I think we can all remember when we first get a new console.
I vividly remember when I got my NES, Game Boy, GBA, N64, PlayStation and my trusty ‘Cube. I also remember the momentous moment when I received my Super Nintendo. I was living in the Northern Territory, in an isolated town called Nhulunbuy, and I was in my penultimate year of primary school. I was depressed that I couldn’t get the SNES ANYWHERE, and I REALLY wanted Street Fighter II. I got the surprise of my bloody life, when, on Christmas Day, I unwrapped a large rectangular box containing my dear Super Nintendo. They’d given the money to someone who lived in Perth and was moving up to Nhulunbuy with us. I could not bloody believe it. Not only had I been given an SNES with Street Fighter II, but the system also came with a free game. This free game would keep me entertained for many years to come.
It had been a long wait since the amazing Super Mario Bros. 3 came out on the NES, but it was worth every minute. This game is huge. Absolutely massive.
It uses the same sort of system as Super Mario Bros. 3, with an overhead view of Mario to choose which level you want to try. The levels are perfectly designed, so anyone can play, whether you’re a novice or a pro. Don’t be fooled, though; the levels are nice and easy at first, but goddamn, they don’t stay that way! Seriously, my L and R buttons on my SNES controllers got so knackered just from the frustration this game causes. The controls for this beast are tighter than an Italian waiter’s trousers! Some levels will have you cursing yourself, as you can see exactly what you have to do, but your hands just can’t do it! All the while, though, you’re having fun, and that’s what matters.
SMW also introduces us to everyone’s favourite green dinosaur, Yoshi! He makes his inaugural appearance very early in the game—the first level, to be precise—and he comes in extremely handy I can tell you! Not only can this little bugger eat enemies; he can also use them to your advantage. For example, if Yoshi eats a red-shelled Koopa, he breathes out a burst of flames to toast any other enemies!
The graphics are pretty damn good; they don’t push the SNES to its limits at all, but this was the first Super Nintendo game so it’s understandable. This is not to say they ain’t pretty, though. Everything is clear, and, of course, colourful. There’s no mistaking what is going on at any particular time, and there are some hints as to what the SNES is capable of, especially in the lava stages. There’s also some pretty nice Mode 7 rotation and scaling, notably in the final battle with Bowser.
The sound is what you’d expect from a Mario outing, with bright, bubbly tunes, cute little jumping noises, and of course, the famous “going down the green pipe warp noise thing.” As with all Mario games previous, the tunes are deviously hummable. You’ll find them stuck in your head at the most random of times.
All in all it’s a frickin’ good game hey, especially at the price I got it. Okay, maybe it’s not Nintendo’s best, and people will argue that SMB3 is better or whatever, but I think this is the second-best Mario game ever, bettered only slightly by Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island…damn, I love that game.
I’ve still got the SNES version of SMW, and I went out and bought the GBA version as soon as it came out, and on my budget, that’s gotta be saying something.
