Super Mario World (Vitrual Console) Review
Posted by Chris Kovatsh on 03.06.2007
Over 16 years later and this is still one of the best platforming experiences out there.
Many people have played and I’m sure everybody in North America has at least heard of this game. Super Mario World was the first game released for the SNES back in the early 90’s and it even came with the system. Sporting entirely new 16 bit graphics people’s minds were blown away and then they played the game and once again they were blown away. There was a lot of doubt when this game was released because Super Mario Bros. 3 was such a huge success that people didn’t think that SMW would live up to those standards that were previously set. This game proved all nay Sayers wrong as soon as people started playing it.
The game is essentially what people are used to with the basic platforming ideas of running and jumping on platforms, but they added so much to make it such a great epic experience in the world of Mario. Little things like switch palaces to change invisible blocks into solid blocks so you could unlock more secrets and the spin jump so you could destroy blocks from above. They also had a lot of huge improvements like adding the lovable dinosaur Yoshi. He would be able to eat creatures and if he ate a turtle shell he could do special things like fly or even shoot out fireballs. This was so exciting for people when they first played SMW. I remember in elementary school people always bragging to me about how cool Yoshi was and I was a big loser because I hadn’t played it yet. Those were tough times but now I’m writing a review of the game so screw you Driftwood Public School! They also added the cape, which to me was a lot cooler than the stupid raccoon suit. The fact that you could float in the air with the cape as well as do a big nosedive, just made the whole experience greater.
One thing that this game had that most games didn’t even come close to having at this point was all the amounts of secret levels and worlds. If there was a red dot that meant there was a secret to take you to a different level. There are a lot of red dots if you haven’t noticed. Some of the secrets are so notorious, like the ever exciting Star Road and the secret world in Star Road with the Radical and Tubular levels. These things were all big deals if you could unlock them. Almost every boss battle was different and unique in there own way. One level one of the Koopa Kids would come out of a tube and you’d have to jump on him three times, and another one you’d be fighting on a small little piece of land and try to knock the Koopa Kid into the lava. After your battle you’d be treated to a neat little video showing Mario saving an egg and destroying the castle, these usually resulted in hilarity. A lot of things that are just standard Mario Clichés came from SMW, such as the ghost houses and those cave levels that were both prominently featured in Super Mario 64.
The game itself isn’t very hard; in fact when you do beat it chances are you’ll have over fifty lives easily, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to have a blast though. The game is two players and if you only have one retro controller for the Wii don’t worry; you can use one controller and pass it around. Don’t use the Gamecube controller for this game, it is really awkward and hard to do and will probably take away from your gaming experience.
The 411
Download this game off the Virtual Console; it’s more than worth the 800 points. You’ll easily put more hours into this than 90% of the other games that are available as of right now. If you’ve never played this game before you’re definitely in for a treat.
Graphics
9.0
They still hadn't gotten the look of Mario down yet, but they were trying.
Gameplay
10.0
The amount of things you can do with Mario now in comparison to Super Mario Bros. 3 is incredible.
Sound
9.0
This one didn't have as many catchy songs as past incarnations, but there's still a few hits.
Lasting Appeal
10.0
There are so many secrets in this game that it would make games in 2007 blush.
Fun Factor
10.0
Two players is always a blast and so is the whole game.
