In the grand scheme of things, Super Mario World although a bit overrated, is a ton of fun if you go and seek it. If you only rush through only seeking to finish the game, you will be sorely disappointed, but if you try and explore everything the game has to offer, you will find a great experience.
The game looks good for a SNES launch title and has even aged well today. This is thanks to a colourful, vibrant, and pleasant artstyle. Environments are clear and simple to understand. You could show someone a random screenshot of a level and they could tell you the world (maybe even the level) due to how recognisable everything is. The enemies are easy to read as well with defined pathing and movement. The audio has suitable tunes, satisfying hits sounds, identifiable losses in power-up or if one is occurring at the moment, and there is various small subtleties here and there if you look for it (a noticeable one being riding Yoshi adds a bit more flair as you go through a level). Near the end-game, you'll also have the option to change how the game looks entirely. Although this is a nice touch, I prefer sticking to the original look. From an audio-visual perspective, the game holds up, and in comparison to their late NES contemporaries, is a marked improvement.
Gameplay wise is where I have some qualms. Most of your deaths are justified, however the hitboxes can be a bit unfair, such as being even slightly above a spiked shell will kill you. At first, it's not a big deal, but as you encounter these enemies along with some other ones which share the same quirks (ie fishes), it is annoying. Boss fights are really easy and repeated. You'll be having 3-4 same boss types, but Bowser is a bit different and tricky if you don't know what you're doing. Fortunately, it is not the bulk of the game so triteness is seldom felt. The far majority of levels are well made, mixing precise movements, somewhat open areas, and the rare auto-scroller (which I did not enjoy as it would slow down momentum for no reason). The good thing is that the controls are able to keep up, allowing you to have much needed freedom to movement, and backtracking if needed. The controls make platforming incredibly sublime. Getting used to the fundamentals and then messing around with them in levels led me to many failures but also the occassional spark of joy when something worked. The game encourages it as-well and getting to the point of mastery where running through levels becomes a ballet is incredibly rewarding. As this was my first Mario game, I did suck a bit initially, but there is a nice difficulty scale to it all. Completing the game (ie doing the least exits to beat Bowser) is also a good deal of joy, but I was severely underwhelmed doing that only. There was a lack of challenge to it and it was soured even more so because the occasional level would toy around with the mechanics in fun ways, almost being a tease. But, this toying is brought to the extreme once you reach the special levels. Abusing all the mechanics here are a blast and the highlight of my playthrough. This new experience makes going back to old levels retroactively more replayable as honing your skills gives some incentive to repeat past levels beating your time. It is a game that begs to be 100%ed, not only for these special levels but also the neat secret here and there. The secrets are fun and enjoyable to discover, yet sometimes the over-world or even the levels are in-able to indicate whether I really did everything I was supposed to in a level or not. In the end of getting 94 exits, my last half hour was dedicated to trying to find what the last exit was, only to realise it was in a ghost house and a star world level I didn't finish normally, yet the game gives no way of indicating such things. Essentially, the gameplay is near-perfect, but minor nitpicks which are repeated consistently become larger issues. Mountains out of mole-hills, if you will.
Super Mario World was a great time, but some minor nitpicks can get frustrating as you play through the game. To a degree, it is a bit over-hyped, and much of it's praise is rightfully based on the improvement it made to SMB3. For what it's worth Nintendo nailed the launch of the SNES with not only an entertaining platforming romp but one of the platform's best titles.
The game looks good for a SNES launch title and has even aged well today. This is thanks to a colourful, vibrant, and pleasant artstyle. Environments are clear and simple to understand. You could show someone a random screenshot of a level and they could tell you the world (maybe even the level) due to how recognisable everything is. The enemies are easy to read as well with defined pathing and movement. The audio has suitable tunes, satisfying hits sounds, identifiable losses in power-up or if one is occurring at the moment, and there is various small subtleties here and there if you look for it (a noticeable one being riding Yoshi adds a bit more flair as you go through a level). Near the end-game, you'll also have the option to change how the game looks entirely. Although this is a nice touch, I prefer sticking to the original look. From an audio-visual perspective, the game holds up, and in comparison to their late NES contemporaries, is a marked improvement.
Gameplay wise is where I have some qualms. Most of your deaths are justified, however the hitboxes can be a bit unfair, such as being even slightly above a spiked shell will kill you. At first, it's not a big deal, but as you encounter these enemies along with some other ones which share the same quirks (ie fishes), it is annoying. Boss fights are really easy and repeated. You'll be having 3-4 same boss types, but Bowser is a bit different and tricky if you don't know what you're doing. Fortunately, it is not the bulk of the game so triteness is seldom felt. The far majority of levels are well made, mixing precise movements, somewhat open areas, and the rare auto-scroller (which I did not enjoy as it would slow down momentum for no reason). The good thing is that the controls are able to keep up, allowing you to have much needed freedom to movement, and backtracking if needed. The controls make platforming incredibly sublime. Getting used to the fundamentals and then messing around with them in levels led me to many failures but also the occassional spark of joy when something worked. The game encourages it as-well and getting to the point of mastery where running through levels becomes a ballet is incredibly rewarding. As this was my first Mario game, I did suck a bit initially, but there is a nice difficulty scale to it all. Completing the game (ie doing the least exits to beat Bowser) is also a good deal of joy, but I was severely underwhelmed doing that only. There was a lack of challenge to it and it was soured even more so because the occasional level would toy around with the mechanics in fun ways, almost being a tease. But, this toying is brought to the extreme once you reach the special levels. Abusing all the mechanics here are a blast and the highlight of my playthrough. This new experience makes going back to old levels retroactively more replayable as honing your skills gives some incentive to repeat past levels beating your time. It is a game that begs to be 100%ed, not only for these special levels but also the neat secret here and there. The secrets are fun and enjoyable to discover, yet sometimes the over-world or even the levels are in-able to indicate whether I really did everything I was supposed to in a level or not. In the end of getting 94 exits, my last half hour was dedicated to trying to find what the last exit was, only to realise it was in a ghost house and a star world level I didn't finish normally, yet the game gives no way of indicating such things. Essentially, the gameplay is near-perfect, but minor nitpicks which are repeated consistently become larger issues. Mountains out of mole-hills, if you will.
Super Mario World was a great time, but some minor nitpicks can get frustrating as you play through the game. To a degree, it is a bit over-hyped, and much of it's praise is rightfully based on the improvement it made to SMB3. For what it's worth Nintendo nailed the launch of the SNES with not only an entertaining platforming romp but one of the platform's best titles.