Things were going very well for Nintendo from 1985 to 1988, as they had virtually no threatening competition. But all of that was about to change when NEC and Sega ushered in the start of the 16-bit generation. NEC had their TurboGrafx-16 system, while Sega introduced the Genesis console to the world. The Genesis in particular was the system that made Nintendo sit up and pay attention, as older (and younger) gamers fell in love the console’s arcade game upon its release in North America. Now granted, while the NES still had plenty of life left in it, Nintendo knew that they couldn’t afford to drag their feet any longer on creating a new console that could keep up with the Genesis’ hardware. So two short years later in 1991, “the big N” Released their Super Nintendo Entertainment System here in the States. It was only fitting that Super Mario World would be the game to premier as a pack-in game with the console. It truly took the Super Mario universe to the next level.

Mario and crew truly made quite an entrance when they returned for a new adventure on Nintendo’s new 16-bit console. Seeing that huge Bullet Bill in one of the first levels gave you a taste of what could be expected in terms of the overall scope of the game. In addition to his usual jump, Mario can now also perform a spinning jump, which allows him to break certain yellow bricks that can’t be smashed through any other means. As far as power-ups go, you have your usual Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman along for the ride. In time, you’ll come across the Cape Feather which allows Mario to fly briefly if he can gain enough speed by running. It can also be used to whip enemies around and hit “?” boxes that are at ground level (which Mario can’t break by stomping).
Each time you complete a stage, a path is progressively carved out which always leads you to the next area. Also, Mario can hold extra power-ups, but he can hold only one at a time. The good thing about it is that you can use these items while actually playing through the levels, instead of having to wait until you’re on the world map again (like in SMB 3).

Travelling through these worlds wouldn’t be much fun without a cast of interesting enemies to battle, now would it? Well, Super Mario World has plenty of them! Standing in your way this time around are a colorful array of new foes like the ghastly Eeries, tricky Magikoopas, thunderous Sumo Brothers, pesky Chargin’ Chucks, and many more new, but treacherous hazards. At the same time, Nintendo didn’t leave out those fan-favorite characters either. You’ll face off against the red & green Koopas, flying Super Koopas, Lakitus, Goombas, and of course, Piranha Plants. Thankfully, even these enemies have been updated a bit and can be clearly seen either in their character design, or some have been given new attack patterns. For instance, instead of every Piranha Plant merely being confined inside pipes, some are bold enough to jump out, hoping for a bite of Mario or Luigi. When riding with Yoshi, the Koopa shells can serve multiple purposes depending on which one he eats.

The graphics in this game, to put it simply, are wonderful. The colors are bright and solid, as had been the case with every Mario game before this one. The graphical capabilities of the Super NES were shown off pretty well here, with the screen blurring into little pixels each time you start a level or enter a pipe. Some scaling techniques, better know as “Mode 7”, can be seen the most when you reach the final battle with Bowser riding in his smiley face blimp. One of his attack patterns calls for him to fly “into” the screen creating a graphical effect that was pretty impressive to look at before polygons became the next major means of animating game characters.
Super Mario World had some of the most creatively designed worlds of its time. The huge backgrounds, the secret pathways to be found, the wide range of characters both old and new– everything about this game just feels so…big. Even by today’s standards, the game’s visual style still has the ability to draw the player in and get immersed in the not-so-small 2-D world of Mario and crew. Not a bad effort at all, considering the potential to get so much wrong when producing a game to launch with a system.

The audio for this game was top notch as well, having some very memorable tunes to offer. Although not sounding like any past Mario game, the music still has that kind of sound that can’t be mistaken for anything else. If you’re riding on Yoshi during any level, the area’s tune is accompanied by bongos in the background to give it a heavier flare. There’s not much in way of negative remarks that can be said about the sound quality. Sure, the world map tunes are a little repetitious, but it rarely gets tiring to listen to if you happen to leave the game on the map screen for whatever reason.
The sound effects also play a nice roll in the game as well. When you enter and underground cave, the sounds of Mario jumping or kicking a shell will echo—as if you were really in a cave. Also enjoyable is the little drum roll after completing each level. It feels like a talent show of sorts. As you play through the game, you’ll likely find something that catches your ears with either the music or sound effects…or both.

Play or Stay? It’s not often these days that a game is released with a system…let alone a game that happens to be well-crafted and loved by many 15 years later. In short, Super Mario World was good back then, and it still is now. This is a game that I definitely recommend to any SNES owner out there. And hey, if you don’t own one, you can still enjoy Super Mario World on the Wii via the Virtual Console service. Take it from me—you won’t regret it.