Thanks for your patience with this one and I hope you enjoy. EDIT: If you see a comment from an account that looks like mine, claiming you have "won a prize" - this is a scam. I'm currently working to ban these accounts. Apologies for any confusion!
I actually managed to complete this game in one day. It was tough but I loved the difficulty of the levels and the game. This is one of my favorite video games ever.
The part where they're talking about the initial rollout of the SNES in North America hits home. They mention something about how expensive it was for the time, and how the state of the US economy in 1991 meant it was probably the only "toy" the average American parent could buy their kids that year. Took up the entire toy budget. That happened to my family. Christmas 1991 and all my brothers and sisters are there, 4 of us ranging from 10 to 18 years old. My parents had a single present for the 4 of us, the Super Nintendo with Super Mario World. It was one of the best gifts of all our lives, because we had all wanted the SNES badly. We literally played it all that Christmas Eve night and into Christmas day. It's a great family memory that we all still hold with us, now all in our 40's and 50's with families of our own.
Great nostalgic story. My brother and I also got it as a Christmas present back in the day. We never thought our parents had anything to do with the console, but a couple years ago they told us they used to play at night after we went to bed and pulled all-nighters like hardcore gamers. Our mind was blown 😂
Can we take a moment appreciate the level of effort Norman put into this video? The research, facts, analysis and narration are top notch. I love the visual aspects like magazines, figures, gone box art and trinkets. Great job Norm!
Why it is as if research and effort went into this video. And a high quality standard that's puts many other channels to shame. Now if you'll excuse me I have some Tetris to play.
Hearing how Koji Kondo had to adjust to every new hardware was released is hilarious. The fact that this man went through 5 generations of games and is still working is impressive.
As did Soyo Oka when the time came for her to re-score Kondo's music from SMB1, SMB2J (aka SMBLL), SMB2 (aka SMUSA) and SMB3 for Super Mario All-Stars.
I'll never forget xmas '91. I ended year 1 at the top of my class. My parents said they were very proud of that (unexpected) achievement and gave me a little surprise. Opening that present changed my life forever, I even remember how that box looked and smelled, feeling my heart racing, being extremely excited and at the same time, in disbelief. It was a SNES with the Super Mario World cartridge as a bundle. As a Peruvian kid, this was unheard of. No one else had such thing at home. My neighbour, who used to share his NES with me, was now at my place all the time. My brother, my neighbour and I played Mario for hours, every weekend for a couple of years. I'm 37 now, and I still play the game, emulated on my hacked PS3 that I use exclusively for retro games, with my wife here in Sydney, Australia, where I moved to 5 years ago.
Haha, I have a hacked Wii and hacked WiiU. BEST game systems ever... now. Over 400 games on hard drives between the 2 systems, from Mario All-Stars to Mario Galaxy 2. From Zelda 2 to Majoras Mask, to Skyward Sword to Breath of the Wild!!
I’d love to see a video on A Link to the Past; another SNES game that took a huge leap forward and remained a definitive game even as its series jumped to new consoles.
A link to the past is still my favorite zelda.. the SNES was a magical console and I'm glad I got to experience it when I was a child. It had so many perfect games.
The TH-cam algorithm randomly recommended this to me and I couldn't stop watching. My parents couldn't afford video games during this period of time and I was a bit too young still to really know what was going on. All I know is that I started saving my allowance to buy an NES and by the time I had enough money saved, the Super NES was out and the first game I got to play on my own system in my own house was Super Mario World. Best memories of my childhood revolve around that game. This video brought it all back.
same here not alot of money in household during schoolbreaks i would just stare dream through the toystores window and they had the genesis up & running with sonic. owned my bros Master System at the time with a few games. A guy from my neighborhood had a Snes with StreetFighter II with a few other guys i really was hooked & he had super mario world amazing graphics at that time. if you had those systems then you were a lucky bastard.. ..
@@clearz3600 I personally stayed away from video games for the most part as I knew (and to some extent) still think they are pretty stupid and keep people stupid with very rare exceptions. I played educational games and believe me back then there were plenty to choose from and now I can virtualize them on modern PC's since they don't run natively well if at all. Most won't even install.
Nintendo couldn’t make a better documentary. It is absolutely astonishing, the level of details and information about every step of its conception, creation, etc. I was crying asking myself how 30 years flew by. The ultimate video game for me. This page is a jewel❤
Some of my favourite childhood memories were not of playing the Mario games myself, but watching my father play them. He loved the franchise and played it right up until his passing in the spring of 2022. I will always associate this franchise with my father and those memories. They're such strong memories that I hunted down a SNES and a copy of Super Mario World a couple years ago so I could always return to that time in my life.
I played Tetris, Mario, I had tbr gameboy, PsP and the PlayStation 1 and 2. The of the time I played games like Command and Conquer, Age of Empires, which I miss playing greatly. And then it too expensive and silly. Which is a real shame because the games we have around astounding. I just get the mechanise now.
My condolences! I lost my dad in August '21, and I have lots of very strong memories of playing SNES games with him, too. Like competing in Mario Kart, or the T&E Soft golf games. Or watching him play F-ZERO. With single player games, we often took on that oldschool co-op gaming approach where one is playing and the other is reading a strategy guide or even handwriting/reading notes or a map. We played through the Final Fantasy games like that. 😌 In later decades we did a lot of PC gaming. I regret never having played Borderlands 2 co-op with him; despite not being great at FPS games he enjoyed the heck out of it and logged hundreds more hours in that game than I ever have.
I grew up playing all the Mario’s, now I play them with my children. They love to watch me play, it is very special. I’m sure your father loved the moments together as much as you did, I know I do.
I’m in my earlier 40s. I’ve found it difficult to go back and still enjoy many of the games from my youth, but Super Mario World still holds up. I think it will continue to stand the test of time with the ageless gameplay and level design. It’s a masterpiece.
A lot of games back then are slow with not great controls and of course the graphics are not always good either. And a lot of games can be frustrating because they are about memorizing levels and enemies, meaning repeating levels over and over again, which gets tedious. Super Mario World's design, graphics, controls, and fun are all strengths that make it hold up very well over time.
@napoleonfeanor I'm a similar age to that guy and all I can say is trying to play Metroid or Final Fantasy on the original NES one 3 decades later is nearly impossible. Can only play the updated versions, now.
i am 49 years old now as of writing, and i remembered alot of magical console launch days, still the launch day of the super nintendo in spring is one of my favorite. imagine a 17 year old teen buying his first console with first earned money, come home unboxing. unboxing noticing these very modern and duarable conection cables, hook it to the tv, insert the super mario world cardridge and boot it up. it may not seem much now if you play Smw on a emulator, but back then it was pure magic, the console itself looked so many years ahead and so off from anything i have seen before. and then the game starts. first thing i saw was such fresh colors and sprites, but the sound coning from this thing was my best experience, just insane. the bongo's when you jump on yoshi, the claps of the american football caracters, echo effects in caves. it was amazing.
I’m the same age as you and loved the console wars of the early 90s…Nintendo is still a great name in video gaming today…Play Station and X Box maybe on top right now but don’t count Nintendo out…
I was just a kid when it came out and barely gave a thought to videos games. I would play a friends nes once in a while but mostly just watch, and my brother had an old commodore. But when the snes came out my dad bought it for me (i'm assuming he thought I needed friends and this would do that lol). That was the day I was hooked on gaming for life. To this day I do not think there was ever a more perfect game made than super mario world. The colors and sound were mind blowing! The gameplay was just awesome in the literal meaning, before that games just did not capture me. I just loved trying to find all the secrets and unlocking all the little hidden places that looked suspicious to me on the map. I remember unlocking red world and as a little kid being like "WHAT!!!!" lol
On original hardware, when going through a key door with Yoshi, spit out the key exactly when the animation starts closing and you'll be treated to a hilariously slowed down "bowwwwww" sound effect from Yoshi.
I’m still in love with this game 32 years later. Being 7 1/2 years old when this came out, and only being able to play it by renting a Super NES from Blockbuster Video on the weekends, it changed my perception of what a video game experience could be; the visuals, the sound effects and soundtrack, the smell of the plastic and video game cartridge itself. It was just perfection in a child’s life.
@@kennymaximummultiplayer9192 there was this very strong smell from the console and the case it came in. Idk if it was specifically a Blockbuster smell coming from the foam or plastic case itself, but it didn’t smell bad. It was like a faint marshmallow and artificial strawberry smell, almost like what would come on those 90s scented dolls for girls. But yeah I was smelling the cartridge. I only had it for two nights at a time to I had to get the full sensory experience.
I occasionally try to play it from time to time but I know every level inside and out so I get bored in 5 mins 😢😢😢😢 Recently ordered mario allstars, had to buy an old tv to get my snes to work on, the tv came today, hopefully it works. I have the snes mini which is what I usually play but wanted to play games not included on the mini lol
I was 11 when this came out. My parents got one for me for Christmas. I went to bed that night and still saw Mario jumping on stuff when I closed my eyes. Binge session that I still remember to this day.
This whole saga is mind blowing. The fact that they created the levels by hand on graph paper 🤯 And that dude who produced the music was brilliant. Those instrumentals were absolutely perfect.
I watched this during breaks at work over a period of 3 days. Simply outstanding. Video gaming deserves a historian who does the material justice. You've done more than that. Outstanding!
I had to stop to take my dogs out. I was guna just take my phone with me but changed my mind, my dogs are pretty crazy. One is a 1yr old German shepherd X Presa canario, she's stupidly strong despite being tiny for what she is, so I gotta stay focused on her lol
What makes Nintendo "Nintendo" is their philosophy about video games, brings fun to its gamers. I'm glad these wonderful developers and creators still hold to this day this philosophy. 🥰
@@yomikoreadman128That was especially noticeable when the Wii came out. Everyone thought it was going to get blown out by the Xbox 360 and PS3 at E3 but after launch you could barely find a Wii because of how popular it was, compared to piles of the other consoles.
