Super Mario World

For other uses, see Super Mario World (disambiguation).

Super Mario World
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo SNES JP / NA / EU Nintendo AUS Mattel Game Boy Advance Nintendo
Director(s)	Takashi Tezuka
Producer(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto
Composer(s)	Koji Kondo
Series	Mario
Platform(s)	Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console
Release date(s)	November 21, 1990 SNES JP November 21, 1990 NA August 23, 1991 EU April 11, 1992 AUS July 1, 1992 Game Boy Advance JP December 14, 2001 NA February 9, 2002 PAL April 12, 2002 Virtual Console JP December 2, 2006 NA February 5, 2007 PAL February 9, 2007
Genre(s)	Platforming
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ACB: G CERO: A ESRB: E PEGI: 7+

Super Mario World (スーパーマリオワールド, Sūpā Mario Wārudo^?), subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 for its original Japanese release,^[1] is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), and is the fourth game in the Super Mario series. Development was handled by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, led by Shigeru Miyamoto, who directed the game along with Takashi Tezuka.

The game centers on the quest of Mario and Luigi to save the Dinosaur Land from Bowser, the series' antagonist. The two brothers must travel across seven worlds to restore order to Dinosaur Land. It built on the gameplay of previous Mario games by introducing new power-ups that augment character abilities, and established conventions that were carried over to future games in the series.

The game was a critical and commercial success, gaining a legacy and selling over 20 million copies worldwide. It has been re-released three times, first as part of a combo with Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES in 1994. Secondly, it was released on the Game Boy Advance with modified gameplay, as the second part of the Super Mario Advance series. The third re-release was for the Wii's Virtual Console in North America in 2007; there were few changes from the original SNES version.

Gameplay

See also: Gameplay of Mario series

Super Mario World is a two-dimensional platform game in which the player controls the on-screen protagonist (either Mario or Luigi) from a third-person perspective. The game shares similar gameplay mechanics with previous titles in the series—Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and Super Mario Bros. 3—but introduces several new elements. In addition to the running and jumping moves found in past games, the player can float with the aid of special items and execute new types of jumps such as the spin jump.^[2]

The player navigates through the game via two game screens: an overworld map and a level playfield. The overworld map displays an overhead representation of the current world and has several paths leading from the world's entrance to a castle. Paths connect to action panels, fortresses, ghost houses and other map icons, and allow players to take different routes to reach the world's goal. Moving the on-screen character to an action panel or fortress will allow access to that level's playfield. The majority of the game takes place in these levels, populated with obstacles and enemies, with the player traversing the stage by running, jumping, and dodging or defeating enemies. Completing stages allows the player to progress through the overworld map and to succeeding worlds. Each world features a final stage with a boss to defeat; each of the seven worlds feature fortresses controlled by one of the Koopalings, and the player also battles Bowser in his castle in the seventh world. In addition to special items from previous games like the "Super Mushroom" and "Fire Flower", new power-ups are introduced that provide the player with new gameplay options. The new suit in the game is the cape feather, which gives Mario a cape and allows him to fly. This suit is also similar to the Racoon Suit from Super Mario Bros. 3 in terms of gameplay mechanics but with a few alterations. Super Mario World includes a multiplayer option which allows two players to cooperatively play the game by taking turns at navigating the overworld map and accessing stage levels; the first player controls Mario, while the other controls Luigi. The game introduces Yoshi, a dinosaur companion whom Mario can ride and is able to eat most enemies.^[2]

Plot

After saving the Mushroom Kingdom, brothers Mario and Luigi agree to take a vacation to a place called Dinosaur Land, where there are many types of dinosaurs. However, while resting in the beach, Princess Toadstool disappears. When Mario and Luigi wake up they try to find her and, after hours of searching, come across a giant egg in the forest. It suddenly hatches and out of it comes a young dinosaur named Yoshi, who then tells them that his dinosaur friends have also been imprisoned in eggs by evil turtles. Mario and Luigi soon realize that it must be the evil King Koopa Bowser and his Koopalings.

Mario, Luigi and Yoshi set out to save Princess Toadstool and Yoshi's dinosaur friends, exploring Dinosaur Land for Bowser and his Koopalings. To aid him, Yoshi gives Mario a cape as they begin their journey. Mario and Luigi continue to follow Bowser defeating the koopalings in the process and save all of Yoshi's dinosaur friends. They eventually make it to Bowser's castle, where they fight him in a final battle. They defeat Bowser and save the Princess, restoring peace to Dinosaur Land.^[3]

Development

Shigeru Miyamoto, the producer for Super Mario World, has been involved in the development of every Super Mario Bros. console game.

