Simply one of the top best of the SNES, also Yoshi's debut.
Super Mario World was the evolution of something huge. For five years, many had been playing the 8-bit Super Mario games and wanted more. Finally, the release of this gem hit the shelves and blew the roof to Pluto in sales.
Not only did this introduce a new look to Mario, but it also contained a few 3D-style backgrounds and animations for the first time ever in the Mario universe. Aside from that, a new and still loved character showed his face for the first time, none other than Yoshi. Players could ride on his back and use Yoshi's tongue to eat enemies and grab items.
One other feature was introduced in Super Mario World that was never-before seen in the 8-bit Marios: the item reserve box. This gave players a chance to, if they already had a power-up like a mushroom or a fire flower, place another power-up into the box. If the player was harmed, whichever item in the box would come floating down to be caught. Not only a life-saver, but also handy in swapping a fire flower for a cape to fly through certain areas, or whichever strategy the player had in mind.
The story in this game is like nearly all Mario platformers: Bowser kidnaps Princess Toadstool and must be rescued by Mario and Luigi. Along the way, many levels await to be conquered as they grow progressively harder. Bosses and mini-bosses are also thrown into the mix. Last but not least, several levels had two exits, one of which, or the secret exit, would open a different path for the player to explore.
Good: All new experience makes for perfect gameplay, endless fun, variety of things to do and places to go, as easy to get the hang of as the older Mario games, new items and enemies, Yoshi's first appearance, new "spin jump" move, save feature never-before seen in earlier Mario games, vast and colorful graphics.
Bad: Some levels are headache-inducing, Yoshi runs away when hit while riding him and is hard to catch.
Graphics: Switching from 8-bit to 16-bit with some 3D elements with huge levels would be almost overwhelming for a gamer who moved from playing the earlier Mario games. But a good sort of overwhelming all the same. With widely colorful and detailed graphics like these, it easily makes for some of the best visuals on the SNES.
Sound/Music: Nintendo kept all of the silly and cartoony Mario sounds anyone would recognize. Obviously they had better quality than previous games. The music is some of the most memorable tunes to any retro gamer and he/she will instantly recognize the song if heard elsewhere than the game. Many of the tracks played in Super Mario World are in later Mario games.
Difficulty: As one would expect from a Mario platformer, some levels are easy, some are hair-ripping hard.
Controls: Very easy to get the grasp of what does what in the game, everything is exactly where it should be in button placement.
Overall: From what all is said in this review, it is very obvious that this game is worth getting. It could be found in nearly any game store that carries older games. Also, it's available on the GBA and Wii Virutal Console. Whichever you have access to, if you do not own any version of this game, you'd be doing yourself a huge favor if you were to buy it. Certainly not a disappointment and it never gets old.