I was 8 years old on december 23rd 1992 when I went to help get the groceries out of the trunk of my dad's chevy celebrity only to find out that under the transformer backseat compartment there it was! Super Mario World, Street Fighter II and the SNES next to a bunch of gift wrapping paper rolls. Flabbergasted not only 'cause of we were getting the bundle for Christmas but because Santa... didn't...exist... I turned to my dad, he looked at me and said: "Oh well, looks like you're going to be Santa this year... Don't tell your (younger) brothers just yet...".. I moved on quickly, I was Santa and we played Super Mario World until dawn! Happy and fun memories only. God bless Nintendo, Miyamoto, Kondo, the entire team of legends and of course @GamingHistorian Thank you for this!!
Lol, your dad left a huge SNES box, two games and a bunch of long rolls of gift wrap in the back of his car, in a place where they could be easily found, and then expected you not to find it while you were helping him with groceries? That's a dad for ya!
@@nessamillikan6247 heheh yeah... this compartment was kinda hidden tho like a mini trunk inside the trunk, there I was trying to be a good kid for christmas tryna get the groceries out of there too
has there ever been a better time in gaming? Maybe it's because i'm 46, but I just have some AWESOME memories of the early 90's and the SNES. Graphics were always at least good, but the music and storytelling on so many carts was just amazing! I still listen to the waterfalls level of Super Castlevania from time to time.
That jump from normal music to percussion Yoshi music the first time you hopped on his back is ingrained into my memory. As is learning from a friend about the secret world you unlock after beating the Star Road I had no clue about. It was such a cool experience.
Same, along with yoshi's island and each of the donkey kong country games. I still remember every secret to this day from when I played them religiously as a child.
crazy how everyone figured out the secrets (star road, special land, the small level with 2 feathers 2 fire flowers and a yoshi) without the internet and TH-cam steering us the right direction. just word of mouth and experimentation.. amazing game and if you know the game front to back then there are countless rom hacks for every skill level. you think your good atMario?? play a rom hack for the real pros and you can't beat the first level lol. awesome awesome awesome game
I actually cried when it got to the "where are they now" section and didn't stop until well after it ended. The nostalgia is incredible, and my earliest memories of gaming ever were this game, and this system. Maybe some of my earliest memories ever. This was incredible. Thank you.
I honestly have tears in my eyes right now too. Nintendo games are so precious. It's amazing these games have lived on all these years and we still play them on every system Nintendo releases.
I remember when the SNES came out. I was 10. My friend had gotten one at launch and I used to sleep over at his house. I’d wake up in the middle of the night to play Super Mario World by myself 😂 Absolute classic! We got one shortly afterwards, and I still have it today with all of our old games and accessories. Great video!
This exact same thing happened with me as a kid, my family was too poor for video games so I was always at my friends house and I would wake up in the night to sneakily play the NES and SNES. Great memories
I wish I was smart enough to have kept my old nes and snes consoles from my childhood! Oh well! Emulation and the switch have all the old games whenever I want.
I'm born in 82. Saw the launch of the NES and SNES, then the very start of 3d graphics, also the dawn of the internet and the dawn of mobile communication. Crazy that I got to experience all that. I just hope I get to see graphics that look like real life before I die. Then it would be perfect.
Wouldn't trade it for anything except maybe being born a little earlier. Earliest memories of mine were playing bubble bobble and Dr Mario with my mother, double dragon mega man 2 with my cousins and when snes came out I lost my mind with super Mario world final fantasy and eventually ff3 and still have and play to this day
85er here and for awhile i wished i was born maybe 20 yrs earlier but it didn't take me too long to realize just how amazing it was to be a kid in the 90s.. everything from the videogames to cartoons and Saturday morning cartoons to the kids movies to the live action series like Beetleborgs and Power Rangers to the best Disney movies ever to Pokemon to the amazing music and the best toys ever and no cell phones or internet to distract from being a kid man i ain't even being biased i really think the 90s was the greatest decade ever to be a kid
So many times during this video I caught myself with an ear-to-ear nostalgic grin as a piece of music or art or anecdote triggered an incredible memory of playing this game as a kid. Thank you so much for the hard work you put into this. Truly appreciated!
I absolutely love this game, one because of the nostalgia of playing with my dad whos no longer here, and second because its plain freaking awesome. You can tell everyone on the team was on a mission to create the best game they possible could. The levels, character design, music, it's just :inserts chef's kiss:
Yes that is the problems with these Indie games today, you can tell they just don't have the team of people to make them that these SNES games had. The games lack the fun factor usually, although the graphics are better, they lack the story and fun factor. All that takes time to make and 2 people programming the game in their basement is not going to compete against a SNES game that had teams of people working on it.
I still remember Christmas in 1992, when my brother and I got our SNES, Super Mario World, Mario Kart, and F-Zero. While the racing games were fun, Super Mario World became a cornerstone of my childhood. So many fond memories of the music, the backgrounds, the exploration, the power ups, the map, the sprites, etc. It was the first game I ever completed 100%, and even to this day I still don't often do that. SMW was special, and it made a huge impact. Every Mario game I played after has to stack up against it. Beautiful documentary, Norman. Thank you.
Just asking, have you ever played any SMW ROM hacks? There are a plethora of hacks that just add a lot more to the game, some funny, some remaining true to the original.
Never have I been brought to tears so simply by a game revisiting. I knew that Super Mario world was special to me but I didn't realize how much I missed it in my heart until I heard that closing music and realized how many memories I had connected to it. It was one of the first games that I had played on my own, sitting in front of an old CRT TV in my parents basement alone and frustrated about why Mario would keep on sliding after running when switching directions. Crying to my dad saying it's not fair and him laughing at my childish frustration then trying to show me how to do it. Then having my friends over, taking turns to see who could beat the level the fastest, or who had found a new shortcut. I don't think it's something that I've experienced so purely ecstatically since, even though Pokemon encouraged competition and sharing it was very grindy and less straightforward. This video really highlighted how far I've come and changed by conjuring these forgotten memories and feelings. Thank you for reviving these memories, it's given me motivation to hopefully pass these bittersweet memories to my son's, your efforts really shown through.
I don't think I have ever commented on a TH-cam video before, but was thinking about it - and then I saw yours! For me too, hearing that arrangement of the ending music over the credits really transported me back! It creates an intense feeling of nostalgia for innocent youth and a simpler time, not to mention the pure, unadulterated joy of having navigated this amazing game right through to the end. Re your other comment, this year, I have started introducing my 6 year-old son to Super Nintendo classics (on my original machine) and naturally, we started with this one. Apart from the fact that I have barely played any console released within the last 25 years (since the N64), I'm sure this is probably THE best introduction to gaming for anyone!
*"This was my approach to Mario as well, but I want to make games that no matter how many times you clear them, you want to keep that game and hold onto it like a treasure. I want to keep making games with that mindset."* -Tezuka Everyone has this single moment, an experience that sparked a kind of inspiration in them at a young age to continue to endeavor in that field for the rest of their lifetime. For me, Super Mario World was just that. I don't really have all the words to describe just how important SMW is to me personally. Not only is it my very first gaming experience, but with its incredibly charming, surreal imagery and unforgettable soundtrack the game absolutely captured my imagination, sucking me into a colorful new world that eventually led me to want to become an artist, a game designer, and a gamer at heart. I have this game to thank for that. It was maybe...1995 or so. I was 2 or 3 years old, young enough to barely understand what I was doing with a controller, and I practically taught myself how to use Mario and Yoshi's moves and how objects worked and whatnot. Beating Iggy for the first time was the first major sense of victory I ever experienced! I'll never forget it. Super Mario World made me who I am. In the decades following, as we've all experienced playing through dozens and dozens of other, more technically advanced games since, I will never forget where that world all started for me. On the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the 90s. Thanks, Miyamoto, Tezuka, Kondo and co. for making this legendary game! Super Mario World is quite possibly the greatest video game of all time.
There was something about the SNES era that isn’t here anymore. The air, the scenes, the people, the culture, the environment and every bit of feeling of that time was great. There was value in friendship and games connected people. The nostalgic feeling watching this documentary over and over is overwhelming. It’s yesterday once again.
This documentary is a triumph of all the years you have spent creating content! I remember first watching your videos back in 2009. It is amazing the evolution of your talent. Like everyone, my life has had its ups and downs - watching a new video of yours brightens up my day. Thanks for the memories, especially how I think back to Christmas 1991 and playing Super Mario World with my cousin for hours on end.
@@GamingHistorian I wish I could afford to spare a few bucks for you because you do deserve it. But I will add to the praise nonetheless. This was an hour of me just not worrying about life, and that is a gift these days.
Never played a super Nintendo in my life but still loved this documentary. This is better than history channel documentaries. If only Norman could get a deal with obs or abc or something, but then again who watches TV anymore.
I still, STILL play the hell out of this game and I’m 40 next month. This game is just sublime and is one of my favourites of all time alongside Mario 3, Mortal Kombat 2 and Donkey Kong Country. Brilliant, brilliant work on the video , Historian. Your detail is incredible.
Same here, I still play it on my original Super NES I bought in ‘91 (and on my GBA, lol) on a old Sony Trinatron CRT television; and it’s just so good. I turned 41 this year and I can easily see me *still* playing it at 61 and beyond!
Man, This documentary is one of the best I’ve seen on TH-cam. I would love to see one about The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past or Ocarina of Time. They are one of the best Zelda games and I would love to see something like this for the Zelda series.
It’s amazing to watch this and think “I was one of those kids who was anticipating this game.” It really does feel strange to be a part of history after the fact.
I agree, I'm just disappointed by how easy it is as a adult. It was somewhat challenging As a 6 or 7 year old where getting extra lives matter, I played it about 2 years ago again and it was so so easy, I still love it.
The Cape kills the game. The game execpt for a hand full of levels is too easy . You definitely had more fun playing it as a kid . Mario maker 2 really let's you play levels you wished existed
@@harrylane4 Don't be snarky it's a legit criticism, just compare it to Mario 3 that game is still a good challenge today and I prefer it to Mario World
What a moment in time for an entire generation. I don’t think kids today get to experience the same joy that came with getting a whole new game system. For my brother and me, we had to wait until summer of 1992. My dad told us he would get us either an SNES or a Genesis if we read 50 books between the two of us. We couldn’t initially decide between the two until a kid in our karate class was gushing about Super Mario World. My dad took us to KB Toys in the mall and bought us the SNES with Super Mario World. We didn’t know until later in life how much of a financial sacrifice this was to our parents. I still remember the smell of the hardware when we opened the box. When we first turned on Super Mario World, I was blown away just by the intro screen. I remember how much the new music and sound effects added to the depth of the game versus Nintendo games. The fact that so many 40 somethings still love all of the original 4 Mario games is a testament to how much love the creators had for their product. @GamingHistorian, thank you for this video. Nice work!
