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Super Mario World

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Super Mario World
game cover
Developer(s)Nintendo
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Designer(s)Takashi Tezuka
Programmer(s)
  • Toshihiko Nakago Edit this on Wikidata
Platform(s)SFC/SNES/ Game Boy Advance/Wii
ReleaseJapan November 21, 1990
United States of America August, 1991
Europe April 11,1992
Genre(s)Platform game
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Super Mario World (スーパーマリオワールド, Sūpā Mario Wārudo) (also known as SMW and Super Mario Brothers 4: Super Mario World) was the first launch game for the Nintendo Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System game consoles. It was first released on November 21, 1990 in Japan, then in August 1991 in the US and lastly on 11 April 1992 in Europe.

The game was produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, the music was composed by Koji Kondo, and the graphics were designed by Shigefumi Hino.

Game description

Mission

Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool set out on a vacation on Dinosaur Island. However, during their vacation, Princess Toadstool was kidnapped! In order to save her, Mario and Luigi have to go through seven worlds and defeat the Koopa Kids in order to defeat Bowser and save her. The character gallery from earlier Mario games is notably expanded with the addition of Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi, a character who went to star in his own series, as well as a few minor characters.

Gameplay

The gameplay action is sidescrolling as in previous Mario games and it takes advantage of the Super Nintendo's 16-bit graphics and stereo audio. The game consists of a journey through levels in seven worlds: Yoshi's Island, Donut Plains, Vanilla Dome, Twin Bridges Area, Forest of Illusion, Chocolate Island, and the Valley of Bowser. There are also two secret worlds - Star Road and Special World (accessed via the Star World) - which can be found by completing secondary goals in specific levels.

Super Mario World contains a map screen on which the player moves, expanding this concept which was introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3. It features 72 courses laid out across the seven worlds, and 96 exits (some levels have more than one exit). Secret exits open up new routes on the overworld map, often leading to secret levels. When a player reaches the completion of the 96 "goals" the beginning screen will display a star next to the number "96" beside the file the goals were completed on. Something to consider, however, is the fact that the game cover states that it contains "96 levels", implying that the amount of stages and exits are equal; an episode of softscale false advertisement

The Yoshis appear in four different colors (green, yellow, red, and blue), each with slightly different abilities. There are also Baby Yoshis in the Star World levels which can be picked up by Mario. After eating five enemies, three berries, a Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Starman, or Cape Feather, they will become a fully grown Yoshi of the same color.

Changes

Besides the obvious upgrades in graphics, design, and sound, there are some critical changes in gameplay from the NES Mario games. For example, Super Mario can no longer break blocks by jumping into them or hitting them with a Koopa shell. In Super Mario World, this will make the blocks temporarily passable, but they revert to their solid state after a few seconds. To destroy blocks permanently, Mario must Spin Jump on top of them. Also, enemies hit by fireballs from Fire Mario will turn into Coins which can be collected, rather than just dying. Goombas which are jumped on can be picked up and thrown at other enemies like Koopa shells. Items can also be thrown upward, or set down gently instead of just being thrown or kicked forward or backward.

Impact

The game has often been compared to Super Mario Bros., in the sense that both games "set the bar" for all subsequent sidescrollers released on their respective systems. Super Mario World introduced many now common concepts to action gaming, such as giving the player the ability to revisit levels to find overlooked secrets. It was one of the first games to reward the player for "getting one-hundred percent" (finding all the secret exits in the levels, many of which lead to secret levels), an idea that has since become very popular. Super Mario World is still considered by many to be one of the greatest games ever because of its simple yet creative and addictive gameplay.

In addition, with the augmented capabilities of the SNES, Super Mario World was a step forward for the graphics in Mario games. All of the objects and characters in the game moved from the flat sprites in the NES to a more three dimensional look. Super Mario World used the SNES's multiple background layers for parallax scrolling and other background effects, as well as occasional sprite scaling and rotation effects.

A copy of Super Mario World came with each Super Nintendo upon the system's release in Europe and America. Though this package deal was later dropped, it helped Super Mario World on its path to becoming one of the best-selling video games of all time internationally. A prequel was made in 1995 entititled Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, featuring Yoshi as the main protagonist. However, this bears little resemblance to its predecessor. This is because of updated SNES technology and how Miyamoto wanted that particular game designed.

File:Smw gameplay.gif
Gameplay screenshot

The game was packaged in a special version of Super Mario All-Stars called Super Mario All-Stars/Super Mario World, which was released in 1994.

It has also been released for Game Boy Advance as Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, the remake being the best-selling Game Boy Advance game of all time so far (if discounting the combined sales of Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire).

There is also a NES conversion by an unknown developer, created in 1995. It, while similar to the SNES version in some aspects, is very incomplete in comparison. [1]

Less than a month after the game's American release, DiC produced an animated TV show based on the game, although some of the game's elements and names were renamed or changed.

Star Road and Special World

The secret exits in some levels lead to one of five portals to Star Road, an otherwise secret realm. Each portal gives the player access to a level in the Star Road. The levels here all have a baby Yoshi of a particular color, including blue, red and yellow which must be fed five (sometimes more) enemies or coins for Mario to be able to ride. Feeding a coloured Yoshi a powerup results in them growing up immediately.

Each level in Star Road has two exits. The normal exit simply counts toward the total number of exits found; to properly complete it, however, the player must find the key and the keyhole (i.e the secret exit) in each level to complete the circuit around the Star Road and advance to Special World.

In Special World, there are eight additional levels of particular difficulty. In the American translation the levels are named with an expression from surfer lingo (in the following order: Gnarly, Tubular, Way Cool, Awesome, Groovy, Mondo, Outrageous, Funky) whereas the Japanese original had other names. Completing Special World results in major and irreversible graphical changes. Pirana plants become pumpkins, Koopa Troopas now wear Mario masks, and Bullet Bills become Pidgit Bills, and the entire world takes on a different color scheme, using more of an Autumn palette.

Stages seen to stand out

"Awesome" is believed by many gamers to be the stage with the most unique elements in the entire game, with entities that are seen in no other stages, such as purple arches, ice blocks, and light blue pipes. Either "Tubular" or "Outrageous" are believed to be the most difficult stage in Special World, while "Funky" is the only stage in the game where Yoshi can eat green berries to raise Mario's time limit.

Trivia

  • The Super Famicom logo can be seen throughout the game. First: At the top of Special World, you can see the logo. Next: The Yoshies' colors are red, blue, yellow, and green like the logo. And last: The Koopa Troopa, Switch Palaces, and "!" blocks are all red, blue, yellow, and green.

Packaging artwork

See also

Wikibooks has more on the topic of: Super Mario World
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