Storyline: 8/10
Non-RPG Mario games have never been recognized for their storylines, and World isn't too much different for the most part. But just so you know, I'm going by how the storyline is told in Super Mario Advance 2, a remake of this game, as it may be more likely that's really what happened. After thwarting Bowser's plans yet again, Mario takes a much-deserved vacation to Dinosaur Land alongside Princess Peach. Having traveled via hot air balloon, they soon land and get off. Mario sees and grabs a Cape Feather, and uses its powers to fly around the island. After a while, he's had his fun and returns to Peach, but she appears to be missing. Uh huh, Bowser got her. Time for another Mario adventure. Besides the little vacation detail, the plot is largely similar to that of the original Super Mario Bros. Normally I would give that an average 7, but there is something of a sub-story throughout the game. Early in his quest, Mario finds Yoshi, who made his debut in this game. He tells Mario that Bowser ad trapped all his friends in eggs and gave those eggs to his Koopalings to guard. So now Mario has 2 objectives: save Peach, and save the Yoshis. I'm not picky about storylines, so I gave it an extra point for that.
Gameplay: 9.7/10
For most of the game, Mario fans will find the gameplay to be familiar, 2D sidescrolling goodness. That's DURING the levels, but returning from Super Mario Bros. 3 is the level map. This is a useful feature if you need to go back to a level for whatever reason. And even better than that, perhaps my favorite new feature of the game, are Secret Exits. In most levels you just follow your instincts and go to the right until you finish the level, but that's not the only place you can go. There are secret places in many levels you can go to, but usually it's not so easy. There may be enemies to defeat or puzzles to solve and such, but it's worth it to find a Secret Exit. By finding it, a new route is opened up on the overworld. These could simply be barely useful shortcuts, but more commonly lead to secret levels, and perhaps you'll find a path to the mystical Star World. Getting only those tiny shortcuts as a reward on occasions did cause a little disappointment. They're still fun to try and find, but those could've had SOME sort of better reward.
Secret Exits can also lead to one other thing: Switch Palaces. In the game, there will be colored outlines in random areas, usually over pits or suspended in the air. These outlines come in yellow, green, red, and blue. At first, they serve no purpose. But if you find the Switch Palace of the corresponding color, that will be remedied. Each Switch Palace has a color, the same as the outlines. Let's say I find the Yellow Switch Palace. I go in, could do a little optional puzzle for a good heap of coins, then go in to the next room. In there would be a giant yellow switch. Jump on it to press it, and the yellow outlines throughout Dinosaur Land will solidify into yellow ! Blocks. This is more useful than you might think, as many other Secret Exits will require these switches to be pressed.
Now aside from Secret Exits, I probably should have mentioned earlier the abilities of the Cape Feather. It works similarly to the Super Leaf of Super Mario Bros. 3. The only difference is that, well, it's better. Upon getting it, Mario dons a yellow cape. He can twirl it around to wipe away enemies as a pretty good offensive weapon. But more importantly, if he jumps while dashing, he will make a huge leap, from which he can fly so long as the player can keep up with what they have to do, which I'll explain in the Controls section. I just loved the Cape Feather, it still remains one of my favorite power-ups today. Don't worry though; Mushrooms and Fire Flowers are still there. And while not exactly an item, if you find a Yoshi, you can ride it to use it abilities. Yoshis have a powerful stomp and can kill most enemies in one hit. And if Mario presses B, his Yoshi will lash out its tongue to swallow enemies in reach. Yoshis are quite a nice feature, there are even secret ones in different with enhanced powers. Though in some cases, especially with a Cape Feather, you may find Yoshis a bit more of a nuisance, since you can't fly while riding them. An even better feature of items is that now you can carry back-up items with you. Say you have a power-up and you grab another one that's equal or inferior to it, that items goes to a box at the top of the screen. In moments of need, you can make that item drop down so you can grab it. It's quite a convenient feature, despite the fact that the items being dropped can fall through the floor as well.
I think I've covered all the major mechanics, there's just a few minor ones to touch up on. Mario has a new move called the Spin Jump; it's more powerful than his normal jump, but not as high. This can be used to defeat enemies faster, and more importantly, can destroy certain kinds of blocks. A 2-player mode is also included in the game, but it's a bit shallow. 1st player is Mario, 2nd is Luigi, and they both take turns playing on levels of their choosing. At least they PUT a multiplayer mode in it.
Graphics: 7.7/10
As far as the SNES goes, World's graphics look pretty good. The graphics make a large bound from Super Mario Bros. 3, adding more detail and color, smoother animations, and a pretty-looking overworld. I always thought Mario's sprites looked a tad odd, and Luigi merely being a palette swap doesn't help either. The backgrounds are great as always; they’re now more heavily detailed and some of the backgrounds are even animated, like the cave ones. Since the game was released fresh off the end of the NES, it's natural that they'd look quite impressive at first, but they don't stray too far from typical SNES graphics. Of course, it was the system's main launch game, coming early in the system's life.
Music and Sound Effects: 8.1/10
We all know that familiar theme that originated in Mario World. In this game, most of the songs are a remix of that theme. And although it is a good musical score, it does lack originality at points. Some were remixed very well, on the other hand. I love the castle music, and the water level remix is quite well executed. The non-remixed themes, well, there's not so much of them. If I recall, there's the title screen, boss battle theme, the ending theme, and various fanfare that aren't variations of the main theme. The ending theme is probably my favorite song in the whole game. This IS a great soundtrack, but it lacks originality and variety. It isn't Nintedo's best work, it's not bad, but it's not awful, it just needs patching up in some areas. Sound effects haven't evolved much since past Mario titles, they're nothing special as with most games out there.
