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Ah... the black sheep has finally come home...
Super Mario World 2 was released in late 1995, which was near the end of the SNES's supremacy run for Nintendo. The N64 was less than ten months away at the time and everyone was licking their lips over that because it was supposed to be the next revolution in gaming and it would be a powerhouse for years. Unfortunately, only the first statement was true. The second one proved false in only two years. Mario World 2 was a game that went under the radar for a long time, and unjustifiably was deemed a failure because it had no Mario in it. That has been proven wrong, thankfully. Mario World 2 is actually one of the greatest games in video game history and it is legend among the top gamers in the world, especially in the United States. The story of how this game came to promience is also pretty good, too.
The game was originally supposed to be released in 1992, but there were some problems with the developing so they had to scratch the whole thing and start all over again. It happened again in 1993, and Nintendo was starting to get a little nervous that a Mario World sequel would never make it to the market. Finally, in 1994, Miyamoto and his team decided to use the Super FX-2 chip to make the game. The FX chip had been used well in games like Star Fox and Stunt Race FX. Now, Nintendo was intent on taking the whole thing just one step farther.
The game was a major success in Japan in early 1995, selling over a million copies rather quickly. The game got a more cool reception in the US, but it did eventually get to a million copies after nearly a year. The game has been appreciated more and more over the years and the GBA incarnation has already sold over a million copies, which is a testament to the game's true popularity that has finally emerged.
The story is about a stork who is about to deliver two babies to their new parents. However, Kamek, an evil wizard, ambushes the stork and forces one of the two babies to fall. Kamek captures the bird and starts to go after the baby that fell, baby Mario. Luckily for the baby, he was safely retrieved by a group of Yoshis. The Yoshis realize that baby Mario knows where to find his other half and they decide to do a relay system to get him over there. Obviously, Kamek and his minions are ready for them and will do anything to do stop Yoshi and his friends from completing their goal.
The graphics are richly designed and are wonderfully textured, especially for a side-scroller, which you didn't see of that much in 1995 for some strange reason. Only DKC and Mega Man really did it by then. There is a little bit of slowdown, but it doesn't really have a profound impact on what happens to you. Love what they did when you get all dizzy and woozy. Looks very natural.
The controls are easy to pick up on and aiming and shooting eggs will become second nature almost right away. The hit detection is right on the money every single time and you won't really get any cheap hits on either end. Jumping is a little problematic at first but hardly an issue after two or three levels.
The game design is intricately built, and there is a lot of surprises waiting for you at every corner of this game. Miyamoto shows his true talents in this particular category time and time again, which is a marvel when you think about how many games he has made.
The music is very catchy and the sound effects burst with variety. Mario crying when he is in the air is very annoying, but you may get used to it eventually, and this is only one downside against so many upsides, but it is there, though.
Is the game fun? Definitely. There is a gentle learning curve that only gets nasty near the end, and the game has so many secrets and so much humor that you will be having a ball with this game the whole way through, and that was Miyamoto's original plan to begin with.
The gameplay is near flawless. There is not a real quibble you can have with the game save the crying baby Mario, but that is something that you get to learn to deal with. If you don't get hit that often, it isn't an issue. Miyamoto has delivered a sizzling winner and a game that has stood the test of time. -- Chris Vavra, PGNx Media
---- Jul 16, 2003
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