In 1981, Shigeru Miyamoto and his team at Nintendo R&D1 created Donkey Kong, an arcade title that introduced gamers to two of Nintendo’s most recognisable characters: Mario and Donkey Kong. To celebrate everyone’s favourite King Kongknock-off, I’m dedicating a few days this week to gaming’s most famous ape!
Released: 7 March 2025 Originally Released: 14 Jun 1994 Developer: Nintendo EAD / Pax Softnica Also Available For: Game Boy and Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console)
A Brief Background: Back in 1981, Nintendo were in a tight spot after their plans to expand into North America with Radar Scope (Nintendo R&D2/Ikegami Tsushinki, 1980) failed. President Hiroshi Yamauchi thus tasked young designer Shigeru Miyamoto to create a new arcade cabinet to turn things around and, when plans to adapt the popular comic strip character Popeye fell through, Miyamoto took inspiration fromBeauty and the Beast (Barbot de Villeneuve, 1740) and King Kong (Cooper and Schoedsack, 1933) to create Donkey Kong (Nintendo R&D1/Ikegami Tsushinki, 1981). A critical and financial success, Donkey Kong not only introduced to world to a prototype of Nintendo’s plumber mascot and ensured a foothold for Nintendo in the United States, it also kick-started a slew of ports and sequels. Perhaps the most notable conversion of the title was this version for Nintendo’s popular handheld, the Game Boy. Unlike the version released for the Game Boy’s home console counterpart,this Donkey Kong was more of a puzzle platformer and greatly expanded upon the core gameplay and mechanics of the original, solidifying Mario’s character following his successful solo ventures and bringing more eyes to Nintendo’s Super Game Boy peripheral. Widely praised and highly ranked amongst Donkey Kong’s solo ventures, Donkey Kong inspired a spiritual successor in 2004 and finally saw life outside of the retrogaming scene when it was released digital via Nintendo’s online services in 2011 and 2025.
The Review: Although this version of Donkey Kong (referred to on the title screen as Game Boy Donkey Kong and widely known as Donkey Kong ’94) is a fundamentally different and expanded version of the original arcade game, it’s still technically quite simple and not varied enough in some aspects to warrant my usual full review. Upon first starting the game, players pick from three save files and immediately get underway playing an adaptation of the arcade hit, guiding a distinctly Mario-looking Mario across girders, through a pie factory, and removing rivets to reach the cantankerous ape, who escapes with Pauline each time. After clearing the first four stages, however, Donkey Kong scarpers across nine additional stages, each with anywhere from eight to fifteen levels, and the game completely changes from a simple platformer to a puzzle platformer. Luckily, Mario’s abilities have been expanded to accommodate this. His jump is far better now, allowing you to hop between platforms and across gaps and even survive falls from short to medium heights, largely eliminating the aggravating fall deaths from the original game. By crouching and pressing A, Mario performs a handstand to protect himself from Donkey Kong’s barrels and other hazards and then performs a somersault jump by pressing A again to hop to higher ground. Mario can also pull off a back flip if you quickly press the directional pad (D-pad) in the opposite direction alongside A, which is great for hopping over enemies or out of tight corners, as well as crouch to fit through narrow gaps. By pressing B on barrels and certain enemies, Mario picks these up and throws them, though you’ll primarily use this to retrieve the many keys hidden across the game’s stages. Finally, Mario can still grab his trusty hammer to take out enemies, though he can’t jump while using it. The game also includes the Super Hammer, which destroys certain blocks, and Mario can toss both weapons and quickly retrieve them to solve puzzles.
Smash blocks with your hammer and utilise various platforming skills to get the key to the door.
Many stages feature ladders and ropes you must climb. Sometimes these ladders rise and fall to make you time you climb, sometimes there are ropes, vines, or chains or you must carefully grab nearby vines, avoiding any enemies or a potentially fatal plummet like in Donkey Kong Jr.(Nintendo R&D1, 1982). There are also wires to spin on by holding up on the D-pad, which will fling you into the air or across the stage, though you must watch for insta-kill hazards like electrical sparks and spikes. Mario can also swim by tapping A, collect extra lives from 1-Up Hearts hidden in stages, and hop over enemies or retrieve Pauline’s lost items for bonus points. Finding all three of these and clearing a level takes you to a bonus game, where you must stop a slot machine or number icons to earn additional lives. Finally, players pull levers to open doors, activate or change the direction of moving platforms, and switch the direction of conveyer platforms, as well as utilise timed item blocks to aid their traversal. You can grab a ladder to quickly reach higher platforms, create a temporary bridge to toss the key to, and spawn a spring to bounce upwards, with some stages requiring multiple item blocks to clear them, avoid a deadly fall, or get the key to higher ground. You must retrieve the key and carry it to the door before the timer expires, taking care not to toss it into pits or water or leave it idle as it’ll vanish. Sometimes, the door is invisible, requiring you to pay attention during the intro cutscene; other times, it’s deep underwater or protected by hazards. While you can toss the key to defeat some enemies, you can’t carry it up ladders so you must use the item blocks, conveyors, platforms, and levers to get the key where you need it to go. While the challenge of getting the key to the door starts quite simple, with you simply avoiding some enemies or hazards, it quickly becomes complicated as the game throws deep chasms, hazardous mazes, and brain teasing puzzles that’ll have you checking a guide or using trial and error. The Nintendo Switch’s save state and rewind feature is a godsend here as it can be tricky figuring out what to do, though often the solution is very simple and you can even ride some enemies to cross gaps and such.
The game’s challenge is bolstered by some impressive visuals for the handheld.
It’s pretty amazing how visually engaging this version of Donkey Kong is compared to the original, and the other home console ports, especially considering the Game Boy’s limitations. Mario, Donkey Kong, and Pauline are all rendered very accurately, with the latter two having some fun animations. I enjoyed seeing Donkey Kong squeeze his butt through doors and the cute little chase animations that play between stages, and Mario has some amusing death animations here. He’ll be squashed flat as a pancake, incinerated, face plant and be left twitching or simply crash to the ground and die, which all adds to the visual charm. Add to that some fun and impressive animated sprite art and in-game cutscenes and you have a game that blows its counterparts away, as long as you don’t focus too hard on the backgrounds and sound. While the backgrounds are varied and you end up exploring a deep jungle, slipping around on a frozen iceberg, swimming through water, exploring a hazardous city, and climbing Donkey Kong’s fortified tower, they’re obviously very limited due. The game performs really well, though, with no real slowdown or sprite flickering, and makes good use of its assets by scrolling the screen in larger areas. It’s also surprisingly long and challenging, with some stages featuring so many levels that it can get quite taxing, though the music is naturally limited and quite repetitious. Each stage introduces new gimmicks, or turns old ones on their head, though, to have you riding Thwomp blocks, clinging to Monchee tails, avoiding Poison Mushrooms, riding platforms, creating bridges over gaps, battling against strong winds, and contending with the cheeky Donkey Kong Jr. as he pulls levers to mess up your progress.
Donkey Kong and his cheeky sprog regularly challenge your platforming skills.
Each stage is filled with puzzles, hazards, and enemies, some of which aid you since you can walk on or get a boost from them, but most of which will immediately kill you. Some resemble recognisable Mario enemies like Piranha Plants, Cheep-Cheeps, and Bloopers, others return from the original Donkey Kong games, like the flammable oil and egg-dropping birds, while others are quirky newcomers ranging from waddling penguins and aggressive crabs to spiky porcupines, deep sea divers, and various oddball anthropomorphs who patrol each platform. Every fourth level pits you against the titular Donkey Kong and forces you to hop up platforms, avoiding his projectiles, and either get to Pauline or toss a barrel at him three times. Sometimes, the action takes place over a bottomless pit, a body of water, or a bed or spikes. Other times, you hop to conveyor belts, ride platforms, or race across disappearing block platforms. Sometimes, you pull levers to reverse the direction of these gimmicks; others, these same levers open doors for you to reach Pauline. Often, Donkey Kong Jr. blocks your path or undoes your progress until you eventually trap him in a cage and take him out of the equation in Stage 9. Donkey Kong is largely stationary but sometimes jumps and causes debris to rain down, or also pull levers to annoy you. He throws barrels that must be picked up and thrown at him, oil barrels that you must jump over, boulders and springs that you can hop on to climb higher, and Poison Mushrooms to shrink you. Reaching and battling him is generally easier than tackling the obstacle courses that precede him, but things can get tricky when enemies spit projectiles or Donkey Kong smashes barrels to spawn Poison Mushrooms. When you reach the finale of Stage 9, you must again climb chains to push keys into holes and send Donkey Kong plummeting, only to be surprised by a three-stage final boss against a gigantic Donkey Kong! In this final bout, you must avoid his crushing fists and hop to higher ground, using your handstand to tip over barrels to toss at his big, stupid face. His fists also slam together and erratically smash the ground to mix things up, but as long as you stay high and in a handstand, you can mostly avoid his attacks and any damage.
The Summary: I spent a long time regretting not getting this version of Donkey Kong when the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console was active. I’d heard a lot of good things about it and was attracted to how it expanded upon the core gameplay of the admittedly limited original, though even I was surprised by just how much is packed into this little game! I find it amazing that Nintendo chose to create this expanded version for their less powerful handheld and not their industry changing home console, though it’s quite the technical marvel for the Game Boy. I loved how animated Mario and Donkey Kong were, how much variety was packed into every stage, and the clever way the developers reused and retooled each gimmick in challenging ways. Make no mistake, this Donkey Kong is a thinking man’s platformer and some of the stages really had me baffled about how to get the key to the door. The gameplay loop did become tiresome after a while, though, even with the fun cutscenes and throwaway bonus stages, especially in stages with an obscene number of levels. It was also disappointing that the battles against Donkey Kong and his sprog didn’t deviate too wildly from the original arcade game, especially as the developers could’ve snuck in some autoscrolling chasers to mix up the formula. I enjoyed Mario’s new moves and the item blocks, which had to be placed strategically to solve some puzzles, and the tension of racing to the key before it or your items disappeared. Some levels were more unfair than others, require multiple reloads, but this was a fun way to pass the time and a great expansion on the original title. While the Game Boy Donkey Kong did get a little too tiresome at times for me to rate it any higher, it’s still the best version of the original game, though it’s a shame the Nintendo Switch doesn’t allow for the Super Game Boy colour palette to be utilised.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Did you ever own Donkey Kong for the Game Boy back in the day? How do you think it compares to the original arcade version? Did you enjoy the challenge on offer or do you agree that it gets a bit tedious after a while? What did you think to the puzzle/platformer gameplay and Mario’s expanded moveset? Did you ever clear every stage in the game? Which Donkey Kong videogame is your favourite and why? How are you celebrating Donkey Kong’s anniversary this year? Whatever your thoughts on Donkey Kong, feel free to leave a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other Mario and Donkey Kong content.
So, for no better reason than “Mar.10” resembling Mario’s name, March 10th is widely regarded as being “Mario Day”, a day to celebrate Nintendo’s portly plumber, an overalls-wearing mascot who literally changed the videogame industry forever and shaped the home console market of the nineties.
Released: 20 October 2023 Developer: Nintendo EPD
The Background: Following the collapse of the videogame industry from a slew of overpriced consoles and mediocre titles, Nintendo revitalised the landscape withSuper Mario Bros. (Nintendo EAD, 1985). Once the “Console Wars” of the mid-nineties ended, Nintendo and their famous mascot became an innovative and reliable staple of the videogame industry. After successfully transitioning into 3D gaming, Nintendo continued to pay homage to Mario’s 2D roots with hit2.5D titles. Shiro Mouri, director of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (Nintendo EAD, 2012), returned to develop Super Mario Bros. Wonder and he and his team worked without a deadline, allowing them far more freedom to develop new ideas. Producer Takashi Tezuka suggested implementing a gimmick that would alter the game’s locations in fun and wacky ways, birthing the “Wonder Flower” mechanic, and features and accessibility options were implemented to make the game appealing to players of all ages. A live commentary feature was scrapped early on, long-time Mario voice actor Charles Martinet was replaced for the first time following his retirement, and Mouri also personally lobbied for Princess Daisy to be included so girls (specifically his daughters) would have more playable options. Super Mario Bros. Wonder was met with widespread acclaim; critics adored the gameplay innovations and responsive controls, and it sold 4.3 million units in its first two weeks alone.
The Plot: While visiting the Flower Kingdom, Mario and his friends are stunned when Bowser, King of the Koopas, steals the Wonder Flower, turns himself into a giant flying fortress, and wreaks havoc throughout the kingdom. Our heroes thus travel across this new land to gather the Royal Seeds and stop their nemesis.
Gameplay and Power-Ups: Like its 2- and 2.5D predecessors, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a 2.5D action platformer, albeit one that gives players twelve characters to pick from and offers four player co-op, both on- and offline. Players journey across the Flower Kingdom collecting golden Coins (100 of which will grant a 1-Up), stomping on Goombas, and leaping to flagpoles to clear the six main stages (known as “Worlds”) alongside Prince Florian, a caterpillar-like character who pops out when you’re idle and chimes in during cutscenes. Regardless of which character you select, they all control the same with the exception of Yoshi, who can flutter jump by holding A (giving you a bit more airtime to clear gaps) and eats enemies and spits them back out with B. Otherwise, you can pick from two control schemes and choose to play with or without motion controls. The setup I chose saw me jumping or swimming with A (holding it to jump higher), running and picking up certain objects (like Koopa shells) by holding B (releasing it to launch my item upwards or straight ahead), and ground pounding by pressing ZL in mid-air to squash enemies and break blocks. Y brought up an emoji wheel to communicate to other players and X either placed a standee (used to revive players in co-op) or spawned an item balloon when I had one saved up. Pressing R performed a spin jump and jumping against walls and vertical surfaces performed a wall jump. You can also hold down when on slopes to slide into enemies, and pressing the L and R triggers together in co-op sees you become a ghost to float around stages. Also, you can jump atop and ride Yoshi players in multiplayer and press B to perform your special attacks when you have a power-up item.
Mario and friends utilise new power-ups and the Wonder Flowers to explore this new kingdom.
As you might expect, grabbing a Super Mushroom allows your character to grow and take an extra hit and break certain blocks. Get hit when in your small form and you’ll lose a life, respawning either at the beginning of the stage or from the last checkpoint you touched. Touching a checkpoint automatically causes you to grow if you’re small, rare green mushrooms grant extra lives and Fire Flowers let you toss fireballs to defeat enemies and melt ice blocks. Blue Coins appear when you hit P Switches, POW blocks defeat all onscreen enemies and break all visible blocks, and Super Stars make you invincible for a short time and add a somersault to your jump. This is all very familiar but Super Mario Bros. Wonder does add in three new power-ups. The Bubble Flower sees you throw bubbles to trap and defeat enemies and make temporary platforms, the Drill Mushroom lets you dig into floors and ceilings to reach new areas, and the Elephant Fruit transforms you into a rotund elephant that smacks enemies with its trunk and sprays water to cause various effects whenever you enter a fountain. If you have one power-up active, you’ll store the next one as a bubble, which is very useful as an extra chance to bypass tricky areas, and you can even commandeer Lakitu’s cloud or ride Missile Megs and Ancient Dragons to clear gaps. Wonder Flowers are the game’s biggest new feature and temporarily alter the game’s environments or your character’s appearance to mix things up. You’ll see Warp Pipes come to life, adopt a top-down perspective, float around in zero gravity, race to collect Wonder Tokens, ride along stampeding enemies, get chased by King Boo, and even explore in near darkness when the Wonder Flower is collected. These also transform you into new forms, such as a Goomba (stunting your jump but allowing you to safely cross spikes), a Biyon (stretching your character considerably), a Hoppycat (increasing your jump height), a floating balloon, granting you the Metal Cap power-up, and allowing you to stick to walls and ceilings as a Wubba, amongst other effects. These effects are sometimes timed but will last until you find a Wonder Seed or clear the stage and really add to the visual variety and mix up the gameplay as you never know what effect the Wonder Flower will have.
You’ll need all your skills and the game’s Badges to find all the collectibles and stop Bowser.
Sadly, this variety doesn’t extend to the playable characters as much as I’d like. Luigi jumps higher and has less traction than the others, Toad seems to have floatier jumps, and the Yoshis and Nabbit are invulnerable to damage (but can still lose lives), but Princess “Peach” Toadstool doesn’t have her glide ability and I question the logic behind having three Toads and four Yoshis rather than putting in Wario and Waluigi. Still, the game does allow for some character customisation in the form of “Badges”, which are either bought using the new purple Flower Coins (with three 10-Flower Coins hidden in most stages) and by conquering bite-sized Badge Challenge levels. You can equip one Badge at a time and each one grants different buffs or abilities, such as allowing you to glide by holding R, adding to your wall jump, increasing your running or swimming speed, and allowing you to snag platforms with a vine. Other abilities are more passive, such as allowing you to sense nearby collectibles, giving you a one-time save from instant-death traps like pits and lava, or turning every power-up into a specific item. You can also earn “Expert” Badges that further increase your running speed and add a limited double jump, turn you invisible (actually more trouble than it’s worth), add a spring to your step for added jump height, or allow you to hear strange voices. While it’s fun challenging for and collecting the Badges, I stuck with the Parachute Cap for my entire playthrough bar one or two exceptions as it was far more useful to add a short glide to my arsenal than anything else. You can also spend your Flower Coins on new standees (which are randomised), 1-Ups, Wonder Seeds, and paying off the local Poplins to repair bridges or smash rocks to create shortcuts and open new areas on the overworld. Furthermore, if you search hard enough, you’ll not only uncover new stages to challenge but also meet Captain Toad, who’ll gift you some Flower Coins, alongside visiting the locals to get Wonder Seeds or be told of regional issues caused by Bowser’s influence.
