Super Mario World

February 6, 2021

A refinement of the game-play proposal of Super Mario Bros. 3, with a growth in its scope. I believe that this was probably the title that tied the fate of this series with the fate of Nintendo as a whole. There may have been a world where the transition to the Super Nintendo failed to recapture the hearts of many, and the Mario series could have gone the way of F-Zero. As it’s first big series, such a misstep could have drastically changed Nintendo’s approach entirely. Although many hold this as the best Mario game, I don’t think it pushes the envelope as far as it’s prior iteration did. At the same time, it is the definitive Mario experience. The biggest leap here is its sound design. The music and other accompaniments felt like the biggest ‘next gen’ aspect of this entry. I suppose the introduction of the Yoshi game-play mechanic was probably also revolutionary at the time.