Super Mario World's "first level" is unlike any other. Consider becoming a member to support this channel's goal of getting an assistant editor! / zoomzike
It's an interesting detail that Yoshi's Island 1 has a naked Koopa at the start, and Yoshi's Island 2 has an empty shell at the beginning. I like to think that Koopa is looking for his shell, not realizing it's in a different level.
Wanna make it crazier? The lone koopa could represent Mario and the shell represents Yoshi, Mario gets a shell when riding Yoshi, a powerful armor and weapon (and btw, some koopas use their shells as weapons to attack Mario in smw)
Most Mario games would open the first level with a goomba as the first enemy that you encounter, but Mario World's first enemy is a dive-bombing naked koopa
Level 1 always felt like the more bizarre experimental design, where they showcase a bunch of new mechanics, while 2 is more along the lines of what you'd expect coming from the previous entries. (Though obviously they both have new mechanics)
I was thinking the same. YI1 doesn't feel like a tutorial level, even though it does teach you certain things. The main point of the level seems to be "this isn't the NES anymore... check out all these fancy new features we added!"
It's interesting that they introduce steep slopes right off the bat. Let's the player know that tricky slopes might be part of levels later on, and that sometimes there can be more than one way to navigate to the end. i.e. you can sometimes avoid enemies by going to another height, but other times the enemies might have the high ground and it's easier to walk below.
It can almost be seen as the devs asking a psychological question: do you want the safe and familiar (go right)? Or do you want to explore something new (go left)?
YI1 is a reintroduction of Super Mario Bros. 1’s mechanics - enemy hopping, coin collecting, and Fire Flowers. YI2 is SMB3 (and because Japan and the US got different SMB2s, we have neither item-pulling or poison mushrooms). They’re both tutorials, showing that SMW1/SMB4 is capable of doing what both those games did - and more. In other words, it’s reminding the players that they’re playing with power - Super power.
@@thegreathadoken6808 Wasn't "Blast Processing" just a hardware glitch in the console's clock that Sega's engineers couldn't figure out how to fix so they just advertised it as a feature?
I know at some point that Yoshi's House was supposed to itself be a level, but I assume they split it up because there were SO MANY mechanics to introduce that they just couldn't put them all in the same level And this is why you don't get the feather until World 2, because it's SO MUCH MORE complicated than any other mechanic that they had to devote an entire sub-area to giving you a playground for it.
Fun fact: Yoshi tells you about the switch pallace to the left if you bring him back home and hit the message block, allowing a player who chose to go right to learn about the switch pallaces in the game’s first area.
It's a nice look at how Miyamoto and the gang wanted there to be more freedom in Mario games With SMB1 only having horizontal scrolling, SMB2 (USA) adding vertical, SMB3 having both and a world map, SMW expanding upon that and letting players explore and beat different levels in a nonlinear fashion, and it all leads to SM64
There's another aspect to the tutorial. So, at the start of the game, you probably visit Yoshi's House, and learn that he left to rescue his friends. Let's imagine the player decides to go Yoshi's Island 2 first, and then finishes the level while riding Yoshi. Should the player then decide to bring Yoshi back to his house, and hit the Message Block while still riding Yoshi, then the game informs the player to go find the Switch Palace by going to the left on the world map.
We talked about this in our game design course and the influence our culture has on how we design and tackle objectives - since the game was made in Japan, where you read right to left, the expectation was potentially to guide you right, towards the clearly marked castle on the world map, make you see the dotted yellow blocks, make you curious to go left and explore there. It's super neat and makes me love the opening to this game so much more.
@@viridisspielt nope, in older Japanese texts, you read lines top to down, then right to left. In the late 1800s/early 1900s, when Japan was more open to external cultures due to the meiji restoration, they started creating things such as store signs which only took one horizontal line of space, inspired by western counterparts (before this store signs where written in a vertical line of space). Because they read from right to left normally, that’s how they wrote their signs, right to left. It’s only recently in the last 50 or so years where reading left to right in a horizontal line has been standardized. However, this aspect of top down right to left is still used in books, where sentences are written in a straight line downwards, then move left to the next line. Even in your example, nearly every manga i’ve read in Japanese, you have to read the text (characters) top down, right to left.
@@bolson42 Mangas and prose novels are vertical text right-to-left but most other writing that children (target audience of this game) will experience, like textbooks and magazines and anything on computers, are horitzonal and left-to-right.
SMW was one of the first big games to place a significant focus on non-linear exploration of an overworld map, and they probably wanted to introduce the feel of an "open world" from the very beginning. Worth noting that the early builds of the game had an even bigger emphasis on non-linearity, with FOUR entirely different paths accessible from the start.
Yeah. This first choice may have had a path led to a dead end (yellow switch palace) but beyond Yoshi's island, you start to get actual choices with how you progress, including the ultimate back door path to the final boss (which funnily led you only to the "front door").
A small thing you forgot to mention is that these chucks are also immune to yoshi's tongue, meaning they not only teach you that not all enemies are edible but killing it also becomes an optional extra challenge for players. (Or it also shows how not all enemies are worth fighting)
As a SMW speedrunner let me tell you I don't usually activate the Yellow Switch Palace.. but when I do I also beat the 96 exits and collect the Dragon Coins and the 7 secret 3up moons.
Kudos to the devs for including tutorial text in those speaker boxes, making them totally optional. Few things are as annoying as mandatory tutorial content bringing the gameplay to a halt on replays where you know this stuff. It's a good compromise between "all in the manual" and "no manual onhand but here's some info if you need it."
