Review: Super Mario World
I finally beat it. So, logically, I'm writing a review.



Ah, the last of the main-line Mario games (SMB, SMB2 in Japan, SMB3, and SMW). As in the previous games, the idea is to rescue Princess Toadstool (I know, the name is Peach now, as was established in Yoshi's Safari and Super Mario 64, but throughout the game she's refered to as Toadstool, so there) from the clutches of Bowser. Bowser's kids (returning from SMB3), in the interim, have taken over parts of Dinosaur Land and kidnapped Yoshi and his friends.

Having one overarching map helped with the continuity of the game over SMB3, though it does have its drawbacks: the game becomes much easier when you're able to go to the Top Secret Area in the Donut Plains to power up and get Yoshi or a 1-Up. However, to compensate, there were no map items, Mushroom Houses, or Hammer Brothers to make things easier. Believe me, there were several times where I was wishing for a P-Wing.

Yoshi did add an interesting element to gameplay in the levels where he was allowed. Of course, he could have made a few of the ghost houses easier, as well as all four of the fortresses. Gaining abilities by swallowing shells was an interesting concept, too, which kinda made up for the lack of P-Wings by the introduction of Blue Yoshi, who could fly when he ate a Koopa shell. There's a gripe here about shell colors, but I'll get to that when it's time.

The bosses, for the most part, were of the typical three-hit variety, with the exception of Renzor (one hit below each rhino), Iggy Koopa and Larry Koopa (both of whom had to be pushed into a lake of fire), and of course, Bowser (six hits from Mechakoops). Of course, some bosses were more interesting than others: the Boss Boo from the Donut Secret House was an interesting concept that only got screentime on that level, and only on the secret exit.

Speaking of secret exits, that was another genius addition to the Mario world. It gave you a reason to go back and re-do levels that you had thought "complete" because you'd cleared the gate. Granted, the exits on Butter Bridge and Chocolate Island 3 were cheap "get past the first gate" exits, though, Butter Bridge was one of exactly two secret exits that gave me difficulty. The other was the Valley Ghost House, where you had to manipulate a coin snake and hit a P-Switch--and be small in order to navigate everything.

Some of the secret exits were ultimately gateways to Star World, which wasn't part of the main map, but instead contained five worlds with two exits each. It wasn't useful as a Warp Zone in the traditional context of trying to get ahead in the game without playing it through, but more as a quicker way back to other areas where power-ups, 1-Ups, and Yoshis might be plentiful--though that was usually right there in Star World. The other thing to which you gained access in Star World was Special World.

Special World was quite possibly the biggest letdown in the game. It was supposed to be incredibly tough, but other than Tubular, I found the levels there to be pushovers. However, it was quite fun, which is enough to redeem it for me. And when you go down Star Road 7, you wind up in an autumnal Dinosaur Land where the color pallate looks like it was done up by somebody on acid, and the Koopa Troopas have mask shells that aren't of the same color as they were originally, leading the first shell in Yoshi's Island 2 to be a blue shell, allowing Yoshi to fly instead of the red shell it should be.

Lastly, there's the issue of Bowser. Instead of a direct confrontation, Bowser rides in his clown car for the first time. This makes him harder to hit with the six mechakoops if you don't have the timing quite right, but it does make for a satisfying boss. The addition of the two mushrooms available to Mario courtesy of the Princess were also quite helpful, as previous games didn't allow for power-ups in the last room.

The end of the game was quite cute: they all go off on a vacation from their vacation in Dinosaur Land, but not before returning to Yoshi's place and watching all of the Yoshi eggs hatch.

Overall, a the game is a good waste of time, and is most certainly up there with SMB3 in the great games of all time list.