LogFAQs > #897665869

1 | Super Mario World (SNES)

Here we are -- the final game!

It has been a long journey full of interactive entertainment, friendly discussion, absurd videos, laughter ("haha") and just the right dose of ridicule. I haven't done a list like this in probably a decade (really!), and despite how many I've done since being on board 8, this is undoubtedly my favorite one. We all engaged in a walk down memory lane talking about video games for at least a little while.

But now, Super Mario World -- "the pinnacle of 2D games."

In a list so dominated by the Super Nintendo, there was no way that Mario World could be MIA. Across the ages, there has probably never been a more consistent game to appear on these lists, even during the Edgy Years, than Super Mario World. Always in the top 10, and just around the corner if not! It's what I go to when I think about the "perfect" 2D platformer, what I imagine when I think about classic video games and the one game, without fail, that I could play at any moment and see through to the end without becoming sidetracked or bored.

I remember getting a Super Nintendo, packaged Super Mario World, from my granddad one Christmas. I'm not sure when it was, but I know it wasn't when the SNES first came out, it was years later. Still, that was probably the best Christmas gift I received as a kid, haha. I remember being blown away by the jump from Mario 3 to Mario World -- all of the colors, the weird new enemies that looked like Goombas and Koopa Troopas but with a twist, the atmosphere of the Koopa Castles, the morphing world map, the freakin' Cape that turned Mario into Superman, and of course, a dinosaur (another ol' standby from childhood -- T. Rex for life) that acted as a steed! When you reflect back to that game, at least as it relates to Mario, SMW was this wild, creative, wacky take on all the familiar tropes of a Mario experience. It was almost as mind blowing to me then as Mario World to Mario 64 would be later.

To be sure, the most popular additions that gave Mario World its characters have also been used as a detriment against it over the years, especially as it relates to the SMB3 vs. Mario World debate. I would never argue that SMW is a tough game, even by the standards of the time, but I also don't think that matters too much. For me, the appeal lies is the endless secrets, hidden exits, hunting for Dinosaur Coins (did anyone ever call them this? They were forever Yoshi Coins until I played SMWa), and exploring the verticality of the levels. Everything about Mario World's design makes you often go UP, into the clouds, in order to find the best kept secrets and hidden exits. In some ways, it takes on an adventure-esque quality, a sort of pre-Mario 64 style approach to the 2D platformer.

(Star World still is a more difficult set of levels than anything SMB3 throws at you, though!)

Super Mario World is an unforgettable experience, one that perfectly captures all of the aspects of the highlights of the different games I have talked about on this list. It mixes a perfect concoction of charm, creativity, uniqueness and an expert attention to detail and character control that I so often am a stickler for in video games. There are so many things I could talk about -- the silly animations of Mario destroying castles after beating the level, the sense of progression and development on the world map that has yet to be rivaled, the incredible music -- but everyone has played this game and knows it just as intimately as I do. I don't profess to be enlightening anyone here, haha.

At the end of the day, and the list, my final remark would be: Super Mario World is the most fun video game anyone has ever made. That's a good enough reason for it to be #1.

THANKS FOR READING!

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