“Super Mario World” Review

For Nintendo Wii Virtual Console

Pros:	Cons:
Great 16-bit graphics with visual variety	Music Themes are repeated too often
Tons of great themes and sounds	Mandatory secret exits a huge pain
Fun Mario gameplay with new items and enemies	Controls on virtual console re-release are absolutely terrible
Tons of levels to explore and secrets to find

            My experience with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is extremely limited, and until now I had never even completed a single game on the console. I blame my minimal experience with the SNES on the fact that I came along at the end of the SNES era, when Nintendo 64’s were being introduced, and my dad (who showed me some of his favorite games) was a kid during the NES era, and never really knew the SNES. I’ve heard of some great SNES games such as Super Metroid, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, but not really have played any until now. Super Mario World is with a doubt my favorite SNES game, and for that matter… probably my least favorite.

                Gone are the days of Mario launch-titles; the original NES launched alongside Super Mario Bros, the SNES with Super Mario World, the Game Boy with Super Mario Land, the N64 with Super Mario 64, but since then…nothing. And I must say, for a launch title Super Mario World looks stunning. The game has an immense amount of visual variety that is easily apparent in every last course. The colors are all vibrant and fun for your eyes to soak in, and the character models and frame rates all look nice too. Mario himself looks a lot better than he did in Super Mario Bros. 3 as do all the other elements of the game. Super Mario World is a fantastic looking game, but does the music match up to the visuals?

                Mario’s premier SNES adventure features a truly astonishing soundtrack accompanied by some creative little sounds that activate when doing anything from jumping on enemies, eating a mushroom, hitting a block, or riding on Yoshi, the new dinosaur pal in this game. I will admit there are one or two dull tunes in the game, but or clearly overlooked when thinking of some of the better themes the game has to offer. If there’s one thing I can definitely complain about in the sound, it would have to be that most of the themes are repeated a bit too often, sure, it’s nice to hear familiar tunes to hum along to, but after a while some of the tunes really age and aren’t as fun as the first time you heard them. I just wish there were a few more tunes to listen to while playing.

                As always, the gameplay is masterful. Since when does a main series Mario platformer not have good gameplay? Super Mario World manages to once again continue the trend and deliver yet another outstanding and fun game experience. From the new items like the cape, to the enemies like wiggler and the boos, all the way to Yoshi himself, the game introduces new items and enemies while bringing back some old favorites. I would say that every single aspect of the gameplay is rock solid except for one; I absolutely hate the fact that some of the secret exits are mandatory. I don’t mind that there are secret exits for people to find, in fact I love that feature, but a few of them are mandatory in order to advance to a new world and can be extremely frustrating to find and reach. There is only two or three of these instances in the game, but when they are present they are extremely annoying an unnecessary. Another problem I had was due to the fact that I played the game in its re-made version on the Wii Virtual Console, and therefore encountered some control issues. I played the entirety of the game on the GameCube’s unique remote, and was forced to hold the remote in a weird and unnatural position. I’m not going to allow that to decrease the final score as I imagine the SNES version of the game didn’t have that problem, but if you are planning on playing the game on the Virtual Console, beware of the terrible control problems. I also had some trouble controlling Mario’s cape in some instances and I imagine that is a problem on the SNES version as well, so that can’t really be helped. Overall though the gameplay in Super Mario World is rock solid, flawless, and very close to perfection.

                Super Mario World hosted a surprising amount of content in my play-through, some of which I was extremely surprised to see. There are tons of levels to explore each with hidden Yoshi Coins and other hidden goodies, and a good majority of the levels contain secret exits to find (which can be a bad thing if they are mandatory to beat the game), which provide a nice challenge for veteran players in order to 100% the game. The only question I have about the amount of content is “what happened to World 8?” Nearly every 2-D Mario platformer has 8 worlds, so I was very surprised to finish the game in world 7 instead of world 8. Overall I didn’t find the game to have quite as much content as some other Mario titles, but it still had quite a bit of enjoyable and engaging content.

                It’s rare to find a game that has amazing graphics, a fun soundtrack, varied gameplay, and tons of enjoyable content, but if there is one game that has them all, it would be Super Mario World. In fact, nearly every Mario game ever fits this description and nearly every one proves to be an outstanding adventure. I’m not ready to say that Super Mario World is better than one of my favorite games of all time, Super Mario Bros. 3, but it is easily one of the best Mario games currently available. Based on what I’ve played so far in the SNES library, I honestly cannot wait to see more!

Graphics: Amazing 16-bit graphics with tons of visual variety, characters look great              9.5

Audio: Tons of great themes and sounds, however some themes are repeated too often       8.5

Gameplay: Fun Mario gameplay with new items and enemies, secret exits a huge pain        9.0

Gameplay Amount: Tons of levels to explore and secret exits to find                                   9.5

Overall: Easily one of the best SNES games ever, and a fantastic Mario platformer                9.4