Reviews from

in the past


Super Mario World is a triumph of a game and is my personal foundational gaming experience.

Super Mario World is clearly crafted with an immense amount of love, exuding a unique kind of charm throughout every level. Mario controls wonderfully, possessing a perfect amount of momentum while still feeling perfectly maneuverable. The levels are tightly designed to complement these abilities, giving the perfect playground to test your skills without ever being so challenging that it bogs the player down. In terms of abilities, the cape in particular stands out. New players can have fun running and easily flying up to new areas, and experienced players can master sustained flight to race through levels, with the cape feeling satisfying in either case. Additionally, the game sports 24 secret exits. With one exception, (Valley of Bowser 2) the secret levels are again the perfect mix of being hard enough to find to be satisfying, but easy enough to not be frustrating. And finding them is truly rewarding, as they eventually unlock a fast-track to Bowser's castle, as well as special challenge levels to test your skills.

It feels like the developers were constantly focused on the most important question when designing this game: "What makes this mechanic fun?" They focused more on how cool it is to ride Yoshi, or how exhilarating it is to fly, without ever worrying too much about the cape trivializing levels or Yoshi breezing through enemies, because flying is fun and riding Yoshi is fun. The levels are well designed around these mechanics, and for the most part mechanics are well balanced, but there were never mechanics that were made less fun in the name of "balance".

SMW also sports a uniquely charming art style. Almost everything has a pair of eyes, including fireballs, blocks, plants, clouds, and hills, making the world feel welcoming and alive. The enemies have personality, from koopas kicking shells to wigglers getting angry and red and chasing you when you jump on them. The animations have enough frames to show personality, but are quick enough that everything feels snappy. The graphics are unique and colorful and exude the wonderful potential of sprite art and the capabilities of the Super Nintendo. The special care put into the art leaves a lasting impression and is a cornerstone of what makes the game feel special.

Finally, Koji Kondo did a banger job with the soundtrack. The songs take full advantage of the SNES's upgraded sound capabilities, doing cool things like adding in a track of bongos whenever the player is riding Yoshi. Of note is the fact that there are only a few core tracks. For example, the overworld, athletic, underwater, underground, bonus room, ghost house, and castle themes are all the same tune, remixed (and sometimes put into minor) to fit the level theme. Remarkably, rather than the tune feeling tired by the end, this choice makes the game feel expecially cohesive throughout, perfectly complementing the gameplay rhythm found in each unique environment.

If I had any criticisms to levy, it'd be against the autoscrollers and the boss variety. There are a few levels that are autoscrollers, or due to having to ride a platform or wait for stage elements to move, function like one. With Mario's movement being as dynamic as it is, these interrupt the pace that is usually dynamically set by the player themselves. In the boss department, there are four fortresses throughout the world, all guided by the same boss "Reznor". Reznor is a fun boss, but feels old by the fourth fight. Similarly, though there are seven Koopalings to be fought in the world's castles, three of them essentially boil down to slightly harder versions of earlier fights. None of these issues are significant enough to mar the experience, but like any game, SMW has its imperfections.

Ultimately, the supreme quality of the game is exemplified by the fact that I was able to grasp this game enough to beat it as a kindergartener while still having a blast playing it now, almost 20 years later, with lots of fond memories in between. Despite the dozens of times I've beat it before, it never ceases to feel fresh whenever I pick it up, and I expect to revisit it for the rest of my life.

Everybody needs to experience Super Mario World.

não tem mais oq falar além de muito bom, ta acabando a criatividade

The game that I began my life into gaming. The very first game i played when i was 2-3 years old. It still remains to this day the greatest and my favorite game of all time. My life will never the same for gaming if it weren't for Super Mario World. An icon of video games.

Mi primer plataformas, como me lo gocé de chico.


Me quedo con el Mario Colita, aunque este no esta para nada mal, eso si, deberia jugarme todos los niveles, ya que me lo pase usando los warps.

Un gran juego de Mario con un diseño de niveles espectacular, ademas del debut de Yoshi en la serie. Que es esa mamada de volver al sistema de items de Mario 1.

