Game Retrospective: Super Mario World
On the 21st of November 1990, Super Mario World was first released in Japan for the Super Famicom (later released as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES, outside Japan).
Developed by Nintendo EAD, the game was worked on by a team of about 10 people, including regular series director Takashi Tezuka and series creator Shigeru Miyamoto.
The game is a direct sequel to Super Mario Bros. 3 and takes place on Dinosaur Land, with the Mario brothers enjoying a well-earned holiday following their previous adventure.
The vacation is cut short however when Princess Toadstool is, yet again, kidnapped by Bowser requiring Mario and Luigi to venture forth and rescue her. On their adventure, they encounter Yoshi, a young dinosaur, who joins the brothers on their quest in hopes of freeing his dinosaur peers who have been mysteriously sealed in eggs by Bowser and his gang.
To help explore the new, more-powerful SNES platform, the development team ported Mario 3 to the console as an experiment. Although the more advanced hardware allowed for more detailed artwork and a greater range of colours, they knew that, fundamentally, this port was the same old game and wasn’t really bringing anything original to the series. They quickly realised the need to try something new.
The inclusion of an animal that Mario could ride, in this case, Yoshi, was a concept Miyamoto had wanted to include since the original Super Mario Bros., but the limited capabilities of the NES made this idea difficult to implement.
Super Mario World was released alongside the launch of the SNES console and was applauded by many critics for showcasing the capabilities of this new platform, with the game’s visuals and music receiving particular praise. Super Mario World would top several ‘best video game’ polls in the years following its release and would eventually sell over 20 million copies.
🕹Are you a fan of Super Mario World?
🕹Did you welcome the introduction of Yoshi?
🕹Which is your favourite game in the Mario series?
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