I don't know how many people can relate to this, but something I found when I played Super Mario World is that the game feels... unusual. Not bad, just very unlike what I'm used to in Mario games. There's some very strange level elements that only exist in this game, and some of the levels feel like something you could expect to see in Super Mario Maker. Definitely gave the game its own charm, making it stand out a lot. I appreciate that, even if it feels very weird at times.
I completely relate to this, and it's part of why I feel SMW is one of the best Mario games that exists. While it does have its flaws, such as the feather being a bit OP, and the dino miniboss getting a little bit repetitive over time, it genuinely just radiates this feeling that the devs were having a good time constantly throwing ideas around the office that they thought would be fun or interesting, and I love that.
Indeed, when you look at smm and smw, you really notice a lot of missing features tbh. I think the same can be said for smb3, but not as much. New soup really is dry when it comes to feature inclusion in smm tbh
My sister and I booted up the game in 2-player mode and assumed we were each to take a route. She took the route with Yoshi and I recall bring disappointed not to encounter Yoshi in my route.
1’s faster paced nature is fitting for its more optional completion. Perhaps it was intended for those curious players who chose not to go the “intended” path marked by the right sided castle (a clear signal for progression), and thus are soon awarded with the yellow switch palace! Which, btw, you eventually see regardless upon entering into donuts plains, giving a chance for players who skipped out on 1 to go back to see what the big switch does. All in all it beautifully echoes the openness of Mario World’s design in regards to level choice! Great video :D
My first thought would be that one is the first level of "easy mode" because it leads to the Yellow Switch Palace, thus adding in those extra safe-guards; meanwhile, the second would be "normal mode" if you never go back, because you won't have those safety nets in later levels. But it is interesting to think about, because you can definitely see the freedom of choice in all the secret exits and Star Road. A tradition that carried forward, in some form of another, right to Odyssey.
What’s neat about both levels is that both offer different rewards. If you complete YI1 first, you then get access to the Yellow Switch Palace, which will make some following levels easier. And if you complete YI2 first, you get the gift of speed since you now have the option to avoid YI1 in its entirety.
Never thought about the double first level thing before - an interesting choice. This game has such tremendous replay value because of its great design. It's so deep, with the star road, special zone, switch palaces, and all the alternate exits. (Note: push the L and R buttons at the same time to re-enter a castle or fortress you've already completed!)
i always enjoy zoomzike's editing. subtle details like the yoshi percussions on levels relevant to Yoshi, or the reverberance on his voice during the underground levels. if no one else has noticed this i hope you go back and listen out for them
Not to mention, the level on the path toward the Yellow Switch Palace also teaches you about the importance of the associated blocks a bit more than the other level does. After hitting the switch, you can have an instant understanding of how things would have been different in 1, especially if you lost the 1up or something.
I believe the split paths concept was more so introduce the player to the idea of having multiple paths, showing that they will have different rewards and objectives. The left path, reveals the switch's existence. While the other path is the objective, but easier with the switch pressed.
One cool thing is that if you do complete Yoshi's Island 1 first, you'll be rewarded with the Yellow Switch Palace, which will make Yoshi's Island 2 easier by covering pits and giving the player Power-ups with the Yellow Exclamation Blocks This can be a cool Tutorial for the players to look out for the other switchs, since after you hit the switch a text box will say that you turned the invisible yellow blocks into solid, and later in the game you'll see other invisible blocks with other colors That also teaches that hitting the blocks makes levels easier and maybe can even unlock some new paths and levels as you see in Donut Plains 1 with the Green Blocks, which will also teach the player about secret levels
I also think they did this to introduce the idea of multiple routes to the player; World is considerably less linear than it's predecessors, with so many alternate paths. It's all very cleverly done : )
I seem to remember at some point someone saying that Yoshi's Island 1 was intended for more advanced players from the original Super Mario to begin with. Since this would be one of the first times that they are gives a choice in directional movement, they would naturally prefer going to the left, to level 1. Meanwhile, players new to the series would tend to the right to level 2, and thus be given the far more chill first level experience. This could be apocryphal, as I don't remember where I found that information, but it seems as good a reason as any for the situation.
I love that you added a subtle reverb effect to your voice when talking about underground caves. It's the a t t e n t i o n t o d e t a i l that takes these videos to the next level.
To add to the thesis of this, I also see it as SMW prepping the player for the branching nature of the world map. Going with 2 takes you down the critical path, but taking 1 unlocks a the Yellow Switch which helps platforming in the long term.
When I was a little kid and tried to play this game, I couldn't beat the level in the left because it was too difficult, so I went instead to the right after various failed attempts. After watching this video, the message I thought they meant to send is that it doesn't matter if you can't beat a level, you can always go to another path and comeback later when you know more about the game
Both levels also have different feelings when played second. Yoshi’s Island 1 with Yoshi has other lessons, and Yoshi’s Island 2 after hitting the Yellow Switch has a bunch of extra blocks to interact with (and reinforces the reward of hitting the switch by covering the only pit)
I think there's also credit to the overworld's design, if you choose to go left then it shows that there are secrets to be found with the Yellow Switch Palace, opening more paths for the player to explore in the overworld maps through playing levels, being much more open and less Linear by comparison of the SMB3 world maps. this then comes to it's closure as players find magical areas such as Star Road and the Special Zone.
I hadn't realized how much these two levels contrast... Wow. Also, the editing here seemed a lot more elaborate and it was fun to see the little effects and transitions here and there, great work!
