Review #657: Super Mario World - Super Mario Advance 2

 Classics never go out of style.

 While I grew up with Mario, I never really did get to finish Super Mario World. To be fair, I skipped the SNES, so for the longest time the only way I had to play the game was through a bootleg NES game on the trusty 'Family Game' Chinese NES knockoff. I played it a lot, and eventually graduated to the SNES rom via emulation, but I never got very far since I never cared very much. Not that that stopped me from proclaiming Super Mario Bros. 3 was better in every way, shape and form. Well, now I can change that, that to the Gameboy Advance port I finally get to take this 2-D platforming classic on a spin. I still think Super Mario Bros. 3 is better, but darn it, I can finally understand why this game is so beloved!

 Same old, same old, Princess Peach has been kidnapped and Mario and Luigi must rescue her. The game is made up of 96 small stages, which lends itself surprisingly well to a handheld console. I also includes the classic Arcade Mario Bros. game because every Mario Advance does. As for this game, you get to move on an overworld between stages, so you can replay any stage at any time. Pressing R allows you to switch to Luigi, who plays very differently from Mario, with higher, floatier jumps but also less precise movement since he slips a lot. This is a great addition, since some levels are actually easier with Luigi. A for powers, this game is a bit lacking in those, Mario only gets the Fire Flower, which lets him shoot fireballs, and the Feather, which grants him a cape, which can be used to fly or attack enemies by spinning said cape. On the other hand, this game introduced the Spin Jump, a lower jump that lets Mario bounce on spiky surfaces and thus avoid harm. This was also Yoshi's first appearance, a dinosaur Mario can ride. Yoshi will take a hit from Mario and start running away, but if you jump back on top of Yoshi, before he runs towards his doom, you can actually reclaim him. Yoshi can jump on any harmful surface as well as eat enemies with his tongue. You can also jump off of him if you are falling to your doom! If you are thorough, you'll also be able to unlock special, colored versions of Yoshi.... By the by, even Yoshi behaves differently while under Luigi's butt.

 The game is as basic as basic can get, A button Jumps and B is your action button: Making Yoshi lash out with his tongue, shooting a fireball or swatting enemies with the game. The R button is used to perform the spin-jump. Controls and movements are not as tight as Mario moved during the NES era, but it's not bad at all. This entry was the one that introduced alternate exits, and I kinda hate the mechanic. Unlocking secret levels and the such is fine and dandy, but some of the hidden exits are hidden way too well, with very few hints as to which levels house these alternate exits. The Illusion Woods world is pretty annoying, since finding the secret exits is mandatory in order to progress through the game. I actually had to look up the exit I needed on Youtube. Bad design is bad. That said, there's a fair amount of types of stages: Fortresses, Castles, Boo Houses, etc

 Super Mario World can be a bit challenging at times, I was cutting it way too close with the time limit in some stages, but it's not has hard as Super Mario Bros. 3's toughest. The game is pretty generous with extra lives, and every stage has a mid-level checkpoint to help you if you die. You can also backtrack at any time and replay easier stages to stock up on power ups or lives. You can also store up to one extra item, but the mechanic is a bit lame. For instance, if you are carrying a fire flower and grab a cape, you automatically equip the cape and you'll store the fire flower. Stored items will pop from the top of the screen whenever you revert to little Mario or press the select button. There's a little annoyance, however. For instance, say that you are Fire Mario and are carrying another Fire Flower power up as your stored item. If you accidentally grab a mushroom, the basic power up that turns Mario into Super Mario, the shroom will overwrite one of your fire flowers, thus screwing you out of the better power up! This can also happen if, for example, you are Super Mario, with a store item(A Fire Flower or a cape) and grab another power up. Your stored item will get turned into a basic shroom. Eventually you'll get the hang of it and learn how to avoid these  annoying situations, but every now and then you'll probably forget and make the mistake again.

 I'm glad I can finally scratch Super Mario World off my bucket list, and I'm glad I finally got to appreciate the game in its entirety. While I'm not a fan of the secret stages, I think this "short length but many different stages' approach was pretty good, and wound up being the perfect fit for a handheld game. I don't think I disliked a single stage, except, maybe, the final Castle, so I'd say that level design is pretty good.

 However, as good as this game is, I feel like controls aren't as tight as Super Mario Bros. 3, and it has much less variety when it comes to power ups. I'd certainly put it above Super Mario Bros. 2 and maybe Super Mario Bros. 1, because this game is a classic through and through.
 9.0 out of 10