I know im late on discovering your channel but about 3 weeks ago I went to Greece to do work for the Navy for a month and not long after I arrived I had appendicitis and my appendix burst so I ended up stuck in a hospital for over 2 weeks in a foreign country. During that time I discovered your channel and watched a ton of your past videos. Thanks for making my time stuck in a foreign hospital less depressing you really have something special with this channel and I look forward to continuing watching your latest videos.
This game has given me PTSD on the word "tubular" I literally cringe every time I hear it. That stage was brutal to begin with and add in being 6 years old and you have a recipe for lifelong trauma
It's funny, I feel like I would play this game for weeks / months as a kid and not find everything. Now I can 100% it in two sessions. Maybe I"ve just memorized everything.
Some of my fondest memories as a kid were playing SMW with my mom. She used to be quite the artist; she would draw all the Mario characters and I would hang them up in my room. Such great memories make SMW one of my favorite games of all time and one of the biggest reasons I got into playing rom hacks. Awesome video, you've done it again.
I fell in love with Super Mario because of my eldest son's early love for the earliest game. I have the greatest memories of watching him play all the Mario games on every Nintendo system I ever bought for him for his birthday, for Christmas, or because he earned a game for doing well in school. The nostalgia of the classic tune makes me harken back to those days of just sitting back, watching him play those then "simple" games as he sat on the floor in front of the TV screen, with his remote in hand, entranced by the visuals. He had some serious learning difficulties, and the games gave him some great hand eye coordination... and me the pleasure of watching him feel successful at completing the stages of the game. Since I've never played electronics, I have no real idea how to talk about it, but I hope that I've come across clearly here. Super Mario ROCKS! Woohoooo! Long live Mario - and his brother Luigi! And may my son - actually two since then, now in their 30s and 40s, forever enjoy their gaming. If that's what keeps them young at heart, then so be it. ❤ 🤗
Mario World's sound design is brilliant. The use of reverb and percussion gives actions more impact and enhances the game feel in a way I don't think any other game could do that effectively before.
Whenever I hear either the title screen music or overworld music I feel like I am transported back 30 years walking around the corner of K-Mart toward the electronics department and hearing the SNES kiosk in the distance......magical......I miss those days
I think a lot game publishers could relearn this lesson. They depend way to much on shallow graphical macguffins and not nearly enough on story, design and soundtrack.
The impact Super Mario World had on everyone, gamer or not, is indescribable. That's what I would have said before I saw this documentary. By the end of it I was moved and I had to grab my copy and start playing again. Thank you!
I didn't know I was getting into when I clicked on this, this is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen, not a bit of stock footage, no filler. It's perfect.
I love Super Mario World so much it hurts. I still remember being a tiny child and getting the Super Nintendo bundle for Christmas. I will always cherish this game and the Super Nintendo. ❤
Yessssssss! My bundle came with Super Mario World and Street Fighter II! Then, my mom and dad also got DK Country for me and my sister. Some of the best memories. Can't forget NES and Mario 1, 2 & 3. 2 & 3 were my favorite ones ever. Ducktales, Castlevania and Contra were right next in line ❤
I remember playing this and my brother remarked that the music responded to gameplay. When Mario hops on Yoshi there is a layer of bongos that's added to the music! In time to the music. Hop off and the music layer stops. I was amazed at that detail and it just goes to show: They worked so many little details into this game
First all-nighter I had was with a friend playing Super Mario world. Will never forget it. Seeing the artwork in the instructions book that came along brings back so many memories. Remember how awesome it was when you first discovered the sta rroad?! The top secret area in the Donut ghost house? The music in Vanilla Dome or Valley of Bowser?! Damn it I wanna play now!
Remember when you first saw the commercial on TV, before you even knew who Yoshi was, and then you see Mario riding a blue Yoshi and it spits out the three fireballs. For me, seeing that for the first time was just like 🤯
SMW was unbelievable. Like SMB3 was mind-blowing in its own right and then SMW came out and honestly it was more revolutionary than playing in true 3D when the 64 came out.
Absolutely phenomenal video. Your dedication to research is astounding. I watched the video in its entirety and having lived through the NES/SNES myself, this brought back so many videos. Thank you!
Right!? Some of my best childhood memories are centered around this game(and a Link to the Past, Pocky&Rocky, Super Metroid, etc) and rocking out w/my cousins on their SNES. I had the Genesis, but I always wanted the SNES instead.. I digress, much love and appreciation for Norman's work, truly👍
so lucky i was born in 97 so by the time i was 6 there was ps1/2 but i remember going to my older bros house n he had super mario all stars n i played tf outta that and mario kart , so now im adult i made my own 80s n 90s playing all the nes n snes games hahaha
@@sleevelessace it's awesome that you got to experience all those different eras of games -not only that, but you got to enjoy them w/your Bro and create awesome memories! Theres something to be said about all these classic/"retro" games & consoles... that despite their graphical limitations, sound capabilities and simple controls, they're STILL fun, entertaining, and appreciated across several generations of people. Even the young'uns who aren't connected to them through nostalgia still enjoy the 'pick up&play' nature of the classic systems... and then there's ppl like me: born in 86, got my first NES for Xmas 1990, beat the Legend of Zelda @5yrs old, and STILL play those games from my childhood on that original NES from 1990.. only now I share those classics with my own kids.
Amazing 👏🏻 👏🏻. I’m 35 now (born in 1987), and this is literally my childhood. If I think too deeply, it makes me kind of sad 😢… a much simpler time, indeed
My absolute favorite Mario game ever. I have completed all 96 levels I dunno how many times. It's a timeless classic, the secret exits, the music, star road and the special area. Not to mention the soundtrack. It's a masterpiece!
Over an hour into this doc I thought to myself “how could this be any better?” Then Clint LGR did a quote. That’s how. This doc is incredible and I love every moment
This is hands down the best Nintendo documentary I have seen in my entire life. Huge video game fan. I'm 44 now and getting those memories back is awesome along with tones of things I didn't know. Cheers!
When I look back, Sega was once promising and wonderful, until it used Sonic the hedgehog. Sonic was boring. Collecting rings and doing spins was lame. It was basically a video pinball game. After Sonic, its commercials and games became some weird creation that drugged-out male executives at Sega imagined teenage kids would find appealing. Whoever did the commercials and box design was on PCP and meth and coke. I'm betting they were single, white, coked-out, horny men who didn't have children or families and were out of touch with reality. From 1993 to 1996, Sega was so bad that they just hemorrhaged money. The same applied to 3DO and Atari. Nintendo and Sony were smart not to go the route of these people. If Sega had held onto it's design and image from 1989 and 1990, they would have dominated video games and still be strong. But having 3 versions of Genesis and too late to release the Nomad, it was useless. Sonic sucked. And not including a six-button controller was stupid. Sega had wonderful games. It was advanced. But having peripheral after peripheral and wires galore was ridiculous. And not partnering with Sony was stupid. In the end, it became Atari, an antiquated machine trying to hold onto the past. Nintendo did the same thing with the NES from 1991 to 1994.
I learned so much from this video. It extremely elucidating. The history of the NES-SNES transition makes me want to learn more about the history of Kirby's Adventure. It was a sprawling exclusive epic developed for a console everyone else had abandoned for dead. Evidently, Sakurai and Iwata over at HAL didn't get the memo that the Famicom was outmoded hardware with "fuzzy graphics".
@@DrSlickindie games are the future man. Nintendo and some medium-sized game studies like From are continuing to make really quality games, but now indie developers are stepping forwards to add to the medium. Celeste and Hollow Knight, Hades, etc. are incredible. The tools to make games have evolved (for lower price points as well), and understanding of game design has as well.
Honestly I'm still upset about that. PS4 Pro and Xbox One X/S were a bad idea. Now when a new console releases, I ask myself if I should wait for the mid-gen refresh or Oled model, or maybe a few months to get a highest capacity hd upgrade, etc. Before Sony and Nintendo pretty much were guaranteed to get my money everytime they release a new console. Now I wait and see. This new trend can backfire. The customer doesn't feel rewarded for brand loyalty anymore. It's a bad thing for the gaming industry.
It's not so bad. I grew up in the NES era, and even back then I knew older players claiming that "it was better before (when people met in the arcades, etc.)" There's still a lot of creativity in gaming and not only in the indie scene. Dark Souls was incredibly creative for example. Nier Automata was also inspired. Although I'll give you that one thing I really hate in nowadays is that most games start very slow with a boring 40 min+ tutorial. I really miss jumping straight into the action and learning the buttons/mechanics as I go. In most cases the extended tutorials are really not necessary. I believe I missed quite a few excellent games because I quit like 5 min after I'm done with the tutorial. It turns me off completely and I never pick the game again.@@DrSlick
My main man Norm. I’m in dire need of a Mario 64 documentary. I’ve tried watching some other creators versions. But the level of detail you provide, research, and behind the scenes information is incredible. I have watched this video at least 5 times! Big fan
Maybe not about Mario 64 in particular, but I recommend you check out Classic Gaming Quarterly, especially his console launch retrospectives, as well following years after console release.
Before video: "1 hour 18? I'm not watching all that". After video: "Well that was one of the best hour and 18 minutes I've spent in the last week". Absolutely wonderful, TV broadcast worthy level of production. Thanks for putting many big smiles on my face and multiple exclamations of "oh my god I remember that!"
Man I'm tearing up, I'd do anything to be a kid again and play through this for the first time. My brother and I probably spent 100s of hours in this game, and it always felt like there was more to find.
I have depression an at times I will sit outside, look to the sky an dream of the days of hanging with the boys, playing SNES, chasing the ice cream truck, an riding our bikes farther an farther away from our homes. Oh early 90s, you were the best.