I noticed so many little details in your editing like synching the music to the little spin jump explosion and adding reverb to your voice in the cave section! I love it lol, keep it up :)
I think it’s pretty clear that 1 is a tutorial for more experienced players to understand how this game is different from mario 3 and any previous titles, while 2 is a tutorial for any players new to the series where seeing those differences isn’t as important as simply understanding the basics. What’s also interesting is how 1 is optional and 2 is mandatory. 1 will give you a special reward for clearing it, but learning the things it teaches you isn’t necessary at all since you will have the opportunity to learn them later. It’s almost like a teaser for future levels. Whereas 2 is mandatory, which is why it has yoshi as part of the tutorial. However, I personally find this design choice to be sort of conflicting with my first statement. If you have an easier tutorial, i think that should be the optional one, simply because the mechanics of a new game are much more important and because old players won’t have to play an extra level just to learn the basics. This would mean Yoshi is in the “first” level, which fits better with the idea that it introduces new concepts.
Splitting the first level and forcing the player to choose between them *also* serves as a tutorial in itself. SMW features splitting paths several times in the overworld map, and the game introduces this mechanic before anything else. Neat.
There's 4 first levels in Super Mario World: the tiny stage where the initial plot dialogue happens, Yoshi's house, the first stage you walk on, then the 2 levels on the sides of the house
I like that you're rewarded with a strong upgrade for choosing either path to start. If you go right, you get Yoshi, which makes all levels, including the left one, much easier. If you go left, you get the Yellow Switch House which also makes every subsequent level easier.
What I like is that the levels have both text boxes that tell you how to play and parts that the level design teaches you. You may not know how to clear each challenge in one before going to another, after which the player has the option to go back into one of the stages (an unseen thing in in a Mario game up to now) and try it out.
You‘re out here uploading consistently high quality videos like this and making it look easy. It’s always a joy to be notified of a new video you posted, keep up the great work! Btw, I found you through your newer Mario Kart Videos, and I find them really interesting. As someone who grew up with newer Mario kart games, it’s really fun to see how much charm is packed into those stages, and you picking apart level design in general makes me appreciate these levels and the game devs more, be it Mario Kart or Super Mario World.
Thematically, Yoshi’s Island 1 feels more like what you’d expect from a “first level”, being a grass level instead of a forest one, but gameplay-wise, it’s 2 instead
I literally never thought about it until now, but having the level choice right at the beginning is also the game's way of teaching you about branching level paths as soon as you start playing. You're immediately confronted with a decision that will unknowingly steer you towards regular progress or a secret! And even if you don't get the secret, you'll see the ladder leading to the mountain top on the next map screen, which might peak your interest to backtrack and try the other path. It's really brilliant game design that hammers home the idea of a non-linear map filled with not only progress, but also surprises! Really great video btw, I never realized how much work both of these levels were doing to help the player actively learn so many game mechanics so quickly.
Ironically, Super Mario World has a 3rd tutorial level, Donut Plains 1. Donut Plains 1 introduces you to the iconic cape ability, the increases exploration the game offers, and the unique and varied enemies you'll find throughout the remaining worlds
These are always fantastic! It just goes to show how much thought the developers put into making Mario and making sure the players learn concepts of these games.
I would think that 1 is probably geared more towards teaching players who have no experience with Mario, whereas 2 is geared more towards players who have previously played Mario 3 (for instance). I think this is supported by where the paths lead: 1's path leads to the switch, which makes certain challenges (e.g., 1's 1-up chase) a bit easier, whereas 2 takes you onwards to the rest of the game.
Story this reminds me of:I remember finally getting a Gamecube controller for the Wii as a kid not just to play Gamecube games but the SMW Masterpiece in Brawl. Because of the mapping the big A button does the spin jump while the tiny B button does the regular jump and it felt so weird
Dude, learning about the level design is so cool. I didn't think about how much time it took for the developers to make the first two levels and avoid confusing the player, while also placing blocks and platforms in the right place so the player learns the game as he's playing. Absolutely genius stuff.
The first level is yoshis island 2, as it is the first level you need to complete to progress towards the final level, yoshis island 1 is an alternative option that unlocks an aid for when you start your journey.
in terms of timeline, i consider yoshis island 2 the first level because it leads you to the rest of the game while yoshis island 1 only leads you to a switch palace which the game can be played without
This game is very clever and has many smart decisions that improve and evolve Super Mario Bros! However, I for some reason find myself much more interested in Super Mario Bros 3 over Super Mario World.
Another reason is that the devs didn't know numerical order. They had gone around the office polling employees for weeks and couldn't figure out if numbers went 1-2-3 or 2-1-3. Counting wasn't taught in schools back then.
Thank you for making an actual 4:3 video. I watch on a 30 year old vga crt, and I was pleasantly surprised when your video fit my screen correctly whereas normal videos these days all have black bars to fit the entire widescreen video
I think having two starting levels also hints at the games many split path options and the path to the left that leads to the first switch that make the yellow Dotted-Line Blocks solid is there to help players understand when they see other colored Dotted-Line Blocks later in the game they will need to keep their eyes open to find the rest of the corresponding switches to flip them especially since all the other switches are in hidden alternate path levels. Whenever I replay this game I always start on the Left path to unlock the first round of Dotted-Line Blocks since they offer good items and safety nets in later levels.
This is something that more modern, open-world games should do more of; give the player two distinct ways to progress right away to tutorialize that making choices is part of the game.
