A game that makes you understand why Mario became so popular in the first place!
The Good:
Mario wouldn't be Mario without his arsenal of power-ups, and this game seems to recognize that! One of the new power-ups is the cape, which allows you to soar high above the levels. AMAZINNNNGGGG!!!!! This game features plenty of old power-ups such as the mushroom and fire flower, as well!
The biggest power-up, however, is definately Yoshi! Yoshi can eat berries from trees, eat up enemies, and spit 'em out. Kinda sounds like an early version of Kirby, doesn't it?!?!?!? Yoshi can change his powers depending on which Koopa he eats. Green Koopas do nothing, Red Koopas cause him to spit fire, and Blue/Yellow Koopas give him wings. If it weren't for these powers, Yoshi's final smash in SSBB would never come to be!
Another cool aspect of the game is deciding which levels are good for which character. You are given 2 choices. Mario (a well-balanced character) and Luigi (a floatier and bouncier character). There are also some levels where Yoshi can be a savior and other levels where he can be a demon. Knowing who to use at what time is very important to the structure of the game!
The graphics are fine! I don't really care! As long as the game is fun and doesn't look absolutely like crap I'll play it!
The music for this game is mostly forgettable but, the main theme (A.K.A. 'Yoshi's Island') and the castle theme are both truly memorable! I really hope they use the castle theme for Brawl on a Bowser-themed stage.
The Bad:
Though it might be considered a legend, Super Mario World still has flaws! The biggest flaw being that it's called a legend! Sure, Super Mario World was a great game for its time and I guess that still SOMEWHAT holds true today. But even so, you'd expect a game that is blabbed about this much to be... better! I know that thinking that this game would be the best game ever is a bit much to expect, but still, if you're going to talk about how Earth-shattering a game is, make sure it is truly Earth- shattering, first!
Another flaw that comes with the game is Yoshi's appearance. And no, I'm not saying that I dislike him or think he's ugly. I'm just saying that, there are some parts with too much Yoshi and some parts that don't have enough. For instance, the first level is called 'Yoshi's Island' so you'd expect to see a lot of Yoshis there. But guess what? Yoshi only appears once or twice! For those that argue that Yoshi's Island is easy enough for you to pass through without losing Yoshi, not everyone is as 'amazing' of a gamer as you!
My third complaint is the way the 'world' is set up. If you want to travel from level 8 to level 1, you'll have to walk ALL THE WAY AROUND. This is difficult and stupid. On a similar note, you can beat a level hundreds of times but if you don't beat it 'correctly' you fail. I know that it adds an element of puzzle to the game, but it's confusing, none the less.
The graphics and sound are, like I said before, fine. Some people might think the voices when you die are annoying, but hey! If you don't like it, that's what the volume switch is for! As for the boss battles, all of them are generic, 'hop on the head 3 times' boss battles. I'm not saying that they're terrible but if the boss battles (excluding Bowser) are the easiest aspect of the whole game, you know that something just isn't natural....
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In conclusion, any Mario fan or GBA owner should get this game. Just don't buy it expecting a legend, for you are sure to be just a little bit disappointed. And for those of you that call it a legend, I can see where you get that idea, but really, there are better games out there!