@@SpAzArDoUs1 Yeah, can relate to this so much it's not even funny. I honestly think that it was peak social evolution....far enough along that we had phones and easy ways to stay in touch, but no so far along that we had social media and texting, and the constant expectation of being immediately available.
look at kaizo mario, it is difficult hacks of super mario world. people generate their own levels and it's fun to learn all the secrets hidden in the game engine
I remember having dreams about getting a SNES for Christmas when I was in 4th grade. Had one every night pretty much. When I opened it on Christmas it was literally a dream come true and Mario World was the game I played most. Definitely a defining moment in my childhood, and so many other people's as well. Thanks for making this it was a nostalgia parade!
But it's on TH-cam where you can watch it without paying a crummy subscription fee and millions of people have gotten to enjoy it that way. I don't know why people hold Netflix in such high regard.
@@ramingr I totally get the sentiment of your post, this documentary is as professional as it gets and easily competes with any studio effort. It totally deserves all the praise it's getting. It would be great to rid ourselves of using platforms like Netflix as a standard bearer for quality when I think there's more than enough content on this and other platforms to show that creators don't need that kind of backing or permission to make wonderful content we can all enjoy.
Hands down, the game that made me a gamer. I loved this game SO much that I found a "normal nintendo" as I called it as a kid sealed back up in its box in a closet with the games Mario bros and super Mario bros 2. I loved Super Mario world so much that I decided I wanted to play these older version and boy am I glad I did, Super Mario bros 2 (Doki Doki Panic) was one of my all time fav games at the time along with SNES super Mario world. I played lots of games but these ones really held a special place in my heart (along with Donkey Kong), There is even an old VHS of me as a kid jumping on a fake mushroom as a kid (looked the same as the games) and making the sound when you grow big. Then my parents somehow as poor as we were, were able to BUY a family nintendo 64 and it was the last gift they let me open. I screamed, I cried I DIDNT EVEN CARE THERE WAS NO GAMES.. Then they told me to go look upstairs in the closet and Super Mario 64 was there rented from a blockbuster cause they couldn't afford the console and the game at the same time. That was and will forever be the best Christmas memory I have ever had.
Having grown up a Sega kid, and so I didn't get to play any mario game until I was in my 20s, I honestly think Mario 3 is easily a better game than SMW. SMW feels rushed, and it was. It was half the length of mario 3 and so it's over before it really even feels like it started, you just blast through it in half an hour or whatever, and then the game is over. It's a bit too easy as well It's kind of a minor criticism really because it's still an amazing game and is better than 99% of all games. But just with the high standards of the Mario series, SMW feels like a step backwards somewhat. They really should have made a super Mario World 2. I know they did, but super Mario World 2 is a Mario game in name only, it plays nothing like the other games in the series from both before and after, and quickly was turned into it's own spinoff series as soon as the n64 came out, and to this day they keep releasing those games, but they're called the Yoshi games, not the Mario games It's no wonder that super Mario World has the most romhacks of any video game. And it's because it was so so short, and it was the only game with they engine we ever got. People desperately want more I dunno whether it's a nostalgia thing for some people. That's why I mentioned I didn't play them until my mid 20s. I have no nostalgia for any of them
I’ve always liked Super Mario World, it’s fun and cool game. I used to play it back on my 3DS using the Virtual Console there. One of the best Mario games ever tbh.
I remember my Super Nintendo bundled with Super Mario. That game made you excited to wake up early on a Saturday, because I wasn't allowed to play it all night on school nights. No other game had the same replayability, and vast amount of discovery long after you beat the last boss. Super memories for a super game and console
Same but for me as a kid of the 00s I grew up with these as two of my best GBA games along side Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, Pokemon Fire Red, the port of link to the past and loz Minish Cap
Mario 3 was an incredible leap in getting the most out of the aging NES hardware. Mario World is a masterclass in design, art and game feel. Don't think there has ever been a 2D mario that has been as responsive coupled with the fantastic SNES controllers.
One thing I find better in Mario 3 is the importance of lives. Super Mario World was kind of when it was becoming apparent that lives were an archaic holdover from arcade games. You were able to replay levels if you wish, but one problem with this is you can just life-scum the entire game, and it's also the only way to be sure you can finish a level without the risk of being sent back to the last save point. Since then, there have been so many games with such an obvious exploit. In Mario 3, a finished level couldn't be replayed, making the act of exploring every part of the level all the more important in order to progress. That said, one massive quality of life improvement was a save system. Mario 3 was honestly too long for a game that asked you to beat it in one sitting. World is bigger with much more content, but you're able to save your progress, and turning the system off no longer erases what you've accomplished. It feels so nice to just have an addition like that; gets rid of the anxiety completely.
as a game designer, this was such an inspirational video. Hearing how and why they designed super mario world reminds me of the reason i wanted to make games to begin with. especially hearing the part about games being a playground you want to go back to over and over.
I grew up in the 90s (born April of 90'). And i absolutely have tons of memories playing Super Mario World with my best friend and my older sister. It was a fantastic game, very well made without question. With that said I always enjoyed Super Mario 3 more for some reason. Its just a more fun game to play, just in my humble opinion. It seems like the limitations forced more creative solutions in Super Mario Bros 3.
You should really be given an award as a documentarian, another stand out documentary, hopefully it's not another 2 years before the Super Mario 64 installment lol, I will be keeping an eye out.
Thank you for the countless hours of entertainment. Entertainment and Inspiration. Some of my favorite content of all time is right here on The Gaming Historian.
@@RobertWrightOneManCovers there's a heart icon with a dollar sign in it under the video next to other icons like share. Press that heart icon to give him money
I've just seen this video / documentary for the first time and the quality of it blew me away - let alone the level of research and fun facts. Brilliant work. Thank you so much for this.
Thank you so much the time and effort,you or your team put into this. I was filled with so much nostalgia and so much interesting info that blew my mind. You have hours great content thanks so much
Played it on release, and it changed my world, still to this day, a top 5 of all time game on my list. It's so good, not only is it totally playable for a new generation of gamers, but it still holds up as a solid 10/10, 33 years later!
I've watched this 3 times in the last week. The nostalgia, the information and the memories of these old games plus the hype for the new stuff on the horizon back then is just pure comfort food for me while I am working. Amazing video and so well put together!
1:06:33 As these people toured around the country, I wonder how many of them would go to their hotel room after work, lock the door, close the blinds and play SMW until 2am.
I don't know why every time i watch a video by you, i end on the verge of tears, by seeing how important gaming has been for so many people. The work and utmost respect that you have when talking about this games and consoles, brings joy to my soul in a level I can't fully grasp. Thanks.
The quality of your content is that good that it could easily be shown as a documentary on any Documentary TV Channel. And no one would notice that there are no 100 people working on it in the background. This is just great.
I thought about your comment, initially thinking it was silly. But god damn you are right. They've bought so much happiness and developed a world wide network of enthusiasts.
his generation are true legends. though i am old now but have to admit, the young people now at nintendo are realy talented. i think nintendo has formed again a great young team, it is very hard to think of a total new mario game with new caracters outside tradition, you need realy people who love what they are doing and love the company, and ofcourse managment that can let go of old ideas. gues miyamoto is getting older and let them create👏
Awesome documentary, very thoroughly and carefully researched. Extremely insightful. I always love watching your content, without a shadow of doubt you're the one and only Gaming Historian. I learned a bunch of stuff I never knew before about one of my (if not *my*) favorite games ever, and one of the SNES killer apps. I loved playing SMW as a child and I still love to play it as an adult. It's most certainly one of the reasons why the SNES/SFC is my favorite console ever. It is undoubtedly a masterpiece. Looking at how SMW changed from that initial prototype was very interesting to see, I love the all-new direction the developers went with the final game though I really like those proto sprites too. I absolutely love Cape Mario and how you have complete freedom to fly over the levels once you master it. It's a bit of a shame Tanooki Mario was cut but I completely understand it, the only way you could do something similar with it is with the P-Wing. Takashi Tezuka is indeed the unsung hero of the Mario series and many other Nintendo games. It's too bad nobody online seems to ever talk about him. Looking at it another way, he truly is the Luigi to Shigeru Miyamoto's Mario. It also caught my eye how Tezuka took the criticisms the SMW prototype received to heart and changed SMW from being too similar to SMB3. Clearly an excellent decision that completely paid off. Same with the "Evolutionary, Not Revolutionary" quote. SMW was indeed the next evolution of what Mario was before. It's a shame how it seems Nintendo appears to have forgotten about these design philosophies over time and more recently made some games extremely similar to one another as far as 2D Mario games go. Of particular note, NSMB2 was extremely similar to NSMBW to the point of reusing all sort of assets (Graphics, Music and Gameplay) from it, just with a coat of gold and adding nothing new, which I think it's such a shame, because it made people think the NSMB series has always been this extremely unoriginal thing while NSMB2 is the one only game that reinforced that notion and forever tainted the NSMB series reputation. The first NSMB was an amazing game that had unique powerups, bosses, and an all-new soundtrack. It also brought 3D Mario gameplay (Triple Jumps, Wall Jumps, Ground Pounds, etc.) to 2D Mario, and afterwards NSMBW added true multiplayer, which was one of the longstanding dreams of Miyamoto, and it was awesome too. It also brought back the Spin Jump (and added the little spin jump AKA Twirl) from SMW and Yoshi for the most complete the 2D Mario gameplay up to that point. Personally I consider them both worthy successors to SMW. NSMBU is a great game too, and, even though it is also derivative from NSMBW, nowhere as much as NSMB2 and it still had a good amount of new music, levels, and Powerups, the (P-Wing) Flying Squirrel Suit. It also added new characters in the form of Nabbit and Peachette in NSMBUDX. And it was cool how it had a 3D SMW-style Map and brought back the Baby Yoshis. I'd love if they made a full-fledged game using the new characters (especially Peach and Daisy) along with their gameplay mechanics that Super Mario Run introduced as well. Similarly, the Super Mario Land games were amazing for their time too and added series mainstays Daisy and Wario. Super Mario Maker is awesome and it certainly made a dream a reality for both developers and us fans, and I love seeing all of those rom hacks too along with SMW in HD/widescreen but I would love another new 2D Mario/NSMB game in the future because they have potential to be worthy successors to SMW. Also the decision Hiroshi Yamauchi made with making SMW a launch title was a great one and undoubtedly the right one. He completely knew what costumers wanted for the SNES/SFC launch and that led to us getting the masterpiece SMW is, but it's interesting to see how in juxtaposition NSMBU didn't make much of a difference as a launch title when the Wii U launched (which was Satoru Iwata following in Yamauchi's footsteps but didn't work that one time due to various different reasons). How the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch didn't have a Mario game as a launch title were interesting decisions in retrospective too. Finally, after the 90s Console Wars, which gave us some gems like Sega does what Nintendon't or NOT on 32x Adapters/NOT on SEGA/Only on Super NES, there will always be something inherently funny about having Sega Genesis games on the NSO and VC.