I would assume the two starting levels are a very soft introduction to the new World Map. While SMB3 had some minor branching paths on the world map, SMW’s map is full of alternate routes and secrets. By starting the game with two options, it plants the idea in the player’s head immediately that there are multiple ways to reach the end of the game. And with one of the first two paths leading to a switch palace that affects the blocks in levels, it informs the player that some routes may contain some impactful rewards, revealing that it may be worthwhile to explore every possible path along the way.
I've been playing my GBA copy of this game for 20 years and am just now learning that those blue blocks in the subworld are moveable. My mind is blown.
You know, today has been a really not-great day for me so far, so seeing this video in my feed made me really really happy. Love Schrödinger's Tutorial lol
The placement of the yellow [!] blocks in both levels makes it very satisfying to unlock the switch, making a lot of the more challenging bits like catching the 1-up in level 1 far safer.
On Christmas morning in 1991 when my mom was hooking up the newly opened Super Nintendo my sister and I were reading the Super Mario World instruction manual, educating ourselves on the different level pieces so that we only had to worry about coordination instead.
Another interesting detail is that both levels lead to different kinds of progress. 1-2 eventually leads to the world's castle and by extention the rest of the game, but 1-1 leads to the Yellow Switch palace, which also marks progress through the game, even if it is technically a dead end.
its interesting that the one on the left is more challenging because its technically the optional one of the two. But the one on the right teaches you more overall in a more relaxed way. Which makes sense since you have to complete that one eventually to progress.
4:03 Oh my god after all these years I never realized the mushroom is coming out from behind the bush. I never really understood that, I thought a mushroom would just pop out of Mario randomly on certain levels.
It also teaches you right away that sometimes you'll get an optional level path. Granted so did 3. I feel like left is the first level. But the right one is more cozy to me
I speculate that the game offers that split path at the start in order to force the player to learn how the map works. Otherwise, they may assume the path is linear, which can cause confusion in world 2 when it splits off. It also can teach a player who goes left (because that's marked as level 1, so it makes sense to try that way first) about the switch palaces, and that they are useful (since they will enable ! blocks going forward).
You forgot to mention that one eat leads to progressing towards beating the game, and the other way leads to a Switch Palace (at a dead end), allowing you to discover new goodies later in the game.
something I noticed with the video editing is that when you're talking about Yoshi's Island 1, the normal overworld theme plays, but when you're talking about Yoshi's Island 2, the overworld theme w/ Yoshi Drums plays. great detail that really goes with your point that 1 is a tutorial without Yoshi, and 2 is a tutorial with Yoshi!
![🔴 [TRỰC TIẾP] Tứ Xuyên (Trung Quốc) VS U20 Thái Lan | Cúp VTV9 - Bình Điền 2024 | JET STUDIO](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bguJ41PcW0c/mqdefault.jpg)
Which Super Mario World level did you play first?
1
1
YI2 I just wanted to get all the 1-ups
Yoshi’s Island 1
I usually go for 1-1 first, but sometimes I go for 1-2
Yoshi's House is the true first level.
I still have yet to figure out how to beat it
I was gonna say that
No it’s the level that tells you the peach has been kidnapped
@@thatkirbodude You said level though.
@@dissonanceparadiddle you can actually beat it using bugs/glitches. It serves no purpose, except being able to exit the level using start and select
It's an interesting detail that Yoshi's Island 1 has a naked Koopa at the start, and Yoshi's Island 2 has an empty shell at the beginning. I like to think that Koopa is looking for his shell, not realizing it's in a different level.
Wanna make it crazier? The lone koopa could represent Mario and the shell represents Yoshi, Mario gets a shell when riding Yoshi, a powerful armor and weapon (and btw, some koopas use their shells as weapons to attack Mario in smw)
It couldn’t be, because the naked Koopa in 1-1 is the blue fat variant that kicks shells. Meanwhile, the shell in 1-2 is red.
@@Jill_Sandwich can confirm from doing some level editing out of boredom once
Sorry Koopa. Your shell is in another level.
@@Jill_Sandwich His transTurtle alright leave em be.
Most Mario games would open the first level with a goomba as the first enemy that you encounter, but Mario World's first enemy is a dive-bombing naked koopa
Also Super Mario World is the only 2D Mario game to not have any traditional Goombas
@@Krexxal Uh, are you forgetting Super Mario Bros 2?
@@beanieweenie1349 I am, my bad lol
@@Krexxal You're fine, honestly does that really count?
@@beanieweenie1349 technically, smb2 (not lost levels) was just a reskin of doki doki panic
Level 1 always felt like the more bizarre experimental design, where they showcase a bunch of new mechanics, while 2 is more along the lines of what you'd expect coming from the previous entries. (Though obviously they both have new mechanics)
I was thinking the same. YI1 doesn't feel like a tutorial level, even though it does teach you certain things. The main point of the level seems to be "this isn't the NES anymore... check out all these fancy new features we added!"
It's interesting that they introduce steep slopes right off the bat. Let's the player know that tricky slopes might be part of levels later on, and that sometimes there can be more than one way to navigate to the end. i.e. you can sometimes avoid enemies by going to another height, but other times the enemies might have the high ground and it's easier to walk below.
there is one last thing y-1 tells you sometimes levels lead to switches that activate blocks
It can almost be seen as the devs asking a psychological question: do you want the safe and familiar (go right)? Or do you want to explore something new (go left)?
Aren't both level 1 tho
YI1 is a reintroduction of Super Mario Bros. 1’s mechanics - enemy hopping, coin collecting, and Fire Flowers. YI2 is SMB3 (and because Japan and the US got different SMB2s, we have neither item-pulling or poison mushrooms). They’re both tutorials, showing that SMW1/SMB4 is capable of doing what both those games did - and more. In other words, it’s reminding the players that they’re playing with power - Super power.