There’s a lot of challenge and variety on offer thanks to the Wonder Flowers.
While Super Mario Bros. Wonder contains many of the same gimmicks and mechanics you’d expect from a Super Mario title (platforming, taking Warp Pipes, smashing blocks, climbing vines, sliding on ice, and dodging fireballs are all common tropes recreated here), the game is structured more like an obstacle course than ever before. You’ll be taking Warp Pipes to the foreground and background, pushing pipes and blocks to clear paths, entering doors and taking leaps of faith, hopping to moving, spinning, and temporary platforms, and dashing across zip lines to reach new areas. Like many Super Mario games, there are often hidden exits to find (generally by collecting or avoiding Wonder Flowers), you’ll need to face Boos to stop them in their tracks or lure them into the light to destroy them, and bottomless pits, boiling lava, and toxic gunk will instantly end your run if you’re not careful. You must also avoid giant spiked balls, lure Bulrushes and Konks into smashing through blocks, outrun shadowy enemies who relentlessly chase you, time your jumps to avoid being hit by Hoppycats, stay out of reach of Maw-Maws so they eat enemies instead of you, and hold B to unzip the background, unwrap Mumsys, and send Revvers dashing. Sometimes, you’ll grab keys to open doors; others, you’ll be climbing or shimmying across striped poles. Often, you’ll touch Wow Buds to spawn Coins or cause platforms to appear, move, or sway. Balloons must be popped, balloon-like enemies need to be carefully bounced across to clear gaps, and rhythm platforms and mushroom trampolines will have you timing your jumps to progress higher. You’ll also cross hazards in rolling wheels or on rafts made from dinosaur fossils, and transport to the clouds using Propeller Flowers. Timer Switches activate block platforms for a short time, Bowser’s ship fires from the background, you’ll ride an out-of-control avalanche, race against Wiggler, and battle through autoscrolling sections on Bower’s battleships, dodging Bullet Bills and flame bursts that’ll test your reaction times. The difficulty spike is pretty fair, and each stage has a star difficulty to alert you to the challenge on offer. Things never get too tricky and you can always purchase additional lives from the shop, though the game does ramp up as you progress and offer incredibly tough missions up in the Special World.
Presentation: Super Mario Bros. Wonder is, in a word, gorgeous. 2.5D Mario has never looked or played better than here, with the game performing incredibly well throughout and the action never slowing down. It helps that most stages are bite-sized obstacle courses and that there’s a lot happening in every stage. Talking Flowers are everywhere, offering encouragement, calling for help, or commenting on the effects of Wonder Flowers. These, as mentioned, alter the stages so drastically that it’s almost like having two versions of most stages at times. They’ll be plunged into darkness, surreal colours bombard the player, and a kaleidoscope of bizarre and amusing effects spawn once you touch them, making for an enjoyable twist on the tried-and-tested formula. Mario and his friends might not play as differently as I’d like but they’re full of life and personality. Chattering through gibberish and pantomime movements, they hop and explore like never before, with caps flying off as you jump or fall or being swiped when you enter pipes. Your Elephant form squeezes through narrow passageways and Prince Florian pops out whenever you’re left idle or finish a stage. The game takes into account which character you’re playing as, too, with character-specific hidden blocks appearing in stages, personalised flags appearing at checkpoints and end goals, and the in-game text referring to whomever you’re controlling at that time. The music is as catchy and whimsical as ever; classic Super Mario tunes return, as you’d expect, as end of stage and power-up jingles but also for bonus stages and boss battles. The story is light-hearted and secondary to the action, for the most part, but just different enough to be unique. Peach isn’t a damsel in distress, for example, Bowser’s ominous ship form looms in the centre of the overworld, and you’re even actively searching for lost Poppins when you explore the Fungi Mines.
Mario has never looked better in this colourful, quirky adventure.
While Super Mario Bros. Wonder doesn’t break the mould that much when it comes to its stage designs, everything looks great and there are a lot of stages on offer in each World, with each sporting a unique and interconnected overworld. Things start relatively familiar in Pipe-Rock Plateau, where Warp Pipes are prevalent and you’ll be bouncing from Hoppos, before taking a turn for the surreal in Fluff-Puff Peaks. With the action mostly up in the clouds, you’ll be adding to your temporary platform in “Cruising with Linking Lifts” and slipping on icy platforms as you make way for Pokipedes on their set paths. Shining Falls adds an isometric aesthetic to its overworld and offers unique platforming challenges as the Hoppycats copy your jumps, the Anglefish fly from different directions, and you race along at high speeds on Zip Tracks. The Sunbaked Desert sees new stages appear from the arid sands as you explore or open by performing tasks on the overworld, and its stages have a tangible Arabian theme. You’ll be exploring a door maze in the Shova Mansion, gatecrashing the Ninji’s jump party, and exploring pyramid-like tombs for goodies. Things take an ominous turn in the Fungi Mines, where toxic clouds and goop lurk amongst haunted mansions and destructive rifts in the fabric of reality. The Deep Magma Bog overworld is not only the most menacing yet but also a maze of tunnels and paths. Its stages are volcano themed and feature dinosaur bones, fireballs, and flaming enemies who rush from the walls. As you explore the overworld, Kamek occasionally spawns huge Bowser-themed battleships not unlike those seen in Super Mario Bros. 3(Nintendo EAD, 1988). Here, the game becomes an autoscrollers and you’re forced to avoid numerous hazards and destroy the central core, which doubles as a baddy maker. Finally, simple cutscenes and interactions with the locals pepper the action, with the game concluding with an all-out frenzy to get the highest score during the credits as recycled (now non-lethal) hazards fly past.
Enemies and Bosses: Many of Mario’s most recognisable enemies make a return in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Goombas will snooze in stages and wander or float about, Piranha Plants of various sizes pop up from pipes to bite you or spit fireballs, green and red Koopas trot about or flutter in the air, Bullet Bills blast across the screen, Boos shy away from your gaze, and Hammer Bros toss hammers in an annoying arc, as ever. Mechakoopas patrol Bowser’s battleships and castles, Pokeys wander the desert, Lakitus drop Spinys, Thwomps try to crush you, and Cheep Cheeps swim about underwater to get in your way. These are joined by some new enemies, with some offering different mechanics. The Babooms, for example, shoot fireworks that can be used to defeat enemies above you. Blewbirds fire their beaks, which then become platforms, Bloomps can be bounced on to clear gaps, Bulrushes can be ridden, and Wonder Hoppins can be tricked into smashing through the stage to make new paths. Mumsys must be unwrapped by grabbing their handle, Noknoks masquerade as doors, Renketsu Search Killers offer themselves as temporary, explosive platforms, and Skedaddlers spit seeds and run off with collectibles. Shovas push pipes and blocks about, Smogrins lurk near tricky jumps, you can swing across gaps by grabbing Tailys, and Wubbas will cut through sticky goo that slows you down. Spikes, flame bursts, electrical sparks, giant balls, toxic gunk, and crushing pistons are persistent hazards, with you often bouncing from enemies to avoid them or luring nearby foes into unwittingly aiding you.
The game’s disappointingly light on bosses but goes all-out for the finale.
Sadly, Super Mario. Bros Wonder is disappointingly light on unique boss battles, a trend I’ve noticed in a lot of 2- and 2.5D Mario adventures. While larger variants of certain enemies do exist (King Boo being the most memorable), they’re more like chase sections rather than boss battles. The Mecha Makers are close to a boss in that you have to avoid hazards on the conveyer belt and smash the big red button to down Bowser’s battleships, but that’s being generous. Since Bowser’s busy being a giant, living ship, you’ll instead battle Bowser Jr. to clear four of the six main Worlds and retrieve the Royal Seeds and remove Bowser’s defences. Each battle against Bowser Jr. is a two-stage affair, with the first simply having you avoid his shell spin, jumps, and occasional fireball. After one hit, he transforms into Wonder Bowser Jr. and alters the terrain and your abilities somewhat. In the first fight, either you or he will change size; in the second, the rising and falling platforms alternate between being ice or jelly; in the third, water floods the arena (either above or below); and, in the fourth, Wonder Bowser Jr. distracts you with clones and by having you fight in the dark. While these fights can be tricky without any power-ups on hand, it only takes a couple of hits to defeat Bowser’s kid and his attack pattern doesn’t change much. You never battle Kamek, which is a shame, and Bowser Jr. is ultimately done in for good in a cutscene, which is also disappointing. After braving Bowser’s Rage Stage, you’ll face off against Castle Bowser in a somewhat harrowing, multi-stage final fight. In each phase, Castle Bowser spawns more hands to rain flaming Piranha Plants or to try and slam you. You must time your jumps to gain a boost from the rhythm blocks to either dispose of the hands or smack the weak spot under his chin, which he shields with his extra hands. As the battle progresses, Castle Bowser retreats to the background and fires larger Piranha Plants that can be tricky to dodge, alternates the floor to screw up your jumps, and tosses big, spiked balls that bounce around the arena. Power-ups are occasionally deposited as well and, after enough hits, a big button appears on Castle Bowser’s head that you must propel up to to end to his latest mad scheme.
Additional Features: As mentioned, there are three 10-Flower Coins to find the game’s main stages and you’re encouraged to snag the top of every flagpole. Like the collection of Wonder Seeds, these statistics are recorded on your save file, though they appear to have no other function other than bragging rights (and, in the case of Flower Coins, allowing you to buy items). You must search high and low for every Badge Challenge and hidden sage if you want to earn every Badge in the game and enough Wonder Seeds to progress through the story. You can easily review each stage from the main map and jump to any stage where it shows you’ve missed anything, though you’ll need a guide or to pay attention to the overworld to spot when stages have secret exits. Bonus levels appear that bombard you with Coins, you can take a break by searching for Flower Tokens or taking out enemies across various arenas, and you can hunt across each map in search of Captain Toad. Eventually, you’ll unlock the Special World, where ten additional, super tough stages await, each one themed after the main Worlds and remixing hazards and enemies in new, challenging ways. Clear them all and you’ll gain access to a new Poplin House and earn yourself a congratulatory message and the Sound Off? Badge, though personally I couldn’t even clear one of the Special World’s stage…so good luck to you! Finally, of course, you can tackle any of the game’s stages in multiplayer, vying for Coins, power-ups, and a high score at the end, though I wasn’t able to play this so I can’t say how good or bad it is.
The Summary: While I usually prefer Mario’s 3D adventures due to his 2D outings being slippery and unfamiliar to my SEGA-hardened gaming skills, I’ve really enjoyed his 2.5D titles and was blown away by Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Visually, the game is such a treat to behold; I loved all the little, goofy details and the whimsical (yet familiar) nature of the Flower Kingdom. I loved the callbacks to Mario’s previous adventures, with some returning gimmicks and mechanics, and the new abilities were a real treat. While the Bubble and Elephant forms weren’t that special, the Wonder Flower mechanics really helped to inject new life into the tried-and-tested Mario formula. I loved how unpredictable it was, how it reimagined stages and decades old fixtures like Goombas and Warp Pipes in fun new ways, and how it bombarded you with such an array of visually interesting mechanics. The new Worlds were also very enjoyable; I liked how the stages were short obstacle courses that never outstayed their welcome. The level of challenge was just right, with the game being upfront about when things get trickier and the onus being on the player to have the right skills accumulated or Badges equipped. The Badge mechanic was a little wasted on me but may have more appeal in multiplayer, and I was disappointed by the poor variety of the boss battles. There really was no excuse not to have Kamek be a boss fight at least once and I do think the developers sell the franchise short by not doing more with the likes of King Boo. Similarly, the character selection could’ve been better; I don’t get why Wario and Waluigi are always shafted or why Peach and Princess Daisy don’t have unique attributes. These negatives are mere nit-picks, however, to the overall enjoyment and fun on offer in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. It really does feel like a brand-new addition to the classic games and I liked how it provided just enough of a spin on the usual formula to be a wholly unique and accessible experience.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Fantastic
Did you enjoy Super Mario Bros. Wonder? How do you feel it compares to other Mario titles, specifically the previous 2.5D Super Mario games? Which of the playable characters was your go-to and were you disappointed that they didn’t have more unique playstyles? What did you think to the new power-ups and the Wonder Flower mechanic? Were you disappointed by the lack of variety in the boss battles? Did you ever conquer the Special World? How did you celebrate Mario’s birthday this year? Whatever your thoughts on Super Mario Bros. Wonder, feel free to share them below and be sure to check out my other Mario content!
So, for no better reason than “Mar.10” resembling Mario’s name, March 10th is widely regarded as being “Mario Day”, a day to celebrate Nintendo’s portly plumber, an overalls-wearing mascot who literally changed the videogame industry forever and shaped the home console market of the nineties.
Released: 17 November 2023 Originally Released: 9 March 1996 Developer: ArtePiazza Original Developer: Square Original Version Also Available For: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) Classic Edition, SNES
The Background: Shigeru Miyamoto’s portly plumber, Super Mario, took the gaming world by storm with Super Mario Bros.(Nintendo R&D4, 1985). All of a sudden, videogames were back in vogue following the infamous industry crash and all-out war was on the horizon as SEGA and Nintendo pitted their colourful characters against each other. If there’s one avenue where Mario always won out, though, it was his versatility. Mario has seen considerable success with even his spin-off games, so it was perhaps only a matter of time before he ventured into the role-playing game (RPG) arena. It was Miyamoto who wished to make a Mario-based RPG and, luckily, his desire coincided with RPG developer Square longing to make a bigger impact outside Japan. Initial meetings saw the developers decide upon an isometric, action-oriented RPG that incorporated 3D models and married Mario’s platforming gameplay with the turn-based gameplay mechanics made famous in Square’s Final Fantasy games (Various, 1987 to present). The result was Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, which became the third highest-selling game in Japan in 1996 and was met with rave reviews that praised the graphics and soundtrack, though the battle system was criticised for being simplistic. Still, the game gained a reputation as one of Mario’s finest adventures and its popularity led not just to spiritual successors and ports, but also to this modern remake. Developers ArtePlaza expanded upon the original game with new battle mechanics and updated visuals, and it was met by equallypositive reviews for its faithful, but modernised, reimagining of the SNES classic.
The Plot: After rescuing Princess “Peach” Toadstool from Bowser, King of the Koopas, Mario reluctantly joins forces with his enemy (and some new allies) when the Smithy Gang makes a play for the legendary Star Pieces.
Gameplay and Power-Ups: As the title suggests, Super Mario RPG is an RPG in which you control, battle, and interact with various characters from the colourful Super Mario franchise. Primarily, you control Mario and navigate a cutesy isometric reimagining of the Mushroom Kingdom, chatting to various non-playable characters (NPCs) such as the many Toads that make up the kingdom’s citizenship, to sentient frogs, moles, and anthropomorphic weaponry. However, Mario is joined by up to four additional companions who can be freely swapped in and out of your party from either the battle screen or the main menu, accessed with +. Oddly, there are only five characters to pick from; six would’ve made more sense to me, then you’d have two physical specialists, two magic specialists, and two durable tanks. Mario must always be in your party and your party is limited to a maximum of three. Luckily, everyone receives experience points (EXP) from battles whether they’re active or not, and they’ll even be revived with a single health point (HP) upon victory if they’re defeated. The game’s controls are somewhat situational, as you’d expect from an RPG: you press A to interact with NPCs or confirm menu selections, whether in battle or a shop, while B lets Mario jump, either to (amusingly) prove his identity or hop to various platforms, or lets you defend in battle. Y opens the “Special” menu in battle, where you select a Special move to unleash, while X opens the “Item” menu and lets you select an item to use. Similarly, you can press Y or X in the overworld to select from restorative items. You can use the Left or Right triggers to toggle the dash, or set this from the main menu using +. From here, you can shuffle your party, review their Special moves, equip weapons, armour, and accessories, review story progress from the in-game journal, and check out the Monster List (essentially a bestiary). You can also adjust the battle mechanics and the game’s difficulty, an option immediately made available upon starting the game, though I found the game’s “Normal” mode to be pretty easy to plough through.
Use each character’s special moves, or pull off a team attack, to decimate enemies.
Though triggered by touching onscreen enemies (most of which respawn indefinitely or when you leave the screen), combat is turn-based like in traditional Final Fantasy RPGs. I thought I would gain a turn advantage by preemptively touching enemies but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Your level and “speed” stat seem to determine who strikes first, though I found you usually always get the first hit unless facing a “Special Enemy” or a boss. In battle, you pick a physical attack with A; an onscreen indicator prompts you to hit A again to deal additional damage and the timing is crucial to sweeping enemies as the extra hit can damage every foe. It’s equally important to tap A at the right time when being attacked as this will either reduce the damage dealt or negate it entirely. As mentioned, you can adopt a defensive stance with B; B also gives you the option of running from a battle, something also assisted by certain items (while others allow you to restart the fight if it’s going south). You can also use Special attacks with Y, however these consume Flower Points (FP). Each attack costs a different amount of FP (at least 2 FP and sometimes as much as 16 FP) and FP is shared amongst your entire Party. This means you really have to think about using the more powerful, costly Special attacks as you might run out of FP when you need to be healed or revived. Some enemies are weak to elemental attacks like fire and lightning, which is something to consider when picking Special attacks, and you can restore and even increase your FP with Honey Syrup and various flower-based items. As you deal damage, you’ll build both a combo meter and an “Action Gauge”. When this gauge is full, you can press – to pull off a team-based attack for big damage or call in Toad for helpful buffs. Additionally, as you attack and defeat enemies, you’ll earn similar buffs that up your attack, defence, or “luck” for that battle or restore your HP. However, simultaneously, you must be wary of status effects; enemies can put you to sleep, poison you, weaken your attack or defence while upping theirs, and turn you into mushrooms or scarecrows. While all these ailments are undone upon victory and some are only temporary, you can cure them using items or magic spells, and other items (such as the various bombs and even items that summon Yoshi) will aid you in attacking or neutralising enemies. However, defeat isn’t always a massive issue; checkpoints and manual save points are plentiful and the game’s very generous with its restorative buffs. Your HP and FP is occasionally fully restored after certain battles, too, and you can of course pay to stay at various inns to refill both.