A fantastic and well made documentary that truly made me feel like a kid again. I could feel my 5 year old self anticipating this 16 bit treasure as you were describing the build up to Mario world's launch in America. I haven't truly felt that way in a long time. Thank you. I think I am going to go play some mario world now.
Thanks so much for all the work you did on this. This was like reliving my childhood, and getting to step back in history and re-experiencing everything that made Nintendo in the 90s great was a feeling I would pay any amount for.
As someone whose first gaming experience (that I can recall anyway) was a 3D console (64), I remember having a hard time caring about 2D games as a kid. Nothing in the style really held my attention until I tried SMW after our family picked up a SNES with it and a couple other games at a garage sale around the new millennium. The art style, music, over world, secrets, characters, and just overall presentation really left an impression on me that no other title before SM64 was able to. Although of course I've been able to comfortably revisit all eras of retro games from the NES onwards as a teen/adult, I still think SMW is a very special title that oozes charm and creativity, and is easily my favorite 2D Mario game, if not 2D platformer in general. Amazing job as usual here, consistent quality of this degree (especially for free) can't be commended enough.
My experience was the opposite. I grew up on NES and SNES titles, so the transition to 3D games represented a real learning curve for me. In retrospect, I'm hugely nostalgic about both Mario 64 as well and Super Mario World.
Thanks for your patience with this one and I hope you enjoy.
EDIT: If you see a comment from an account that looks like mine, claiming you have "won a prize" - this is a scam. I'm currently working to ban these accounts. Apologies for any confusion!
Thank you!
SECOND
Thank you! Maybe do a video on the upcoming popular moba games!
I actually managed to complete this game in one day. It was tough but I loved the difficulty of the levels and the game. This is one of my favorite video games ever.
I Most definitely will! I love this game!
The part where they're talking about the initial rollout of the SNES in North America hits home. They mention something about how expensive it was for the time, and how the state of the US economy in 1991 meant it was probably the only "toy" the average American parent could buy their kids that year. Took up the entire toy budget.
That happened to my family. Christmas 1991 and all my brothers and sisters are there, 4 of us ranging from 10 to 18 years old. My parents had a single present for the 4 of us, the Super Nintendo with Super Mario World.
It was one of the best gifts of all our lives, because we had all wanted the SNES badly. We literally played it all that Christmas Eve night and into Christmas day. It's a great family memory that we all still hold with us, now all in our 40's and 50's with families of our own.
Damnit. Got me feeling all my feelings and crap. That’s beautiful man. Video games bring so much joy.
Same here!! It was our only present and possibly the best present ever!
Thanks for sharing bruh, sounds like good time
❤️
Great nostalgic story. My brother and I also got it as a Christmas present back in the day. We never thought our parents had anything to do with the console, but a couple years ago they told us they used to play at night after we went to bed and pulled all-nighters like hardcore gamers. Our mind was blown 😂
Can we take a moment appreciate the level of effort Norman put into this video? The research, facts, analysis and narration are top notch. I love the visual aspects like magazines, figures, gone box art and trinkets. Great job Norm!
Why it is as if research and effort went into this video. And a high quality standard that's puts many other channels to shame. Now if you'll excuse me I have some Tetris to play.
Totally agreed. You can really see his love and affection for this game and the whole franchise in this video.
No way. Never. Absolutely not
Can we take a moment to appreciate that . . .
This channel and My Life In Gaming have next level presentation! If ever I did TH-cam id aspire to this level of quality. Amazing work, truly.
Hearing how Koji Kondo had to adjust to every new hardware was released is hilarious. The fact that this man went through 5 generations of games and is still working is impressive.
As did Soyo Oka when the time came for her to re-score Kondo's music from SMB1, SMB2J (aka SMBLL), SMB2 (aka SMUSA) and SMB3 for Super Mario All-Stars.
An absolute legend, the composer of the soundtrack to my childhood.
Though by the GameCube there stopped being radical changes in sound
@@skibot9974 true, still impressive though that the man was so flexible to so much change, it’s one of the reasons he still doing work at Nintendo.
I'll never forget xmas '91. I ended year 1 at the top of my class. My parents said they were very proud of that (unexpected) achievement and gave me a little surprise.
Opening that present changed my life forever, I even remember how that box looked and smelled, feeling my heart racing, being extremely excited and at the same time, in disbelief.
It was a SNES with the Super Mario World cartridge as a bundle. As a Peruvian kid, this was unheard of. No one else had such thing at home. My neighbour, who used to share his NES with me, was now at my place all the time. My brother, my neighbour and I played Mario for hours, every weekend for a couple of years.
I'm 37 now, and I still play the game, emulated on my hacked PS3 that I use exclusively for retro games, with my wife here in Sydney, Australia, where I moved to 5 years ago.
How do u play emulators on a ps3? Can u do this on a ps5?
@@michael47359 You need to hack the console and as far as i know no hacks exist for the PS5 yet it's too new
Haha, I have a hacked Wii and hacked WiiU. BEST game systems ever... now. Over 400 games on hard drives between the 2 systems, from Mario All-Stars to Mario Galaxy 2. From Zelda 2 to Majoras Mask, to Skyward Sword to Breath of the Wild!!
You can spell it neighbor you are in the American spiral of influence
@@carso1500 You can emulate how Sony is treating their customers just like they did the PS3 making me want to switch to Xbox
I’d love to see a video on A Link to the Past; another SNES game that took a huge leap forward and remained a definitive game even as its series jumped to new consoles.
Definitely a future video!
Alttp imo is the greastest Zelda game all time, i still play it in randomized format to this very day!
A link to the past is still my favorite zelda.. the SNES was a magical console and I'm glad I got to experience it when I was a child. It had so many perfect games.
I second this. My favorite Zelda of all time. And I wouldn't mind seeing one about Illusion Of Gaia. Not a well known yet an amazing game.
Denu denu, denu denu densetz
th-cam.com/video/cjpHzLYHkwA/w-d-xo.html
The TH-cam algorithm randomly recommended this to me and I couldn't stop watching. My parents couldn't afford video games during this period of time and I was a bit too young still to really know what was going on. All I know is that I started saving my allowance to buy an NES and by the time I had enough money saved, the Super NES was out and the first game I got to play on my own system in my own house was Super Mario World. Best memories of my childhood revolve around that game. This video brought it all back.
Glad you found the video and thank you so much!
same here not alot of money in household during schoolbreaks i would just stare dream through the toystores window and they had the genesis up & running with sonic. owned my bros Master System at the time with a few games. A guy from my neighborhood had a Snes with StreetFighter II with a few other guys i really was hooked & he had super mario world amazing graphics at that time. if you had those systems then you were a lucky bastard.. ..
@@GamingHistorian What are the fan songs used in your video? I'm curious to them
My parents could afford it but they still wouldn't buy me the game. Cheap bastards. I had to play it over at a friends house.
@@clearz3600 I personally stayed away from video games for the most part as I knew (and to some extent) still think they are pretty stupid and keep people stupid with very rare exceptions. I played educational games and believe me back then there were plenty to choose from and now I can virtualize them on modern PC's since they don't run natively well if at all. Most won't even install.
Nintendo couldn’t make a better documentary. It is absolutely astonishing, the level of details and information about every step of its conception, creation, etc. I was crying asking myself how 30 years flew by. The ultimate video game for me. This page is a jewel❤
Nintendo can’t make anything good anymore
Woah, hadn’t made that math… 30+ years indeed have passed by, what the hell.
I was 16, 30 years ago, haha.
This was an absolutely phenomenal documentary. I'm always elated when a new Gaming Historian video comes out!
Yoshi dies in the end? WTF man! Spoilers warnings (sarcasm) come back lil buddy!
Strafefox videos are farrr better
Geez. You are right. I didn't even desire to fast forward due to boring scenes. I actually watched it in full!
His work is so clean and the amount of footage he is able to pull that I've never seen before each time is crazy.
For sure man. This is one of my favorite games of all time!
Some of my favourite childhood memories were not of playing the Mario games myself, but watching my father play them. He loved the franchise and played it right up until his passing in the spring of 2022. I will always associate this franchise with my father and those memories.
They're such strong memories that I hunted down a SNES and a copy of Super Mario World a couple years ago so I could always return to that time in my life.
Sorry to hear about your pops! But that just makes me wonder if my kids would play Mario or Mega Man to reminisce about me if I passed on.
May he rest in peace brother
I played Tetris, Mario, I had tbr gameboy, PsP and the PlayStation 1 and 2. The of the time I played games like Command and Conquer, Age of Empires, which I miss playing greatly.
And then it too expensive and silly. Which is a real shame because the games we have around astounding.
I just get the mechanise now.
My condolences! I lost my dad in August '21, and I have lots of very strong memories of playing SNES games with him, too. Like competing in Mario Kart, or the T&E Soft golf games. Or watching him play F-ZERO. With single player games, we often took on that oldschool co-op gaming approach where one is playing and the other is reading a strategy guide or even handwriting/reading notes or a map. We played through the Final Fantasy games like that. 😌
In later decades we did a lot of PC gaming. I regret never having played Borderlands 2 co-op with him; despite not being great at FPS games he enjoyed the heck out of it and logged hundreds more hours in that game than I ever have.
I grew up playing all the Mario’s, now I play them with my children. They love to watch me play, it is very special. I’m sure your father loved the moments together as much as you did, I know I do.
