My favourite Nintendo game ever has to be Super Mario World. Though many games have surpassed it graphically and in scope since, there is something magical about the fourth main entry in the Mario series.
Firstly, there is the scope for exploration. In no game since this only Donkey Kong Country 3 comes close - has there ever been such a great map screen. In this case with multiple exits, secret levels and whole secret worlds which are accessible from secret exits, by activating switch houses or through completing tricky sections or levels. The game truly rewarded exploration.
Thirdly there was Yoshi, an excellent new addition to the series with special powers depending on which colour Yoshi you had, allowing for exits to levels only becoming available if you had the right one.
The balance was just right. The early levels were easy but when you got onto the final boss, the Star World levels and beyond, there were major challenges facing you if you wanted to complete the game, challenges that are still an effort for me to pass twenty years on.
Sure, the game was very much part of my childhood so I naturally look back on it fondly, but even replaying it through the Virtual Console shows it can still retain its joy and though there are more graphically gorgeous 2D games available now Super Mario World is by no means ugly and still great to play.
Though the Super Mario franchise has gone on to produce excellent entries such as the two Galaxy games, 3D Land and the New Super Mario Bros games, Super Mario World is to me still the definitive Mario game thanks to its difficulty, the ability to explore and general enjoyability.
Thanks to ONM forum member philmein for his review. If you would like to get a review published on ONM, just submit a review of your favourite Nintendo game on the Reviews and Buyer's Guide forum or email your entry to Thomas East East
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It's my favourite by a mile
Easily my favourite 2D mario game. Amazing game.
I really liked Super Mario World, I remembering playing it back when I had a Super Nintendo Entertainment System and now I have the Virtual Console version on my Nintendo Wii.
I found an easy way of getting the maximum amount of lives that I wouldn't have known about back when I had my Super Nintendo Entertainment System as I didn't have an Internet Connection back then and now I have found it due to being able to watch videos on YouTube.
I just really wonder what if they'd be able to make a Nintendo 3DS Remake...
That would be really amazing and Nintendo could call it Super Mario World 3D or Super Mario 3D World.
if anything, its for yoshi.
if you can count yoshi's island, i prefer that as the best 2d mario game. but this is the best 2d proper mario game there ever has been. great variety, wonderful levels, charisma, and so many more things i could talk about. it felt like the evolution of mario into the most iconic gaming character ever created. that was the development that kept him alive for however long he will last, hopefully ever.
This is the only Mario title in the main series of which I haven't played yet. It does look awesome, and also akin to A Link to the Past in terms of its timeless graphics (you hear it said all the time, but both games appear to the human eye as if they had been made yesterday).
My favourite Nintendo game is Mario Kart 7. It's by far the best game in the Mariokart franchise. I hope the gliders are in the next MK game,because the gliders are one of the best things about Mariokart 7.
This mario game was the best i think. It was hard challenging and had many things you could do. I like the fact that Yoshi had a house and you could visit it.
Still the best 2d Mario game I've ever played. I borrowed Super Mario Bros. 3 off a friend when it came out and never actually owned it. I'm glad I owned my own copy of Super Mario World which I played on my Japanese import Super Famicom. Like someone has already said, I do vaguely remember it getting more difficult toward the end, and I also seem to recollect it taking a few tries to defeat Bowser in his 'Koopa Copter', or whatever it was called. There were so many secret areas that could be accessed if you just explored enough, and who could forget Mario's flying cape!
Super Mario World is my second favourite Mario game after Super Mario Bros. 3. The thing that makes Mario 3 better is the largest amount of power ups and items from the super leaf to the clouds that let you skip levels, and even more were added to Mario Advance 4 like the blue boomerang and the cape from Mario World. Mario World only had the fire flower, the cape and Yoshi. Mario 3 also has a great difficulty curve and gets challenging by world 6.
The best 2d platformer I have ever played, without a shadow of a doubt.
I choose the galaxy games over this now, but I can see why people still choose it as their favourite mario game of all time.
I could just as easily say that. This is, in my opinion THE best 2D platformer mario game there is! I felt quite lucky to run into this gem in the emulation market...beats new super mario bros by a mile. I haven't played a lot of mario games but, this is a good one.
This is definitely be best Mario game. It had everything, great power-ups, great boss levels, great castle levels and ghost house levels. I agree that it had the greatest overworld map, all connected lots of shortcuts and secrets. SMB3 comes in a respectable 2nd though in introducing some great power-ups and introducing the Koopalings, I would also say SMB3 is more difficult to play through every level, simply because in SMW you can go back to previous levels.
Also, whoever said SMW only had Fireflower, Cape and Yoshi is forgetting about all the different coloured yoshis and the things they could do as well as what different coloured Koopa shells did for Yoshi.
I don't know how anyone could think any other Mario game (2D or 3D) was better than this. A masterpiece of game design.