How do you follow up Super Mario bros. 3? For many people it was the
epitome of the series. It expanded on the classic Super Mario Bros.
platforming formula by fleshing out Mario's universe, his special
powers, and constantly adding new and inventive level designs that were
as joyous as they were challenging.
In many ways Super Mario World imitates the very successful SMB3
formula, but it's misleading to assume that it just copies it outright
and simply updates the game design graphically. In many ways SMW is
everything that couldn't fit into SMB3 and more. It's a case of 'bigger
and better' to put it very coarsely.
The first thing that strikes you when you begin is the size of the world
map. Pressing the shoulder buttons allows you to pan the map, and the
promise of a large world to explore teases you from afar. It feels much
more cohesive and unified than SMB3's seemingly random tourist
destinations.
The feeling of a world is not just limited to sight either. The
designers have endeavored to flesh out a wholly interactive and
object-based experience. When you begin, you're able to visit Yoshi's
house, a new character back then, and read a text box offering
background information on his possible whereabouts. So even before the
game has begun, the situation and the ability to casually interact with
the world is being established.
The levels of SMW have a similar feel to other Mario games. You have
your horizontal platforms, your verticals, your diagonals. Mario's
perilous momentum feels as tight as usual and the players' old 'shifting
action' helps steady him. The traditional Goomba (low-level goon,
simple mobile obstacle) has been replaced by some new goons, but the
feeling is the same. Koopas form a large part of the enemy-level dynamic
as usual, offering a surprisingly layered risk/opportunity spectrum. a
simple jump on the head knocks them out, but they can still be kept in
play if you jump on their shell. the way that this can either be useful
or disastrous is a real Mario motif. These hallmarks are still intact.
throughout SMW, platforms gain many amusing and enjoyable graphical
disguises. there's always something new added.
Instead of the tourist destinations of separate worlds (desert, ice,
lava etc.) in SMB3, Mario world appears to focus on the mushroom kingdom
as the core theme. Mario finds himself in a weird parallel dimension of
dinosaurs and mushrooms, bullets with angry faces, and spiky turtles.
That's not to say every world looks the same, it's just that there is a
return to the more standard grass-covered plains of the original Mario
bros.
In many ways it feels like a melding of Zelda and Mario. You have your
open plains melding into lakes, melding into caves, coming back up into
open grassy plains, and then into a deep forest, and back out again into
rocky terrain. The wider map is integrated into the levels.
Despite all the cohesive integration, Mario gameplay and design is still
wonderfully abstract and nonchalant. The design of the space and its
functions have come before the surface representations, graphical
details and narrative. Level design is still chunky and geometric. Weird
checkered patterns adorn backgrounds. Blocks with faces float in the
air. Pipes stick out of the ground but lead to nowhere. Is this world
organic, mechanical, soft, hard? the mario levels all feel distinct
though, and memorable. caves feel cave-like. ghost houses feel ghostly,
etc. the abstract design is part of the charming aesthetic, not a
detraction.
The core of the game is its non-linear, playbox design. Mario has always
been a fairly straightforward adventure. You move from the left to the
right and work through the obstacles until finishing. SMB3 changed this
approach by adding in a level warp system, where the player could find
secret ways to bypass certain zones. SMW takes this idea of player
awareness to important new levels. Each level has your standard 'get
from point A to B' goal, but this in itself is not what makes the game
compelling.
The designers have very carefully constructed many ways in which the
player has options and divergences for play. The main way that they
allow this is through the cape item. This was how Mario could become
even more 'super' in SMB3, after growing like a mushroom. The 'p'
(power) meter used the player's momentum to propel Mario into the air.
As well as just being enjoyable in itself, it allowed the player to find
hidden secrets such as coins and warp zones.
SMW streamlines the various special items and suits, and expands on the
flying aspect, integrating it fully into the world. In doing so, the
level designs are much more open and often larger in scope, with many
hidden exits that lead to other places that wouldn't usually be
accessible. The game confidently offers feathers to the player through
floating item boxes or flying enemies. The player is left alone to
experiment. The open design of the long horizontal and the visible
skyline helps guide the player intuitively. Flying is an absolute joy.
The mechanic has been tweaked to perfection. Not only can you glide but
you can dip, bounce, and air bomb the ground. This mechanic is so
nuanced that it feels like you're doing it all by yourself. The
connection is very direct.
Due to the cape mechanic, play becomes free and chaotic rather like how
sonic can bypass the carefully built platforms and landscapes to shoot
across the sky like a pinball. There is such a beautiful tension between
the convergent and divergent design. The player becomes aware of their
power, and begins to tinker with the world that reacts in a realistic
fashion. Testing pipes may or may not offer secrets. Getting the cape
and then flying backwards to the beginning of the level may be done just
for fun, or in the search for a new discovery. Using a Koopa shell to
throw at item boxes may reveal a hidden plant that leads up to the sky.
The design of the world offers so many surprises.
Another way that the game deepens the experience is via the switch
palaces. Item blocks have always provided their function in the game,
offering surprising powers or new ways to interact. but in SMW many
levels have coloured invisible spaces. The discovery of coloured switch
palaces enables these blocks in the levels, offering the chance to
re-visit and re-discover familiar places. Considering that the switch
palaces themselves are also hidden, it's like a very layered Easter egg
hunt.
There are so many other ways that the world of Mario is deepened, and
other ways that Mario can become super. Yoshi, Yoshi's individual
powers, the star world, getting to Bowser's world early, hidden
illusions in the ghost levels... and it all blends together masterfully.
My only criticism of SMW is that the game (and the music) isn't as
uniquely iconic as the original, and some of the level designs aren't as
enjoyable (the water levels, and forest levels). But otherwise, it's a
scarily confident and inventive game design.
Timeless.
