Super Mario World

In 1990 Nintendo released their Super Famicom (SNES) and as a pack in title they included Super Mario World, one of the games that set the tone for the era that would follow, the Nintendo v Sega wars of the 1990's.

Super Mario World sees the player playing as the titular character in a 2D platform adventure game that not set the gold standard of Platforming for the following decade or so but actually set the standard for gaming as a whole.Not only did it build on the excellent Mario franchise but it added so much that it really just showed why Nintendo were at the forefront of video games.

The story, as with most Mario games sees the plucky plumber trying to defeat Bowser and save Princess Peach but the game it's self has so much more than just the simple story to offer. Firstly you have the excellent levels which are designed to be replayable, fun and yet also challenging. As well as the levels you have the charm of the Sonic universe, the power ups, the moves and new addition Yoshi, who you can ride about on during the game.

The graphics are charming through out and whilst they now don't look anything special they did their job
wonderfully well and are clear through out (something you do admittedly expect in a Mario game). Like wise the music in the game is equally as charming despite being very simple and limited (in fact much of it is the same tune just altered in terms of speed). This leaves the game feeling just as charm to look at and listen to as it is to actually play.

Whilst we do genuinely love the game it isn't beyond fault, most notable the complexities of some levels (though by some we are literally talking about a handful) which seem to expect the player to do things that just feel relatively out place. Other than this however the game is pretty much flawless, both as a 1 player game or as a 2-player game (where 1 player controls Luigi). With a story that will last you for a few weeks (even longer if you want to unlock all the secret content) and a game with so much charm it simple oozes brilliance, it's easy to over look the occasional flaw.

To sum this game up all I can say is that you've never played it, get it and lock yourself in a room until you've complete it.


97%

Details:

Console-Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release-1990
Developer-Nintendo EAD
Genre-2D Platformer
Players-1or 2

Trivia-
The game was the debut of Yoshi who would return in the sequel- "Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island" amongst many other games.

DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure

The title screen

 It's funny how some fantastic games were never released outside of Japan and DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure was one such game until coming to the Virtual Console some 12 years after Japanese gaming fans got their hands on this fantastic platforming gem. The Japanese got this classic on the Super Famicom in 1996 and sadly it was never translated (officially) into English (though RPGONE have done a fan translation of the game).

In the game you control Milon (from the games title) who has to go through 7 worlds collecting musical instruments (including an Ocarina for you Zelda fans out there) with a number of levels contained in each
 of these worlds.

Before we get onto the actual game play the first thing you will notice is just how fantastic the game looks. The characters look brilliant the backgrounds are amazing and the game just looks like it's a game that was made to look beautiful. Every level is wonderfully good looking and the presentation makes it something you want to look at and almost admire when you should be playing the game. This is aided massively by music that sounds as good as the game looks it has a very fantasy sound to it and although it was on the Super Famicom the whole presentation is second to none...except for the fact it's in Japanese (see the screen shot to the right.
So now onto the gameplay, your in control of the Milon, the little guy you can see in the screenshots (looking oddly like Link in the screenshot to the left). You can move left and right, enter doorways, jump and...blow bubbles. The bubbles are Milon's main offense and can be blown at enemies to trap them allowing you to push them off the screen, if you jump on enemies (as was typical in other platformers from that error) you merely stun them. The bubbles can also be used be used to break the various blocks you see on your travels through out the game.

As you go through Milon's adventure you come across a number of collectable items including musical notes, winged boots, extra lives, clothes, bubblegum and bowling balls which each have their own use. For example collecting 100 notes will make you invincible for a short period of time whilst the winged boots will allow Milon to "glide" when he jumps. Though it's the "clothes" that make the biggest impact to the game and it's also what acts as Milon's health meter. When he's wearing green clothes he has full health, if he gets hit his clothes will turn to blue and another hit will turn him to red. If Milon gets hit when he's red he will die.

The game features around 40 levels each of which are themed and will see Nilon going through the forest, a food world, a snow world and a fire world (amongst others) all of which look amazing and have charm oozing out of them. Within most levels is a what appears to be a star, these need to be collected on every level inside a world before the player can face that worlds boss, with many later levels having a number of routes through, many of which will see the player failing to get the star.

Despite looking cute, innocent and at times childish the game is incredibly challenging, especially the bosses (the Snow world boss had me swearing much louder than it should have) though the game is rewarding and you feel as if you MUST beat the boss and see the rest of the game.

Whilst SNES owners did have a number of excellent platformers to play around the world (including the Super Mario World and Donkey Country series) this game holds it's own with any other SNES game out there. It looks incredible, it sounds brilliant, it's oozing charm, the levels are excellent throughout, the game is challenging. Whilst the game is now available on the Virtual Console it's a mystery as to why it was never released in the US or Europe in the 90's as it really would have done very well.

Despite being totally in Japanese (apart from "Hudson Soft" and "Stereo" on the title screen) it's simple enough to play and understand and is thoroughly enjoyable from start to end. If you can get you mitts on it DO!

92%

Details:
Console-Super Famicom (Japan Only)
Release-1996
Developer-Hudson Soft
Genre-2D Platformer
Players-1

Trivia:
The game was a sequel to the NES game Milon's Secret Castle (which did get a US release)
A fan translated version of the game can be found and is called "Do-Re-Mi Fantasy: Milon's Quest"