I’m in my earlier 40s. I’ve found it difficult to go back and still enjoy many of the games from my youth, but Super Mario World still holds up. I think it will continue to stand the test of time with the ageless gameplay and level design. It’s a masterpiece.
Which ones do you not enjoy anymore? I still love all the games I loved back then.
A lot of games back then are slow with not great controls and of course the graphics are not always good either. And a lot of games can be frustrating because they are about memorizing levels and enemies, meaning repeating levels over and over again, which gets tedious. Super Mario World's design, graphics, controls, and fun are all strengths that make it hold up very well over time.
@napoleonfeanor I'm a similar age to that guy and all I can say is trying to play Metroid or Final Fantasy on the original NES one 3 decades later is nearly impossible. Can only play the updated versions, now.
i am 49 years old now as of writing, and i remembered alot of magical console launch days, still the launch day of the super nintendo in spring is one of my favorite.
imagine a 17 year old teen buying his first console with first earned money, come home unboxing.
unboxing
noticing these very modern and duarable conection cables, hook it to the tv, insert the super mario world cardridge and boot it up.
it may not seem much now if you play Smw on a emulator, but back then it was pure magic, the console itself looked so many years ahead and so off from anything i have seen before.
and then the game starts. first thing i saw was such fresh colors and sprites, but the sound coning from this thing was my best experience, just insane.
the bongo's when you jump on yoshi, the claps of the american football caracters, echo effects in caves.
it was amazing.
It was my favourite until Donkey Kong ❤️
I’m the same age as you and loved the console wars of the early 90s…Nintendo is still a great name in video gaming today…Play Station and X Box maybe on top right now but don’t count Nintendo out…
Liar
Dark Souls games are better!
I was just a kid when it came out and barely gave a thought to videos games. I would play a friends nes once in a while but mostly just watch, and my brother had an old commodore. But when the snes came out my dad bought it for me (i'm assuming he thought I needed friends and this would do that lol). That was the day I was hooked on gaming for life. To this day I do not think there was ever a more perfect game made than super mario world. The colors and sound were mind blowing! The gameplay was just awesome in the literal meaning, before that games just did not capture me. I just loved trying to find all the secrets and unlocking all the little hidden places that looked suspicious to me on the map. I remember unlocking red world and as a little kid being like "WHAT!!!!" lol
On original hardware, when going through a key door with Yoshi, spit out the key exactly when the animation starts closing and you'll be treated to a hilariously slowed down "bowwwwww" sound effect from Yoshi.
True! I always made him spit the key out. Some OCD part of my reptile brain just needed to.
It's so satisfying lol
It sound like he was owww! Everytime I played I did that in the game lol
BOOOOW
I’m still in love with this game 32 years later. Being 7 1/2 years old when this came out, and only being able to play it by renting a Super NES from Blockbuster Video on the weekends, it changed my perception of what a video game experience could be; the visuals, the sound effects and soundtrack, the smell of the plastic and video game cartridge itself. It was just perfection in a child’s life.
Nintendo and Nintendo power, better than anything on This planet.....
You were smelling cartridges from the age of 7 ya weirdo?🤣
@@kennymaximummultiplayer9192 there was this very strong smell from the console and the case it came in. Idk if it was specifically a Blockbuster smell coming from the foam or plastic case itself, but it didn’t smell bad. It was like a faint marshmallow and artificial strawberry smell, almost like what would come on those 90s scented dolls for girls. But yeah I was smelling the cartridge. I only had it for two nights at a time to I had to get the full sensory experience.
@@kennymaximummultiplayer9192 It was like new-car smell
I occasionally try to play it from time to time but I know every level inside and out so I get bored in 5 mins 😢😢😢😢
Recently ordered mario allstars, had to buy an old tv to get my snes to work on, the tv came today, hopefully it works.
I have the snes mini which is what I usually play but wanted to play games not included on the mini lol
I was 11 when this came out. My parents got one for me for Christmas. I went to bed that night and still saw Mario jumping on stuff when I closed my eyes. Binge session that I still remember to this day.
Different games, same memories. The memories I want to give my kids if I ever have any.
This whole saga is mind blowing. The fact that they created the levels by hand on graph paper 🤯 And that dude who produced the music was brilliant. Those instrumentals were absolutely perfect.
SNES still to this day has some of the most beautiful gaming soundtracks.
I watched this during breaks at work over a period of 3 days. Simply outstanding. Video gaming deserves a historian who does the material justice. You've done more than that. Outstanding!
Same is was perfect to watch over a few days
I had to stop to take my dogs out. I was guna just take my phone with me but changed my mind, my dogs are pretty crazy.
One is a 1yr old German shepherd X Presa canario, she's stupidly strong despite being tiny for what she is, so I gotta stay focused on her lol
top tier video, but my favorite part was from 0:00 to 1:18:24
Yeah, 1:18:25 was definitely the worst part of the video
What is this, a crossover episode??
You are a modern vintage gamer, I would expect no less.
sure its not 1:06:51
@@nate567987 sure its not 1:69:00 ?
My favorite stuff about this video is the ending… “where are they now.” So great to see the creators as top-tier execs.
Agreed!
Right?! That was so heartwarming.
I was thanking each and every one of em through the screen this is my childhood game I looooooooooove it sooooo much!😭
What makes Nintendo "Nintendo" is their philosophy about video games, brings fun to its gamers. I'm glad these wonderful developers and creators still hold to this day this philosophy. 🥰
@@yomikoreadman128That was especially noticeable when the Wii came out.
Everyone thought it was going to get blown out by the Xbox 360 and PS3 at E3 but after launch you could barely find a Wii because of how popular it was, compared to piles of the other consoles.
I was 8 years old on december 23rd 1992 when I went to help get the groceries out of the trunk of my dad's chevy celebrity only to find out that under the transformer backseat compartment there it was! Super Mario World, Street Fighter II and the SNES next to a bunch of gift wrapping paper rolls. Flabbergasted not only 'cause of we were getting the bundle for Christmas but because Santa... didn't...exist... I turned to my dad, he looked at me and said: "Oh well, looks like you're going to be Santa this year... Don't tell your (younger) brothers just yet...".. I moved on quickly, I was Santa and we played Super Mario World until dawn! Happy and fun memories only. God bless Nintendo, Miyamoto, Kondo, the entire team of legends and of course @GamingHistorian Thank you for this!!
It really did bring unbridled joy
Lol, your dad left a huge SNES box, two games and a bunch of long rolls of gift wrap in the back of his car, in a place where they could be easily found, and then expected you not to find it while you were helping him with groceries? That's a dad for ya!
@@nessamillikan6247 heheh yeah... this compartment was kinda hidden tho like a mini trunk inside the trunk, there I was trying to be a good kid for christmas tryna get the groceries out of there too
has there ever been a better time in gaming? Maybe it's because i'm 46, but I just have some AWESOME memories of the early 90's and the SNES. Graphics were always at least good, but the music and storytelling on so many carts was just amazing! I still listen to the waterfalls level of Super Castlevania from time to time.
@@jasonleveck8546 those were the days... back then when EVERYTHING WAS NEW and got one awesome improvement just to be topped out by the next one...
The sounds in Super Mario World are burned into my brain. So many great memories :)
That jump from normal music to percussion Yoshi music the first time you hopped on his back is ingrained into my memory. As is learning from a friend about the secret world you unlock after beating the Star Road I had no clue about. It was such a cool experience.
Same, along with yoshi's island and each of the donkey kong country games. I still remember every secret to this day from when I played them religiously as a child.
crazy how everyone figured out the secrets (star road, special land, the small level with 2 feathers 2 fire flowers and a yoshi) without the internet and TH-cam steering us the right direction. just word of mouth and experimentation.. amazing game and if you know the game front to back then there are countless rom hacks for every skill level. you think your good atMario?? play a rom hack for the real pros and you can't beat the first level lol. awesome awesome awesome game
That's absolutely true here too. The SFX are never leaving my head.
some of the sound track in the first few levels are in grained in my head. 30 years later and I still randomly hum to it
If I could like this 10 times, I would. Such a thorough, well-researched, structured documentary! I could easily imagine this presented on tv.
He definitely should try to market this to broadcast TV.
I actually cried when it got to the "where are they now" section and didn't stop until well after it ended. The nostalgia is incredible, and my earliest memories of gaming ever were this game, and this system. Maybe some of my earliest memories ever.
This was incredible. Thank you.
I honestly have tears in my eyes right now too. Nintendo games are so precious. It's amazing these games have lived on all these years and we still play them on every system Nintendo releases.
lol crybabies
@@markxv2267 Couple of low T wussies, eh Mark15?
Moody much?
Best childhood game 🎮 ❤️
This was a phenomenal documentary. Could easily be featured on Netflix, Prime, etc. Well done.
why you need NetFlix, are u Asian ? Why you need that ?
I remember when the SNES came out. I was 10. My friend had gotten one at launch and I used to sleep over at his house. I’d wake up in the middle of the night to play Super Mario World by myself 😂 Absolute classic! We got one shortly afterwards, and I still have it today with all of our old games and accessories. Great video!
This exact same thing happened with me as a kid, my family was too poor for video games so I was always at my friends house and I would wake up in the night to sneakily play the NES and SNES. Great memories
Amazing. Did you ever get caught?
@@GamingHistorian one time my friends dad caught me playing mega man 4 at 3am but he just stood there for a minute and left lol
@@cloudbloom Oooh, video games in the dead of night sitting on the floor in front of a glowing CRT...that's comfort food for the soul, man.
I wish I was smart enough to have kept my old nes and snes consoles from my childhood! Oh well! Emulation and the switch have all the old games whenever I want.
Being an 80’s baby/ 90’s kid, It just feels like a blessing to have experienced all this first hand.
I'm born in 82. Saw the launch of the NES and SNES, then the very start of 3d graphics, also the dawn of the internet and the dawn of mobile communication. Crazy that I got to experience all that. I just hope I get to see graphics that look like real life before I die. Then it would be perfect.
