tight and fine-tuned and it is so fun to just run and platform in this game.

The level design is some of the best in a 2D Mario game, and they finally figured out a balance of how to keep the game challenging but not unfair. I'm genuinely impressed as there is not a single level in this game that I hate.

All the additions in this game like Yoshi, secret level exists, multiple paths are all now staples of 2D. The Cape is one of my favourite Mario powers ever and makes platforming so much fun.

Mario World is 2D Mario perfected, and any other game afterwards while still being good, cannot capture the charm and feel of the lightning in a bottle that is this game.

If there is any 2D Mario I would recommend you must play, it is definitely this one.

This is nowhere near the leap forward that Mario 3 was, but it still has some neat refinements. First off, the world map is taken to the next level here. It offers seemless transitions back and forth between worlds, and lots of levels have multiple exits offering a crazy amount of branching paths. There's even colored switches on the map that fill in blocks in the levels, either providing convenient bridges or entire new paths required to find secret exits. The map even tells you which levels do or don't have multiple exits, which is great...except for Ghost Houses. You have no idea which Ghost Houses have hidden exits, and due to their labyrinthian structure, you could waste a lot of time looking for something that isn't even there. Aside from how ludicrous some of these secrets can get, my biggest issue is not even being able to know they're there. Also, to incentivize this new exploration, collectibles were added. Unfortunately, these are hardly collectibles at all, and merely offer a 1up if all are found within a single stage. Levels have checkpoints now, and you can FINALLY replay levels. There's some new power-ups, some cool (Cape Feather) and some weird (P Balloon). The best new power-up isn't even a power-up at all...Mario's dinosaur friend, Yoshi! He serves as a mount that can be ridden in levels. He can also eat enemies, and doing so will sometimes grant him cool new abilities like flying or fire breath. He can also be dismounted midair, essentially granting a double-jump. Yoshi is a simple addition, but so much fun. Mario got some new moves this time around, but it's kinda a mixed bag. It's cool to be able to throw shells upward, and be able to carry things like P switches and trampolines—but the spin-jump is kinda weird. It allows you to deal more damage than a normal jump, break these weird new spinning blocks, and bounce off hazardous obstacles—at the expense of a shortened jump height. I didn't love this, and could've thought of a dozen other things that would've made for better additions to his moveset. There's a new power-up storage mechanic that isn't like 3's at all. It allows you to collect and hot swap between two power-ups mid-level, but at the expense of advanced power-ups granting an additional hit point. I've tried to make sense of this change, but just can't. The bosses are definite step up, adding a few new archetypes to the mix, but they are still repeated often throughout the worlds. Okay, time for my biggest criticism for the entire game...I mentioned loving the seemless nature of the worlds being connected, but the worlds themselves lost so much from the previous game. Whereas the worlds from 3 were uniquely themed and designed, the worlds here feel samey and less memorable. That all might sound a bit harsh, and you're right. This game may take a couple steps back, but these shortcomings don't do much in the way interrupting a genuinely fun experience. Once again, the platforming is great, the levels are fun, and replaying levels with Yoshi is even more fun. There's a steady stream of cool obstacles too, including the brilliant new climbable fences. The movement feels so refined and responsive—it's still the best feeling 2D Mario to this day. I think I still might like Mario 3 more—but it's still a blast.

Simple the BEST Mario platformer ever!

Love this game! Still amazing and ages very well all of these years later!

Good 2D scroller, I just don't like 2D scrollers.