Mario's greatest adventure.
In Super Mario World, you once again play as everyone's favourite plumber Mario on his quest to save dear Princess Toadstool, who once again manages to get kidnapped by Bowser. Helping out our hopping, running, flying and fireball throwing hero is the dinosaur Yoshi, who can simply eat enemies to get rid of them or spit them back out to knock other villains out. Similar to the NES's Super Mario Bros. 3, you'll travel around in an overworld map and secret exits would branch into hidden paths, revealing levels and shortcuts to big Bowser's castle. However the fact that you can save your progress along the long road makes for a much more fulfilling experience and perfectionists can try to get that perfect savegame with every level beaten.
The level design in Super Mario World is simply amazing and keeps you entertained throughout the entire game. Additionally, you'll reach new switches on the world map which, when pressed, will open the new paths and urge you to replay a level to find a now accessible exit. Mario brings with him a lot of his old powers like the ability to throw fireballs and with a new cape power up he's able to fly and glide through the sky and knock enemies unconscious with a whirl attack.
Obviously, the SNES's 16-bit graphics up the ante and the game looks great, especially for a launch title. The character sprites look detailed and animate nicely, each world is bound to a certain theme distinctly coming through, thanks to a great art direction and the frame rate remains solid throughout. However, the marvel of the game's presentation is the fantastic musical score, filled with a ton of memorable tunes. In fact, much of the appeal of new Mario titles is due to their soundtracks, reminiscent of Super Mario World's.
To follow up the beloved Super Mario Bros. 3 isn't an easy task, but Super Mario World is by all standards an amazing game and will remain forever as one of the finest platformers of all time and the single best game to be attached to the Mario franchise.