Level-up to gain new Special attacks, search for secrets, and chat to NPCs for guidance.
Each character falls into a certain class: Mario is an all-rounder, for example, while Peach favours restorative magic and Bowser is a heavy-hitter. While you’ll mostly be hitting A at the right time to increase your attack power and radius, you’ll sometimes rotate the left stick or rapidly tap or even hold down A to charge a meter. Additionally, different character combinations result in different team-based attacks and it’s important to think about each character’s strengths and weaknesses, especially when levelling-up. After accumulating enough EXP, you’ll gain a level and can pick to buff either physical power and defence, your overall HP, or magic attack and defence. You can also equip weapons, armour, and accessories to boost these stats, and others; Mario gains hammers and Koopa shells, for example, while Mallow uses sticks and cymbals, and the timing of your button presses changes with each. Accessories can also negate status effects, too, protecting you from sleep or poison, or alerting you to hidden blocks in the overworld. While your inventory isn’t unlimited, any additional items you get but cannot carry are automatically transferred to Mario’s house to use later and winning battles also earns you Coins to spend in shops, though you can also get Coins from hitting blocks and items from treasure chests. Sometimes, after winning a fight, you’ll play a game where you must find Yoshi, which doubles (or costs you) the Coins or EXP you earn. Defeating Special Enemies and opening chests also awards Frog Coins to be spent elsewhere, and you can trade Coins for points or rarer items. It pays to chat to every NPC you encounter, too, as some will gift you items, flesh out the lore, offer aid, or point you in the right direction if you somehow get lost. This isn’t easy to do as not only do you have the journal, but the overworld map includes helpful flags to point you in the right direction. Sometimes, you must talk to specific NPCs to get key items, hit switches, or even use whirlpools to walk underwater to progress and you’ll occasionally find hidden paths or doors that lead to goodies, sometimes by entering a pipe like in a traditional Mario game.
Tricky platforming, some basic puzzles, and a few fun mini games help to offer some variety.
Yes, there are some simple puzzles to solve, such as pressing switches, navigating mazes, crossing invisible platforms, remembering codes, and rearranging paintings. In the platforming sections, you’ll use springs or flowers to jump higher and regularly hop up walls or across gaps or lava pits using moving, collapsing, or temporary platforms (and even Parakoopas). Thanks to the isometric angle and Mario’s slippery feet, this can be a bit tricky but, luckily, you’ll usually land on or in water and simply loop back to try again, and even hitting lava doesn’t doesn’t drain your HP. It can be difficult to judge the distance between gaps, though, and you’re often dodging Thwomps, fireballs, and other enemies while hopping to small square platforms, which can make these sections needlessly annoying. Easily the worst instance of this, for me, was when scaling the vines to reach Nimbus Land. You must angle yourself just right (and know to jump to spawn a hidden platform) to hop to the vines and it was very easy to slip off and have to start over. Similarly, in the end game, you must tackle four out of six obstacle courses to reach Exor, two are simple battle gauntlets, two are tricky platforming sections, and two are timed quizzes! The gameplay loop is further broken up by mini games: you’ll be careening around a minecart track like Indiana Jones, tumbling down a waterfall, racing against Yoshis in the Yoshi Derby, hopping on Goombas, playing tunes on tadpoles, jumping from rolling barrels amidst a raging river, and collecting beetles. Most of these mini games can be repaid (for a price) and will net you extra rewards (as well as the Coins you can grab along the way), and you’ll eventually access a casino and even a secret super boss! Additionally, certain story events and having specific characters in your party rotation will change the overworld and battle system. For example, when in Bowser’s Keep, having Bowser in your Party causes his minions to flee and Mallow’s royal heritage gains access to the hot springs in Nimbus Land.
Presentation: I’ve only briefly played Super Mario RPG before, but I remember being a little put off by the original’s 3D-to-2D aesthetic, which made everything look a little unsightly and pixelated. That’s definitely not the case here, though! This slick remake has given everything a plasticine, diorama-like makeover that gives the impression of playing with chibi-style toys, not unlike the same aesthetic adopted by The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening(Grezzo, 2019). The pre-rendered cutscenes are gorgeous; every character has a fun victory pose and does a little dance when they level-up and, while you can skip the team attack cutscenes, they look so good that I just let them play. While all the characters are lively, adorable, and animated, Mario naturally stands out from the bunch. Unlike the others, he can’t talk (not even gibberish), so he pantomimes every action, recapping the plot (sometimes too much) with an excitable enthusiasm, vehemently shaking his head at the suggestion that he’s one of Bowser’s minions, and consoling his friends (even Bowser) when they experience hardship. Bowser gets a lot of nuance here, too; he throws himself at obstacles and proudly boasts of his superiority but is humiliated at being kicked out of his keep. Our two original characters, Mallow and Geno, fare pretty well, too. Mallow starts out as clumsy and unsure of himself, but gains confidence thanks to Mario and discovering his true heritage while Geno (a puppet brought to life by a star) fights to repair Star Road with a passion, resulting in a bittersweet ending when the puppet returns to being just a toy. Equally, the game is bolstered by a jovial and familiar soundtrack. This version lets you pick from the classic soundtrack and the modern remix, with both being enjoyable, and I loved hearing familiar Final Fantasy sound effects and seeing fun Easter Eggs like a curtain that turns Mario 8-bit and references to other Nintendo properties.
While the game looks and sounds amazing, some environments were a little visually bland.
As great as the game looks and sounds, however, I was a bit let down by the environments. While the overworld map is large and varied, the actual locations you explore are a far cry from the fantastical whimsy of other Mario games. You spend a lot of time in grassy areas or underground caves, which is very familiar, or at cliffsides and near lakes, before exploring such exotic locations as…a mountain, a mine, and a haunted pirate ship (actually, that one’s not bad!) You’ll venture into the pyramid-like Belome Temple, the autumnal maze in Bean Valley, and the rocky innards of an active volcano, but it’s not all that memorable and seems incredibly safe. Things get visually interesting in Nimbus Land, Star Hill, and the Weapon’s World, but these are juxtaposed by Bowser’s uninspired keep, the relatively barren Booster Tower, and the dense Forest Maze. Many areas, such as the Kero Sewers, sea, and Pipe Vault are restrictive and linear thanks to the isometric aesthetic, looping or forcing you to solve a maze to progress, while others (Land’s End and Nimbus Castle, for example) are robbed of the scope that makes the various towns so much fun to explore. While Bowser’s Keep is simply the same lava and stone-filled castle you’d expect from the Koopa King, I liked that battles took place on the chandeliers and that there were more branching paths. The Weapon’s World and Factory stood out at the end just for offering some visual variety, with their cogs, conveyor belts, and ominous atmosphere, but I do think Super Mario RPG missed a trick in not making areas more distinct. Sure, some towns have been affected by the Smithy gang and will be restored to life and order by your actions, but why not make Mole Mountains an ice mountain with snow and such? Or do more with the water gimmick at the Seaside, perhaps have parts of Seaside Town underwater or flooded?
Enemies and Bosses: A slew of Mario’s most recognisable enemies crop up all throughout Super Mario RPG, generally acting as disposable pawns to rack up for EXP: Goombas, Spikeys, Gobys, Shy Guys (and their many variants), Bob-ombs, Piranha Plants, Bloopers, Wigglers, Chain Chomps, Boos, Lakitus and various Koopas (from Sky Troopas to bulbous Heavy Troopas and Dry Bones) and even variants of Donkey Kong show up in some form or another and, generally, aren’t much of a threat. There are exceptions, though: you can encounter numerous enemies in one battle, and mixtures of them, and some (like Dry Bones) can only be defeated by Special attacks or are susceptible to elemental attacks. Other enemies include rats, various insects like stinger-firing Buzzers, tricky Crooks and Ninjas (who can teleport, often flee from battle, and (in the latter case) launch an attack upon defeat), Pandorite (sentient treasure chests that spit up enemies), anthropomorphic vegetables, puppets and jesters, and even giant crustaceans and reanimated mastodon bones. While some enemies (like the Orbisons) can recover their health and that of their allies and others (like Stumpets and Reachers) look intimidating, some (like Geckits) are just as likely to attack themselves and their allies as they are you. Sure, some enemies are larger or inflict status effects, but they’re mostly all a joke; you easily dispatch entire groups with well-timed presses of A and without even using Special attacks. Even larger, more formidable enemies are easily trounced if you keep your level and stats high and time your button presses. Hippopos, Doppels, and Corkpedites can easily have their elemental weaknesses exploited, though you will have to be wary of Special Enemies, variants of almost every enemy who hit harder and can take more damage and should be targeted first. Also, you’ll need to watch for certain powerful or unblockable attacks; kamikaze attacks, unavoidable boulders, large explosions, and gigantic lasers can decimate your party if you’re not careful. Thus, it pays to have plenty of restorative items or keep Peach or Mallow around to restore your life or get rid of annoying status effects.
While there are many bosses to fight, few pose a significant challenge.
Battles are frequent in Super Mario RPG but ridiculously simple; I trounced most enemies simply by tapping A, meaning combat gets quite tedious at times. Unfortunately, the combat loop isn’t changed much by the game’s bosses, despite how many you’ll encounter. Your first boss battle is, fittingly, against Bowser; taking place up on the chandeliers and with Peach held hostage, you simply target the chain holding Bowser aloft and you’ll come out victorious. Next, you’ll battle the Hammer Bros, who toss hammers and up their valour but aren’t much of a threat, and have your first encounter with Croco. Croco’s a little trickier as you must chase him through a looping maze, battling waves of disposable enemies before getting to him, where he’ll bite and toss explosives and enemies. When on the Sunken Ship, you’ll battle King Calamari, a giant Blooper whose tentacles burst through the floorboards and who spits ink at you. Birdo also makes an appearance, encountered at Nimbus Castle after shattering her egg; as is her nature, Birdo spits eggs but these can be attacked to deal damage to her. Bowser’s magical minion, Wizakoopa, also appears, brainwashed to oppose his master and summoning the powerful fire-breathing dragon Bahamutt, as well as boasting elemental spells. Other bizarre bosses include the multi-headed Pihana Plant Megasmilax, the dog-like Belome (who eats party members and spits up clones), the ambitious Punchinello (who tosses various Bob-ombs), and the deluded Booster, whose circus-themed minions kidnap Peach and force her into a wedding, leading you to defeat them and attack an elaborate wedding cake! You’ll also battle the trident-wielding pirate leader Johnny and the sultry Valentina, who relies on her bird-like minion Dodo in battle, with him pecking at and whisking away party members, while she relies on numerous magical spells.
The Smithy Gang is mostly a joke until the end game, when things get tougher.
Mario and their friends quest to recover the seven Star Pieces, with most being guarded by the Smithy Gang. This gaggle of anthropomorphic weapons thus represent the primary bosses of the game, with the pogo-sword-riding Mack being the first you encounter (once you dispatch his Bodyguards, of course). Bowyer represents one of the more unique boss battles as he’ll fire arrows that disable A, X, and Y inputs for a few turns, forcing you to utilise different attack strategies or even spend a few turns defending before you can attack again. Speardovich creates a double to aid him in battle while the ridiculous (but strangely familiar) Axem Rangers force you to battle them all at once, eventually bolstered by their airship, The Blade, and its super-powerful Breaker Beam. The opening chandelier battle is revisited in the end game where you battle the katana-wielding Boomer, who switches between blue and red forms, being weak to physical and magical attacks, respectively. In the Weapon’s World, you encounter the giant alarm clock Count Down; you can knock off its Ring-a-Dings and target its sand timer to neutralise it, but it’ll unleash different magical attacks depending what time its hands land on. You’ll also battle Cloaker and Domino, with one favouring physical attacks and the other magical, and both hopping into snake-lime mechs when their partner is defeated. Finally, the Smithy Gang’s factory is home to three armour-clad, axe-swinging administrators and the diminutive Factory Chief and the devastating Gunyolk, a tank-like cannon that also uses the Breaker Beam attack alongside powerful abilities like Electroshock and Fire Saber. The Smithy Gang are usually always accompanied by minions. In the Weapon’s World and Factory, Machine Made duplicates of some bosses appear as regular enemies alongside metallic variants of regular baddies, though it’s usually better to simply focus on the boss as this ends the bout.
The final slew of bosses caught me off-guard with their difficulty spike.
While most bosses don’t pose a problem, four stand out as surprisingly formidable. First is the Czar Dragon, a gigantic (if comical) dragon comprised of Lava Bubbles. The Czar Dragon bites, casts Flame Wall and Water Blast, and fires flaming projectiles, as well as protecting itself with Lava Bubbles. Defeating it sees it rise again as Zombone, which isn’t one-shotted by Pure Water like other undead enemies (though this item does cause it to attack itself) and has even more powerful attacks at the cost of being more vulnerable to Mario’s jump attacks and Mallow’s thunderbolts. Fittingly, given his high rank and him invading Bowser’s Keep, Exor was also a tough encounter. Fought on the keep roof, Exor cannot be harmed until you take out at least one of its eyes and even then it causes trouble with Venom Drool, Aurora Flash, and Lulla-Bye. Defeating him transports you to the Weapon’s World and a final showdown with Smithy, the Smithy Gang leader and the toughest fight yet. Smithy is fought in two phases: in the first phase, Smithy fires bullets, smacks you with his large sledgehammer, and crushes the party with a giant…well, crusher. A smelter also spawns Shypers to whittle your HP down, so it’s a good idea to have Peach on hand as many of Smithy’s attacks damage the entire party. With no weaknesses, Smithy is a tough fight if you’re ill-prepared and it only gets tougher when you drop to the basement and he transforms his head into various forms (a tank, a magician, a treasure chest, and a mask). Each has their own HP and is capable of dishing out status effects, instant-KO blasts, and healing him. You can target his body to help take the pressure off, but I say just go to town on his big stupid head, keep healing and reviving as needed, and use elemental attacks on the right heads to win. But, after all that, there’s an even more powerful optional boss you can take on!
Additional Features: Considering this is an RPG, there isn’t really much to do in Super Mario RPG beyond the main story. The game is surprisingly linear, guiding you to each location with very few instances of backtracking, side quests, or fetch quests. When you are given a fetch quest, it’s generally something you do naturally. You’re given the item in one town and deliver in the next, rather than going back and forth like in other adventure games. Thus, when you beat the game and start a “Clear Data File”, you’re returned to Mario’s house before the final battle and can revisit every area but there are only a few final tasks to do. First, the Monster List needs to be completed (though this should be mostly full by this point) and you can freely listen to the game’s soundtrack. Next, you can challenge Bowser’s Keep again to acquire any additional weapons you missed when taking on the six obstacle courses. There are also 39 hidden treasure chests to find (greatly aided by equipping the Signal Ring) to snag every item in the game (though, again, this is somewhat pointless once you’ve cleared the main story). You can view the “Play Report” to see how well you did at the mini games and pay to take them on again to improve your score, stay at the luxurious Marrymore Hotel, complete a tedious guessing game to access the casino, and taken on tougher versions of the game’s bosses. Easily the most prominent additional challenge is the secret super boss, Culex. By purchasing expensive fireworks in Moleville and trading them for a special stone in the same town, you open a locked door in Monstro Town and take on the game’s toughest challenge, a 16-bit, cross-dimensional Final Fantasy being that boasts a new 3D form in this version and represents the greatest challenge on offer in the game.
The Summary: I’ve long wanted to play through Super Mario RPG. Being a SEGA kid, my only avenues for this were emulation but, even when I got the SNES Classic and Nintendo Switch Online, I hesitated to start a game because of the time needed to complete an RPG. When this remake was announced, I knew the time had finally come to change that and I have to say that it was well worth the wait. Super Mario RPG is a gorgeous, fun, surprisingly engaging romp that brings Mario and his friends (and enemies) to life in a unique way. The new battle mechanics and accessibility on offer are fantastic, meaning you’re constantly rewarded during and after battles and there’s always something to see, either in the background or the character animations and interactions. The gameplay was simplicity itself, even by classic Final Fantasy standards. Turn-based RPGs are always my preferred style for the genre, and Super Mario RPG adopts these mechanics beautifully. Unfortunately, the game is extremely easy; I didn’t mind this as I wasn’t looking for an uphill battle, but things did get a bit tedious after a while. The incorporation of “traditional” platforming mechanics was also a bit clunky, as were some of the mini games. The isometric perspective and restrictions of the genre didn’t really lend themselves to these aspects, though I appreciated the attempt to mix up the gameplay loop. While I was disappointed by some of the environment, and that Luigi didn’t appear as a playable character and that more post-game content and side missions weren’t included in this version, I enjoyed my time with Super Mario RPG. Mallow and Geno quickly grew on me, I liked seeing Bowser teaming up with Mario and Peach given more agency, and I was a big fan of the boss designs (despite how easy they were), the graphics, and Mario’s jovial animations. In the end, if you have a kid who you want to introduce to the RPG genre, you could do a lot worse than Super Mario RPG. And, if you played the original as a kid, I’d wager this is just the right hit of nostalgia for you.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
What did you think to the Switch remake of Super Mario RPG? Have you ever played the original and, if so, how does this compare to it? Which characters made it into your team and what did you think to the original characters created for this game? How did you get on with the simplistic battle mechanics and bosses and were you also annoyed by the awkward isometric platforming? Did you ever defeat Culex and complete the Monster List? Would you have liked to see other new features added to the game? Which Super Mario spin-off is your favourite and how are you celebrating Nintendo’s mascot this month? Feel free to share your memories and opinions of Super Mario RPG in the comments and please check out my other Mario content across the site!
