Super Mario World
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| Super Mario World | |
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Release date(s) | 1991 2002 (GBA) |
| Genre | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom/Super NES, GBA |
Super Mario World was the first game made for the Super Famicom for its Japanese release, and the Super Nintendo for its release in North America and Europe. The game has also been released for Game Boy Advance as Super Mario Advance 2. It was first released in August 1991. Its prequel is Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
The game was produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, the music was composed by Koji Kondo, and the graphics were designed by Shigefumi Hino.
Super Mario World featured the first appearance of Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi. Here, 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 three enemies, three berries, a Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, or Star Man, they will become a fully grown Yoshi.
The plot of the game involves Mario and Luigi trying to save Princess Peach Toadstool and Yoshi's friends from King Bowser and his Koopalings, who have returned, despite their defeat in Super Mario Bros. 3.
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, Cookie Mountain (sometimes called Twin Bridges), Forest of Illusion, Chocolate Island, and the Valley of Bowser. There are also two secret worlds, the Star Road and Special Zone (accessed via the Star Road), which can be found by completing secondary goals in specific levels.
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 re-visit 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), a concept which has become very popular. It is still considered by many to be one of the greatest games ever for its simple and creative gameplay.
In addition, with the capabilities of the SNES, Super Mario World was a step forward for the graphics in Mario games. All of the objects and characters in game moved from the flat sprites in the NES to a more three dimensional look. For example, in Figure 1, Goomba is shown with careful highlighting, while Mario's front is brighter than his shaded back. This gives the player the perception that a light source is coming from the top right corner of the game screen. Additionally, 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, although this package deal was later dropped. Due to this promotion, Super Mario World remains one of the world's best-selling video games.
The game was included in a special version of Super Mario All-Stars, called Super Mario All-Stars/Super Mario World, released in 1994.