Super Mario World (1990)

This video-game is widely considered one of the greatest platformers of all time, launching with the Super Nintendo console, it introduces vibrant world of Dinosaur Land and the lovable Yoshi. The game features tight controls, creative level design, and a wealth of secrets that reward exploration, its colorful 16-bit graphics and catchy soundtrack set a new standard for the genre. With branching paths, power-ups like the Cape Feather, and polished gameplay, it refines the already established Nintendo trait of making players curious enough to want to explore the whole game world, and even when you finish doing so, you still want more. This video-game is definitely a timeless classic that still holds up remarkably well, and a must-play for fans of the genre or people interested in the SNES platform.

It was one of the first platformers that I ever played, and I don't know how many times I replayed this one, it simply never gets old, not to mention the amount of ROM hacks you can find online, I highly recommend giving them a try. Particularly speaking I only played a single one of those, but I intend to come back to it's community and explore it a bit more in the future, it really feels like you can never get tired of playing the. I also highly encourage this one to be 100%, try to find and play all the levels and secrets is one of the best times in gaming history you can put yourself through.

Beyond its core mechanics, what elevates the experience is how well the game treats you without excessive hand-holding. Each new mechanic is introduced naturally through level design, allowing you to learn by doing rather than through intrusive tutorials (a rare thing nowadays in the gaming industry). The difficulty curve is carefully balanced, early stages feel welcoming, while later levels demand precision without feeling unfair. This approach makes progression satisfying and shows why the game remains approachable for newcomers while still rewarding for veterans.

Another highlight is the its enduring cultural and community impact, decades after its release, it continues to inspire speedrunners, modders, and retro enthusiasts, proving the strength of its design philosophy. Whether you are chasing faster completion times, experimenting with custom levels, or simply revisiting it for nostalgia, the game offers something meaningful on every return. Few titles manage to feel both historically important and endlessly replayable, and this is one of those rare cases where time has only reinforced its legacy.

(This is the 28th game in my challenge to go through many known games in chronological order starting in 1990. The spreadsheet is in my bio.)

Hey, finally a game I can remember playing as kid. Super Mario World is a game that some of you may have heard of. It is one of two games that originally released with the SNES on November 21st, 1990 (the other: F-Zero). It was kinda popular. It sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Yeah, so that means I've played the best-selling SNES game ever already.

I mean, I don't need to explain Super Mario games to you, so I won't. What made this one stand out of course is that it was the first Mario game for a 16 bit console and one that used a much larger color palette, so it looked really good when it came out.

Plus, this game has a big difference over Super Mario Bros. 3, and that's of course that you have an ally in Yoshi. But before I get into that, I just gotta start with my conclusion for this game.

Because yes, this game is amazing STILL and honestly, not just easily the best game I've played out of 1990, but one of the best games I've played period. The best part is, I played this on my Steam Deck and not only did it run well, but it was a super smooth experience from beginning to the "end" (didn't beat the game yet). The controls are super responsive, the game looks fantastic, the sound quality is crisp and I was constantly in awe with how well this game aged in pretty much all areas.

The game has a ton of uniquely designed levels. That's a compliment of both the quality and quantity of them. I knew the game was good in that regard, but having played a couple dozen platformers that released in the same year previously, I can't believe how big of a jump in quality Super Mario World makes over every other game. Not only can you enjoy a variety of different levels, not only can you enjoy the challenges for well over a dozen hours for one playthrough, but the game is also just crammed full with features and secrets that allows for your future playthroughs to play out very differently over your first.

It starts with the power ups. Granted, not each power up will be as useful as some others, but you got the power up to increase in size, you got the ability to shoot fire, you can fly, you can turn invincible for a few seconds and you can even combine these when you are with Yoshi.

It took me a little while, but then I discovered that you can sprint, I discovered that you can spin in the air which allows you to destroy blocks below you, I discovered that Yoshi can eat enemies and shoot some of them back out even, and I discovered a bunch of other secrets, like special paths that you can take to finish a level, which opens up hidden paths. These aren't just there for padding, but completing them then adds new colored platforms to all other levels and makes them easier. This adds tons of replayability for multiple reasons.

OVERALL

I could really go on and on here, but I think I made my thoughts clear by now. The game was not just revolutionary at the time, but is still a damn fine video game by today's standards. That's the biggest compliment we can really give to games of old and this game deserves it and more.

WHAT THEY SAID AT THE TIME

• Steve Harris for EGM, Issue 25 (Aug 91): "While Super Mario World may not be the ideal cart to show off al the fancy things that the SNES can do..." | and the game goes on to be the best-selling game of the entire console. Not sure what was expected but expectations certainly were high
• ? for Nintendo Power, Issue 27 (Aug 91): "Mario's latest adventure is gigantic."