So, for no better reason than “Mar.10” resembling Mario’s name, March 10th is widely regarded as being “Mario Day”, a day to celebrate Nintendo’s portly plumber, an overalls-wearing mascot who literally changed the videogame industry forever and shaped the home console market of the nineties.
Released: 21 November 2004 Originally Released: 23 June 1996 Developer: Nintendo EAD Also Available For: Nintendo 64, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Wii (Virtual Console, original version only)
The Review: So, let’s address the elephant in the room first: why just a mini review for this remaster of Super Mario 64? Well, primarily it’s because much of the core gameplay, mechanics, and elements of the original game are retained here. The story is largely the same: Princess “Peach” Toadstool invites Mario, Luigi, and (strangely) Wario to her castle for cake but, when they disappear inside, Yoshi has to go rescue them. The gameplay loop is the same (enter magical paintings to be transported to action stages where you collect Power Stars to open new doors and access new areas of the castle), and everything I said about the original game in my initial review still stands here. Thus, I think it’s more productive to focus on what’s different about this version. Namely, the controls; while all four characters perform the same basic actions as Mario (though only he can wall jump), you now control them with the directional pad (D-pad) or, *shudder*, the touchscreen and stylus. This is problematic in many ways; Super Mario 64 DS is a fully 3D gaming world, and yet these controls make the characters clunky and tank-like. It’s also not helpful having to hold Y to dash, which can make performing long jumps or running attacks problematic as your fingers get in the way. If you play the game on the Nintendo 3DS, as I did for this playthrough, you can use the analogue stick but you don’t get true analogue control. Instead, the same janky tank controls are mapped to the stick, making the precision platforming, running, and combat mechanics much more of a chore to pull off in this version, which is a real shame. Although you have greater camera control with the Left bumper, touch screen, and X (which zooms out), the camera is still aggravating, regularly getting stuck on the environment or adopting a poor angle. However, I did like how the touchscreen displays a helpful map at all times and highlights any available Power Stars or character caps. One of the most noticeable changes to the gameplay is that Super Mario 64 DS now features 150 Power Stars rather than the original 120, and you now need 80 of them to access the final confrontation with Bowser, King of the Koopas. As I’ve 100% both this and the original version before, my goal for this playthrough was simply to reach that final fight, hence again why this is just a mini review as I didn’t strive for 100% completion.
You’ll need everyone’s unique powers and skills to hunt down a whopping 150 Power Stars!
Although each character has their own unique mechanics, attributes, power-ups, and controls a little differently, they all share a basic move set that’s immediately familiar to players of the original game. B allows them to jump; tapping it three times while running executes a triple jump to reach higher areas. Holding R and pressing B pulls off a backwards somersault and doing the same while running performs a long jump, while holding left or right on the control stick and pressing B executes a side jump. Tapping B also allows you to swim; you can hold the button for slower, more precise movement but keep in mind that some characters also swim faster than others. A allows you to talk with non-playable characters (NPCs), read signs for tips, pick up certain objects, and perform a melee attack. You tap A three times for a three-hit combo, press A when running for a dive, or hold R and press A for a sweeping kick. You can also jump and press R in mid-air to perform a ground pound to crush enemies, and simply hop on most enemies to defeat them or get a boost to higher levels. Your health is measured in a colourful pie chart that depletes as you take damage, get set on fire, or when underwater. You must collect coloured Coins or run through Hearts to replenish it or grab an air bubble or resurface when swimming. The basic gameplay structure remains unchanged except each level (or “Course”) has an additional mission, and some missions have been altered to take advantage of the new characters’ abilities. You’ll still be jumping to moving, spinning, and temporary platforms, activating switches, running up walls, utilising cannons, smashing blocks, pounding stakes, raising and lowering water, catching rabbits, climbing fences, defeating enemies, finding Red Coins, and speeding down slides on your butt to complete missions.
Alongside their shared skills, characters have unique abilities modelled after the original game’s caps.
The biggest change to the gameplay is the inclusion of three new characters. You begin controlling Yoshi, who swallows enemies with A, lays an egg with R, and tosses said egg with A (or simply spits the enemy out if you prefer). Yoshi also performs a “flutter” jump by holding B to give him a bit more airtime and temporarily breathes fire with a Power Flower, which is great for melting ice blocks. Luigi is the fastest, slipperiest of the characters; he also has a flutter jump but can spin in the air off a back somersault to cross wider gaps. Luigi can also briefly run across the surface of water and temporarily turn invisible when he grabs the Power Flower, effectively replacing the Vanish Cap from the original game. Wario is the smallest, stoutest, and slowest of the four but also the most powerful. He can break black blocks swing and throw opponents in Vs. Mode, and temporarily turn invincible when grabbing the Power Flower, meaning he replaces the Metal Cap. Mario has all his original abilities, including temporarily flying with the Wing Cap with a feather (which remains as awkward as ever) but he can now inflate like a balloon and float with the Power Flower. Although you must unlock Mario, Luigi, and Wario, you can assume their form and powers by defeating enemies who wear their caps or finding their caps in the Courses, though you’ll lose their abilities when you take damage. You can manually switch characters by visiting the switch room, which is located where the Princess’s Secret Slide was (and still is) but you can only battle Bowser as Mario. The Super Mushroom also makes a return here, briefly enlarging your character and allowing them to plough through enemies and obstacles and earn extra lives. You can also still ride discarded Koopa shells to speed around Courses, and all the character models and game textures have received a nice upgrade, making everything even more colourful and detailed even on the DS’s smaller screen.
Old bosses have received a graphical overhaul and been joined by new baddies and Courses.
While the same selection of Courses are present here, there are some new bonus areas to visit to find new Secret Stars or character portraits, which take you to new mini obstacle courses not unlike the Bowser Courses. These culminate in a boss battle against the three new bosses who guard the keys needed to rescue Mario, Luigi, and Wario. The first, Goomboss, is fought with Yoshi; this enlarged Goomba chases you around a tree stump platform. He gets faster as the fight progresses and can only be damaged by dashing behind him, swallowing his Goomba minions, and spitting them at him. Luigi is rescued by clearing a small looping carousel maze and battling King Boo, who’s the same as the Big Boo bosses except you sometimes use the giant mirror to spot him closing in. Finally, Wario’s key is guarded by Chief Chilly, a larger version of the Chilli Bully from Snowman’s Land and fought similar to other Bullies, but with the twist that the arena is super slippery, surrounded by burning cold ice water, and Chief Chilly destroys the stage as the fight progresses. All the previous bosses return, unchanged except for their new character models and altered dialogue depending on who you’re playing with, but there are now two battles against King Bob-omb, with the first one being fought with Yoshi and containing new mechanics. This time, King Bob-omb hurls his explosive minions at you and you must spit them back, which is kinda fun, though you can fight him in the same way as before (running behind him and tossing him) when playing as other characters or using their caps. Bowser’s battles are also the same, though slightly more challenging thanks to the clunky controls. You must best a dangerous obstacle course beforehand that’s now home to two hidden Power Stars before battling Bowser in borderless arenas. Bowser will stomp about, spitting fire (which homes in on you and rains from the sky in the final bout) and even tip or destroy the stage in later encounters. You defeat him by running behind him, grabbing his tail, and swinging him into one of the nearby mines. You’ll need to do this once in the first two fights and three times in the last to be victorious and see the slightly altered ending, where all the characters get cake.
There are more missions, more Power Stars, more rabbits, and even loads of unlockable mini games.
As mentioned, every Course now has eight Power Stars to collect rather than seven. You complete missions for seven of them but earn an eighth for collecting 100 Coins in every Course, and each Course has an additional mission tied to one of two new mechanics. One is the Star Switch, which causes a Power Star to temporarily spawn somewhere in the Course and gives you a short time limit to get to it, usually by platforming, wall jumping, or utilising the character’s Flower powers. The other is collecting five Silver Stars, smaller Stars dotted around Courses that fly out of you when hit and spawn a Power Star when collected. There are also a bunch of rabbits to catch in and outside Peach’s castle; seven for each character (as indicated by their colour) that appear when you’ve collected a certain number of Power Stars. Catching them doesn’t award you a Power Star like when you catch Mips in the original game, but instead unlocks mini games to play in the Rec Room. These are assorted button- and touchscreen-based distractions that see you matching pairs of cars, rubbing the screen to reveal Boos, touching the right character faces amidst a sea of others, bouncing Mario past Shy Guys, playing slot machines, launching balls, and shooting parachuting Bob-ombs from the sky. There are thirty-six mini games to unlock and play, with each one awarding you Power Stars as points, and they’re an interesting addition, though I didn’t spend much time on them. The squishy Mario face mechanic from the original game has been expanded to other characters and a limited drawing canvas, you now only get three save files instead of four, and while the cannon outside the castle does unlock after you get 150 Power Stars, it simply leads to a Wing Feather for Mario and another rabbit for Luigi. Courses have had some graphical updates as well: Coins are now 3D objects, Peach has a new hairstyle, Bob-omb Battlefield is noticeably more autumnal than before, Hazy Maze Cave’s toxic gas is a different colour and Dorrie now wears swimming goggles, and the secret Courses where you once activated the different caps are now just challenges for Power Stars. Everything looks far superior, despite the smaller screen size, and sounds way better, but issues from the original game still persist. The camera, obviously, is the main one, as is the character’s tendency to just randomly slip or detach from platforms. Finally, while you get more guidance this time around, it can still be difficult to know how to clear certain missions without consulting an online guide.
The Summary: I loved Super Mario 64. Like almost everyone back in the day, it was the first Nintendo 64 game I owned and I played it constantly, though I was never able to get all 120 Power Stars. Ironically, however, I was able to get all 150 Power Stars when I first owned Super Mario 64 DS. I sold the game back then, choosing the more traditional, refined, and enjoyable experience offered by New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo EAD, 2006) but, after playing the Nintendo Switch port and realising the 3DS analogue stick could be used to play the game (and being a big fan of Wario), I felt compelled to revisit it. Sadly, the analogue stick didn’t help with the game’s clunky control scheme and the camera is just as bad as ever, so this is a bit of a step down compared to its Nintendo 64 predecessor despite all the extra features, but it’s still a really fun game. I think that’s a testament to just how well Super Mario 64 was made. It’s still a readily accessible and surprisingly deep 3D platformer with a lot of varied locations and missions to playthrough. This version of the game impresses with its graphical overhaul, new Courses and boss battles, and the three new characters. While I rarely played as Yoshi, I enjoyed running around as Luigi and Wario and the cap-swapping mechanic and I liked how they each took on the cap power-ups from the original game. It’s a shame the Bowser fights weren’t tweaked to utilise each character’s unique move set, but they get Courses and missions tailored to them, so I think it balances out. While I didn’t play the mini gams or the Vs. Mode, I had a lot of fun plugging away at this remake of a classic. I’d love to see this get a proper HD port to the Nintendo Switch, though, to further refine its niggling issues. Still, as is, this is a great way to revisit Super Mario 64 and well worth your time, if you can cope with the odd tank-like control scheme.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Was Super Mario 64DS a part of your Nintendo DS library? What did you think to the new control scheme and visual overhaul? Which of the new characters and power-ups was your favourite? What did you think to the new missions, additional Power Stars and Courses, and the new bosses? Did you ever collect all 150 Power Stars? What other Nintendo 64 game do you think deserve a remaster? How are you celebrating Super Mario this month? Whatever you think, comment below and let me know and don’t forget to check out my other Mario content.
So, for no better reason than “Mar.10” resembling Mario’s name, March 10th is widely regarded as being “Mario Day”, a day to celebrate Nintendo’s portly plumber, an overalls-wearing mascot who literally changed the videogame industry forever and shaped the home console market of the nineties.
Released: 26 May 2023 Originally Released: 5 August 1995 Developer: Nintendo Original Developer: Nintendo EAD Also Available For: Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) Classic Edition, SNES
The Background: When the videogame industry collapsed under the weight of overpriced consoles and disappointing titles, Nintendo swooped in and revitalised the industry with the runaway success of Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo EAD, 1985). Despite a bizarre development, Super Mario Bros. 2(Nintendo R&D4, 1986) was also a much praisedbest-seller, and Mario’s star rosefurther following the unique marketing strategy behind Super Mario Bros. 3 (ibid, 1988). This culminated in what manyhavedeemed Mario’s greatest 2D outing, Super Mario World(Nintendo EAD, 1990), a title specifically designed to showcase the processing power of the SNES. The game also introduced one of Mario’s most popular supporting characters, Yoshi, who took the spotlight in Super Mario World’s sequel thanks to designer Shigefumi Hino. For this not-inconsiderable-task, Hino and his team opted to produce a more relaxed gameplay experience, doing away with the timer and a traditional health system and emphasising exploration. To further distinguish the game, the team introduced an egg-throwing mechanic and focused on a linear story to make the game more accessible to younger players. Artist Hisashi Nogami came up with the game’s distinctive colouring-book aesthetic, which was painstakingly brought to life by hand drawing every aspect. The game’s late release for the SNES also allowed the team to utilise everything the machine had to offer, including enlarging and rotating sprites and backgrounds. Yoshi’s Island proved a hit, eventually selling over 4 million units and being met with widespread acclaim. Reviews raved about the colourful graphics, the innovative gameplay, and the surprising scale of the title, and the game was largely cemented Yoshi’s legacy in Super Mario canon. The game was followed by a divisivesequel for the Nintendo 64, a couple of spin-off games, follow-ups for the Nintendo DS and 3DS, and many other Yoshi-centric games before being ported to multiple virtual consoles, including being made available for the Nintendo Switch Online service in 2023.
The Plot: Years ago, Kamek attacked a stork delivering baby brothers Mario and Luigi. While Baby Luigi was kidnapped, Baby Mario fell onto the back of Yoshi, whose friends helped deliver him across Yoshi’s Island, conquering Kamek’s enlarged minions and confronting the Magikoopa – and his diminutive master, Baby Bowser – to rescue Baby Luigi.
Gameplay and Power-Ups: Essentially, Yoshi’s Island is a 2D, sidescrolling action/platformer like its predecessor, but it’s also a very different gameplay experience for a typical Super Mario title. For starters, you play as one of many different-coloured Yoshi’s, each sporting the same moves and abilities, and Mario is simply a baby on your back who acts as your life meter. After starting the game and picking a save file, you can pick between two control schemes, though the default is perfectly acceptable. Yoshi jumps with the B button and holding it performs a little “flutter” by kicking his legs, giving him more airtime to reach platforms. You can chain these together when falling to extend your jump and press down in mid-air to perform a butt stomp to pound down switches and stakes, smash through the environment, and defeat enemies. Enemies are also defeated by simply jumping on them, or gobbling them up with Yoshi’s tongue. Pressing Y sees him swallow them and you can either press it again to spit them out or press down to turn them into an egg. You can store up to six eggs at a time and throw them by pressing A to bring up an aiming reticle, hold either the Left or Right bumper to steady the ever-moving crosshair, and press A again. Some enemies can’t be swallowed or turned into eggs; in the latter case, you simply spit them out again but, in the former, you use other means to defeat them. Yoshi can also get eggs from hitting blocks and Egg Plants and find them scattered around the game’s many colourful environments. Green-spotted eggs are the standard, but you can also use yellow-spotted eggs that cause enemies to drop Yellow Coins, red-spotted eggs cause them to drop two health-replenishing Stars, and Flashing Eggs cause them to drop Red Coins. This can be a bit cumbersome at times; Yoshi can only aim in an arc, so you must pause the reticle or ricochet your shot to hit your targets. However, it’s easy to get distracted with the aiming system and either take damage or fall to your death. Some enemies can even steal your eggs and, while you’re never short on replacement eggs, it can leave you vulnerable and restricted when you exhaust your supply.
Toss eggs, eat melons, or transform into various forms to progress through colourful Worlds.
Yoshi also gobbles different-coloured watermelons to gain temporary additional attacks. Green watermelons let you spit seeds, red watermelons let you breathe fire, and blue watermelons let you freeze enemies, all of which are quite powerful and often more useful alternatives to throwing eggs. Yoshi can also, oddly, briefly transform into vehicular forms, the most common being his helicopter form that sees him awkwardly fly about, avoiding enemies and collecting Coins and passing over large gaps to a Yoshi Block. Another common transformation is Yoshi’s Mole Tank that lets him automatically dig through dirt, but you’ll also become a missile-firing submarine, a small train capable of riding tracks set into the background, and a car to plough through enemies. Similarly, Yoshi pushes Chomp Rocks to decimate anything in his path and reach higher areas, and Baby Mario even briefly takes centre stage when you find a Super Star. This turns Yoshi into a giant egg and lets you control “Powerful Mario”, who’s invincible, floats using his cape, and dashes across spike beds and up walls and ceilings with Y, though you must grab more Super Stars to maintain the form. Finally, Yoshi can jump on a pair of skis in certain snow-themed Worlds, dashing down snow at high speeds and turning into an uncontrollable snowball if he hits an object. Additionally, Special Items are won by playing the game’s Bonus Challenges. Here, you can earn extra lives and special one-use items you can select from the pause menu. These include POW Blocks that turn all onscreen enemies into Stars, instant refills for your eggs, instantly grant you one of the three watermelon power-ups, reveal hidden items in the level, grant you Stars to refill your health, and transform all onscreen enemies into Winged Clouds, though you can’t use Special Items in boss battles.
