I played the earlier parts of this game many times throughout my life and found it to be fun but ultimately not worth playing through. But upon revisit on original hardware and a nice CRT, SMW's outstanding elements truly shined.
A stylish visual presentation isn't all this game has over Super Mario Bros 3; it has a completely new philosophy on exploration and secrets in a game that's still incredibly newcomer friendly and straightforward. Controls are less weighty and quicker, and the new and returning enemies perfectly compliment that new feel. I appreciated most that the game gave back however much detail I wanted to comb into the levels, to the point I found secrets in secrets in secrets... and so on.
I ended up getting 95 exits (thanks to the Forest of Illusion fortress being a one-time affair) and very much look forward to revisiting this in the future.
A stylish visual presentation isn't all this game has over Super Mario Bros 3; it has a completely new philosophy on exploration and secrets in a game that's still incredibly newcomer friendly and straightforward. Controls are less weighty and quicker, and the new and returning enemies perfectly compliment that new feel. I appreciated most that the game gave back however much detail I wanted to comb into the levels, to the point I found secrets in secrets in secrets... and so on.
I ended up getting 95 exits (thanks to the Forest of Illusion fortress being a one-time affair) and very much look forward to revisiting this in the future.