The 'Shroom:Issue XXX/Review Corner

Review Corner By

Well, here is Luigifreak for a very special issue! Yes that’s right, it is that time. THE SHROOM’S SPECIAL ISSUE BONANZA!!!! As you may know, the third Mario Awards have recently been celebrated. That is why I am writing this section based on the second place winner for the award “best Mario platformer.” That’s right, I am reviewing….. SUPER MARIO WORLD! This game came in second only to New Super Mario Bros., which I just reviewed (and got whaled on for.) Also, I must give credit to Tucayo for kind of suggesting this game. Now, Mario World is probably my favorite platformer. Why, you ask? READ THE REVIEW!

Story
Wow, a pretty simple plot again. Bowser kidnaps Yoshi’s buddies. You set out to defeat the Koopalings and kick the bully’s tail. What kind of annoys me about this is that the story seems to kind of be worked around the gameplay. The Yoshi part seemed to be thrown in there only because you can ride on him. Well, I am reviewing a Mario platformer, so……

Gameplay
Ahh…. Gameplay is the thing that makes this game great. Okay, I’ve been through this too many times. This is a platformer. In a platformer you jump on and over enemies while avoiding hazards like spikes. You can gain powerups and do things like fly or shoot fireballs. You must navigate obstacles like moving platforms and falling blocks. That concludes this lecture on “platformers.” Anyway, here are the new additions to Mario World. First, you gain a new move or two. First of all, you gain a twirling jump. This allows you to break bricks below you as super Mario. When you jump on enemies like that, you will bounce off randomly and have little control over Mario. You will use this move a lot. There are really no other new moves that you can use all the time. So, here are some other new moves. On Yoshi, I don’t think you can flutter jump, but you can still swallow enemies! But they just disappear, so no eggs, no nothing. Yoshi can also swallow fruit. These yummy floras will make Yoshi…. dispense certain items. These can give you anything from mushrooms to 1-ups. You also have two new moves from powerups. When you have the fire flower, when Mario does the spin jump he will fling his fireballs in both directions. When you have the cape (which is pretty much the same as the raccoon tail from SMB3) you can inflate your cape like a parachute and slowly float down. Whew! Pretty much the only notable thing to talk about now is the map. You have a lot of circles that signal levels. But wait, some of those are red! That means that inside the level will be a key and keyhole. Now, what happens when you put a key and a keyhole together? You get a new level. Yes, now the seemingly easy and short game has over 90 levels. Let the fun begin. And yes, I know, this is an incredibly long and detailed gameplay section, but if nothing else, READ THIS SENTENCE: This game does everything right that should be done in a platformer. There.

Graphics and Music
The graphics are great for an SNES game. They are pretty smooth and all, my only gripe is the over world Mario sprite. But really, the graphics are so good, that I believe it is one of the main reasons that SMW is the game most commonly hacked. As for the music, it is great. All of the songs are very catchy, although several of them are just remixes of each other. One of my favorites is the athletic theme. Check it out, you’ll be humming it for days.

Diversity of Levels and Enemies
On the levels: You get so many of them, and that’s a bonus there. Then add the fact that each level is completely different because of obstacles, enemies, and the placement of them all, and you have great levels. Now add the fact that you’re searching for all the levels in a puzzling but really fun minigame type thing, and you have an amazing level design. For the enemies: Wow. From the first level on, you see such new and entertaining enemies. They really have you thinking of the best way to beat them. Plus, the enemies are so well places, so every enemy feels so new.

Difficulty
Does it really matter? If you want to know, this game is very fair. It provides a challenge, but is never too frustrating. Well, then you have the special world……

Replayability
Well, you always have to unlock all the levels. Then you have the secret levels and star world to do. And then you must play through it at least 3 times to experience the full beauty of it. Enough said.

Review of the Review
One quick note, from now on, I will always round my score, and I will no longer put grades. Anyway, I hope I don’t sound too fan boyish, but can anyone really deny how good this game is? Really, if you don’t have this game, GET IT! Enjoy nature’s most perfect platformer. Well, I hope you enjoyed this special review!
 * Story: 9/10
 * Gameplay: 10/10
 * Graphics: 10/10
 * Music: 10/10
 * Enemies and Levels: 10/10
 * Difficulty: 9/10
 * Replayability: 10/10
 * Total: 9.7 rounded up to 10.