Watch out for your bawling companion when you’re going for those enticing collectibles.
As mentioned, Baby Mario is Yoshi’s life meter; when Yoshi’s hit, Baby Mario floats away in a bubble, screaming his head off, and you have a few seconds to retrieve him before he’s carried away. This meter slowly refills after you save him and is replenished and boosted by collecting Stars, usually by breaking crates or shooting Winged Clouds. Enemies like the annoying Bandits, Fishing Lakitu, and propeller-powered Green Toadies can also steal Baby Mario, so you must take them out or avoid them, and you’ll want to save him as quickly as possible because that scream gets really annoying! Like previous Super Mario titles, Yoshi’s Island features a map system, but one laid out more like a storybook. There are six Worlds with eight core levels, including a mini boss fort and a boss castle, alongside two bonus levels for each World. Levels are generally just a few screens but can be quite long. I really felt like my playthrough dragged quite a bit as things can be quite slow and the map progression isn’t very exciting. Throughout each level, you can find Yellow Coins (100 grant an extra life), extra lives, floating 1-Ups, giant eggs to defeat all onscreen enemies, and Message Blocks for gameplay tips. There are thirty Stars to find, twenty red Coins, and five Flowers in each level. Sometimes these are carried by Fly Guys, sometimes you need a transformation, and sometimes Winged Clouds spawn them, but they’re often either out in the open, tucked away, or require some tricky platforming to snag. Getting them all nets you the best completion score for each level and unlocks the secret levels for each World. However, it’s not easy collecting everything as some stuff is cleverly hidden behind the foreground, requiring you to enter areas from different positions, or is just out of reach and requires some clever egg bouncing. Occasionally, you’ll find some helpful characters to give you an assist. The enthusiastic pup Poochy carries you over dangerous terrain, happily gobbling up any enemies in his path, Huffin Puffin’s chicks substitute for eggs, and large, amorphous ghosts indirectly aid you by carrying platforms through spiked passageways.
Despite its whimsical appearance, the game can be surprisingly long and challenging.
Considering it’s his home turf, Yoshi’s Island is a hazardous place for the friendly dinosaurs; areas are filled with bottomless pits, instant-death spikes and lava, haunted ruins, and small, but dangerous, enemies. While the game isn’t especially difficult, the challenge ramps up as the Worlds slowly become more like dangerous obstacle courses that will test your jumping, egg-shooting, and reaction times. Like Mario, Yoshi can be a little slippery; he makes for quite a big target and is completely vulnerable when aiming, too. Thus, it’s easy to get blindsided by enemies, especially those hiding in the background or constantly spawning from pipes. Yoshi uses hills, slopes, and hidden tunnels to get around, as well as various platforms; these rise, fall, move along a track, or require you to jump on each in turn, rotating in a wheel to progress. Sometimes you’ll be locked into a maze-like loop and need to find a key; sometimes you’ll hit Winged Clouds to create bridges or spawn vines to get higher. Other times, you’ll knock buckets into water or lava to progress, quickly hop between platforms while a Shark Chomp chases you, or be forced to stay on the move in autoscrolling sections (with some even forcing you to the left!) You’ll ride balloons, run and jump to timed destructible platforms, be flung across the screen by spinning logs, play Breakout (Atari, Inc., 1976) to destroy coloured blocks with your eggs, watch for Chomps flying from the background and creating bottomless pits, spring to higher areas, ride circles that change direction when you jump off them, and cross a chasm on a deflating giant balloon. Thankfully, you can pass through sparkling rings to create a checkpoint and lives are quite easy to build up, but things do get surprisingly challenging as the game progresses. Flipping spiked platforms, mazes of dark sewers and pipes, and claustrophobic quartz caves are juxtaposed with bright, cheery exteriors that also hide many dangers, the most annoying being the Fuzzies. These fluffy puffs fill the screen when they appear and touching them sends everything into a psychedelic haze and messes with your controls for a few seconds, meaning it’s even easier to slip or run off a platform to your doom.
Presentation: Yoshi’s Island not only plays very differently to other Super Mario games, it also looks very different. The entire game is styled after a children’s colouring book, with pastels and crayon effects used in place of traditional coloured backgrounds, giving the entire game a whimsical feel that’s perfectly in keeping with the baby-centred focus and its status as a more child-friendly gameplay experience. The Yoshis are all very fun sprites; they do a little dance when idle and react comically when hurt or performing their flutter jump. Baby Mario is very animated when separated from Yoshi, bawling his head off in his bubble and encouraging you to retrieve him as quickly as possible, and the game’s cutscenes utilise a storybook aesthetic that makes it feel like you’re playing through a bedtime picture book. Every level pops with colour and environmental effects; sometimes it’s a bright sunny day, sometimes it’s the red hue of dusk, sometimes it’s a starry night, and you’ll see birds, mountains, giant flowers, waterfalls (and lavafalls), giant mushrooms, and thin trees in the foreground. There’s a lot of depth to each area; I particularly liked levels where Chomps fly at the screen and destroy the ground, and the many caves where little details are hidden way back, and you’ll often open up tunnels by leaping at walls or avoid leaping fish and water jets when paddling through or jumping over water. Blizzards are commonplace in World 5, often blanketing the screen as you ride ski lifts and melt ice blocks, and you’re forced to navigate labyrinthine forts and castles, taking different paths to find keys or get past spike beds. It’s all very colourful and playful, which is reflected in the infectious soundtrack and amusing Yoshi sounds peppered throughout the game. This lulls you into thinking it’s a simple kid’s platformer, making the sudden challenging sections even more jarring.
The game’s visual presentation is incredible, emphasising a vivid storybook aesthetic.
Yoshi’s Island was a late release for the SNES and, as such, effectively uses all the machine’s vaulted power. Parallax scrolling and sprite manipulation are abundant, with Kamek enlarging regular enemies and inanimate objects into large bosses and huge, amorphous enemies stretching and filling the screen at times. This is equally reflected in the giant eggs and transformation sequences, and the scaling all works beautifully to add to the depth of each level. Typically, levels will consist of some common themes, such as a grassy starting area, a cavernous second area, and a final area that takes place in the skies or over a pit. You’ll venture into many dark caves, where things are far more claustrophobic and maze-like, as well as sewers or areas were it’s so dark Yoshi is lit by a single light source. While the forts and castles can be quite samey, they do mix things up a bit by featuring dilapidated backgrounds and a spooky ambiance further emphasised by the resident Boos and ghosts. The grassier areas are where the game shines for me; I love seeing fields and mountains in the background and hopping to the precarious log platforms, or taking the smaller platforms on tracks, or interacting with the environment using Yoshi’s transformations. Everything’s so lively that it’s easy to be surprised by enemies that pop up from pipes, fly from above, or sneak in from the background. I also enjoyed how the time of day changed, when the game leaned into its dinosaur theme to show skeletal remains and tar-like dirt, and the impressive quasi-3D rotating map that wasn’t utilised enough for my liking.
Enemies and Bosses: Although it takes a while to encounter them, some of Mario’s most famous enemies make an appearance in Yoshi’s Island. You’ll come across Koopa Troopers and their flying variants, the Para-Koopa, shy Boos who cover their faces when you look at them, disposable Goombas, the ever-annoying Lakitu (who tosses Spin Eggs at you), and ravenous piranha plants. The most prominent returning enemy are the Shy-Guys, who come in an assortment of colours and variations, such as hovering overhead and dropping bombs, turning giant spiked maces, fatter ones, and ones that run around on fire. Yoshi’s Island is home to some unique and annoying new enemies, too, such as Frog Pirates who’ll steal Baby Mario, somewhat familiar blue hedgehogs who defend themselves with their quills, tiny Mousers who steal your eggs, and large lava, ghost, and aquatic enemies who pop up from liquid or the walls. Some enemies are more annoying, like the inedible Ravens and the spiky Tap-Taps, while others are more tricky. Spookies can be ridden but can’t be defeated by jumping on them and will steal Baby Mario if they’re hiding a Bandit, one of the most annoying enemies in the game. Equally frustrating are the Grunts, whose spiked helmets must be knocked off to make them vulnerable, the Sluggers that deflect your projectiles, and the karate-and-ki-throwing Zeus Guys. Many enemies are small are relatively harmless, but there’s so many and they pop up so frequently that it’s easy to take a hit. Others, like the piranha plants and Blow Hards either pop up at the worst moments or are placed on walls, ceilings, and platforms when you’re trying to jump about or ride platforms. Others are very large and must be pelted with eggs to whittle them down or fend them off, and you’ll even get attacked by an enemy masquerading as a collectable Flower!
The gigantic bosses look intimidating but they’re mostly a cakewalk.
With the exception of World 6, each World boasts two bosses: a mini boss hiding in the World’s fort and the actual boss holed up in the World’s castle. Each time, Kamek enlarges a regular enemy or inanimate object, kicking off the fight, which typically involves a large but cumbersome and surprisingly limited enemy filling the screen and must be hit with eggs to defeat, with other smaller enemies or Egg Plants providing ammo. World 1 sees you battling Burt the Bashful and Salvo the Slime, which are both ridiculously easy. Simply hide in the ditches and fire eggs as Burt slowly bounces around, then pelt Salvo with eggs, shrinking him with each hit and gobbling his minions, easily avoiding the lava below. World 2 features fights against ghosts, the Bigger Boo and Roger the Potted Ghost, with the Bigger Boo requiring you to ricochet your eggs to damage him, becoming intangible, and accompanied by bat-like Fangs who act as ammo. Roger tries to push you back and spits homing blue flames but is super easy to defeat as you just need to push his plant pot until he topples over the edge. In World 3, you’ll be swallowed by a gigantic Frog Pirate and need to fire eggs at his dangling uvula, dodging his gastric acid and the gigantic enemies that also drop in, which is quite a visually fun fight. Afterwards, you battle the Naval Piranha, who’s a little tricker. You must jump when it lunges and eat the Nipper Spores, then quickly ricochet eggs to hit the target at its base, though you can apparently one-shot it before the fight even starts. World 4 sees you encounter a massive Milde who wanders back and forth, requiring you to butt stomp from above, splitting her into smaller Puchipuchi L and, finally, regular Mildes. Hookbill the Koopa had me confused for a bit; this enlarged Koopa slowly lumbers around and performs a belly flop, spitting out eggs whenever you jump on his shell, but is invulnerable until you hit his head. Hit him enough times and he’ll topple onto his shell, exposing his stomach for a butt stomp, which took me a while to figure out.
The final bosses require a little more strategy and offer a bit more challenge.
World 5’s Sluggy the Unshaven was also a bit troublesome. This ghost-like blob’s gelatinous skin sags when you shoot eggs at it, and it slowly tries to force you over the edge. However, if you target the same spot, you’ll deal damage and eventually defeat it by striking its heart. Raphael the Raven was also quite unique as he flings you to a small moon where he relentlessly chases you in a rotating circle and creates shockwaves. To damage him, you must butt stomp the wooden stakes so the opposite one pops out as he’s passing over it, which can be difficult to time due to the nauseating rotation. Finally, in World 7, the invincible Tap-Tap the Red Nose hops about until you destroy the coloured blocks and drop him in lava. Kamek then chases you through the castle, firing magical bolts and teleporting away, and you eventually battle his cantankerous master, Baby Bowser. Baby Bowser was a bit difficult to figure out, too. He toddles about in his playroom, causes big shockwaves with a belly flop, and swats Baby Mario away so he can ride Yoshi, but is completely invulnerable. Instead, you must cause your own shockwaves with a butt stomp, though Kamek embiggens the enraged turtle king for the true final battle. This takes place on the castle roof during a nighttime storm and sees Big Baby Bowser slowly stomp towards you from the background. You must dodge the rocks he rains down and his massive fireballs while simultaneously avoiding the gaps he creates in the ground and swallowing Baron von Zeppelins. You must use your eggs to blast him in the face, which can be tricky due to how far away he is. If he gets too close, he’ll instantly kill you so you must frantically target just the right place to deal damage and force him back. Repeat this seven times, being mindful of the crumbling ground as the fight progresses, and Baby Bowser finally goes down, allowing the Mario brothers to be safely delivered to their parents.
Additional Features: When you complete each level, you can tackle a Bonus Challenge if the goal ring lands on a Flower or a Mini Battle by finding a hidden key and entering a locked shack. These see you tossing or popping balloons, matching cards, uncovering matching pairs, gathering Coins against a time limit, attacking enemies with watermelon seeds, and playing roulette and a slot machine. It’s a nice distraction to play these mini games and they award Special Items and a load of extra lives, especially by abusing the Nintendo Switch Online’s rewind and save state features, which make the game a breeze even with its lengthy playtime. Each World also contains two bonus levels, with the Extra levels unlocked when you score a perfect 100 on all the regular levels. These extra levels are shorter, contain no checkpoints, and generally revolve around a gimmick, such as Poochy, traversing Grinder-infested vines, tackling a confusing maze, and a ski run down a mountain in pursuit of Kamek. The game has three save files for multiple playthroughs and you can replay all previous levels with the exception of the opening tutorial-esque stage, though I’m not sure when or how the game saves (I assume it’s after you beat each level). There are no rewards for 100% completion, so you can’t pick which coloured Yoshi you ride or choose to carry Baby Luigi or anything, and there are no two-player options here beyond players taking turns to play.
The Summary: This isn’t my first time playing Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. I’ve played it on emulators in the past as part of my fascination with the SNES library, but this is the first time I’ve completed the game. Yoshi’s Island definitely makes a strong visual impression; the story is at the forefront here, as are cute, colouring book graphics and whimsical, charming music. The sprites and environments are absolutely gorgeous and some of the best the SNES had to offer, boasting vivid areas, a greater level of detail and depth, and bundles of charm and life to every sprite. As annoying as Baby Mario’s screaming is, I liked the mechanic as a health meter and an incentive not to get hit, though it can be a mad scramble to rescue him that costs you life anyway. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the same about Yoshi’s egg throwing; while he’s versatile enough, if as slippery as Mario, his egg-aiming and throwing gameplay can be cumbersome, especially when you’re on moving platforms or surrounded by enemies, making it difficult to make split second decisions. It worked in the boss battles, which were fun, and I really liked the enlarged sprites and technical tricks on show, though the bosses were generally a complete joke and I only really struggled with a few. The levels beforehand, though, can become surprisingly challenging. Bottomless pits and instant death traps increase, as do the moving and confusing gimmicks, and it’s often tempting to risk death to grab those elusive collectibles. Overall, this was enjoyable, but Yoshi’s Island is more fun to look at than play at times. It’s a bit slow and clunky, the levels can outlive their stay quite quickly, and there wasn’t as much variety in the Worlds as I would’ve liked or expected from a Super Mario title. Still, it’s something a little different and provides a unique, colourful twist on the usual Super Mario formula so I’d say it’s worth checking out, but I’d much rather play Super Mario World again than this.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Was Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Islandin your SNES library back in the day? What did you think to the new gameplay mechanics and how do you think it compares to Super Mario World? Did you enjoy the colourful, colouring book presentation and the egg-based mechanics? Were you annoyed by Baby Mario’s screaming, and did you ever score 100 on every stage? Are you a fan of Yoshi and, if so, which of his games is your favourite? How are you celebrating Mario’s birthday this year? Whatever your thoughts on Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, feel free to share them below and be sure to check out my other Mario content!
Released: 1 September 2019 Developer: SEGA Also Available For: Arcade and Mobile
The Background: Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog engaged in a fierce “Console War” during the nineties as Nintendo and SEGA battled to be the top dog of the videogame industry. In the end, thanks largely to wasting money on expensive peripherals and the pressures of an ever-changing marketplace, SEGA withdrew from the home console market. On the plus side, their supersonic mascot appeared on his rival’s consoles, prompting discussions of a long-awaited crossover began between their respective creators, Shigeru Miyamoto and Yuji Naka. Surprisingly, the two came together in the spirit of friendly competition once SEGA obtained the 2008 Beijing Olympic licence. Essentially a collection of Olympic-themed mini games, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (SEGA Sports R&D, 2007) saw Mario and Sonic characters co-existing for the first time and its commercial success led to subsequent titles releasing annually to promote different Olympic events across the world. This year, to coincide with the Special Olympics World Winter Games, I’m looking at the 2020 iteration (and currently last) of the series. Released following a significant gap between entries and the first to appear on the Nintendo Switch, the game including story elements and events that incorporated sprites from both franchise’s classic 2D games. Retaining its branding despite the delay to the Olympic games, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 attracted mixed reviews that praised the nostalgic feel of the 2D mini games but criticised the tedious story mode and limited options.
The Plot: When Bowser, King of the Koopas, and Doctor Eggman are trapped inside an 8-bit videogame console alongside Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, Luigi, Miles “Tails” Prower, and all their extended supporting characters must compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games to free them.
