Super Mario World

The player controls Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach and Dinosaur Land from the series' antagonist Bowser and the Koopalings.

Super Mario World introduces Yoshi, a ridable dinosaur who can eat enemies and spit some of them out as projectiles.

Yoshi was conceptualised during the development of the NES games but was not used until Super Mario World due to hardware limitations.

Paths connect to action panels, fortresses, ghost houses, castles, and other map icons, allowing players to take different routes to reach the world's goal.

For example, if the player obtains a Fire Flower or a Cape Feather, then a Super Mushroom will appear in the box.

Completion of the Special Zone permanently changes some of the enemies' sprites and alters the overworld map's color scheme.

When Mario and Luigi wake up, they try to find her and, after hours of searching, come across a giant egg in the forest.

After the brothers defeat the children and rescue Yoshi's friends, they eventually reach Bowser's Castle, where they fight him in a final battle.

They send Bowser flying into the sky and save Princess Toadstool, restoring peace to Dinosaur Land.

[10] The game was directed by Takashi Tezuka, while Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of both Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, served as producer.

[26] Miyamoto acknowledged the team no longer had restrictions on certain mechanics such as scrolling and the number of colours they could implement.

[31] As development of Super Mario World progressed, the team opted to set the game in a "dinosaur land", so Tezuka asked designer Shigefumi Hino to draw a reptile-like creature based on Miyamoto's sketches.

[32] Tezuka speculated that Miyamoto's love of horse riding, as well as country and western themes, influenced Yoshi's creation.

As Super Mario World was the first game developed for the SNES, Kondo felt "overjoyed" at being able to compose music by using eight sounds at once.

[35] Super Mario World was produced during the console wars – a result of the rivalry between Nintendo's SNES and Sega's two-year-old Mega Drive system – which outsold the console and led to intense competition between the two, being the first time since December 1985 Nintendo did not lead the market though it eventually overtook Sega.

[44] It features the same number of levels as the original, Luigi as a playable character in single player with his characteristic behaviour and appearance from Super Mario Bros. 2, Game Link Cable support for four players in the Mario Bros. Classic mode, and the ability to save anywhere, rather than just after beating Ghost houses or Castles.

[65] IGN's Lucas Thomas heralded the game as a significant leap over the visuals of the 8-bit era, but in retrospect felt it did not distinguish itself from being a graphically-upgraded continuation of its predecessor, Super Mario Bros. 3.

[21] AllGame's Skyler Miller and Alex Navarro of GameSpot both praised the game's well-drawn characters, colourful visuals and pleasing animation.

[9][61] Morgan Sleeper of Nintendo Life said Super Mario World was the "graphical holy grail" that retro-styled games aspire to, and he insisted that its design holds up well today.

[12] Bianco opined that the game was "one of the smoothest platformers in existence" while Thomas thought its "masterful" and innovative level design enhanced the overall experience.

[21] In retrospect, Sleeper believed the game's biggest achievement was its level design, calling it an "unrivalled master class" with a constant sense of momentum.

[74] Thomas labelled the soundtrack "another one of Koji Kondo's classics," but in hindsight remarked that it was not as memorable as his earlier work.

[62] Goyon praised the originality of the game's soundtrack, and thought the technical contribution of the SNES allowed players to enjoy a "globally magnificent" composition.

Both Goyon and Jason Schreier of Kotaku felt its rhythmic sound effects were important and helped to reinforce the game's atmosphere.

[68][69] Many retrospective critics declared Super Mario World one of the greatest video games of all time.

[77] In 2012, Nintendo Power similarly named Super Mario World the fifth greatest game of all time,[78] a step up from its eighth best ranking in their 2006 poll.

[92] In a poll conducted in 2008, Yoshi was voted as the third-favourite video game character in Japan, with Cloud Strife and Mario placing second and first.

[93] DIC Entertainment produced an animated series of the same name, consisting of thirteen episodes, which ran on NBC from September to December 1991.

[94][95] Super Mario World has a large ROM hacking scene, with fans using applications such as Lunar Magic to create levels and insert new graphics, music, and mechanics; Kaizo Mario World is notable for being featured in many Let's Play videos and popularizing the word Kaizo to signify hacks of extreme difficulty.

[100] The latter adds new snow and nighttime themes for Super Mario World levels accompanied by new music composed by Kondo.

This screenshot shows Mario riding Yoshi during the first level of the game. The scenery shows a jungle environment with floating blocks scattered in the air. The interface displayed around the corners shows the number of lives the player has, the Dragon Coins collected, the player's stored power-up, the level's remaining time, the player's number of coins, and the total score of the player.
Mario riding Yoshi during the game's second course . From left to right, the HUD displays the number of lives , how many Dragon Coins the player has collected, a point multiplier, the item box storing a power-up , the time remaining in the level, the player's number of coins, and the total score.
From left : director Takashi Tezuka , producer Shigeru Miyamoto , and composer Koji Kondo , pictured in 2015
This screenshot shows Luigi riding Yoshi during one of the game's early stages in the Game Boy Advance version. The scenery shows a jungle environment with floating blocks scattered in the air. The interface displayed along the top of the image shows the number of lives, point multiplier, special item, time remaining, number of coins and total score.
Luigi riding Yoshi during one of the game's early stages in the GBA re-release Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 . This version of the game features unique sprites for Luigi.