Super Mario World
Super Mario World title screen (American SNES version)
Super Mario World was the first game made for the Super Famicom for its Japanese release, and the Super Nintendo for its release in North America and Europe. The game has also been released for Gameboy Advance as Super Mario Advance 2. It was first released in August 1991.
The game was produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and the music was composed by Koji Kondo. The graphics were designed by Shigefumi Hino.
SMW featured the first appearance of Mario's Dinosaur friend Yoshi. Here, Yoshis appear in four different colors (green, yellow, red, and blue), with slightly different abilities. The plot of the game involves Mario and Luigi trying to save Princess Toadstool and Yoshi's friends from King Bowser Koopa and his Koopalings, who have returned despite their defeat in Super Mario Bros. 3.
The gameplay action is sidescrolling as in previous Mario games and takes advantage of the Super Nintendo's 16-bit graphics and stereo audio. The game consists of a journey through levels in seven worlds: Yoshi's Island, Donut Plains, Vanilla Dome, Cookie Mountain, Forest of Illusion, Chocolate Island, and the Valley of Bowser. There are also two secret worlds, the Star Road and Special Zone (accessed via the Star Road) which can be accessed by completing secondary goals in specific levels.
The game has often been compared to Super Mario Bros., in the sense that both games "set the bar" for all subsequent games released on their respective systems. SMW introduced many now common concepts to action gaming, such as giving the player the ability to re-visit levels to find overlooked secrets. It was one of the first game to reward the player for "getting 100%" (finding all the secret areas in the levels), a concept which has become very popular. It is still considered by many to be one of the greatest games of all time for its simple and creative gameplay.
A copy of Super Mario World came with each Super Nintendo upon the system's release in America, although this package deal was later dropped. Due to this promotion, SMW remains one of the best-selling video games of all time.
SMW was included in a special version of Super Mario All-Stars, called Super Mario All-Stars/Super Mario World, released in 1998.
- See also : List of SNES games, SMW Game Guide at Wikibooks