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[Lionel Richie]

The GOAT. The first game many of us played. The first game where saying "it feels like you're playing a cartoon" really meant it felt like it. The game that started the modern age of gaming, with exploration being elevated to the same level of sheer reflexes. The game that definied what a generation transition is supposed to look like. The tight as fuck mechanics that make it ever so playable today despite the multitude of retro styled 2D platformers that flood the market. The map, the secrets, the smooth progression, the MOTHERFUCKING EVERYTHING.

The legend. Happy birthday you BADASS CHAD FUCKER OF PRINCESSES YOU. If you never played SMW because you're a zoomer, do it now. You will not regret it.

 

[wondermega]

SMW was pretty cool and I was eagerly anticipating it upon its release.. and in hindsight it was really a GREAT deal of a pack-in game, considering they could probably have jacked everybody for extra $ and got away with it. That all being said, as excited as I was for it at the time, I played through it fairly quickly and then was done with it. Unlike so many other games in its lineage, I feel like it hasn't aged as gracefully. In some ways it felt like they were throwing too much stuff in there "just because it was cool," maybe they were feeling a little tired of making Mario games in some ways (because of how it deviated from some relative simplicity that had come before), maybe I was just tired of sequels at that point. First Sonic launched at about the same time (some months earlier?) and while the effects and overall tech in Sonic already felt kind of dated next to the shiny new car that was Mario World, I feel that that game has aged a little more gracefully for all the reasons mentioned above - even though overall Mario World is a better game, more depth/things to do, mechanics, and so forth. Anyway it's been many many years, I am tempted to pick it up and get a few stages in and see where it puts my head. Feels crazy to think that SNES is 30 years old!!!

 

[Lionel Richie]

Feels crazy to think that SNES is 30 years old!!!

Same age as me, I feel very fortunate that I had the opportunity of growing up with a SNES and a N64. I sometimes envy people who are just a bit older than me that grew up with a NES and then saw the SNES, I remember feeling that very strongly when I replayed Castlevania IV last year. The transition from 8 bit to 16 bit was so fucking wholesome.

 

[wondermega]

Same age as me, I feel very fortunate that I had the opportunity of growing up with a SNES and a N64. I sometimes envy people who are just a bit older than me that grew up with a NES and then saw the SNES, I remember feeling that very strongly when I replayed Castlevania IV last year. The transition from 8 bit to 16 bit was so fucking wholesome.

The jump from Atari/Coleco/Intellivison to NES was a thing to behold. Games went from looking like very simple abstract demos (they were more than this at times, but they mostly LOOKED that way) to actual playable experiences with artistic merit, narratives, etc. The jump from 8bit to 16bit was equally amazing (games started feeling beefy and powerful, no longer just "watered down versions of what you saw at an arcade but could never experience at home") again, audiovisually at least. And then as you are well aware, the jump from 16 to 32bit/ 2D gaming to realtime 3D gaming also huge in a profoundly different way.

These days when there is a console generation upgrade, it's cool, but in no ways feels as monumental as any of those I just mentioned. VR being the exception I suppose..

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Lionel Richie]

These days when there is a console generation upgrade, it's cool, but in no ways feels as monumental as any of those I just mentioned. VR being the exception I suppose..

Yeah, the PS4/One and now PS5/X feels like I should be way more hyped than I am. BUT PARTICLE EFFECTS! BUT HAPTIC FEEDBACK! I got a bit away from gaming between the sixth and seventh generation, so my experience is a bit skewed, but honestly the last time I remember being truly at awe with what I perceived as a new game was leaving the vault at Fallout 3. That was obviously not my first contact with HD gaming or open world games, but it was the one that CLICKED it all in place. Since then yeah shit's still great, I love games. But a new generation is less impressive despite everyone telling me how impressed I should be. IT LOADS THE WORLD BEFORE YOU CAN FINISH A SENTENCE! Like yeah, okay, but did you see the multiple parallax scrolling on the Genesis?