Holy coyote. Your right
No blast processing though. Mario didn't want any of that smoke.
@@thegreathadoken6808 Wasn't "Blast Processing" just a hardware glitch in the console's clock that Sega's engineers couldn't figure out how to fix so they just advertised it as a feature?
I'm actually kind of glad we didn't get the same smb2 as japan did. What we got was a lot more interesting.
I know at some point that Yoshi's House was supposed to itself be a level, but I assume they split it up because there were SO MANY mechanics to introduce that they just couldn't put them all in the same level
And this is why you don't get the feather until World 2, because it's SO MUCH MORE complicated than any other mechanic that they had to devote an entire sub-area to giving you a playground for it.
Or was it just so you wouldn't fly over the whole first world and miss all their meticulously crafted game design?
@@bsharpmajorscale if so they would not have had the feather in the first place, the later levels are no less meticulously crafted.
@@algotkristoffersson15 im pretty sure that the smb3 flying powerup was meant to be used in this game, but it got scrapped
@@algotkristoffersson15 True. I've just seen enough speedruns where I just think of people flying over everything.
@@dylanzlol7293 they changed ideals and if you can bypass the levels that the game working
Fun fact: Yoshi tells you about the switch pallace to the left if you bring him back home and hit the message block, allowing a player who chose to go right to learn about the switch pallaces in the game’s first area.
NO WAY!!!!
And let's not forget that clearing Yoshi's Island 1 leads you to the first Switch Palace
I usually always go for the switch palaces now, all thanks to good ol yoshi
All these years of playing SMW and I never knew that. Actually mindblown.😐
Wait, really? Damn, I didn’t know that was where it was used, I wonder how it works
It's a nice look at how Miyamoto and the gang wanted there to be more freedom in Mario games
With SMB1 only having horizontal scrolling, SMB2 (USA) adding vertical, SMB3 having both and a world map, SMW expanding upon that and letting players explore and beat different levels in a nonlinear fashion, and it all leads to SM64
Mario 64 I would say is more similar to World than any other Mario game.
4:24 6:26 the added reverb effect in the cave areas is amazing attention to detail
There's another aspect to the tutorial.
So, at the start of the game, you probably visit Yoshi's House, and learn that he left to rescue his friends.
Let's imagine the player decides to go Yoshi's Island 2 first, and then finishes the level while riding Yoshi.
Should the player then decide to bring Yoshi back to his house, and hit the Message Block while still riding Yoshi, then the game informs the player to go find the Switch Palace by going to the left on the world map.
Wow I've been playing this game for 30 years and actually never noticed that before
I had no idea about this!
Romhacker here, haven’t heard this one
SAY WHAT??
We talked about this in our game design course and the influence our culture has on how we design and tackle objectives - since the game was made in Japan, where you read right to left, the expectation was potentially to guide you right, towards the clearly marked castle on the world map, make you see the dotted yellow blocks, make you curious to go left and explore there. It's super neat and makes me love the opening to this game so much more.
Japanese is written left to right tho
@@viridisspielt manga are read right-to-left
@@LoraLoibu Only the pages tho. Characters are written left to right or top to bottom.
@@viridisspielt nope, in older Japanese texts, you read lines top to down, then right to left. In the late 1800s/early 1900s, when Japan was more open to external cultures due to the meiji restoration, they started creating things such as store signs which only took one horizontal line of space, inspired by western counterparts (before this store signs where written in a vertical line of space). Because they read from right to left normally, that’s how they wrote their signs, right to left. It’s only recently in the last 50 or so years where reading left to right in a horizontal line has been standardized. However, this aspect of top down right to left is still used in books, where sentences are written in a straight line downwards, then move left to the next line.
Even in your example, nearly every manga i’ve read in Japanese, you have to read the text (characters) top down, right to left.
@@bolson42 Mangas and prose novels are vertical text right-to-left but most other writing that children (target audience of this game) will experience, like textbooks and magazines and anything on computers, are horitzonal and left-to-right.
Fun fact! If you're for some reason playing Super Mario World via Amiibo Tap on the Wii U, the first level you'll get is actually 1-2.
@theaa4751 So if 1-2 is 1-1 and 1-1 is 1-1 but also 1-2 that means that 1-3 might be 1-0. *Yes I just made your brain hurt.*
@@munky-su7wu no you didn’t.
@@munky-su7wu No?
SMW was one of the first big games to place a significant focus on non-linear exploration of an overworld map, and they probably wanted to introduce the feel of an "open world" from the very beginning. Worth noting that the early builds of the game had an even bigger emphasis on non-linearity, with FOUR entirely different paths accessible from the start.
>the entire top down genre
@@TurretBot Not exactly the same thing. In a top down game, the "overworld" is the main game, not a map screen that leads to actual levels.
Yeah. This first choice may have had a path led to a dead end (yellow switch palace) but beyond Yoshi's island, you start to get actual choices with how you progress, including the ultimate back door path to the final boss (which funnily led you only to the "front door").
A small thing you forgot to mention is that these chucks are also immune to yoshi's tongue, meaning they not only teach you that not all enemies are edible but killing it also becomes an optional extra challenge for players. (Or it also shows how not all enemies are worth fighting)
Players who beat the game without visiting the Yellow Switch Palace are monsters.
As a SMW speedrunner let me tell you I don't usually activate the Yellow Switch Palace.. but when I do I also beat the 96 exits and collect the Dragon Coins and the 7 secret 3up moons.
