Super Mario World might be the most acclaimed platformer of all time. It is extremely beloved universally and it makes sense why; it's very charming, it's got a plethora of content and it might be the most distinct feeling 2D Mario out there. Yet I must admit, I'm not fond of it for a very particular set of reasons.
Super Mario World's level design is something I have to consistently question, time and time again, in spite of its beloved reputation. The game is full of heart and yet it echoes an atmosphere where no ideas that the developers poured in actually got finalized or expanded upon. Think back to the Koopa Shells that home in on you; they could have done a lot with those, and I think we can agree a Mario level is at its best when it repeatedly iterates on ideas to create complexity and new challenges throughout the duration. That said, these homing Koopa Shells are only used a few times and are slapped at random parts of a level, with practically no iteration. Almost any unique concept is more so tossed around rather than slowly expanded upon. The ability to run up walls with those little smiley face blocks is practically completely underutilized for any serious platforming, and you don't really see Yoshi or the Cape get any serious usage either besides just being... there to trivialize levels. This wouldn't be so upsetting to me if the game at least had entertaining platforming by default, but Super Mario World clearly butchered not only stages of their creative gimmicks, but also any chance for interesting platforming due to overall flat, empty level design that doesn't engage you much. This is all addressing Super Mario World as a standalone platformer and not as a sequel mind you, and then I feel the need to bring up how the best elements of SMB3 are completely ditched here. No more dynamic levels that appear on the map, no more branching map gates, no more item shops, no more minigames and worst of all, no more P-Meter: the saving grace mechanically for even SMB3's least interesting levels. Even basic things that could have been tweaked to improve from that game just didn't get tweaked; does anyone else love when they get to the right of an auto-scrolling level and just have to sit there waiting for it to move even though you've already gotten through the obstacles? How about having every single level play a track you've probably heard in the first world before? There's even arguably a downgrade of precision, since although World controls extremely smoothly, you actually have a lot less leeway in regards to your jump. In 3 both the P-Meter and physics are teaming up to give you very smooth inputs. You lightly tap jump, Mario lightly jumps. You hold it down, he does a larger jump. Combining this with the momentum system and horizontal movement and you have a very dense but extremely controllable movement system. Mario's jumps in World don't have much room to compare though, since no matter how precisely you input they almost always have the same velocity and height, with only two notable variations if you really lightly tap jump, or heavily tap jump, neither of which offer much complexity or variety for segments that might need it. It ultimately leaves me sour on a game which, I really do appreciate for the sheer conceptual quality it has in so many departments. But I just can't bring myself to say that the game is more than average for me.
Super Mario World's level design is something I have to consistently question, time and time again, in spite of its beloved reputation. The game is full of heart and yet it echoes an atmosphere where no ideas that the developers poured in actually got finalized or expanded upon. Think back to the Koopa Shells that home in on you; they could have done a lot with those, and I think we can agree a Mario level is at its best when it repeatedly iterates on ideas to create complexity and new challenges throughout the duration. That said, these homing Koopa Shells are only used a few times and are slapped at random parts of a level, with practically no iteration. Almost any unique concept is more so tossed around rather than slowly expanded upon. The ability to run up walls with those little smiley face blocks is practically completely underutilized for any serious platforming, and you don't really see Yoshi or the Cape get any serious usage either besides just being... there to trivialize levels. This wouldn't be so upsetting to me if the game at least had entertaining platforming by default, but Super Mario World clearly butchered not only stages of their creative gimmicks, but also any chance for interesting platforming due to overall flat, empty level design that doesn't engage you much. This is all addressing Super Mario World as a standalone platformer and not as a sequel mind you, and then I feel the need to bring up how the best elements of SMB3 are completely ditched here. No more dynamic levels that appear on the map, no more branching map gates, no more item shops, no more minigames and worst of all, no more P-Meter: the saving grace mechanically for even SMB3's least interesting levels. Even basic things that could have been tweaked to improve from that game just didn't get tweaked; does anyone else love when they get to the right of an auto-scrolling level and just have to sit there waiting for it to move even though you've already gotten through the obstacles? How about having every single level play a track you've probably heard in the first world before? There's even arguably a downgrade of precision, since although World controls extremely smoothly, you actually have a lot less leeway in regards to your jump. In 3 both the P-Meter and physics are teaming up to give you very smooth inputs. You lightly tap jump, Mario lightly jumps. You hold it down, he does a larger jump. Combining this with the momentum system and horizontal movement and you have a very dense but extremely controllable movement system. Mario's jumps in World don't have much room to compare though, since no matter how precisely you input they almost always have the same velocity and height, with only two notable variations if you really lightly tap jump, or heavily tap jump, neither of which offer much complexity or variety for segments that might need it. It ultimately leaves me sour on a game which, I really do appreciate for the sheer conceptual quality it has in so many departments. But I just can't bring myself to say that the game is more than average for me.