Gameplay and Power-Ups: If you’re familiar with the Mario & Sonic series of Olympic game tie-ins, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is a collection of Olympic-themed minigames starring the biggest names from both franchises. As ever, Mario and Sonic’s worlds are mashed together with our own, allowing these anthropomorphic and comical characters to wander around real-world locations (courtesy of not one but two overworld maps) and learn interesting facts about both franchises, the Olympic games, and Tokyo. You start the game by selecting your region, being bombarded by pop-up notifications that tell you basic stuff like what the sound settings do, and customising your player profile, assigning icons and such. From there, you have a few gameplay choices: you can jump into a quick game solo or against other players, picking from every event as they’re all unlocked from the start and setting the difficulty of each, or tackle the game’s story mode. Regardless of which option you pick, your gameplay experience will change depending on which character you play as. While the Story Mode forces you to play as certain characters, you can pick almost any character for any event in Quick Match, but you’ll need to consider their capabilities. These are pretty simple: some characters are faster, some are all-rounders, some do better with Super Moves. It doesn’t get more complicated than that and I’m not sure how much of a factor they are as basically every game comes down to how fast you can tap buttons or work the various controls. There are thirty-two characters to choose from, though twelve are only selectable in certain events (like Jet for Football and Ludwig for Fencing) and, when playing the 2D-styled “Dream Events”, your choices are limited to just eight characters.
Up to four players can tackle the game’s 3D, nostalgic 2D, and chaotic “Dream” events.
There are twenty-one Olympic events to play, ten 2D Events set during the 1964 Olympic games, and three special challenge “Dream Events”. You’ll get a chance to review the controls and success criteria prior to each event, though it’s worth pressing X during one of the many introductory scenes or after pausing to review any additional controls. Players can choose from three different ways to play, including flailing around with the motion controls or using the buttons like a normal person, though some events (like the Discus Throw and Javelin Throw) force you to use motion controls to angle your shot, making them some of the more aggravating events. Generally, you can hold the Right trigger or A at the start of an event to build power and must tap A to run or move. B is usually reserved for jumping while R or A execute a Super Move (such as a burst of speed or dancing flourish). The simplest events, like the 100m Race and 110m Hurdles, have you tapping A to run to the finish line, with players hitting B at the right time to clear hurdles and gain a boost in the latter. Most events have a foul line that will disqualify you if you cross it, some of the trickier ones have an optional practice mode beforehand, and your objective is to win every event to set a best time (or break a World Record) and earn gold medals or the top spot on the podium. If you fail an event three times in the Story Mode, you can choose to skip the event, progressing the story with no consequences, something I eventually did quite often when the events became too laborious or finnicky. I was fine with the challenge offered by, say, the Long Jump where you tap A to run, hold B to adjust your jump angle, and complete a series of button presses akin to a quick-time event (QTE), even if it took some practice. Similarly, Sport Climbing was tricky but not too taxing. You press the Left trigger and R at the start to latch on, aim your jump with the left and right control sticks, and hop to hand-holds against a time limit, avoiding spiked balls and replenishing your stamina with hearts. I also had a fair bit of fun in Boxing and Fencing, where you must time button presses and build combos, guarding against incoming attacks and frantically tapping A (in the latter) to avoid being counted out.
Skill and character choices can help with the game’s harder events, which include team-based sports.
Things took a turn whenever the events became a bit more complicated, however. It’s not too difficult timing your button presses in the Triple Jump event or pulling off gnarly tricks in the Surfing – Shortboard and Skateboarding – Park events, but you need to be on point to win those gold medals as a poor score will cost you and you often have to complete a few rounds to win, making it even more annoying. Archery was a similar issue; here, you have to think about the wind direction, the distance of the targets, and the angle of your shot. It’s a far cry from Shooting – Trap, where you just pick a square and hit a button to shoot clay discs. The Judo event also caused me a lot of headaches; you have to mess about trying to keep your balance to toss the opponent, which I just couldn’t figure out. I didn’t mind completing increasing difficult QTEs in the 10m Platform and Vault events, but tilting the left stick to match your partner’s strokes in Canoe Double (C-2) 1000m and frantically rotating the control stick to chase to the goal in Kayak (K-1) 1000m was a pain in the ass. You even play team games, like Volleyball, Football, and Rugby Sevens. I couldn’t figure out the Volleyball event; no matter how well I timed my presses of A and B and how often I hit the ball over the net, I couldn’t score a point. Rugby Sevens was a touch more enjoyable; here, you press A to pass and score a try, B to evade, and race around a pitch tackling other players and scoring a conversion by timing a press of X as a meter goes back and forth. And then there’s the aforementioned Discus Throw and Javelin, where I could just about figure out the motion controls in practice and then kept screwing up my throws when it came time to compete. If the option had been there to just use the left stick to direct my shot, it would’ve been far more enjoyable!
The minigames are some of the best parts of the game, often outshining the main Olympic events!
When playing Story Mode, you’ll alternate between moving Luigi around the 3D world of the 2020 Olympic games and Mario around the 2D world of the 1964 Olympic games, with Tails and Sonic following each. You’ll chat with other characters and non-playable characters (NPCs) like Toads and Omachao to obtain passes to other areas and compete in additional events and find glowing tickets to learn fun facts. For such small overworld maps, there’s a hell of a lot of backtracking and dialogue to skip through, and it quickly gets a bit tedious slogging through the twenty-chapter story to reunite the two groups. Occasionally, characters will ask you to complete one of ten minigames to advance the plot; these are then unlocked for free play in the Game Room. These minigames are some of the best parts of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and see you flying through the Tokyo skies in a sidescrolling shooter like in Sky Chase Zone, chasing down a bullet train, painstakingly searching Shibuya’s Hachiko Square for specific characters in a game of Where’s Wally?, and chasing down (and attacking) Dr. Eggman’s taxi in what’s somewhat similar to Rad Racer (Square, 1987). You’ll be bouncing on Cheep-Cheeps as you chase after Bowser’s river boat, sneaking through a museum, avoiding Koopas and other Mario enemies as you collect keys, and desperately trying not to fall as you scale Tokyo Tower. Other times, you’ll be beating up waves of Shy Guys or shooting Egg Pawns before they throw spiked balls at you, both options that are far more enjoyable than the game’s odd depiction of Badminton that’s essentially just a rhythm game, just press the button when prompted, using the left stick to aim your shot, and your character moves by themselves (though I found the doubles partner screwed up more than I did). You’ll also dash around an obstacle course in Equestrian – Jumping, building speed to jump fences and puddles, knock a ball back and forth in table tennis until you can hit your Super Shot, and throw hands and feet in Karate – Kumite, toppling your opponent to earn extra points. Most of the events are pretty fun but some of them are way too short and others outstay their welcome very quickly. It’s also pointless trying to master the difficult ones as you can just skip them in Story Mode, unless you’re aiming for 100% completion.
Presentation: In keeping with the tradition of this spin-off series, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is a bit of a mixed bag in this area. None of the familiar tunes from either franchise appear, leaving the game to plod along on the strength of a weak-ass, generic soundtrack that barely eases the pain of a failure. Things start off strong with a beautiful pre-rendered cutscene that showcases many of the new and returning events and shows these two franchises co-existing side y side, a visual that never gets old even if I’ll never forgive either company for not doing a more suitable crossover. It’s a bit downhill from there, though, as prerendered cutscenes are eschewed in favour of partially animated 2.5D models, endless dialogue boxes, and a parade of pop-ups. The 2D sprites and environments ease this pain a bit, but the developers limited themselves by using the sprites from Mario’s debut title, meaning he and his fellow characters have very few frames of animation. Sonic and his cohorts fare slightly better in this regard but the aesthetic is all over the place since Knuckles the Echidna’s sprites are obviously more detailed than Sonics, leading to some weird moments when the sprites are awkwardly depicted holding items. It even looks weird when they celebrate their victories or react to their failures since the developers didn’t create any new animations, so you’re left with Sonic looking annoyed and Mario flipping on his ass. Overall, I did enjoy the 2D environments and events, though; they reminded me of the many 8-bit sports games on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). I would’ve liked to see some 16-bit ones thrown in, even if just as additional “Dream Events”, but these retro-styled sections were the best parts of the game, despite my complaints.
The limited 3D visuals are decent but it’s the retro-styled aesthetic that really impresses.
The 3D sections hold up well, for the most part, but aren’t that dissimilar from what we’ve seen in the previous Mario & Sonic titles. You can hold B to run and characters are far more animated in 3D, spouting gibberish and sound bites and even wearing different outfits for every event. Strangely, every area felt very bland and empty, despite often being populated by at least a handful of NPCs. Eventually, larger crowds of Sonic’s Animal Friends, Chao, Shy Guys, and Toads fill certain areas and populate the stands, but they don’t help to make the areas feel very lively. Still, you’ll see NPCs like Charmy Bee and Lakitu serving as referees and other side characters operating cameras; these NPCs even get in on the action in the atrocious Marathon event. The 2D sections sported an announcer I either missed or ignored in the 3D parts and characters all gain a suitably dramatic glow and flourish when executing Super Moves. However, while event locations and interiors are far more interesting to look at, the game’s let down by its painfully bland overworlds. You can visit many real-world locations in 1964 and 2020, seeing planes fly overhead and learning their history, but it’s all stuck on a rather uninspired overworld map. This is especially disappointing considering how interactive and varied previous overworlds in the series have been, and the fact that you visit these areas time and again to find passes or charge this magical battery created by Doctor Eggman Nega. Many of the minigames again steal the show in terms of visuals, incorporating additional sprites to serve their needs and being visually akin to lost titles from Nintendo’s 8-bit heyday, which only adds to their replay factor. The game also performs really well; I noticed no slowdown or texture warping or anything like that. However, there are a lot of menus to navigate, lots of instructional text to read, and replaying events after a loss can be tedious as you have to skip a bunch of introductory scenes.
Enemies and Bosses: As you might imagine, every character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is your enemy at some point though, luckily for you, there’s very little to distinguish them. Computer-controlled opponents have the same abilities as you, charging power, getting a starting boost, and attacking and defending just as you would. Their individual classes do become a factor, however (you may struggle to win a race against Shadow the Hedgehog when playing as Wario, for example), though you can certainly overcome these if you mash buttons faster enough or don’t screw up when playing the event. I did notice some characters seemed to be unfairly good at some events; Vector the Crocodile never struggled to toss his discus, for example, and I could never hope to match Bowser Jr. in the Javelin Throw. Admittedly, the fact that I struggled with these events probably has a lot to do with that. however, I did notice my opponents would charge their Power Gauge much faster than me, or would sprint past me at the last minute even if I had a commanding lead. The general advice here is to simply do better the next time around, something that’s easier said than done when you have to restart a Table Tennis match after playing to deuce and match point for God-knows how many rounds! Unlike in some of the previous Mario & Sonic titles, there are few examples of what could loosely be called “boss battles” here. It’s generally seen as a big deal when you challenge Dr. Eggman or Bowser, but then a lot of those events aren’t that difficult to win…to start with… Bosses (and Badniks) do appear in the Tokyo Sky Flight minigame, however, including Mecha Sonic and a variation on the classic Egg Wrecker fight, which were fun inclusions.
A handful of quasi-boss battles and harder events test your skills…and patience…
There are some exceptions, however. The Metropolitan Goal Kick minigame, for example, has you tackling Egg Pawns to grab a rugby ball and then timing a button press to kick it up the length of the Metropolitan Government Building and deal damage to Metal Sonic. As far as I could see, Eggrobos only appear in the Volleyball event, while you must tackle Boom Booms in Rugby Sevens and score penalties against Egg Pawns in Football. The twelve guest characters can only be challenged or controlled in specific events, as well, and you must best them (or skip the event) in Story Mode to unlock them. This means you’ll only see Zavok and Zazz of the Deadly Six in Boxing and Table Tennis, respectively, Diddy Kong only appears in Rugby Sevens, while Eggman Nega and Rosalina must be challenged in games of Karate – Kumite and Surfing, respectively. Depending on your level of skill, these can be difficult events; it took me a couple of tries to clear the Sport Climbing event and unlock Rouge the Bat, for example. When playing Story Mode, other playable characters challenge you to events before helping you or joining your team, meaning you must best Knuckles and Shadow in a game of Badminton (Doubles) and win a canoe race against Wario and Waluigi to gain their help. You must also defeat Bowser’s Koopalings to charge up that stupid battery and deal with Bowser, Dr. Eggman, and their minions stealing your gold medals in 1964. Both baddies challenge you to various events, with Dr. Eggman easily being overtaking in a straight-up race or in the Vault event. Once you reach the final chapter, you must pick to play as either Mario or Sonic and race Bowser in the dread Marathon. In this event, you must tap A to run, which depletes your stamina. Hitting other runners, the walls, swarms of bees, or puddles also depletes your stamina and will eventually knock you over, costing you valuable time. You can grab water with B and ride slipstreams to regain stamina, charging up for a boost or using boost pads, but this is a hell of a final ask that I ended up skipping as I never had enough stamina to beat Bowser to the finish.
Additional Features: There are 122 pieces of trivia to find in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, spread out across both 1964 and 2020. You’ll get trivia by inspecting glowing tickets and talking to other characters, who’ll either ask a question or offer titbits about the characters, the Olympic games, and Tokyo. These are all saved in the Trivia section so you can re-read them if you wish or see which ones you’re missing. There are also eighty hidden “Challenges” to complete, with the obscured list available from the main menu. These are mainly tied to setting new World Records, finishing events on the hardest difficulty, scoring a set number of points, and clearing Story Mode. Finishing the Story Mode, you’re returned to the overworld upon loading your file, now able to replay all previous events and take on additional challenges in the “Dream Events”. Though there are only three of these, they’re pretty enjoyable and interesting, featuring additional power-ups and gameplay mechanics that make them perfect for multiplayer games. Dream Racing sees you racing through a mainly half-pipe-like course, performing tricks and hopping rails not unlike in the Sonic Riders series (Sonic Team/Now Production, 2006 to 2010) and attacking with items similar to the Mario Kart series (Various, 1992 to present). Dream Shooting sees you running around, awkwardly aiming your weapon with motion controls, and blasting targets, grabbing multi-shots and shooting down gliders in an arena shooter that reminds me of the Splatoon games (Various, 2015 to 2022). Finally, in Dream Karate, you attack with combos, kicks, and throws to toss your foes around and colour the floor panels, grabbing springs and Super Stars for temporary buffs. Beyond that, you can challenge the computer on harder difficulties, aim to get gold medals and break World Records, and play alongside up to four players…if you can find anyone to play with.
The Summary: As a lifelong Sonic fan (and a pretty big fan of the Super Mario games), I’m basically obligated to pick up the Mario & Sonic games whenever they release. I believe I’ve played all of them, but only on portable devices, which I think made the already aggravating gameplay all the more vexing. Free from the restrictions of the small size of Nintendo DS and 3DS screens, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is easily the most visually impressive of all the Mario & Sonic games I’ve played, offering relatively attractive 3D models and worlds that show a decent amount of personality. I can never shake the feeling like these games are just soulless cash grabs, however, and that’s reflected in how empty a lot of the arenas seem, despite the NPC crowds. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 impresses with its nostalgic 2D sections, which harken back to the NES days and capture a lot of the magic of Nintendo’s 8-bit glory days. While the sprites are fun to see, they’re extremely limited and a bit difficult on the eyes because of the mishmash of 8- and 16-bit sprites. I was glad to see the game allowed for traditional controls, though the forced motion controls for some events were more jarring as a result; however, it’s a bit disappointing that so many of the events play the same. Thankfully, the various minigames offered a great distraction from the main events, which were either too short or too annoying. I honestly could’ve done with a few more of these minigames, and the “Dream Events”, as there wasn’t enough of these to offset the more annoying Olympic events. With a half-assed approach to cutscenes and some of the dullest unlockables in all of videogaming, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 does little to shake the franchise’s stigma of being a collection of nonsense minigames, even with its few good points. It’s easily the best of the series I’ve played, but that’s not a very high bar and I remain bitter that we never got a more traditional crossover between the two nineties icons.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Did you enjoy Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020? Did you also play without the motion controls? What did you think to the 2D sections and events? Were the minigames also the best part for you, or did you prefer a different Olympic event? Would you like to see more games in the series, or a proper crossover between Mario and Sonic? Which country are you rooting for in the Special Olympics World Winter Games this year? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other content for both franchises!
So, for no better reason than “Mar.10” resembling Mario’s name, March 10th is widely regarded as being “Mario Day”, a day to celebrate Nintendo’s portly plumber, an overalls-wearing mascot who literally changed the videogame industry forever and shaped the home console market of the nineties.
Released: 2 April 2010 Originally Released: 27 August 1992 Developer: Nintendo EAD Also Available For: Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii (Virtual Console, original version only), Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), SNES Classic Edition
The Review: I was a SEGA kid growing up. My only experiences of the Super Mario franchise came from his Game Boy titles and the times I would visit a friend and play SNES with him. I don’t believe he ever owned Super Mario Kart, so my experiences with the game came much later, when I was older and more jaded. Indeed, I’m not a big fan of racing games; I enjoyed Sonic the Hedgehog’s attempts to ape Super Mario Kart’s success, but I’ve never been a fan of racers. Super Mario Kart has always had an appeal to me, though. I may have had more experience with its Nintendo 64 follow-up as a kid, but its cartoony graphics and brand appeal have always called to me. This is the first time I’ve really spent any time with the game, though. Sure, I’ve raced a bit here and there, but I’d never sat down and played through it before. It turns out that, for all its visual appeal and its undoubtable gaming legacy, Super Mario Kart is quite short on features, meaning a shorter review feels more appropriate. Following the fun title screen where the racers mess with each other on a 2D plane, players are given a few options. You can play a one- or two-player game, tackle the grand prix (GP) or time trial modes, and pick a “class” to play on. For my playthrough, I chose the “50cc” class but the harder “100cc” class is also available, with the even more challenging “150cc” class and nightmare-inducing Rainbow Road course being unlocked if you best these latter courses (or choose to play the “SP” version on Nintendo Switch, which has every course unlocked). From there, you select your racer; I imagine each character has different states, with Toad being faster and weaker and the likes of Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. being slower and tougher. I played as Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and Toad and found they all handled about the same, but I’m pretty sure some are faster than others (bigger characters certainly make for larger targets, if nothing else).