Controls: 7.9/10
When you buy a Virtual Console game, it's your first instinct to pick up the GameCube controller, right? Yeah, me too. But I was quite surprised that for Super Mario World, the GameCube controls were quite bad. Most of the buttons seemed out of place and in places you really wouldn't expect. I kept getting jump, spin jump, and dash all mixed up, among others things. I really never did end up getting my moves straight with that controller. I deducted a sufficient amount of points for that. So if the GameCube controller is bad, the Classic Controller is the only option you have left. Thankfully, this controller feels very comfortable. The buttons are placed well and since it's a sidescrolling game, the lack of an analog stick doesn't make playing the game any less comfortable. But sheesh, I'm still surprised how badly the GameCube controller fared...
Length: 8.8/10
Next to its own sequel, this is probably
the longest 2D Mario game (in the main series, anyway). 7 worlds are spread
throughout the map, each containing... oh, around 6 levels. No cheating
though; no Warp Zones, no Warp... er.... Pots, no Warp Whistles. That’s
no longer necessary since a save feature is now included in the game. There
IS a way to go from World 2 to the final level, but good luck figuring
that out your first playthrough. The first time I played it, I don't remember
well, but it took me arrrrooooouuunnnnddd... 3? 4 days? I don't know, but
somewhere around that.
The game is certainly longer than it is challenging. I mean, some levels like Ghost Houses make you work your skills and brain, but most of them you can get through without any trouble... well, the required levels, anyway. Perhaps something that contributed to this is the Cape Feather. I love the item, I really do, but it makes outdoor levels a lot easier. If there's space enough for you to run and jump into the air, you can pretty much glide through the whole level. In levels with ceilings, like caves, Ghost Houses, and castles, flying won't work so well. But flying isn't everything; some levels are just... difficult. Castles usually aren't much more trouble than normal levels around them, but some can be a pain. Same deal with Ghost Houses; these are far less linear than most levels, and you have to be able to use your skills and mind to find the way out. Underwater levels are usually heightened in difficulty as well, given the fact that you can't jump underwater, making it hard to defeat enemies. This game can get quite difficult at times, but it's ultimately just the right amount of difficulty, and long enough to keep you impressed.
Replay Value: 9.6/10
As covered in the gameplay section, Secret Exits are a new element of the game. If there's a Secret Exit in a level, you find it, unlock a new route or level, beat that, and continue. There's a massive total of 96 exits in the game, that'll be a huge a quest for you. It is long, fun, and tests your skills, but reward offerings are a bit mixed. Of course, when you find a Secret Exit you want to see a new level unlocked, but sometimes it's just a little shortcut. Sometimes, in fact, it may be completely useless.
Fortunately, there's another thing you may unlock from Secret Exits: Star Roads. These formations will warp Mario off to a place called the Star World, consisting of 5 levels. There are also 5 other Star Roads in here, because there are 5 Star Roads hidden on the overworld. Each level in the Star World has a Secret Exit, which grants you further access to the world. If all of them are found, you'll have access all around it and can teleport to areas with ease. There are even rare breeds of Yoshis you can find in these levels.
There's one more secret world in the game, but I already told of the Star World, so I'm not going to go that far. But if you do find all the Secret Exits and beat all the levels, there's a reward waiting for you. It should be noted that this was one of the very first games to offer a reward for completing the game 100%, you have to give it credit for that. Aside from Secret Exits, there's another, longer sidequest for you to do. Most levels in the game contain 5 Dragon Coins, large coins with a Yoshi head printed on them. Since most levels have these 5 rare coins, it's going to be a long, sometimes tedious, job to get them all. If you do manage to do it... well, I don't know. I have not yet collected EVERY Dragon Coin, I mean, some are immensely hard to get. I'm just hoping there's at least a little reward for it being such a long and hard sidequest.
Fun Factor!: 9.4/10
So much fun can be had in this game
no matter who you are. Great level design and the Cape Feather are what
make the game more enjoyable than the past 3 Mario games, among other things,
not to mention, it excels in gameplay and replay value, two elements of
a game I highly value. I also liked the variety of level types. Some are
just the typical grassy plains, some are acrobatic levels filled with moving
platforms and not much safe ground. You’ll ride atop a Skull Raft across
a lava-filled cave, spin jumping to break away blocks all the way down
to the goal. Most of the level types are balanced up so you get an equal
taste of everything throughout playing the game. At some points the game
does get dull, though. I've never been fond of aquatic levels, and that
doesn't change in Super Mario World. Ghost Houses can sometimes be slow-paced
and confusing as well. Even though the game is unbalanced in some areas,
it's pure fun, and one of Mario's most enjoyable adventures yet.
Overall: 96/100
This is probably my favorite game on the SNES AND my favorite 2D platformer, even with great titles in the same category like Yoshi's Island or Kirby Super Star to compare to. It's one of my favorite games of all time. I would even go so far as to say, in my opinion, it's miles beyond Super Mario Bros. 3. It's actually rather odd how highly I think of this title, as Shigeru Miyamoto once said he had to rush the game at points for it to meet the deadline, and that it didn't turn out as good as he would like; and yet the game is still adored by fans and critics alike. The graphics and VC controls leave something to be desired, but don't let them lessen a great experience with a great game.
| If you would like to send some feedback
to the author of this submission, please complete this form.
What's your name?
What's your Email address?
How do you rate this submission?
Does this submission belong in Little
Lemmy's Land?
Would you like to see more from this author? Comments and suggestions:
|
