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Friday 25 January, 2008
Gamelog entry #2:
GAME PLAY-
Yes!!! After another 45-minutes of frustration and lava burns, I have defeated Iggy Koopa and blew up his castle and moved on to Donut Plains, or the second Island stage. Apparently, to my surprise, there is a little bit of storyline to the game, so far at least. I wasn't able to read when I first played the game, being four at the time, so it's actually interesting to know that I was actually rescuing one of Yoshi's friends who was trapped in an egg. As a kid, I always thought that the egg was just some kind of food or power up that Mario got as a prize. Go figure.
So now I'm finally on donut island, where I get to obtain those cool feather magic capes that allow me to fly. I was a little moody after playing the game for a while, needing to run back to the first island several times to obtain more green mushroom life ups in order to move on in the game.
There was one trivial thing that frustrated me throughout the game which never really bothered me before as a kid, and it's that Mario's abuse of Yoshi. I know it's silly, but the idea of Mario bonking Yoshi on the head in order for the dinosaur to stick its tongue out just seems slightly barbaric to me now. There are also, as I've noticed, certain times in the game where it is actually helpful to jump higher across ledges and "save yourself" by getting that extra momentum off of Yoshi and abandoning him to fall into his pit of doom. Of course, the game is very cute, and meant for an audience of all ages. I just couldn't help to think that the idea of doing such a thing to be a little hilarious, yet sad, at the same time.
DESIGN-
I was slightly surprised when I came across the second level of Donut plains to find a pan-scrolling level where the screen would just not stop scrolling, forcing you to move to the right whether you like it or not. The style change caught me off guard, and since the setting was underground, there isn't much room to navigate the little sprite, placing you at risk of getting caught between the wall, and the magical moving screen. Logically, you can't die from being squished along the side of a TV screen, but not in the case of Mario! Invisible moving screens that push you against the side can kill you too, apparently. I actually forgot all about that kind of style play, and it actually gave me a surprise because I canno take my time leisurely (within the time limit) on the level.
It's actually good that Super Mario World is different from the other past Mario games in that it actually allows the player to replay levels, a luxury that mustn't be taken for granted. Now we can actually explore and go about the individual levels for "completeness." As a gamer, it's always exciting when new secrets are revealed, such as a hidden path, a warp pipe, or an extra cloud surprise in the sky. It actually does keep a player interested.
Mario has also dug itself deep into my heart again with their vibrant colors. The style of the artwork is very cartoony and inviting to make it as universal for a s broad a range of audience as possible.
Although generally a 2D game, Super Mario World gave a somewhat pseudo-3D feel to the game with adding a map to portray the Mario World. Different from the map in Super Mario Bros. 3, where the map is basically laid out in boxes and straight lines, Super Mario World portrayed the map in a more pseudo-realistic sense by adding actual curves and depths in the style. It not only involves islands, but allows you to enter caves and underwater worlds as well. The game certainly added a lot more detail and features.
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