The game was directed by Takashi Tezuka and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario and The Legend of Zelda, with Shigefumi Hino as the graphics designer. Development was handled by Nintendo EAD, headed by Miyamoto. It took three years to develop the game with a team of sixteen people. However, Miyamoto stated that he felt that the game was incomplete and that development was rushed, voicing hope that with time the games for the system would allow for more emotion and story.^[4]

Miyamoto stated that he had wanted Mario to have a dinosaur companion ever since Super Mario Bros.; however, Nintendo engineers could not fit the companion into the limitations of the Nintendo Entertainment System. He said that "we were finally able to get Yoshi off the drawing boards with the SNES".^[4] Yoshi came in one size and four colors, with different powers and huge appetites.^[4] At the time, Nintendo was late to the 16-bit video game market, which was slowly being conquered by Sega's Mega Drive console.^[5] A new game, Sonic the Hedgehog, helped create numerous sales and increased popularity for Sega.^[4][5] Super Mario World arrived in 1991 alongside the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America.^[4]

Re-releases

After the success of Super Mario World, the game was packaged in a special version of Super Mario All-Stars titled Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World, which was released in 1994 in the United States and in Europe as the pack-in game for the SNES "Super Mario Set" bundle.^[6] In this version, Luigi has his own sprite, while the rest remained the same. Super Mario World was one of the first games to be announced for the Wii's Virtual Console. It was released in Japan on December 2, 2006; in the United States on February 5, 2007.^[7] A short timed demo of the game is one of the unlockable "Masterpieces" in the 2008 Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World

In 2001, Super Mario World was ported by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development to the Game Boy Advance as Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2.^[8][9] Some levels were minimally changed, but the most noticeable alteration was making the game one player only instead of two. However, Luigi was still usable, but this time as an alternate character; he could jump higher than Mario, but he ran slightly slower. Mario and Luigi were also given voices. Luigi's sprites were changed once again with his appearance closer to the original Super Mario Advance game, which was based on Super Mario Bros. 2.^[10]

Music

Koji Kondo composed all of the music used in Super Mario World, using only an electronic keyboard. The entirety of the music heard in the game, with the exception of the music played in the title screen, the credits, the overworld map, special world, bonus stages, level completion, the star road, and fighting Bowser, is a variation on the same melody. The Super Mario Bros. theme can be found in Map 7 of the Overworld themes. The music is played normally on the standard overworld levels. It is slowed down and made to echo in caverns, whereas it moves in a slow, wave-like fashion (in 3/4 or waltz time) in underwater levels; in the athletic theme, it is played quickly and energetically to suit the more risky and lively nature of a level taking place in the air. When riding on Yoshi, the soundtrack of any level is accompanied by bongo drums,^[11] a sound design element that was carried over into Super Mario Sunshine, as well as New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario Galaxy 2 some 18 years later.

Impact

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	96.70%[12]
Review scores
Publication	Score
Allgame	[2]
IGN	GBA 9.3/10[9] VC 8.5/10 [13]

Super Mario World was well-received upon release. The game continued to receive favorable reviews for many years. On GameRankings the game received very positive scores, with a 96.5% average score.^[12][14] Allgame gave the game five stars out of five, praising the graphics, sound, and replay value.^[2] It was ranked as the eighth best game for a Nintendo console in Nintendo Power's "Top 200 Games" list.^[15] Official Nintendo Magazine ranked the game seventh in its "100 greatest Nintendo games of all time".^[16] Famitsu readers ranked it 61st in the magazine's list of the top 100 video games.^[17] In 2009, a poll conducted by British film magazine Empire voted it "the greatest game of all time."^[18] In the Virtual Console review of the game, IGN said that the game should be downloaded by people who did not own the Game Boy version of the game and gave it an 8.5 out of 10, a Great score.^[13] Super Mario World won Nintendo Power's game of the year award for 1991. The game has also appeared on several "best video games of all time" lists such as those from Edge Magazine and Retrogamer.