Race across colourful courses as some of gaming’s most recognisable characters.
You can then pick a cup to race for. You’ll race on five courses for each cup and must finish in the top three to qualify, earning points for where you place and gaining 1-ups and a spot on the coveted podium if you race well. B sees you accelerate, A brakes, allows you to drift, and uses an item, X changes the view on the lower screen to either the course map or a rear view, and L and R let you hop over hazards. Since many courses include tight bends and turns, it’s probably beneficial to master the drift function. Unfortunately, I found it a bit finnicky and often span out more often than not, so it was easier for me to simply plough ahead and release B to make those tight turns. Players collect Coins scattered around every course that increase their acceleration, losing them whenever they bump into other racers, and can drive over ? blocks to acquire a random item. Players can place banana peels to cause other racers to spin out, get a much-needed boost from a Mushroom (though I found few courses had straight paths to take full advantage of this), blast other racers with either a Green Shell (which fires straight ahead or can be left on the track like the banana peel) or a Red Shell (which targets the nearest racer), gain a few extra Coins, hop over obstacles with the Feather’s spinning jump, shrink the other racers with a lightning bolt, or gain temporary invincibility with a Starman. In the game’s two-player “Battle Mode”, you can also acquire a Boo, which turns you invisible, invulnerable, and steals an item from an opponent. Additionally, the computer-controlled racers have access to extra items that you never get: Yoshi, for example, tosses eggs onto the track, Bowser spits fireballs, and Princess “Peach” Toadstool and Toad lay Poison Mushrooms that shrink anyone that drives over them. As you progress through the courses, the racetracks not only become more challenging but include ramps and speed boost arrows that can give you an advantage.
Take on the battle mode, or harder classes, to access the game’s most challenging tracks.
Courses are themed after recognisable locations from the Mario series, including Chocolate Island, Boo’s Mansion, and Bowser’s Castle. While things start off pretty easy on Mario Circuit 1, even this course has warp pipes you must avoid and some tricky bends. Hazards become more apparent very quickly, with Donut Plains 1 including a lake you can fall into and muddy water that’ll mess up your controls, and Ghost Valley 1 introduces ramps and gaps in the course you can fall down. If you take a plunge into water or off the course, you’ll lose valuable time (and probably your position) as Lakitu sets you back down, though Super Mario Kart oddly forces players to complete five laps to win, so you’ll probably catch up if you’re lucky. Courses are relatively short, to be fair, which probably explains why you complete five laps instead of the traditional three. Bowser’s Castle usually represents the toughest challenge of any cup, featuring lava pits and Thwomps that squash you or push you back. Other hazards include oil slicks, cracked ice, and Monty Moles that pop up from holes and cling onto your racer. The Star Cup and unlockable Special Cup contained the most visually interesting tracks for me, with Koopa Beach being a fun dash over shallow water and between sandy land masses and Vanilla Lake offering a unique challenge with its ice blocks and snow drifts. Graphically, the game is very impressive; racers all react and showcase a lot of personality both on the course, on the map, and on the podium. Courses are bright and colourful, for the most part, and have a lot of variety, from wooden tracks to stone paths, with the tougher tracks either having destructible blocks or not barriers at all to cause a fall, bumpy surfaces to jiggle you about, or even alternate routes or bridges.
The Summary: I can totally see why people enjoyed Super Mario Kart so much back in the day. I’m sure it was a blast playing against friends and battling for pole position, as well as racing to complete each cup. I completed the “50cc” class, getting first place in every race (thanks, largely, to the Nintendo Switch’s rewind function, I admit) and enjoying each character’s podium celebration. The game definitely ramps up in the “100cc” class, though, with the CPU racers blasting off and gaining on you with a surprising aggression. It was only by booting up the “SP” version that I got a taste of the “150cc” class, which is even tougher, and had a quick race on Rainbow Road, a psychedelic track of twists and turns designed to send you plummeting into the void. Still, I enjoyed the time I put into the game. Each character is full of personality and it’s fun to see them idling around the course on the bottom screen or reacting to a win (or loss). However, I did have some issues with Super Mario Kart. Five courses for each cup with five laps each got a bit tiresome for me, some of the turns and hazard placements were aggravating, and I never seemed to get any good items when I was racing, often being lumbered with Coins or banana peels. While the game does look great, it’s a bit hard on the eyes at times; courses and the backgrounds get very pixelated and distracting, which caused me to make mistakes. Vanilla Lake and Coco Island, for all their unique appeal, were the worst offenders in this regard. Still, it’s pretty fun to tackle the easier courses and cups and just blast around a colourful track with some of gaming’s most recognisable characters. The music is jaunty and memorable, the gameplay is pretty solid (as long as you make good use of your brake and items), and I can’t deny the game’s impact on the genre. However, it’s possible that I would enjoy Super Mario Kart more if I played with a friend, and I do think I’d be more inclined to play one of the modern iterations of the game rather than this classic, but obviously dated, title.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Was Super Mario Kart part of your SNES library back in the day? Which racer was your favourite? Did you ever best the “150cc” class? Which item did you find the most enjoyable to use? Do you think the game still holds up today? Which Mario Kart title is your favourite? How are you celebrating Super Mario this month? Whatever you think, comment below and let me know and don’t forget to check out my other Mario content.
In July 1981, Shigeru Miyamoto and his team at Nintendo R&D1 created Donkey Kong, an arcade title that was not only one of the earliest examples of the platform genre but also introduced gamers everywhere to two of Nintendo’s most recognisable characters: Mario and Donkey Kong. Mario, of course, shot to super stardom but July’s a good excuse to celebrate everyone’s favourite King Kongknock-off.
Released: 5 April 2019 Originally Released: 28 September 1983 Developer: Nintendo R&D2 Also Available For: Arcade, Family Computer Disk System (Famicom), Game & Watch, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console), Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U (Virtual Console)
A Brief Background: At the start of the eighties, Nintendo had run into some issues when their plan to expand into North America with Radar Scope (Nintendo R&D2/Ikegami Tsushinki, 1980) failed. Nintendo’s then-president Hiroshi Yamauchi thus tasked young designer Shigeru Miyamoto with creating a new arcade cabinet to get the company back on track. When his plan to base it on popular comic strip character Popeye fell apart, Miyamoto took inspiration from Beauty and the Beast (Barbot de Villeneuve, 1740) and King Kong (Cooper and Schoedsack, 1933) to create Donkey Kong (Nintendo R&D1/Ikegami Tsushinki, 1981). A financial and critical success that introduced players to “Jumpman” (now known as Nintendo’s mascot, Super Mario), Donkey Kong was followed by the equally successful (if obscure) Donkey Kong Jr.(Nintendo R&D2, 1982) the very next year. Based on this success, Donkey Kong 3 came the year after that, with the gameplay significantly altered; even Mario was gone, in favour of bug exterminator Stanley. Although allegedly successful in Japan, the videogame crash of 1983 stunted its release in North America and, while somewhat praised upon release, it hasn’t stood the test of time and effectively killed the franchise until the 16-bit era of gaming rolled around.
The Review: Donkey Kong 3 deviates wildly from its predecessors in a few ways; first, Mario is strangely absent, replaced by Stanley the Exterminator and, secondly, it’s now a 2D shooter-type game not unlike Space Invaders (Taito, 1978) or Galaga (Namco, 1981). Secondly, Donkey Kong is now a central antagonistic figure, appearing in the vines atop each screen (or “Round”) and shaking beehives to spawn enemies that swoop in and take away your flowers (and your lives). Thirdly, the game has a traditional timer; you have a limited amount of time to fend off the enemies and Donkey Kong himself before you lose a life, but you also have to keep the pressure on Donkey Kong with your bug spray or else he’ll come crashing down and cost you a life. Once again, you can pick between two one-player games and two two-player games, with “Game B” offering a greater challenge, though the controls are a little more versatile. You fire your bug spray with A or B (sadly, there’s no auto- or continuous fire option), jump by pressing up on the control stick and drop down a level with down. Falling won’t cost you a life but Stanley is hard-pressed to jump over enemies; instead, you must drop down and move about to get underneath them and spray them. Very rarely (literally once per life), you’ll be able to make use of a super bug spray power-up that’ll make fending off Donkey Kong and defeating enemies much easier; this even carries over between Rounds, but its effects wear off after a few seconds. As before, defeating enemies awards you points; if you clear a Round with all flowers intact, you’ll get a point bonus, with an extra life being awarded for every 50,000 points you earn, though there’s still no high score table, so it’s all about maintaining the top score at the top of the screen.
Blast at bugs and a looming Donkey Kong with your bug spray to keep your flowers safe.
Donkey Kong 3 also deviates from its predecessors by sporting two screens that repeat in a perpetual loop until you lose all your lives or get bored and quit, though they are made a little more varied in the colour palettes changing, the platforms being trickier, and the number of enemies increasing as the loops recycle. The first Round is in the forest and sees you hopping up stone platforms to fend off Donkey Kong, and the second Round is in the treetops and sports vines that annoying worms crawl across to block your shots. Once you’ve played both screens, you’ve basically seen everything Donkey Kong 3 has to offer, and you can even clear Rounds in a couple of seconds if you’re quick enough. Sure, faster, more aggressive enemies appear later, darting at you or sending out stingers, and Donkey Kong will toss coconuts at you, and the trees might be red or green, but there’s even less visual variety here than in the last two games. Stanley doesn’t make as much of an impression as Mario and I found myself easily losing him against the stone platforms. His bug spray is weak and incredibly limited, he can’t jump over enemies, and there’s often so much onscreen that you’re guaranteed to lose a flower, if not a life. Although the music also isn’t all that much to shout about, being on the same level as the previous games, Donkey Kong is now a large, detailed, and animated sprite; he’s mischievous and daunting, grinning at you and always edging closer. Though there’s no true final showdown or end to the game, you can force him up the vines and trap his big, stupid head in a beehive, which I counted as a victory. As ever, you can use save states and rewind the game to address any mistakes, but it can be tricky to figure out your attack strategy as, unlike in the last two games, pausing the game inexplicably covers the in-game action with a black screen.
The Summary: I, like I suspect a lot of people, was not very familiar with Donkey Kong 3 before heading into it. In fact, I’m not sure I’d ever even seen a screenshot of it, let alone really knew it existed, and I have to say that it really isn’t worth your time. It borrows more elements from other games than it innovates and lacks even the mild appeal of Donkey Kong Jr. since Mario is entirely absent. It’s nice to see Donkey Kong back as a big, foreboding antagonist and there was some fun to be had in blasting him up the ass with bug spray, but that’s about where my praise ends. Even compared to the last two games, Donkey Kong 3 wears out its welcome pretty quickly; there’s just not enough variety to hold my attention and very little incentive to keep playing without a high score table. I liked that the palette changed as you progress, but the lack of visual variety really hurts the game. The enemies are little more than uninspired and annoying bugs, too, and the lack of other power-ups and mechanics just makes this a bland and forgettable title. It seems like Nintendo were trying to milk Donkey Kong a little too hard back in the day, including similar gameplay mechanics but adding one or two tweaks to try and keep things fresh, but I wonder if simply expanding on Donkey Kong, adding new mechanics and stages and such like in the Game Boy release, wouldn’t have been a better idea than releasing dull titles like this. These days, Donkey Kong 3 is all-but forgotten, and with good reason; just play the original or the 16-bit titles if you’re itching for some nostalgic ape action and leave this one in the dirt where it belongs.
My Rating:
⭐
Rating: 1 out of 5.
Terrible
Was Donkey Kong3 in your NES library back in the day? How do you think it compares to the last two games? What did you think to Stanley and the new shooting mechanics? How far did you get in the game before you failed or quit? Which Donkey Kong videogame is your favourite and why? How are you celebrating Donkey Kong’s anniversary this year? Whatever your thoughts on Donkey Kong, feel free to leave a comment below or on my social media, and check out my other Donkey Kong content on the site.
Released: 21 December 2018 Originally Released: 30 June 1982 Developer: Nintendo R&D2 Also Available For: Arcade, Atari, BBC Micro, Coleco Adam, ColecoVision, Family Computer Disk System (Famicom), Intellivision, GameCube (via Animal Crossing (Nintendo EAD, 2001)), Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console), Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U (Virtual Console)
A Brief Background: In early 1980, Nintendo were in a spot of bother; their plans to expand into North America with Radar Scope (Nintendo R&D2/Ikegami Tsushinki, 1980) had failed, so then-president Hiroshi Yamauchi tasked young designer Shigeru Miyamoto to create a new arcade cabinet to turn things around. After plans to adapt popular comic strip character Popeye fell apart, Miyamoto took inspiration from Beauty and the Beast (Barbot de Villeneuve, 1740) and King Kong(Cooper and Schoedsack, 1933) to create Donkey Kong (Nintendo R&D1/Ikegami Tsushinki, 1981), a financial and critical success that introduced players to “Jumpman”, who would go on to become Nintendo’s mascot, Super Mario. During Donkey Kong’s development, many of the team’s concepts had to be cut due to time and hardware constraints. As they worked to develop these further, and given Donkey Kong’s success, the team developed a follow-up title that was initially planned to star the cantankerous ape himself before a smaller, more manageable substitute was created. Although Donkey Kong Jr. is now one of Nintendo’s more obscure characters, having largely been supplanted in the 16-bit era, Donkey Kong Jr. was very successful in its native Japan. Reviews praised the colourful presentation and gameplay loop and the game became very popular in the competitive play arena.
The Review: Donkey Kong Jr. is, essentially, more of the same game as its predecessor. Like Donkey Kong, players can pick from four game modes: two single-player options and two two-player options, with “Game B” being the more difficult of the two as it includes more onscreen enemies. Regardless of which mode you pick, Donkey Kong Jr. utilises the same simplistic control scheme as before, with A being the only button you need to press to jump over enemies, to vines, and across platforms. Donkey Kong Jr. has the rare distinction of being perhaps the only Mario-adjacent videogame where the portly plumber is an antagonist. Players now control the titular Donkey Kong Jr., a stout baby ape who slowly clambers up vines, quickly slides down them, and whose only method of attacking the many critters Mario sends out to obstruct him is to touch various fruits high up on vines; these will then fall, destroying any enemies beneath them. While Donkey Kong Jr. is a far more complex-looking sprite, with a humorous and over the top death animation and being slightly more animated overall, he’s no less clunky and actually less useful than Mario was in the last game as his hit box is bigger and he doesn’t get a hammer power-up. There is a spring on one screen, but it’s just as likely to send you plummeting to your death as it is to the next platform, so you’ll need to carefully time your jumps to avoid enemies and snag some points. But don’t take too long; like in Donkey Kong, the longer you take, the lower your bonus score will be upon completing a screen, which in turn impacts your high score. While you don’t seem to earn extra lives by accumulating points and there’s no high score table to display your best score, it is displayed at the top of the screen and is the only goal available to work towards so you may be somewhat protective of this.
Junior must clamber up vines, jump over hazards, and use keys to rescue his dad from Mario.
Donkey Kong Jr. is comprised of four screens that repeat in a nigh-never-ending loop until you finally die, with the enemies increasing in number and aggression the more you play. In three screens, your goal is to reach the top, acquire a key, and scare off Mario, and this culminates in a final showdown where you need to take down the devious plumber and rescue your kidnapped father. In the first screen, you simply navigate between vines being careful not to fall in the static water below or even drop a short distance as both will instantly kill you. In the second screen, you’ll bounce on the spring to smaller moving platforms and use a pulley to cross a gap and, in the third screen, you’ll hop over electrical hazards that erratically move back and forth across the platforms. Finally, you’ll climb up six chains, pushing six keys up to a bridge and avoiding bees and little alligators. Once you’ve pushed all six up to the top, the bridge is destroyed, Mario is defeated, and Donkey Kong is rescued and it all begins again until you either lose all your lives or quit from boredom. Although the game lacks the iconic music of its predecessor, each screen has some fun little jingles and sound effects but nothing especially innovative. Donkey Kong and his son are the most colourful and visually interesting sprites, with Mario only impressing due to him wielding a whip this time around, and the enemies are simply snapping alligators, egg-dropping birds, and electrical bolts. Naturally, this version allows you to create save states and rewind the game if you make a mistake, effectively destroying any difficulty curve it might’ve had and reducing the average playtime to around ten minutes.
The Summary: Donkey Kong Jr. reeks of cheap, money-grabbing desperation. Donkey Kong was an innovative and popular arcade release and it’s obvious that Nintendo simply wanted to capitalise on that with a “new title”, but there’s very little new about this game. Sure, moving to vines is different and having to time fruit-grabbing to defeat enemies adds a little more strategy and I quite liked the final showdown with the keys on the chains, but the gameplay experience is largely the same and lacks a lot of the nostalgia and charm of its predecessor as the setting is so weird. Even now, it’s bizarre seeing Mario as a whip-cracking antagonist. Donkey Kong Jr. has a lot of visual appeal, but I wonder if this game might’ve been better if Junior actively chased Mario across the stages? Or if a two-player mode saw one player as Junior and the other as Mario trying to intercept him? I feel like Nintendo could’ve bundled these two games together into one experience at the time, creating an eight-screen loop where you first track down and capture Donkey Kong and then switch to Junior to rescue him, but, as is, I can’t see myself choosing to play Donkey Kong Jr. over its more popular and nostalgic predecessor.