Wouldn't trade it for anything except maybe being born a little earlier. Earliest memories of mine were playing bubble bobble and Dr Mario with my mother, double dragon mega man 2 with my cousins and when snes came out I lost my mind with super Mario world final fantasy and eventually ff3 and still have and play to this day
Born in the 70s bopped in the 80s headbanged in the 90s and after 2000s was a 💤
85er here and for awhile i wished i was born maybe 20 yrs earlier but it didn't take me too long to realize just how amazing it was to be a kid in the 90s.. everything from the videogames to cartoons and Saturday morning cartoons to the kids movies to the live action series like Beetleborgs and Power Rangers to the best Disney movies ever to Pokemon to the amazing music and the best toys ever and no cell phones or internet to distract from being a kid man i ain't even being biased i really think the 90s was the greatest decade ever to be a kid
@@Movie_Games and childhood before smartphones
So many times during this video I caught myself with an ear-to-ear nostalgic grin as a piece of music or art or anecdote triggered an incredible memory of playing this game as a kid. Thank you so much for the hard work you put into this. Truly appreciated!
I absolutely love this game, one because of the nostalgia of playing with my dad whos no longer here, and second because its plain freaking awesome. You can tell everyone on the team was on a mission to create the best game they possible could. The levels, character design, music, it's just :inserts chef's kiss:
Yes that is the problems with these Indie games today, you can tell they just don't have the team of people to make them that these SNES games had. The games lack the fun factor usually, although the graphics are better, they lack the story and fun factor. All that takes time to make and 2 people programming the game in their basement is not going to compete against a SNES game that had teams of people working on it.
I still remember Christmas in 1992, when my brother and I got our SNES, Super Mario World, Mario Kart, and F-Zero. While the racing games were fun, Super Mario World became a cornerstone of my childhood. So many fond memories of the music, the backgrounds, the exploration, the power ups, the map, the sprites, etc. It was the first game I ever completed 100%, and even to this day I still don't often do that. SMW was special, and it made a huge impact. Every Mario game I played after has to stack up against it.
Beautiful documentary, Norman. Thank you.
The F-Zero music was so hyped back then too!
Just asking, have you ever played any SMW ROM hacks? There are a plethora of hacks that just add a lot more to the game, some funny, some remaining true to the original.
Never have I been brought to tears so simply by a game revisiting. I knew that Super Mario world was special to me but I didn't realize how much I missed it in my heart until I heard that closing music and realized how many memories I had connected to it. It was one of the first games that I had played on my own, sitting in front of an old CRT TV in my parents basement alone and frustrated about why Mario would keep on sliding after running when switching directions. Crying to my dad saying it's not fair and him laughing at my childish frustration then trying to show me how to do it. Then having my friends over, taking turns to see who could beat the level the fastest, or who had found a new shortcut. I don't think it's something that I've experienced so purely ecstatically since, even though Pokemon encouraged competition and sharing it was very grindy and less straightforward. This video really highlighted how far I've come and changed by conjuring these forgotten memories and feelings. Thank you for reviving these memories, it's given me motivation to hopefully pass these bittersweet memories to my son's, your efforts really shown through.
Glad I could take you on a trip down memory lane. Thanks Thomas!
I don't think I have ever commented on a TH-cam video before, but was thinking about it - and then I saw yours!
For me too, hearing that arrangement of the ending music over the credits really transported me back! It creates an intense feeling of nostalgia for innocent youth and a simpler time, not to mention the pure, unadulterated joy of having navigated this amazing game right through to the end.
Re your other comment, this year, I have started introducing my 6 year-old son to Super Nintendo classics (on my original machine) and naturally, we started with this one. Apart from the fact that I have barely played any console released within the last 25 years (since the N64), I'm sure this is probably THE best introduction to gaming for anyone!
*"This was my approach to Mario as well, but I want to make games that no matter how many times you clear them, you want to keep that game and hold onto it like a treasure. I want to keep making games with that mindset."* -Tezuka
Everyone has this single moment, an experience that sparked a kind of inspiration in them at a young age to continue to endeavor in that field for the rest of their lifetime. For me, Super Mario World was just that. I don't really have all the words to describe just how important SMW is to me personally. Not only is it my very first gaming experience, but with its incredibly charming, surreal imagery and unforgettable soundtrack the game absolutely captured my imagination, sucking me into a colorful new world that eventually led me to want to become an artist, a game designer, and a gamer at heart. I have this game to thank for that. It was maybe...1995 or so. I was 2 or 3 years old, young enough to barely understand what I was doing with a controller, and I practically taught myself how to use Mario and Yoshi's moves and how objects worked and whatnot. Beating Iggy for the first time was the first major sense of victory I ever experienced! I'll never forget it. Super Mario World made me who I am.
In the decades following, as we've all experienced playing through dozens and dozens of other, more technically advanced games since, I will never forget where that world all started for me. On the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the 90s. Thanks, Miyamoto, Tezuka, Kondo and co. for making this legendary game! Super Mario World is quite possibly the greatest video game of all time.
The same happens to me with SMB 3. Of course I still had the original cartridge, and it´s by far my most valuable gaming treasure!
Sean good to see you are a fan too here lol.
There was something about the SNES era that isn’t here anymore. The air, the scenes, the people, the culture, the environment and every bit of feeling of that time was great. There was value in friendship and games connected people. The nostalgic feeling watching this documentary over and over is overwhelming. It’s yesterday once again.
It was a transition to the disc era.
What you're remembering is your childhood my man, we all just grew up.
Yeah, it's called being a kid.
Definitely, and it's more than being a kid - it's called the internet, kids.
This documentary is a triumph of all the years you have spent creating content! I remember first watching your videos back in 2009. It is amazing the evolution of your talent. Like everyone, my life has had its ups and downs - watching a new video of yours brightens up my day. Thanks for the memories, especially how I think back to Christmas 1991 and playing Super Mario World with my cousin for hours on end.
Appreciate the kind words and support!
@@GamingHistorian I wish I could afford to spare a few bucks for you because you do deserve it. But I will add to the praise nonetheless. This was an hour of me just not worrying about life, and that is a gift these days.
Awesome
Never played a super Nintendo in my life but still loved this documentary. This is better than history channel documentaries. If only Norman could get a deal with obs or abc or something, but then again who watches TV anymore.
@@henrybierman8431 if you have a pc/laptop, even not a very good one, you can play an emulator for this game
I still, STILL play the hell out of this game and I’m 40 next month. This game is just sublime and is one of my favourites of all time alongside Mario 3, Mortal Kombat 2 and Donkey Kong Country.
Brilliant, brilliant work on the video , Historian. Your detail is incredible.
Happy early birthday!
@@Efferheim Thanks!
I just got it on gameboy advance SP & forgot how amazing it was playing on SNES when I was a kid! the music, levels are perfect
Same here, I still play it on my original Super NES I bought in ‘91 (and on my GBA, lol) on a old Sony Trinatron CRT television; and it’s just so good. I turned 41 this year and I can easily see me *still* playing it at 61 and beyond!
Donkey Kong Country is the absolute best! I still replay through that every once in a while.
Man, This documentary is one of the best I’ve seen on TH-cam. I would love to see one about The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past or Ocarina of Time. They are one of the best Zelda games and I would love to see something like this for the Zelda series.
I've watched this 4 times now. Your videos are the best gaming documentaries anywhere. I love them so much
It’s amazing to watch this and think “I was one of those kids who was anticipating this game.” It really does feel strange to be a part of history after the fact.
This is one of those game you'll never get tired of playing and beating. It's still fun til this day. A true masterpiece.
I agree, I'm just disappointed by how easy it is as a adult. It was somewhat challenging As a 6 or 7 year old where getting extra lives matter, I played it about 2 years ago again and it was so so easy, I still love it.
The Cape kills the game. The game execpt for a hand full of levels is too easy . You definitely had more fun playing it as a kid . Mario maker 2 really let's you play levels you wished existed
@@mrtree1368 “why does this children’s game I’ve been playing for 30 years not challenge me like it does 8 year olds in the early 90s?”
@@harrylane4 Don't be snarky it's a legit criticism, just compare it to Mario 3 that game is still a good challenge today and I prefer it to Mario World
@@rynomclaughlin1595 no its not lol, do you guys who say this have grandma reflexes? Mario games are not hard, period.
Your documentaries are soooo well written and edited. Thanks for the great content, man!
ITS A ME A MARIO
@@gone6442 No one cares
@@philithegamer8265 so does your keyboard
Your welcome
Yes I hope one day he is hired by BBC
What a moment in time for an entire generation. I don’t think kids today get to experience the same joy that came with getting a whole new game system. For my brother and me, we had to wait until summer of 1992. My dad told us he would get us either an SNES or a Genesis if we read 50 books between the two of us. We couldn’t initially decide between the two until a kid in our karate class was gushing about Super Mario World. My dad took us to KB Toys in the mall and bought us the SNES with Super Mario World. We didn’t know until later in life how much of a financial sacrifice this was to our parents. I still remember the smell of the hardware when we opened the box. When we first turned on Super Mario World, I was blown away just by the intro screen. I remember how much the new music and sound effects added to the depth of the game versus Nintendo games. The fact that so many 40 somethings still love all of the original 4 Mario games is a testament to how much love the creators had for their product. @GamingHistorian, thank you for this video. Nice work!
I know im late on discovering your channel but about 3 weeks ago I went to Greece to do work for the Navy for a month and not long after I arrived I had appendicitis and my appendix burst so I ended up stuck in a hospital for over 2 weeks in a foreign country. During that time I discovered your channel and watched a ton of your past videos. Thanks for making my time stuck in a foreign hospital less depressing you really have something special with this channel and I look forward to continuing watching your latest videos.
Man this game tested my little hands as a kid lol One of the most impactful games of my childhood 💘
I'm 38 and just replayed it.
My thumbs hurt.
@@irishbob26 Yeah, that D-pad was super tough on the thumb 🤣!
Amen! Same here! Even to this day, I still play it and just love exploring it! ❤️❤️💯💯
This game has given me PTSD on the word "tubular"
I literally cringe every time I hear it. That stage was brutal to begin with and add in being 6 years old and you have a recipe for lifelong trauma
It's funny, I feel like I would play this game for weeks / months as a kid and not find everything. Now I can 100% it in two sessions. Maybe I"ve just memorized everything.
