Enjoy this Old-School classic once again in the Portables.
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Nintendo
System: GameBoy Advance (GBA)
Total Score: 9.3/100
Value Score: 9.3/10
• Story: 8/10
o The typical, Princess Peach gets kidnapped scenario and Mario has to save her from the clutches of Bowser, storyline seems to be the same, unless you wanna add the yoshis getting kidnapped and turned into eggs and held by Bowser's children. Other than that, there's no dynamic storyline in this installation either. The only new thing pretty much they added to the storyline is the fact that the game takes place in Dinosaur Land and not in the Mushroom kingdom. In the Gameboy Advance, its detailed a bit more on the same storyline, but other than that, not much is added from the SNES version.
• Characters: 9/10
o The usual cast, which includes Mario, Peach, Bowser, his children, yoshis, and a army of underlings, surprisingly no toads appear in this installation, but that's due to the fact that their in a new world other than the Mushroom Kingdom. The new characters/enemies fit well to the game's design however when it comes to major characters, Nintendo doesn't do much.
• GamePlay: 10/10
o Gameplay's pretty solid in this installation, the game mechanics are a bit stronger to play with than with SMB3. Pretty much its like a update to SMB an SMB3, its pretty much SMB with SMB3 power ups. You got the fire flower from the original SMB and the power cape which is similar to the raccoon Mario power up from SMB3. Unfortunately there's no more powerups than that, but the gameplay mechanics underwater, to fly, etc seems pretty solid. In the GameBoy Advance they added Yoshi/Dragon coins in Ghost houses and castles, along with that removed 2 player mode and replaced it with the ability to play as Luigi who is different in gameplay style such as jumping higher, staying afloat, and the ability to hold practically anything while riding Yoshi.
• Graphics: 9/10
o One of the best looking 16 bit games out there, Nintendo did quite well with the graphic design of the game, however you can easily see some graphical issues with the game such as the design of the enemies, Bowser looks differently in shape and colors, his children seem a bit de-formed, and the hammer brother does not even look like a hammer brother. Regardless of that, majority of the sprites do look good. Level design is at its best in this game. In the GameBoy Advance version the lighting is a bit lower on some of the colors which is nice for the GBA.
• Sound: 10/10
o Sound effects in the game are pretty well done, there are loops to some of the effects but their not noticeable. There are echo sound effects added in cave like dungeons, which are a good add on. Everything from monsters popping out, doors opening to haunted houses and castles, from fish swimming, the sound is crisp and clean, no complaints here. In the GameBoy Advance they've added voice overs to the game such as Mario speaking his famous lines (along with Luigi) and the Koopalings making the death sound that Bowser made in Super Mario 64.
• Music: 10/10
o Pretty much the entire music tracks in SMW, is new, not a single track is a remix of any of the older SMB games which is kind of a let down, however the new tracks more than make up for the lack of the retro music. All of the music is well done, especially the valley of Bowser, which is really well done. Each world map has their own music, several levels have different theme songs, boss battle themes however are repeated except for the mini boss boo and Bowser Battle.
• Length: 9/10
o Pretty lengthy Mario game, there's about over 50 levels to complete, though it is possible to get to the end of the game within a hour, to fully complete all the levels, switches, bosses and the secret zone may take you a bit longer. A pretty decent length of a Mario game compared to the prior installations.
• Replay Value: 8/10
o The storyline can pretty much end in the first hour of gameplay, however the amount of levels you can play and finish are over 50+. Other than that, it is possible to go back to the boss battle / castle stages by using a combined button pressing of: L+R. Once you finish the star zone, you get access to the special zone, and if you finish the special zone, the entire dinosaur map and the world maps change color, enemies change appearance, etc.
• Player Value: 10/10
o If you missed the first Super Mario World, this is your best chance of re-living a old classic, not only is the game improved with its colors, sound effects and storytelling but it is now on a portable which makes it even more memorable experience. You will surely enjoy this timeless classic.