Super Mario World has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time.^[19] As a pack-in title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Mario World helped popularize the console,^[2] which has sold 49.10 million units worldwide, including 23.35 million in the Americas and 17.17 million in Japan.^[20] In a poll conducted in 2008, Yoshi was voted as the third-favorite video game character in Japan, with Cloud Strife and Mario placing second and first, respectively.^[21]

Legacy

Less than a month after the game's American release, DiC Entertainment produced a Super Mario World animated series based on the game, although some of the game's elements and names were renamed or changed. DiC Entertainment later released Mario All Stars, which was a compilation of previous Super Mario cartoons. A spinoff to Super Mario World was planned for the Philips CD-i, known as Super Mario's Wacky Worlds by NovaLogic, but was replaced with Hotel Mario due to the CD-I's Commercial Failure.^[22] The game produced a sequel called Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The character of Yoshi has returned in several Mario games; he can be ridden in Super Mario Sunshine, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Super Mario Galaxy 2, and is a major character in Super Mario 64 DS.^{[23][24][25][26]}

References

1. ^ Nintendo. Super Mario World (in Japanese). Super Famicom. Level/area: Front packaging.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Miller, Skyler. "Super Mario World". Review. Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=2630&tab=review. Retrieved 2009-07-13. 
3. ^ Nintendo R&D1. Super Mario World instruction manual. (Nintendo).
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} McLaughlin, Rus (2007-11-08). "IGN Presents The History of Super Mario Bros.". http://retro.ign.com/articles/833/833615p2.html. Retrieved 2009-04-13. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Sheff, David (1993). Game Over. Random House. 
6. ^ "Super Mario All-Stars / Super Mario World Release Information for SNES". GameFAQs. GameSpot. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/data/920979.html. Retrieved 2009-05-11. 
7. ^ "Virtual Console". Nintendo Power 213: 40. March 2007. 
8. ^ "Joining Nintendo After Super Mario". Iwata Asks: Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary. Nintendo of America, Inc.. 13 September 2010. http://us.wii.com/iwata_asks/mario25th/vol3_page1.jsp. Retrieved 19 January 2011. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Harris, Craig (2002-02-11). "Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World". IGN. http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/324/324423p1.html. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
10. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (2002-02-12). "Super Mario Advance 2 Review". GameSpot UK. http://uk.gamespot.com/gba/adventure/supermarioworldsuperma2/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary. Retrieved 2009-04-13. 
11. ^ Nintendo EAD. Super Mario World (in Japanese, English). (Nintendo). SNES, (v1). (1990-11-21)
12. ^ ^{a b} "Super Mario World for SNES". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/snes/519824-super-mario-world/index.html. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
13. ^ ^{a b} Thomas, Lucas (2007-02-05). "Super Mario World VC Review". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/articles/761/761605p1.html. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
14. ^ "All-Time Best". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/browse.html. Retrieved 2008-06-13. 
15. ^ "NP Top 200". Nintendo Power 200: 58–66. February 2006. 
16. ^ East, Tom (2009-03-02). "100 Best Nintendo Games — Part Six". Official Nintendo Magazine. Future plc. http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=7327. Retrieved 2009-03-02. 
17. ^ "Japan Votes on All Time Top 100 Video Games". Edge. 2006-03-03. http://www.next-gen.biz/features/japan-votes-all-time-top-100?page=0%252C1. Retrieved 2009-08-06. 
18. ^ "The 100 Greatest Games Of All Time". Empire. Bauer Consumer Media. http://www.empireonline.com/100greatestgames/default.asp?p=1. Retrieved 2009-05-30. 
19. ^ "The Nintendo Years: 1990". Next-Gen.biz. 2007-06-25. p. 2. http://www.next-gen.biz/features/nintendo-years. Retrieved 2007-06-27. 
20. ^ "Consolidated Sales Transition by Region" (PDF). Nintendo. 2010-01-27. Archived from the original on 2010-02-14. http://www.webcitation.org/5nXieXX2B. Retrieved 2010-02-14. 
21. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (2008-08-12). "And Japan's Favorite Video Game Characters Are...?". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5035884/and-japans-favorite-video-game-characters-are. Retrieved 2009-09-12. 
22. ^ "Super Mario's Wacky Worlds". IGN. http://cheats.ign.com/objects/142/14217666.html. Retrieved 2009-05-11. 
23. ^ Super Mario Sunshine instruction booklet. Nintendo. 2002. pp. 25–26. 
24. ^ Parish, Jeremy (2009-06-04). "New Super Mario Bros (Wii)". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3174621. Retrieved 2009-06-07. 
25. ^ Welsh, Oli (2009-06-02). "E3: New Super Mario Bros. Wii". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/e3-new-super-mario-bros-wii-hands-on. Retrieved 2009-06-07. 
26. ^ East, Thomas (2010-02-24). "Mario Galaxy 2: New trailer and screenshots". Official Nintendo Magazine. http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=15462. Retrieved 2010-02-28. 

External links

• Official Nintendo Japan Super Mario World site
• Super Mario World at Super Mario Wiki
• The Mushroom Kingdom
• Mario Mayhem
• Official Super Mario Advance 2 site
• Super Mario World guide at StrategyWiki