Super Mario World's quaint adventure was one of the first games to truly capture my imagination. I have fond memories of not being able to wait to get home from school to play it when I was in the second grade. It was naturally the first SNES game I played, and it still remains one of the best-looking and one of the overall greats of the 16-bit era, even of all time. I remember fighting the secret Big Boo in the first Ghost House for the first time because it was the first time I broke into a nervous sweat playing a game.

The first three Mario games on the NES were great games in their own right; most people's favorite Mario is the third. Not mine. I grew up on the first; I could never get too far on the second until I played through it a year ago, but it was a unique experience at the time; and the third was definitely a gaming experience not to be forgotten in my youth. But, there's a level that these games just didn't click with me. Could it be that SMW came at the right time in my development as a gamer or human being? Possibly. Regardless, what makes this game great isn't some mysterious alignment in the stars of subjective experience: through the newfound powers of the 16-bit era, a treasure of a game was conceived.

Now that the subjective ramblings are done, let's get to the pseudo-objective meat and potatoes.

Super Mario World, in my mind, became one of the first if not THE first videogame to be considered an artistic achievement. Its vivid use of colors, its thematically cohesive level designs and abstractly designed backgrounds, its smooth, cartoon-like animations and inhabitants, all stand testament to this. No other game in the history of videogames looks like this game--feels like it when you play. The same could be said of only a few other select SNES games.

After playing SMW for a while, every time thereafter when you pick up the controller and play it, it's like a familiar pair of shoes you've had for a long time, or a certain chair or couch you think is the most comfortable thing in the whole world. The control--the response of your input from the SNES controller--feels like that in this game. Going back and playing Super Mario Bros. 3 and definitely SMB1 almost becomes and alien experience in comparison, as those games feature an almost fat and unresponsive Mario whose momentum is comparable to that of a train's. True, in the real world, you or I can't leap over a pit but decide better of it in mid-jump and change course and come back; you couldn't really do that in SMB1. The digital realm of the vicarious videogame experience certainly leaves us that option. SMW features a control system that defies the laws of our physics, but remains consistent and wholly fun in its.

Two key gameplay elements that add much to the game in regards to its control and subsequently the gameplay is the lovable Yoshi and the Feather Cape. Yoshi is essentially an offensive shield and a new, endearing friend of Mario. While riding Yoshi, Mario can command him to eat enemies--some of which give him special abilities like fire-breathing and winged flight. If Yoshi is hit, he will run away in pain and fear, and then you must chase him down to get back on him. To add to his character, Yoshi is too afraid to enter Ghost Houses or Dungeons/Castles (they use this fact in the SMW cartoon in one episode where Yoshi must overcome his fear of Ghost Houses to save Mario). The other significant gameplay element is the feather. Bye-bye Raccoon Tail, hello Feather Cape. When you first take off with the cape, you are instantly dumbfounded; a little while later and a little more practice and you truly are Super Mario--flying through the skies! With the cape, Mario is able to stay in air so long as 1) there isn't anything in the way, and 2) there is stage left to fly on. While in flight, you can keep Mario flying by rhythmically pressing back on the d-pad, causing Mario to catch a pocket of air in his ballooned cape. You can even fly with Yoshi, though you can't stay airborne. The only flaw with this liberating free-flight element is that it's often too easy to just fly through entire stages. Still, there are plenty of stages were this is not possible.

Super Mario Bros. 3 had its memorable items and enemies in the Frog Suit, Kuribo's Shoe, the evil sun that relentlessly swoops after Mario, and the big, bad fish enemy. Super Mario World, in comparison, features many more than its predecessor of memorable, balanced, and well-animated creatures: the Yoshis, Rip Van Fish, Blargg the lovable lava monster, Dino-Rhinos, Wigglers, the many Boos. The enemies exude character and originality, adding to the enthralling and curiously enchanting world of Super Mario World and the Super Mario Universe.

And it's true--this is a world. The game is set on Dino World, which consists of seven levels named after (or possibly made of) sweet foods: Vanilla Dome, Chocolate Island, Donut Plains. Well, not all of the levels. Each level is broken into stages. There are plenty of secrets along the way to keep it interesting, and some provide alternative routes. Some levels have Ghost Houses, and those usually have some tricky puzzles. Also, some levels house mini-castles, which play like the big boss castles and sometimes harder. And, at the end of a level, you must take on the boss castle. All of Bowser's rotten kids are back; each one patrols a castle and has taken one of Yoshi's friends hostage. After beating the boss and rescuing the Yoshi, we are treated with amusing scenes of Mario demolishing the castle--from stomping it to the ground to wiping it away with a squeegee-like device.

Super Mario World can be an easy game; it can also be pretty rough at times. Take the Star Road level "Tubular" for instance: HARD if you don't know what you're doing. But, for the most part, SMW is an easy, enjoyable game. It is a classic game, a strong game at any angle you look at it. The level design is outstanding, allowing you multiple ways to reach the goal both in and out of the stages, allowing the intuitive player to sail through the stages and achieve maximum efficiency with the necessary reactions. It has an underwater theme that easily rivals the old one. It is, in its simple yet eloquent design, and, to sum it up and place it in simple terms, a timeless masterpiece.