One of the all time greats, it took everything that worked in Super Mario Bros. 3 and extended it more and expanded upon it.
Its sprite work and music still hold up in the modern era and are easily recognizable till this day. All the songs have a certain bop that can easily stay with you for years to come, like for me!
Though...this game has an unfair advantage to every game out there, because of the memories I hold dear with me. I used to play this game with my dad when i was very little and it was a blast. He had a save file on there that had a star on it, and I never knew how he had that one there when I couldn't get one after I beat the game, even after seeing the star world for myself. That mystery stayed with me for years until i saw a single level at a bridge that had an alternate exit that i never knew of.
On top of that, this game holds the single most important memory that will stay near and dear to me, and it's the reason why i stick with Nintendo and play Mario to this day.
Whether it's to speedrun it or going for the 100%, this game will always be special to me, and I'll play it every single year...it's the game that made me love all gaming!

while I've explored most of mario's journeys throughout my life, SMW always sort of felt like more of a mysterious adventure, most likely due to what was, at the time, my very young brain's limitations in discerning how to solve each level's varying puzzles & secrets. as a child, i felt frustrated that I was clearly missing something in vanilla dome. by the time i had reached the forest of illusion, i just stopped trying altogether.

i'm glad that I gave this gem another shot as an adult, where i was really able to appreciate the tight controls, beautiful artwork/sprite design, puzzles, and progression. taking a lap around dinosaur island was colorful and rewarding as I was able to find nearly each secret and see for myself a fully explored world & uncovered paths. while the music did sort of blend into the background after awhile, i seldom felt as though any given level felt exactly like the last.

despite giving it some thought, I'm not sure what could push this game, for me, from a 4/5 to a 5/5. it could be that its kept here due to limitations of a generation or the simple boss fights, but who is to say. for a game that came into existence about thirty five years ago, i found that this light-hearted and joyful experience had me feeling content from start to finish.

The most Mario of 2D Mario games.

Nintendo is simply amazing!

a contender for my favourite game of all time

True timeless masterpiece.
I've played it for the first time just now. And luckily did it on original hardware.
The game is super enjoyable and fun. It gives you optimal level of challenge. It's not super easy but not too annoying with hard levels. Just several bonus levels made me try them for dozens of times.
Secret exits gives the game second breath after main storyline is completed. It was really interesting to find them all. 5 times I had to find help online - exits were hidden too strongly. And probably that's the only negative feeling about the game.
Animation and sound are great. I didn't get tired listening to music themes again and again.
That's nice to see how such ancient versions of Mario games already had some key mechanics of the series which we know today. That's a true delight for me. Even can't imagine how inventive all these things seemed to be back then.
So totally recommend for everyone who somehow missed this gem.

o que dizer desse clássico? sem palavras. não lembro se já cheguei até o final ou não, mas sei que passei HORAS e DIAS jogando essa porra, me fodendo muito por não saber salvar. pelo menos, o primeiro e segundo mapa explorei de cabo a rabo. e jogaria de novo tranquilamente. bom demais!!!!

played on switch. music to make me feel like a good again and awesome mario feel

bom jogo classico pegou o bom e deixou top

bombava no emulador!!!!!!

pra mim só existe dois jogos do mario na nintendo e esse é um deles e eu n to nem aí.

Um primor dos plataformers

SMW is a weird case to me, maybe its because we have already come such a long way from vanilla in terms of Mario level design that the original Super Mario World just feels empty in comparison.

This is not a bad game by any means, obviously the controls are the highlight of the game and allow for a LOT of skill expression, and I always will love the more exploratory direction for Super Mario design than the more linear stage to stage progression from SMB3. The level design is also decent all throughout if only in the forgettable side for like, 1/3rd of the game's stages.

I'm not sure I'd recommend it solely on the grounds that the SMW hacking community has just outdone it in every single way already, if you want to experience what vanilla has to offer, you can literally just play anything else at this point.


The best Mario game to this day