 

[poodaddy]

This shit makes me feel old. This game came out when I was three years old? Goddammit, can time just stop for a bit?

Fucking love this game though, one of the first games I ever hundred percented.

 

[Trimesh]

Yeah, the PS4/One and now PS5/X feels like I should be way more hyped than I am.

I feel exactly the same way - PS4/Xbone just felt like "more of the same, but prettier" - and the current generation is "even more of the same, but shinier (because raytracing)". The PS2 is still my overall favorite console - but the PS3/360 generation did manage to introduce some gameplay elements that were arguably not possible earlier. The later generations don't have anything like that - well, they had share buttons, but that's social networking shit rather than anything that makes games better.

 

[Trimesh]

I feel exactly the same way - PS4/Xbone just felt like "more of the same, but prettier" - and the current generation is "even more of the same, but shinier (because raytracing)". The PS2 is still my overall favorite console - but the PS3/360 generation did manage to introduce some gameplay elements that were arguably not possible earlier. The later generations don't have anything like that - well, they had share buttons, but that's social networking shit rather than anything that makes games better.

Oh, and one other thing about SMW - it's 512kB - the whole game takes up less than half a megabyte. Think about that while waiting for the latest 73GB open-world borefest to download...

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

Ah, those were good times. I think I was in high school at the time? Didn't own an SNES (I went the Sega route), but my friends did. Played the hell out of SMW.

 

[Lionel Richie]

The PS2 is still my overall favorite console

My second favorite console just a bit behind the SNES. Even then I feel like the PS2 was the obvious peak of gaming, we've been kind of surfing that wave ever since but we'll never feel it coming again.

 

[John Wick]

I was 15 at the time when the Super Famicom launched in Japan. I remember buying C+VG games magazine and reading about it. I worked at CHIPS computer shop on Saturdays. The owner imported one in and I bought it. I was one of the first people in the UK to have one. It came with Super Mario World and F-Zero. It was so exciting takeing it home that day. I remember taking it to rival computer shop The Games shop and demoing it in their too. Super Mario World was amazing. It's probably the best game ever for me. Played it loads but it was hard because it was all in Japanese. I loved the music in the game. Also the machine was a tank. In the 15 years I had it, it never failed or broke down. I eventually sold it to a good friend.

 

[PSwitchBox44]

Gifs you can hear! I have such fond memories of sneaking out into the living room well past our bedtime and beating this game with my brother.

 

[Moogle11]

Still very high on my all time favorite games list. Got into gaming and Mario with SMB on Nes, and even more with SMB3, but SMW really perfected the formula.

 

[Thabass]

And to this day, it's still the best 2D platformer.

Correct. SMW is GOAT.

 

[Tranquil]

I keep meaning to play this game on zsnes.

 

[Trimesh]

I keep meaning to play this game on zsnes.

IMO, it's a much better experience if you play it like this

These old games just seem much nicer on a CRT.

 

[Komatsu]

I sometimes envy people who are just a bit older than me that grew up with a NES

Bro, you're Brazilian. You're telling me you didn't get your fair share of 8-bit goodness with the amazing, earth-shattering, TEC TOY MASTER SYSTEM?

 

[hariseldon]

I came to the party late. I had an Atari ST growing up so no smooth action games for me, just 2 frames per second jank. I tried SMW a few times on emulators but it never really clicked until I got the Switch. Turns out it’s the all time greatest game ever made. Who knew? I’m still shit at it but it’s an absolute masterpiece, and something any student of game design should study.

 

[Fugitive Sex]

A fantastic game I can always return to, and it's still the best in the series (perhaps the franchise).

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

It was fun playing through this for the SNES Game of the Month club thing. If I have any knock against the game, there are too many easy levels.

 

[Windle Poons]

Jesus I’m getting old. FML.

 

[Soodanim]

Best 2D Mario, followed by 2 and Land 1/2. Only one I’ve gone through multiple times. 1 and 3 never did it for me.

