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Saturday 26 January, 2008
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This entry is spoiler-free. Well, mostly spoiler-free; there’s not much to spoil in terms of story in a Mario game. Keep in mind, though, that I do talk a bit about hidden levels and Easter Eggs, so if you’d rather find those on your own, you probably don’t want to read this entry.
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Gameplay:
So, I have played another hour of Super Mario World and, interestingly enough, the game has ramped up the difficulty, but not by too much. The game’s levels are still quite accessible for a wide audience, though I will say that I felt a noticeable increase in difficulty, especially when taking the “side route” in the cave locale. In particular, the fortress above the cave was a fairly difficult level based on the sheer number of monsters and their particular placement in the level. I often found myself wanting to swim upward to avoid a hazard below me, only to find a skeleton fish was swimming above me. A slight amount of frustration ensued.
Really, that’s the biggest difference between my last play session and this one – an increase in the level difficulty. I was finally feeling challenged by the game’s mechanics, where in previous levels I had to subconsciously invent challenges to keep my interest. The controls were still the same as I had experience in the past – simple to use and very responsive. The level design was more varied as I continued to progress, creating new challenges involving new mechanics, such as one of the secret levels where you had to ride across the ocean on a series of dolphins.
Along with the challenge, interest in the game began to increase. I felt myself wanting to continue playing even beyond the designated time and level I had originally decided to stop at. In comparison to other games I have played, however, this interest wasn’t as strong as, say, Psychonauts, or Super Mario Galaxy, or Kingdom Hearts. Once again, maybe it’s because of the whole “been there, done that” feeling, but it’s also possible because of the saving mechanic, which more clearly define good points at which to stop playing.
DESIGN:
When considering the design of Super Mario World, it has to be considered that it is one of the first games released on the SNES and that it is, at its core, a traditional two-dimensional platformer. Therefore, one would expect a main focus to be placed on the level design, game mechanics, and controls. Later platformers have benefited from other elements, such as a well-developed story, but they are merely polish on the core game mechanics.
It could just be a personal issue, but I just can’t seem to get over the shallowness of the storytelling in this game. The storytelling is fairly non-existent in Super Mario World, and while it’s not a big issue, the game might have been a bit more compelling to audiences to play if the story was deeper. That, or at the very least more exhibited in the actual game.
Story aside, what I feel is the most developed piece of this game is its level design. Yes, the levels are fairly linear, but they are challenging and varied, nonetheless. Also, the great aspect of the level design is that the levels are developed with a nice learning curve to them. The earlier levels are easy so that the user can get comfortable with the controls, while the later levels begin to ramp up the difficulty so the player continuously feels challenged. And if the user feels adventurous, they always have the option of searching for hidden levels and “side tracks” that differ from the typical path players take to complete the game.
The artistic style of Super Mario World is as whimsical as one would expect, using bright colors and fun, loveable characters through the game. The music matches the visual style in that it is light and playful. The blatant exception to these observations are, of course, the dungeons, castles, and ghost houses, which all adopt a darker style to them. For instance, the ghost houses use dark colors and eerie music to match the creepy, almost surreal nature of the ghost houses (these levels usually involve solving some kind of puzzle to find the secret exit to the level).
Overall, what makes Super Mario World a great game for the SNES is its variety in level design and its accessibility for a variety of audiences. Though it lacks many modern features of today’s platformers, it is still a fun game on the basis of its game mechanics.
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