Kudos to the devs for including tutorial text in those speaker boxes, making them totally optional. Few things are as annoying as mandatory tutorial content bringing the gameplay to a halt on replays where you know this stuff. It's a good compromise between "all in the manual" and "no manual onhand but here's some info if you need it."
I don't know how many people can relate to this, but something I found when I played Super Mario World is that the game feels... unusual. Not bad, just very unlike what I'm used to in Mario games. There's some very strange level elements that only exist in this game, and some of the levels feel like something you could expect to see in Super Mario Maker. Definitely gave the game its own charm, making it stand out a lot. I appreciate that, even if it feels very weird at times.
I completely relate to this, and it's part of why I feel SMW is one of the best Mario games that exists. While it does have its flaws, such as the feather being a bit OP, and the dino miniboss getting a little bit repetitive over time, it genuinely just radiates this feeling that the devs were having a good time constantly throwing ideas around the office that they thought would be fun or interesting, and I love that.
Indeed, when you look at smm and smw, you really notice a lot of missing features tbh. I think the same can be said for smb3, but not as much. New soup really is dry when it comes to feature inclusion in smm tbh
it just hits different and that's why this game is goated
Smw feels like SM unleashed. Like it was the first time the hardware had the umph to make designers dreams come true.
this is what i expect someone to say about super mario 64
My sister and I booted up the game in 2-player mode and assumed we were each to take a route. She took the route with Yoshi and I recall bring disappointed not to encounter Yoshi in my route.
You've really gotta admire how much Mario World changed the series while simultaneously keeping it familiar.
1’s faster paced nature is fitting for its more optional completion. Perhaps it was intended for those curious players who chose not to go the “intended” path marked by the right sided castle (a clear signal for progression), and thus are soon awarded with the yellow switch palace! Which, btw, you eventually see regardless upon entering into donuts plains, giving a chance for players who skipped out on 1 to go back to see what the big switch does. All in all it beautifully echoes the openness of Mario World’s design in regards to level choice! Great video :D
My first thought would be that one is the first level of "easy mode" because it leads to the Yellow Switch Palace, thus adding in those extra safe-guards; meanwhile, the second would be "normal mode" if you never go back, because you won't have those safety nets in later levels. But it is interesting to think about, because you can definitely see the freedom of choice in all the secret exits and Star Road. A tradition that carried forward, in some form of another, right to Odyssey.
What’s neat about both levels is that both offer different rewards. If you complete YI1 first, you then get access to the Yellow Switch Palace, which will make some following levels easier. And if you complete YI2 first, you get the gift of speed since you now have the option to avoid YI1 in its entirety.
Never thought about the double first level thing before - an interesting choice. This game has such tremendous replay value because of its great design. It's so deep, with the star road, special zone, switch palaces, and all the alternate exits. (Note: push the L and R buttons at the same time to re-enter a castle or fortress you've already completed!)
i always enjoy zoomzike's editing. subtle details like the yoshi percussions on levels relevant to Yoshi, or the reverberance on his voice during the underground levels. if no one else has noticed this i hope you go back and listen out for them
Oh you're right.
Not to mention, the level on the path toward the Yellow Switch Palace also teaches you about the importance of the associated blocks a bit more than the other level does. After hitting the switch, you can have an instant understanding of how things would have been different in 1, especially if you lost the 1up or something.
I believe the split paths concept was more so introduce the player to the idea of having multiple paths, showing that they will have different rewards and objectives. The left path, reveals the switch's existence. While the other path is the objective, but easier with the switch pressed.
Did you really add a small reverb to your voice when you're showing an underground section?? Fucking W editing bro.
I love little touches like the added reverb in the underground sections, videos need to do that more :D
It’s weird how what’s referred to as the second level in game, is more relaxed than the previous level in order.
One cool thing is that if you do complete Yoshi's Island 1 first, you'll be rewarded with the Yellow Switch Palace, which will make Yoshi's Island 2 easier by covering pits and giving the player Power-ups with the Yellow Exclamation Blocks
This can be a cool Tutorial for the players to look out for the other switchs, since after you hit the switch a text box will say that you turned the invisible yellow blocks into solid, and later in the game you'll see other invisible blocks with other colors
That also teaches that hitting the blocks makes levels easier and maybe can even unlock some new paths and levels as you see in Donut Plains 1 with the Green Blocks, which will also teach the player about secret levels
I also think they did this to introduce the idea of multiple routes to the player; World is considerably less linear than it's predecessors, with so many alternate paths.
It's all very cleverly done : )
this is so ridiculously in depth thank you i didnt know i needed this
I seem to remember at some point someone saying that Yoshi's Island 1 was intended for more advanced players from the original Super Mario to begin with. Since this would be one of the first times that they are gives a choice in directional movement, they would naturally prefer going to the left, to level 1. Meanwhile, players new to the series would tend to the right to level 2, and thus be given the far more chill first level experience. This could be apocryphal, as I don't remember where I found that information, but it seems as good a reason as any for the situation.
I love the little details like your voice getting an echo while underground. It's a great touch in a great video. Nice work!
I love how creative your video ideas are. you can hyperfixate on literally any little detail and still make it interesting
I love that you added a subtle reverb effect to your voice when talking about underground caves. It's the a t t e n t i o n t o d e t a i l that takes these videos to the next level.
To add to the thesis of this, I also see it as SMW prepping the player for the branching nature of the world map. Going with 2 takes you down the critical path, but taking 1 unlocks a the Yellow Switch which helps platforming in the long term.