 

[The Shepard]

This game is so much better than the new 2d ones, so much charm and character, music your brain never forgets. My favourite mario game ever, including all the 2d and 3d ones.

 

[Ikutachi]

One of my most anticipated games as a kid and I was not disappointed. I do find SMB3 and Yoshi's Island to be superior games.

 

[Hudo]

Related:

 

[Birdo]

It wasn't bad for a rushed launch game. But following up Mario 3 was always going to be hard.

People who say it's the best, typically only think so because it was the first one they played (Final Fantasy Syndrome).

 

[existensmaximum]

Whoah! I can still remember when I first played it. Best launch game ever, and still one of my favorite games games of all times today. It really is 100% perfection.

I couldn't believe how much of an improvement it was over anything on the NES.

I was so incredibly disappointed by Yoshi's Island and Super Mario 64. They're trash to me.

Super Mario Bros 3 is on par with Super Mario World though!

 

[JordanN]

I played the Gameboy Advance version. I had no idea it was actually a port until much later.

Not gonna lie, kid me really liked the boxart at the time. I can't remember if I got this as a birthday present, or because I traded in my Gameboy Color for it (or both).

 

[Portugeezer]

30 years wow. Such a classic, still great to this day.

Recent boundary break episode for those interested (not the most exciting)

 

[MaestroMike]

I know I played it as a kid, but I don't think I ever beat it. I've been playing it recently on the switch making steady progress, but I die like crazy. Maybe cuz I play it like right before I sleep and I'm not too focused.

 

[drganon]

I played the Gameboy Advance version. I had no idea it was actually a port until much later.

Not gonna lie, kid me really liked the boxart at the time. I can't remember if I got this as a birthday present, or because I traded in my Gameboy Color for it (or both).

That was the version I played since I never owned a snes. Still haven't beaten it since I'm kinda terrible at 2d platformers. I've beaten every 3d mario game, but the 2d ones kick my ass.

 

[Knitted Knight]

One of the GOATs. Masterpiece.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Great stuff. I still remember seeing an SNES display in Walmart with this on it. The number of buttons on the controller blew my mind!

Kind of funny at the time everyone said “where’s the upgrade?” as the graphics, while nice, weren’t really a ton better than NES. SMW was not really seen as that big a leap ahead of SMB3. Something to keep in mind for people disappointed in new game systems.

The music though, I love the banjo stuff in this so much!

 

[hariseldon]

One of my most anticipated games as a kid and I was not disappointed. I do find SMB3 and Yoshi's Island to be superior games.

I can understand SMB 3, it really is utterly exquisite, but Yoshi’s Island is one I’ve never really quite managed to enjoy.

 

[jufonuk]

One of the best platformers ever.
Still holds up today.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Bro, you're Brazilian. You're telling me you didn't get your fair share of 8-bit goodness with the amazing, earth-shattering, TEC TOY MASTER SYSTEM?

LOL nope, I never even saw one in person, I would only learn about how common it was here much later. I did have a Phantom System but that motherfucker didn't work well.

 

[Hudo]

One of the best platformers ever.
Still holds up today.

Word. I still can't decide whether this or SMB3 is the best 2D Platformer ever made.
Yoshi's Island holds the second place, though (for me at least).

 

[Hoya Destroyer]

Super Mario world was an amazing game. I bought my SNES purely for Street Fighter 2, but SMW did a good job of tiding me over until that game got released a few months later.
Visually, the big bullets, those giant pounding columns and flying Yoshi was what impressed me the most at the time.

 

[JunkerWoland]

Not my favorite Mario title, but it was absolutely wonderful, receiving the game as a console pack-in. The scope of Super Mario World really helped eat away at the time, until more games were available for the SNES.

 

[buizel]

really not that good compared to wetrix on the n64

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Best 2D Mario game ever made and one of the few games that feels as good to play now as it did upon release. I really can’t think of any ways to improve it for the modern day, unlike SM64 (also amazing).