My Rating:
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Could Be Better
Did you ever own Donkey KongJr. for the NES back in the day, or play the arcade version out in the wild? How do you think it compares to Donkey Kong? What did you think to Junior and seeing Mario as an antagonist? How far did you get in the game before you failed or quit? Which Donkey Kong videogame is your favourite and why? How are you celebrating Donkey Kong’s anniversary this year? Whatever your thoughts on Donkey Kong, feel free to leave a comment below or on my social media, and check out my other Donkey Kong (and Mario) content on the site.
So, for no better reason than “Mar.10” resembling Mario’s name, March 10th is widely regarded as being “Mario Day”, a day to celebrate Nintendo’s portly plumber, an overalls-wearing mascot who literally changed the videogame industry forever and shaped the home console market of the nineties.
Released: 3 September 2020 Originally Released: 21 September 1990 Developer: Nintendo Original Developer: Nintendo EAD Also Available For: Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) Classic Edition, SNES
The Background: After the videogame industry crumbled under the weight of overpriced consoles and mediocre titles, Nintendo basically saved the industry with the runaway success ofSuper Mario Bros. (Nintendo EAD, 1985). Despite its bizarre development, Super Mario Bros. 2(Nintendo R&D4, 1986) was also a highly praisedbest-seller, and Mario’s star only rose thanks to the unique marketing strategy behind Super Mario Bros. 3 (ibid, 1988) and that game also being a critical and commercial hit. In 1990, Nintendo were preparing to launch the 16-bit powerhouse that was the SNES and getting back into the thick of the “Console Wars”. Although the developers had to adapt to the new hardware, producer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto was excited by the prospect of imaging new ideas, such as finally implementing a dinosaur companion for Mario. The goal was to refine Mario’s mechanics, impress gamers and critics with the SNES’s graphical capabilities, and deliver a fun, but challenging, gameplay experience to help sell their new console. Super Mario World exceeded in this goal; the award-winning game became the best-selling title for the SNES and has been inundated with widespreadcriticalacclaim ever since its release. The game was adapted into cartoons and comics, resulted in an equally successful spin-off series for Yoshi, in addition to being ported and remastered to new consoles over the years. Its legacy is so strong that it was naturally included as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch Online service in 2020, which is the version I’m reviewing here.
The Plot: When Mario, Luigi, and Princess “Peach” Toadstool visit Dinosaur Land, the princess is kidnapped by Bowser, King of the Koopas. Alongside their new dinosaur friend, Yoshi, the Super Mario Bros. must liberate the island from Bowser’s Koopaling progeny and confront Bowser in his castle to rescue the princess.
Gameplay: Like its predecessors, Super Mario World is a 2D, sidescrolling platformer in which players play as ether Mario or Luigi and journey across seven levels (referred to as “Worlds”) and two bonus Worlds, hopping on Bowser’s minions, collecting power-ups, and grabbing Coins for points and extra lives, all while racing against a timer. As is also tradition, the game features two play modes; one where you go solo and one where you switch between the brothers after each level to allow two players to go head-to-head, taking different routes on the large, varied, interconnected overworld and lending extra lives if required. Unlike in previous 2D Super Mario games, you can’t change the control scheme here, so you’ll be pressing B to jump (ranging from a little hop to a higher jump the longer you press the button) and swim, A to perform the new spin jump (which allows you to defeat certain armoured enemies and break blocks beneath your feet) and holding X or Y to run. You can get quite a bit of speed this time, too, which allows you to glide and fly across levels when you’re powered up by the Cape Feather or run up walls in certain situations. You can also hold X or Y to grab items like Koopa shells, blocks, and keys; these can now be thrown upwards, increasing your range of attack options and opening up new areas to explore. Finally, you can look up, scroll the screen with the left and right triggers, and duck; if you run and duck, you can slip through small gaps and reach bonus areas and secret exits.
Traverse a colourful new land using Mario’s new companion and power-up!
Interestingly, I didn’t notice any difference between Mario and Luigi; Luigi doesn’t jump higher or have less traction, meaning the differences between the two are a simple palette swap, which is odd considering they played differently in Super Mario Bros. 2. The brothers are joined by a new companion in this game, Yoshi. If you hit enough blocks, you’ll eventually spawn in a Yoshi egg, from which this helpful little dinosaur will hatch. Players can ride Yoshi and press X or Y to extend his sticky tongue and eat fruit or enemies, the latter of which can either be swallowed, spat out as Koopa shells, allow Yoshi to breathe fire, and add a “flutter” motion to his jump. Yoshi allows players to do everything they normally can but with the added bonus of acting as a permanent shield; when hit while riding Yoshi, you won’t power down and can simply hop back on him to continue onwards, but you can’t use your Fire Flower abilities while riding him and Yoshi isn’t able to climb vines and won’t accompany you into fortresses or castles. Yoshi can also gain the ability to fly, easily allowing you to cheese through levels, and you can sacrifice him for a boost jump if you’re feeling sadistic. Some levels also include different coloured Mini-Yoshis; carry these until they eat five pieces of fruit or enemies or a single power-up and they grow into an adult Yoshi, and other levels see you riding atop bulbous Monty Moles to safely cross spiked hazards. Mario and Luigi can also use springs to get around, often needing to pick up and toss them to clear higher obstacles, and these are much easier to control than in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (Nintendo R&D4, 1986); swimming and autoscrolling levels also return, but again I had no issues in dealing with these as the game’s mechanics were so refined. Another new addition is the “Item Stock” in the heads-up display (HUD); if you’re already powered up, new power-ups you acquire are stored in this box and will automatically drop down when you take a hit (or press ‘Select’), which can be a life saver, though you can’t stockpile power-ups on the overworld anymore. Another new feature is the addition of checkpoints mid-way through levels, which I find interesting as these levels felt shorter and far less frustrating than Super Mario Bros. 3’s; hitting this while in your base form will also automatically power you up, too.
The game’s challenge is very fair, offering fun visuals and incentives to keep playing.
Super Mario World gives you three save files to play with and the chance to manually save at certain points, such as after toppling a Koopaling or visiting a Switch Palace. Every level has a secret exit, sometimes accessed via a key or by taking a different route; this allows access to new areas on the overworld and to secret levels and Switch Palaces, where you activate giant-coloured switches to make their corresponding-coloured blocks solid and thus protect you from hazards in levels. This opens the game up to some replay value as you explore each level looking for secrets and new paths, and you’re given some hints towards this through the Message Blocks that convey story text and helpful tips. As ever, you can hop into pipes to find shortcuts, bonus areas, and explore caves and flooded sections; you can take vines up to the clouds, ride platforms, hop off Koopa Paratroopers, and make use of temporary blocks and platforms. Many Worlds contain Ghost Houses that are filled with shy Boos and feature a maze-like element; you’ll need to find the correct door, often by generating temporary platforms or paths using a Switch Block, all while avoiding the ghostly enemies and bottomless pits within. Other levels are autoscrollers that force you to make split-second decisions with your jumps; castles and fortresses are filled with lava, narrow hallways, rotating spiked maces, and crushing Thwomps, often all at once and in close-quarters situations to test your mettle. You’ll need to awkwardly create paths using Control Coins, activate spotlights in Bowser’s Castle, and deal with pipes that now go up and down and blast you through the sky. The background can also move vertically, requiring you to quickly take refuge in safe areas, and you’ll even be climbing on fences, bashing enemies and flipping around to the other side to avoid dangers. Massive, spiked columns crushing trunks, suffocating tar, painful spikes, and bottomless pits increase in their abundance, but Super Mario World is quite generous with its lives; you can find hidden areas where you play mini games to earn a whole bunch of extra lives, in addition to 1-Up Mushrooms popping out from blocks, the background, and being awarded for collecting Coins and defeating enemies.
Graphics and Sound: I was a SEGA kid growing up, so my exposure to the SNES came mainly from a friend who owned the console and a few games. Because of this, I’ve long been fascinated by the “other side” and, when I think of SNES, Super Mario World is one of the first games I think of because of its absolutely gorgeous presentation. This was a dramatic step up from Mario’s 8-bit adventures, featuring a colourful (and surprisingly unique) set of Worlds that really showcased the little things that made the SNES so impressive. Things like Mario’s cap flying back when he falls and bopping fruits on the trees to a touch of parallax scrolling, sprite zooming, and the ever-changing overworld mean Super Mario World remains the quintessential 2D Mario experience for me. Sure, there’s no difference between the brothers other than a palette swap but they’re much bigger and more detailed than ever before here; the addition of Yoshi also cannot be understated, especially as it wasn’t possible to include a character like this in Mario’s 8-bit adventures, and I loved how much quirky, cartoony humour was packed into the enemies, who swoop at you, are very expressive, and appear so much more versatile than simply wandering aimlessly around. Although Super Mario World recycles many of its music tracks for its various Worlds, this is the game I think of when I think of Mario music; every tune is so catchy and upbeat and stays in your head, and I relish hearing that end of level jingle and seeing Mario throw up the peace sign each time.
The game is deceptively big, colourful, and includes more story than ever before.
Super Mario World’s Worlds veer slightly away from elemental themes and more towards the fantastical; you’ll still be exploring thick forests, crossing bridges and bodies of water, venturing into caves, and hopping to mushroom-themed platforms, but there’s a fitting prehistoric bent to the majority of the game. Caves are filled with tar, glittering crystals, or frozen masses of ice; you’ll see hills and mountains in the backgrounds, cross plains filled with dinosaur-like enemies, and ride across lava on platforms made of skulls! Some Worlds are shorter than others, like the sky-themed Twin Bridges with its log platforms and track-based platforms guarded by saws, or contain unique overworld elements, like the Forest of Illusion, which requires you to explore to find the right exit and open up more of the map screen. Spooky levels like the Ghost Houses and the Sunken Ghost Ship impressed in their ambiance; there’s an ominous fog in the air, a creepy melody playing, and lightning flashing in the background, and I loved how the Sunken Ghost Ship was a wrecked recreation of the various Airships from Super Mario Bros. 3. The overworld changes as you find new exits, creating shortcuts and even changing seasons as you find more exits; this also allows you to take a shorter, far easier path to the final fight in the Valley of Bowser and avoid the pain of navigating the doorways and challenge of the longer path. Story is emphasised much more here, with text and fun little cutscenes pushing you onward after clearing each castle but, while Luigi’s sprite features in the cutscenes, the story text doesn’t change to reference him, which is a bit of a shame.
Enemies and Bosses: Many of Mario’s common enemies make a return here, including Goombas, various Koopa Troopers, Boos, the always-annoying Lakitu, and Bullet Bills, but these also come in new variants, meaning you’ll see rings of Boos, Boos disguised as blocks, and Boos that aren’t as shy as their peers and attack from the shadows, Super Koopas that dive from above, and many of them fill the screen either as expected or floating along in bubbles. Super Mario World sees the debut of enemies such as Magikoopas (who teleport in to fire a magical blast and are immune to our regular jump), Wigglers (who get very mad when you hop on them), the screen-filling Banzai Bills and Big Boos, alongside large, weird green bubbles, a lava dinosaur, and other dinosaur-themed enemies who wander about, breathe fire, or take a couple of hits to defeat. By far the most aggravating new addition is Chargin’ Chuck, a turtle protected by American football gear who can charge at you (destroying any blocks in their way), duplicate themselves, toss various projectiles (from footballs to rocks), summon other enemies, and prove highly resistant to your attacks thanks to their padding. You’ll also have to watch out for the Amazing Flyin’ Hammer Brother, who swoops overhead tossing an endless supply of hammers at you, and Sumo Brothers, who spawn flaming pillars with their jumping stomp.
Although enjoyable and cartoonish, the boss battles are a little too repetitive and easy.
In the game’s fortresses, you’ll battle four Reznors, fire-spitting Triceratopses on small, rotating platforms stationed over a bridge that slowly disintegrates over a pool of lava. The only way to attack the Reznor’s is from beneath, which is pretty simple despite their many fireball projectiles. In the Donut Secret House, you’ll battle a Big Boo, one that doesn’t freeze when you face it and instead fades in and out; while Big Boo can’t hurt you, his regular Boo minions can, and you’ll need to grab the blocks conveniently placed underfoot to defeat him. Like in Super Mario Bros. 3, you’ll have to defeat Bowser’s children, the Koopalings; but, while they differ in their abilities since they no longer have magic wands, they’re no less disappointing since all but one of them recycle three specific attack patterns. Iggy and Larry Koopa are fought on a tipping platform in a lava pool where you must avoid their shell attack and fireballs and bop on them to force them into the lava, Morton and Roy run up the arena walls and try to drop on you from above, and Lemmy and Wendy O Koopa fire bouncing projectiles and decoys, but you can easily avoid these and hop on them when they pop out from the pipes. The only Koopaling with his unique attack strategy is Ludwig von Koopa, who spins about in his shell and spits fireballs, but none of the Koopalings present much of a challenge and they’re actually easier to beat than before! When you finally reach the Valley of Bowser, you’ll battle the Koopa King on the castle roof; while a unique battle since you can only damage Bowser by timing throws of his Mechakoopas, it also doesn’t present much of a challenge. Bowser hides in his Koopa Clown Car, floating out of reach and tossing Mechakoopas in the first phase; in the second, he tries to crush you with a massive ball, and the third sees him bounce around in desperation. Between each phase, fireballs will rain from the sky and Peach will toss you a Super Mushroom, making this battle even easier, and I was a bit disappointed that it didn’t require you to do anything other than toss stuff upwards so it hits Bowser’s head.
Power-Ups and Bonuses: All of Mario’s signature power-ups return here, including the Super Mushroom, 1-Up Mushroom, the always-useful Fire Flower, and the invincibility-granting Super Star. Mario can again commandeer Lakitu’s cloud to briefly fly over levels, collect Coins for points and extra lives, and can even find rare Moon items that grant three extra lives. In addition to Yoshi, Super Mario World’s new power-up is the Cape Feather, which adds a cape to your sprite to swipe away enemies, slow your descent, and rocket you into the sky with a fun (if, at times, clunky) gliding/flying mechanic that can reach new areas and exits, cheese entire sections, and see you crashing into the ground for a massive area attack. You can also grab a Power Balloon to temporarily become inflated and cross gaps, collect five Yoshi-branded Dragon Coins in each level for a 1-Up, and grab random power-ups from Roulette Blocks.
Additional Features: There are ninety-six exits to find in Super Mario World, with the total amount you’ve found being tracked on your save file; there are also four Switch Palaces to find, up to three secret areas for most levels, and a whole bunch of Dragon Coins to collect if you feel like giving yourself an extra challenge. Finding secret exits is the only way to warp to Star World, which not only offers additional platforming challenges but also acts as a fast travel point across the overworld. Clearing Star World unlocks the game’s greatest challenge, Special Zone, which boasts eight demanding levels that owe their difficulty to Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Although there are no additional or remixed bosses to fight here, you’ll need all your patience and platforming skill to get past their gaps and wild enemy placements. Clearing this World permanently changes the overworld to an autumnal theme and changes some of the enemy sprites to have comical Mario faces, and you can skip right to this state (and access all hidden levels) by selecting the “SP Version” of the game from the Nintendo Switch Online menu. Naturally, this version of the game includes helpful save states and rewind functions; you’ll also find additional cutscenes and gameplay changes (particularly to Luigi), and various unlockables and enhancements in the Game Boy Advance version.
The Summary: I’ve played Super Mario World before, on original hardware, emulation, and the SNES Mini and I have beaten it in the past, but never in a proper, sit-down, focused playthrough like this. After struggling with 2D Mario, and being aggravated by Super Mario Bros. 3, I was worried that I was in for more of the same here, but it was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this gameplay experience. Mario and Luigi are so much better to control here now that they’re not slipping and sliding all over the place; the levels are fun, colourful platforming challenges with perfectly fair hazards and completion requirements; and the overall presentation is the best that 2D Mario has ever been, even accounting for the various 16-bit remakes. Although the game felt a little shorter and lacking in some features, it’s got some fun secret paths and invites exploration, as well as back-loading the adventure with some pretty challenging bonus levels. I really enjoyed how it carried over certain Mario tropes (the stone-and-lava castles, the whimsical nature, the underground and water sections, etc) without falling into the cliché of having elemental-themed Worlds. The dinosaur theme was fun and one I’d like to see revisited in a future game; Yoshi made for a fantastic new mechanic and companion, more than making up for the otherwise disappointing power-ups. While I was again let down by the bosses, I can’t fault Super Mario World; it just is SNES-era gaming to me and its many positives, particularly in the visuals, the soundtrack, the controls, and the level of challenge it offers, more than outweigh any concerns so I’m very happy to have finally given it the time and attention it deserves.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Fantastic
Was Super Mario World in your SNES library back in the day? How do you feel it compares other Mario titles, specifically the 2D adventures? What did you think to Yoshi and the new cape power-up? Did you ever discover all the secret exits and beat the secret Worlds? Were you also disappointed by the boss battles? Would you like to see a return to Dinosaur Island? How are you celebrating Mario’s birthday this year? Whatever your thoughts on Super Mario World, feel free to share them below or drop a comment on my social media and be sure to check out my other Mario content!
Dr. K's Waiting Room 