When I was a little kid and tried to play this game, I couldn't beat the level in the left because it was too difficult, so I went instead to the right after various failed attempts.
After watching this video, the message I thought they meant to send is that it doesn't matter if you can't beat a level, you can always go to another path and comeback later when you know more about the game
I love the effort in your editing. Especially the reverb to your voice when the underground sections were on screen.
Both levels also have different feelings when played second. Yoshi’s Island 1 with Yoshi has other lessons, and Yoshi’s Island 2 after hitting the Yellow Switch has a bunch of extra blocks to interact with (and reinforces the reward of hitting the switch by covering the only pit)
I think there's also credit to the overworld's design, if you choose to go left then it shows that there are secrets to be found with the Yellow Switch Palace, opening more paths for the player to explore in the overworld maps through playing levels, being much more open and less Linear by comparison of the SMB3 world maps. this then comes to it's closure as players find magical areas such as Star Road and the Special Zone.
I hadn't realized how much these two levels contrast... Wow. Also, the editing here seemed a lot more elaborate and it was fun to see the little effects and transitions here and there, great work!
I noticed so many little details in your editing like synching the music to the little spin jump explosion and adding reverb to your voice in the cave section! I love it lol, keep it up :)
I think it’s pretty clear that 1 is a tutorial for more experienced players to understand how this game is different from mario 3 and any previous titles, while 2 is a tutorial for any players new to the series where seeing those differences isn’t as important as simply understanding the basics.
What’s also interesting is how 1 is optional and 2 is mandatory. 1 will give you a special reward for clearing it, but learning the things it teaches you isn’t necessary at all since you will have the opportunity to learn them later. It’s almost like a teaser for future levels. Whereas 2 is mandatory, which is why it has yoshi as part of the tutorial. However, I personally find this design choice to be sort of conflicting with my first statement. If you have an easier tutorial, i think that should be the optional one, simply because the mechanics of a new game are much more important and because old players won’t have to play an extra level just to learn the basics. This would mean Yoshi is in the “first” level, which fits better with the idea that it introduces new concepts.
Splitting the first level and forcing the player to choose between them *also* serves as a tutorial in itself. SMW features splitting paths several times in the overworld map, and the game introduces this mechanic before anything else. Neat.
The fact that the video is in 4:3, rather than the modern 16:9, in order to match the original proportions is such a great attention to detail
This video is super cool! I like how you did your voice-over, very informative and got straight to the point, keep up the good work!
There's 4 first levels in Super Mario World: the tiny stage where the initial plot dialogue happens, Yoshi's house, the first stage you walk on, then the 2 levels on the sides of the house
I like that you're rewarded with a strong upgrade for choosing either path to start. If you go right, you get Yoshi, which makes all levels, including the left one, much easier. If you go left, you get the Yellow Switch House which also makes every subsequent level easier.
What I like is that the levels have both text boxes that tell you how to play and parts that the level design teaches you. You may not know how to clear each challenge in one before going to another, after which the player has the option to go back into one of the stages (an unseen thing in in a Mario game up to now) and try it out.
As a kid I always thought those were raspberries depicted on the boxes, which made no sense to me either
i love the fact that they used an echo effect on the narration while showing off underground areas, such a cool touch
You‘re out here uploading consistently high quality videos like this and making it look easy. It’s always a joy to be notified of a new video you posted, keep up the great work!
Btw, I found you through your newer Mario Kart Videos, and I find them really interesting. As someone who grew up with newer Mario kart games, it’s really fun to see how much charm is packed into those stages, and you picking apart level design in general makes me appreciate these levels and the game devs more, be it Mario Kart or Super Mario World.
Thematically, Yoshi’s Island 1 feels more like what you’d expect from a “first level”, being a grass level instead of a forest one, but gameplay-wise, it’s 2 instead
I literally never thought about it until now, but having the level choice right at the beginning is also the game's way of teaching you about branching level paths as soon as you start playing. You're immediately confronted with a decision that will unknowingly steer you towards regular progress or a secret! And even if you don't get the secret, you'll see the ladder leading to the mountain top on the next map screen, which might peak your interest to backtrack and try the other path. It's really brilliant game design that hammers home the idea of a non-linear map filled with not only progress, but also surprises!
Really great video btw, I never realized how much work both of these levels were doing to help the player actively learn so many game mechanics so quickly.
Ironically, Super Mario World has a 3rd tutorial level, Donut Plains 1. Donut Plains 1 introduces you to the iconic cape ability, the increases exploration the game offers, and the unique and varied enemies you'll find throughout the remaining worlds
These are always fantastic! It just goes to show how much thought the developers put into making Mario and making sure the players learn concepts of these games.
I would think that 1 is probably geared more towards teaching players who have no experience with Mario, whereas 2 is geared more towards players who have previously played Mario 3 (for instance). I think this is supported by where the paths lead: 1's path leads to the switch, which makes certain challenges (e.g., 1's 1-up chase) a bit easier, whereas 2 takes you onwards to the rest of the game.
Story this reminds me of:I remember finally getting a Gamecube controller for the Wii as a kid not just to play Gamecube games but the SMW Masterpiece in Brawl. Because of the mapping the big A button does the spin jump while the tiny B button does the regular jump and it felt so weird
feels like you're making this way deeper than it needs to be
Dude, learning about the level design is so cool. I didn't think about how much time it took for the developers to make the first two levels and avoid confusing the player, while also placing blocks and platforms in the right place so the player learns the game as he's playing. Absolutely genius stuff.
