Review: Super Mario World

Back in the 80s and 90s, when you bought a new game system, it came with a freaking game. The NES came with Super Mario Bros, the Genesis eventually packed in Sonic the Hedgehog, and the Super Nintendo bundled Super Mario World with every console. Not only is this a masterpiece of a game and perhaps one of the best games Nintendo has ever made, it came free! The fact that a game of this level was just given to everyone is staggering.

Super Mario World was built on a foundation of one of the most established and respected set of game mechanics in the biz. Everyone who picked up that shiny new SNES controller on Christmas morning knew exactly how fast Mario could run, how high he could jump, what a Mushroom did and what happened when you stepped on a turtle. So Nintendo took that established formula and added a few major, tasty layers.

The first major addition was apparent before you even started the game:

Yoshi.

Now in addition to the the tried and true run and jump mechanics, a ride-able dinosaur enters the picture. Let me just take a moment to emphasize the significance of this. You're an 8 year old boy - what's the coolest thing in the world? Dinosaurs. What's the second coolest? Mario.

"Hey did you hear? Super Mario World lets you ride on dinosaurs!"

The addition of Yoshi isn't simply a powerup, it changes the way the game is played. Yoshi gives you extra height in your jump and uncovering secret areas and powerups will allow Yoshi to adapt all sorts of abilities. On top of the technical additions the green dino brings, it also adds another layer of happy to an already whimsical game. Seeing a Yoshi egg hatch always brought a smile.

Hidden exit.

The other major addition is the "hidden exit" mechanic. About 75% of the levels have 2 or more ways out. Whether it's finding a key and walking through a giant keyhole (always exciting when that happens) or locating an additional end gate, Super Mario World doesn't simply ask you to go from left to right and avoid obstacles on the way. This game forces you to think logically and creatively to discover these hidden secrets, and this is what endeared me to the game so strongly.

These secret exits would either provide you with a valuable shortcut or lead you to a super challenging bonus level. This was the game where Nintendo absolutely mastered the difficulty curve - here's what I mean: Pretty much anyone could make it through the first world or two and feel accomplished. Then, more seasoned players could likely finish the game along the critical path - I beat Bowser on my first attempt. But it takes some real precision, patience and practice to unlock and beat all 96 levels included in this game. There are some SERIOUS challenges included here if you can find them. Needless to say, I did not achieve that goal, but that's the genius of this design philosophy: I chose how deeply I wanted to go and I'm fully satisfied with what I got out of it. 

Regular exit.

Nintendo transcends the genre they created in Super Mario World. The addition of Yoshi and the hidden exits make it feel like a huge step in the right direction to evolve the series. Here's hoping for this level of innovation for the first 3D Mario game on the Wii U.