#superretro

Of course this account is meant all for the reviews, and it’s only appropriate that the first official review (or at least, “in play” review) be something big, such as, the Super Nintendo classic, Super Mario World.

Now, at this moment, I’m still yet to finish the game, considering I just got my hands on it yesterday, so this isn’t going to be a complete review but I at least feel I have enough Gameplay and content to throw down a couple points and facts in regards to the game.

First off, is always the looks. The visuals. Since I’m playing this on my SuperRetro 3, I have 2 built in 16-bit console variants; the Sega Genesis, and the Super Nintendo. Having these 2 gives me quick access to jump between 16 bit games to get a good comparison in looks. Having established this, Super Mario World is C L E A N. Incredibly smooth, colorful and crammed full of that Mario-esque playfulness. Everything either bounces and glides, yet neither rupture the integrity of the machine, bearing no visual lag, or stutter, making Gameplay both a breeze, and a treat. These combinations of both machine strength and colorful shine give Super Mario World a massive thumbs up from my book in terms of visuals.

Gameplay. It always boils down to the Gameplay. Now I’ve not finished the game yet so I can’t point out, almost level for level, the bearings of the controls and the smoothness of the run through, but I can at least point out a few things. Now, I played through this game quite a few times when I was much, much younger on the GameBoy Advance, playing the GameBoy port of Super Mario World: “Super Mario Advance 2”. The Gameplay on the Super Nintendo port is, from the get go, muuuuuuuch more comfortable. There’s something about not having to squint between your thumbs that makes the game an easier glide, and not a task. Being able to look up at the screen and let your hands instinctively do their own thing out of your eyesight. There is an issue that I’ve always kept on the back of mind in regards to Super Mario World, and it’s something that I’ve noticed is kind of an ongoing thing in the Mario World since, if I’m not mistaken, Super Mario Bros. 3, is this slide that happens while you’re attempting to land from a jump or from a fall. For the most part, this is just a minor complaint but it becomes increasingly a frustration when the last couple of times that you can remember dying, is not because of a bad call on your part in trying to read the next section of the map, or an ill-timed jump that results in a certain, loved, Italian plumber to plummet to his death, but no, it’s a slide that moves you just relatively to the right when landing, trying to dodge a Paratroopa Koopa, that moves you perfectly over the edge, and to your death, leaving Bowser laughing and loving on that ole princess of Mario’s. I guess this could be an issue that only players of my kind deal with: The Mario players that perpetually hold the B button while juking through the map, but I digress. Other than this minute nagging, the game play is Mario, man. What more do you want? What more do you need? In quick comparison to another Mario game that I have quick at hand, Super Mario Bros. 3, there’s a couple small things that are changed, such as the ability to store a secondary power. For instance, you’re running through with a fire flower but you snag a feather. It saves that feather to the top of the screen HUD and with a simple press of the Select button, will drop a blinking feather down to the bottom of the screen and if grabbed, will store your Fire Flower and switch you to a Caped Mario or Caped Luigi. This sometimes is presented with a challenge, as sometimes when an enemy hits you and shrinks you, the power up will fall from the top of screen but, if not grabbed, will fall to the bottom of the screen rendering it useless. This is actually a fantastic addition, in my opinion, considering I loved the backup power ups function in Super Mario Bros. 3 (which was ONLY accessible while in the level selection screen).

All in all, like I said, I’m not finished. I’m currently in the Vanilla Dome, which could be considered World 3, I guess. My run throughs have consisted of me burning through the world up to the castle, defeating the Koopa, and then re-running the levels in order to finish the secret endings and fulfill the entirety of the worlds. Also would like to point out the fact that the levels that have secret endings are Red and the regular levels are Yellow, which has helped this whole time. But the game is absolutely fantastic. Ever since I was a kid and played the GameBoy port variant, I always considered this one of my favorite and one of the best (at least, in my opinion) Mario games ever made. The looks, the game play, the replayability (is that a word? Or am I completely just forgetting what proper word is needed?), the characters, everything are nice.

Even in these early stages on me completing this runthrough, the game easily gets an:

(via Frida Kahlo and a fawn)