The first level is yoshis island 2, as it is the first level you need to complete to progress towards the final level, yoshis island 1 is an alternative option that unlocks an aid for when you start your journey.
Amazing Video, and ooh the last few lines of the video gave me chills down my spine. Keep up the great work
in terms of timeline, i consider yoshis island 2 the first level because it leads you to the rest of the game while yoshis island 1 only leads you to a switch palace which the game can be played without
This game is very clever and has many smart decisions that improve and evolve Super Mario Bros! However, I for some reason find myself much more interested in Super Mario Bros 3 over Super Mario World.
Very clever use of reverb in the underground section! I love those little details like that in your vids.
Another reason is that the devs didn't know numerical order. They had gone around the office polling employees for weeks and couldn't figure out if numbers went 1-2-3 or 2-1-3. Counting wasn't taught in schools back then.
Thank you for making an actual 4:3 video. I watch on a 30 year old vga crt, and I was pleasantly surprised when your video fit my screen correctly whereas normal videos these days all have black bars to fit the entire widescreen video
Such a great video. Reminded me of your great series on new super mario bros. Thanks for the amazing content
I love the echo you gave to your audio when talking about the underground section
Man I love you ever since I discovered you a few days ago. A new video feels like I got blessed
I appreciate the reverb you added when talking over cave level footage
Holy moly. I was on your channel screen on my phone and the notif popped up. I manifested the video.
Great video! These are some really good tips!
Also, nice subtitles!
The first level is the one where matio stands in the middle of a field with text saying that peach was captured
That really subtle echo effect on your voice when in the underground sections is such a nice touch
4:20 if you don’t know how to do the spin jump you learn it in the next level, then you also learn you can return to an older level.
I think having two starting levels also hints at the games many split path options and the path to the left that leads to the first switch that make the yellow Dotted-Line Blocks solid is there to help players understand when they see other colored Dotted-Line Blocks later in the game they will need to keep their eyes open to find the rest of the corresponding switches to flip them especially since all the other switches are in hidden alternate path levels.
Whenever I replay this game I always start on the Left path to unlock the first round of Dotted-Line Blocks since they offer good items and safety nets in later levels.
It teaches you early on that there are branching paths on the world map, and also about the switch palaces (after finishing YI1).
This is something that more modern, open-world games should do more of; give the player two distinct ways to progress right away to tutorialize that making choices is part of the game.
The way this video is in 4:3 the whole time is my favourite aspect of this video, excellent work man.
I love how you used the aspect ratio to great affect in this video!
1:17 the Mario maker sound effect was a great choice this video is so good.
I would assume the two starting levels are a very soft introduction to the new World Map. While SMB3 had some minor branching paths on the world map, SMW’s map is full of alternate routes and secrets. By starting the game with two options, it plants the idea in the player’s head immediately that there are multiple ways to reach the end of the game. And with one of the first two paths leading to a switch palace that affects the blocks in levels, it informs the player that some routes may contain some impactful rewards, revealing that it may be worthwhile to explore every possible path along the way.
6:26
I like the added echo to the voice whenever you entered the cave.
I've been playing my GBA copy of this game for 20 years and am just now learning that those blue blocks in the subworld are moveable. My mind is blown.
You know, today has been a really not-great day for me so far, so seeing this video in my feed made me really really happy. Love Schrödinger's Tutorial lol
The placement of the yellow [!] blocks in both levels makes it very satisfying to unlock the switch, making a lot of the more challenging bits like catching the 1-up in level 1 far safer.
On Christmas morning in 1991 when my mom was hooking up the newly opened Super Nintendo my sister and I were reading the Super Mario World instruction manual, educating ourselves on the different level pieces so that we only had to worry about coordination instead.
Another interesting detail is that both levels lead to different kinds of progress. 1-2 eventually leads to the world's castle and by extention the rest of the game, but 1-1 leads to the Yellow Switch palace, which also marks progress through the game, even if it is technically a dead end.
After like thirty years, I can’t believe I’ve watched a ten minute’s video in awe about the first two levels. Love it!
I just love professionally given facts that give me a new outlook on something- specifically classics that I’ve come to love.
Gotta say, I dig the little echo effect while you're talking about underground sections.
I liked how you put on a reverb effect on your voice when Mario was underground.
its interesting that the one on the left is more challenging because its technically the optional one of the two. But the one on the right teaches you more overall in a more relaxed way. Which makes sense since you have to complete that one eventually to progress.
4:03 Oh my god after all these years I never realized the mushroom is coming out from behind the bush. I never really understood that, I thought a mushroom would just pop out of Mario randomly on certain levels.
It also teaches you right away that sometimes you'll get an optional level path. Granted so did 3. I feel like left is the first level. But the right one is more cozy to me
I speculate that the game offers that split path at the start in order to force the player to learn how the map works. Otherwise, they may assume the path is linear, which can cause confusion in world 2 when it splits off.
It also can teach a player who goes left (because that's marked as level 1, so it makes sense to try that way first) about the switch palaces, and that they are useful (since they will enable ! blocks going forward).
You forgot to mention that one eat leads to progressing towards beating the game, and the other way leads to a Switch Palace (at a dead end), allowing you to discover new goodies later in the game.
something I noticed with the video editing is that when you're talking about Yoshi's Island 1, the normal overworld theme plays, but when you're talking about Yoshi's Island 2, the overworld theme w/ Yoshi Drums plays. great detail that really goes with your point that 1 is a tutorial without Yoshi, and 2 is a tutorial with Yoshi!