Board 8 > What's the benefit to beating the Star World and Secret World in SMW?

(+) Yeah! (+)

To clarify why I am asking...

In the Donkey Kong Country series, you need to beat the ("secret") Lost World in order to face a new boss fight and get the "real" ending to the games. In other games, beating the bonus worlds sometimes unlocks a "new game+" kind of deal that is otherwise unavailable if you only play through the basic levels.

But in Super Mario World, does unlocking the secret levels do anything other than give you a few new stages to try out?
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You get a cosmetic change for all levels once you beat them iirc, but no extra gameplay beyond the extra stages themselves
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Some of the tileset changes for enemies and such. Things get weird.
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Hmm. So it seems like the only incentive is the challenge.
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Yeah, but it's a great challenge.

Except Tubular.
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You officially become a super player.
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Hmm. So it seems like the only incentive is the challenge.

And to be a completionist
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Gotta draw the line somewhere if I want to retain my sanity
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Eh, the Star Road and Special Road aren't the kind of difficult that make you want to break your controller.

Except Tubular.
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Is Tubular the hated one? I mean, it was hard, but I always found Outrageous was the hardest of the set (and, y'know, involved actual platforming, which was a plus).

And yeah it's basically a bragging rights skin to show your friends and go "look I beat the hard levels here's the proof look how cool my game is the bullets are BIRDS now"
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How about SMW2 and Mario 64? Same deal?
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The ending is a little different in Mario 64 if you get all 120 stars. Plus, you're not a real man if you never do it (and Mario 64 isn't that hard anyway).

Yoshi's Island doesn't have any secret levels.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Yoshi's Island doesn't have any secret levels.

https://www.mariowiki.com/Poochy_Ain%27t_Stupid
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Yoshi's Island gives you a bonus level per world if you get 100% on each of the levels in the world.

They are just bonus levels, but some have interesting concepts, at the very least. Don't even get anything really interesting from them... but they're fun!

I think 3D Land was the first Mario game that gave bonus worlds for more than just "the sake of having eight or so bonus levels for completion"?
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Oh right, there was that level. Totally forgot about that one.

Going for 100 points in every level in Yoshi's Island would be more of a maddening experience than the other games.
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Yeah for time invested vs extra gameplay smw is the most worth it by far, since it takes almost zero effort to get to the bonus levels

100%ing every level in smw2 is absolutely not worth it unless you love the game
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Seems like that's a big area where Mario really doesn't compete with DKC and Sonic. DKC just feels incomplete if you beat them without the Lost World ending, and I don't even think you can beat S3&K without getting all of the Chaos Emeralds.
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I mean DKC1 didn't have any of that and DKC3 had too much of that
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Seems like that's a big area where Mario really doesn't compete with DKC and Sonic. DKC just feels incomplete if you beat them without the Lost World ending, and I don't even think you can beat S3&K without getting all of the Chaos Emeralds.

Is it an area where you WANT to compete?

Play SM64 then DK64 and get back to me
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At the very least, Star Road offers you a shortcut to the final level. I think that's the normal incentive. Discovering there's a whole new world with the bonus levels is just another treat when you're exploring the game. It was exciting uncovering it for the first time
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Yeah thats true. Star Road offers shortcuts around the map.

Special Road is just for fun
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Hmm. So it seems like the only incentive is the challenge.

A weird thing to say.

Did you beat the secret worlds in DKC for something else?
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I got all the Hero Coins so I could shove them right up Cranky's

well you get the idea
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Yoshi's Island is a completely different game.

100% is really hard but it's also cause the main game is a lot easier too. It's bigger on the exploration aspect than the platforming stuff.
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Jakyl25 posted...

Nelson_Mandela posted...

Seems like that's a big area where Mario really doesn't compete with DKC and Sonic. DKC just feels incomplete if you beat them without the Lost World ending, and I don't even think you can beat S3&K without getting all of the Chaos Emeralds.

Is it an area where you WANT to compete?

Play SM64 then DK64 and get back to me

Oh not at all. I am saying that IF you're gonna have bonus levels available, make them accessible and make them count for something. DKC2 Lost World executed this flawlessly imo.
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pjbasis posted...

Nelson_Mandela posted...

Hmm. So it seems like the only incentive is the challenge.

A weird thing to say.

Did you beat the secret worlds in DKC for something else?

I beat them primarily to "beat" the game (at least for DKC2 and DKC3). It just didn't feel complete the normal way.
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Oh.

Well then I wouldn't consider SMW complete until you find every exit either.
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pjbasis posted...

Oh.

Well then I wouldn't consider SMW complete until you find every exit either.

Not if they just swap the color palettes!
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You get the "You are a super player" message in coins
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It doesnt just change the colors, it makes a lot of enemies look different too (and mostly Halloween-themed for some reason)
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

pjbasis posted...

Oh.

Well then I wouldn't consider SMW complete until you find every exit either.

Not if they just swap the color palettes!

Real talk, the real content of a platformer are the levels. I don't see how skipping real intentionally designed levels let's you feel complete but skipping collectibles doesn't just because there's a level after them? But...that's not even internally consistent! Would you do the SMW secret world if it required you to unlock it with special coins?
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pjbasis posted...

Nelson_Mandela posted...

pjbasis posted...

Oh.

Well then I wouldn't consider SMW complete until you find every exit either.

Not if they just swap the color palettes!

Real talk, the real content of a platformer are the levels. I don't see how skipping real intentionally designed levels let's you feel complete but skipping collectibles doesn't just because there's a level after them? But...that's not even internally consistent! Would you do the SMW secret world if it required you to unlock it with special coins?

As stupid as I know it is, it's honestly a plot thing for me. DKC2's real final boss fight only happens after The Lost World. S3&K has an epic climax in space only after you unlock Hyper Sonic.

Honestly if SMW ended with Bowser saying "Ha ha meet me in the Secret World, bitch" then I'd feel compelled to play through the other levels. I think there is something wrong with my brain.
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A sense of completion. :)
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I had a feeling!

You know you're an old school gamer when you can say the plot is important in a side scroller.

I'm making fun but it's also because it's relatable.
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I may be wrong since I have't played this version for years but I think the GBA version has a better reward for finishing them, especially when getting the colored Yoshies since in that version they can appear in the regular levels depending on the power up you currently have.
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Seems like that's a big area where Mario really doesn't compete with DKC and Sonic. DKC just feels incomplete if you beat them without the Lost World ending, and I don't even think you can beat S3&K without getting all of the Chaos Emeralds.

I think this is part of Nintendo's "easy to beat, hard to master" philosophy. You can beat the game just fine, but here's some real challenges you can do if you want to be really good.
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Mario games are always more about the levels than bosses though. There are a lot of Bowser fights that are nothing but extended platforming challenges after all.

Most Mario games these days have an unlockable final level with brutal difficulty. There's no boss afterwards, but I feel like you can't call the game "complete" unless you beat it.
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"You are a super player" is the best part of the game though