Some of my fondest memories as a kid were playing SMW with my mom. She used to be quite the artist; she would draw all the Mario characters and I would hang them up in my room. Such great memories make SMW one of my favorite games of all time and one of the biggest reasons I got into playing rom hacks. Awesome video, you've done it again.
You probably have one of the coolest moms ever. 😍
It’s so cool your mom drew those. Do you still have them?
Are you lying?
@@MaxOakland Unfortunately, no. :(
@@philithegamer8265 why would you say something so rude and weird?
I fell in love with Super Mario because of my eldest son's early love for the earliest game. I have the greatest memories of watching him play all the Mario games on every Nintendo system I ever bought for him for his birthday, for Christmas, or because he earned a game for doing well in school. The nostalgia of the classic tune makes me harken back to those days of just sitting back, watching him play those then "simple" games as he sat on the floor in front of the TV screen, with his remote in hand, entranced by the visuals. He had some serious learning difficulties, and the games gave him some great hand eye coordination... and me the pleasure of watching him feel successful at completing the stages of the game. Since I've never played electronics, I have no real idea how to talk about it, but I hope that I've come across clearly here. Super Mario ROCKS! Woohoooo! Long live Mario - and his brother Luigi! And may my son - actually two since then, now in their 30s and 40s, forever enjoy their gaming. If that's what keeps them young at heart, then so be it. ❤ 🤗
I'm so happy you stick to your when-it's-done release schedule. The quality and time spent really stands out.
%100!
What a wonderful treat! Only part-way through so far, but the quality is incredible!
I am the most famous man on YouTub! This is not bragging! This is the truth! The truth will set you free, dear ff
Oh hey it’s FF Union! 👋
@@AxxLAfriku Hope you seek therapy soon, mate
Two of my favorite creators commenting on one of my favorite channels!
@@ColtonMiller6012 more like they need a nice padded room with a nice white coat that makes them hug themselves.
Mario World's sound design is brilliant. The use of reverb and percussion gives actions more impact and enhances the game feel in a way I don't think any other game could do that effectively before.
Whenever I hear either the title screen music or overworld music I feel like I am transported back 30 years walking around the corner of K-Mart toward the electronics department and hearing the SNES kiosk in the distance......magical......I miss those days
"The strength of a video system is the software". What a powerful understanding of what became an obvious view.
I think a lot game publishers could relearn this lesson. They depend way to much on shallow graphical macguffins and not nearly enough on story, design and soundtrack.
The impact Super Mario World had on everyone, gamer or not, is indescribable. That's what I would have said before I saw this documentary. By the end of it I was moved and I had to grab my copy and start playing again. Thank you!
so it wasn't just me who had to go show my SNES love again after the feels this awesome video gave me!
Same here. It is my favorite game of all times.
Im 36 and been playing since i was about 5 i think.
Dumba**. 😆🤦🏼♂️
Same. Even the GBA remakes made me feel like a kid again and I wanted to play the game again.
I'm 49, I've never played a Mario game and it's made zero impact upon my life whatsoever.
I didn't know I was getting into when I clicked on this, this is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen, not a bit of stock footage, no filler. It's perfect.
I love Super Mario World so much it hurts. I still remember being a tiny child and getting the Super Nintendo bundle for Christmas. I will always cherish this game and the Super Nintendo. ❤
Same ✌️
I got the bundle together with Super Mario World and the Super GameBoy😍😍😍 Good memories
Yessssssss! My bundle came with Super Mario World and Street Fighter II! Then, my mom and dad also got DK Country for me and my sister. Some of the best memories. Can't forget NES and Mario 1, 2 & 3. 2 & 3 were my favorite ones ever. Ducktales, Castlevania and Contra were right next in line ❤
I remember playing this and my brother remarked that the music responded to gameplay. When Mario hops on Yoshi there is a layer of bongos that's added to the music! In time to the music. Hop off and the music layer stops. I was amazed at that detail and it just goes to show: They worked so many little details into this game
First all-nighter I had was with a friend playing Super Mario world. Will never forget it. Seeing the artwork in the instructions book that came along brings back so many memories. Remember how awesome it was when you first discovered the sta rroad?! The top secret area in the Donut ghost house? The music in Vanilla Dome or Valley of Bowser?! Damn it I wanna play now!
Those were magical times my friend
One more fact Chinese bootleg developers take this game very seriously and the Hummer Team made Super Mario World whole game from scratch for nes 😅😅😅.
i remember playing SMW, eating Dominoes pizza, and drinking Mountain Dew at my friend’s house when i was like 7 - i’d do anything to go back
Remember when you first saw the commercial on TV, before you even knew who Yoshi was, and then you see Mario riding a blue Yoshi and it spits out the three fireballs. For me, seeing that for the first time was just like 🤯
SMW was unbelievable. Like SMB3 was mind-blowing in its own right and then SMW came out and honestly it was more revolutionary than playing in true 3D when the 64 came out.
Absolutely phenomenal video. Your dedication to research is astounding. I watched the video in its entirety and having lived through the NES/SNES myself, this brought back so many videos. Thank you!
Right!?
Some of my best childhood memories are centered around this game(and a Link to the Past, Pocky&Rocky, Super Metroid, etc) and rocking out w/my cousins on their SNES. I had the Genesis, but I always wanted the SNES instead.. I digress, much love and appreciation for Norman's work, truly👍
so lucky i was born in 97 so by the time i was 6 there was ps1/2 but i remember going to my older bros house n he had super mario all stars n i played tf outta that and mario kart , so now im adult i made my own 80s n 90s playing all the nes n snes games hahaha
@@sleevelessace it's awesome that you got to experience all those different eras of games -not only that, but you got to enjoy them w/your Bro and create awesome memories!
Theres something to be said about all these classic/"retro" games & consoles... that despite their graphical limitations, sound capabilities and simple controls, they're STILL fun, entertaining, and appreciated across several generations of people. Even the young'uns who aren't connected to them through nostalgia still enjoy the 'pick up&play' nature of the classic systems... and then there's ppl like me: born in 86, got my first NES for Xmas 1990, beat the Legend of Zelda @5yrs old, and STILL play those games from my childhood on that original NES from 1990.. only now I share those classics with my own kids.
Completely agreed. You could even say absolutely phenomenal is underselling how great this video was.
@@sleevelessace b
Amazing 👏🏻 👏🏻. I’m 35 now (born in 1987), and this is literally my childhood. If I think too deeply, it makes me kind of sad 😢… a much simpler time, indeed
My absolute favorite Mario game ever. I have completed all 96 levels I dunno how many times. It's a timeless classic, the secret exits, the music, star road and the special area. Not to mention the soundtrack. It's a masterpiece!
Over an hour into this doc I thought to myself “how could this be any better?”
Then Clint LGR did a quote. That’s how. This doc is incredible and I love every moment
i thought i was crazy for hearing LGRs voice but i checked the credits and yea its him alright
YES! The Gaming Historian is back with another History of a Mario Game episode, this will be a good one, keep up the great work Norm :)
I agree, I already know it's going to be great.
@@codyeveryday5432 Now we just need a documentary on the first Super Mario Bros. game
@@James-gj8rn i think we do have it
This is hands down the best Nintendo documentary I have seen in my entire life. Huge video game fan. I'm 44 now and getting those memories back is awesome along with tones of things I didn't know. Cheers!
Same. Sounds and feels like a PBS documentary... which I think is what Norm was going for!
43 next May!
Me too. It's nice to relive a time I didn't get to enjoy as a kid.
When I look back, Sega was once promising and wonderful, until it used Sonic the hedgehog. Sonic was boring. Collecting rings and doing spins was lame. It was basically a video pinball game. After Sonic, its commercials and games became some weird creation that drugged-out male executives at Sega imagined teenage kids would find appealing. Whoever did the commercials and box design was on PCP and meth and coke. I'm betting they were single, white, coked-out, horny men who didn't have children or families and were out of touch with reality. From 1993 to 1996, Sega was so bad that they just hemorrhaged money. The same applied to 3DO and Atari. Nintendo and Sony were smart not to go the route of these people. If Sega had held onto it's design and image from 1989 and 1990, they would have dominated video games and still be strong. But having 3 versions of Genesis and too late to release the Nomad, it was useless. Sonic sucked. And not including a six-button controller was stupid. Sega had wonderful games. It was advanced. But having peripheral after peripheral and wires galore was ridiculous. And not partnering with Sony was stupid. In the end, it became Atari, an antiquated machine trying to hold onto the past. Nintendo did the same thing with the NES from 1991 to 1994.
@@alexandernelson647 based take
@@alexandernelson647 Umm I don't know...I know plenty of people whose next favorite game is Sonic after Mario including me.
Every couple years I play through Super Mario world, and wow it really does hold up well. What an incredible game. Thanks for making this video.
This game is the masterpiece of my childhood, I know all the secrets of this game and I'm sure I will never forget it
Same. This and DKC. I will never ever forget.
I learned so much from this video. It extremely elucidating.
The history of the NES-SNES transition makes me want to learn more about the history of Kirby's Adventure. It was a sprawling exclusive epic developed for a console everyone else had abandoned for dead. Evidently, Sakurai and Iwata over at HAL didn't get the memo that the Famicom was outmoded hardware with "fuzzy graphics".
This is one of the best documentaries I've seen in ages! So much looking forward to one about A Link to the Past!
Glad you enjoyed it!
If people were upset about a console refresh they would've had a hard time today
True, but games improved. Today there are only cheap remakes. nothing original anymore. gaming has gone into a coma. It needs a revival.
@@DrSlick"only cheap remakes" is a bit of a blanket statement, don't you think?
@@DrSlickindie games are the future man. Nintendo and some medium-sized game studies like From are continuing to make really quality games, but now indie developers are stepping forwards to add to the medium. Celeste and Hollow Knight, Hades, etc. are incredible. The tools to make games have evolved (for lower price points as well), and understanding of game design has as well.
Honestly I'm still upset about that. PS4 Pro and Xbox One X/S were a bad idea. Now when a new console releases, I ask myself if I should wait for the mid-gen refresh or Oled model, or maybe a few months to get a highest capacity hd upgrade, etc. Before Sony and Nintendo pretty much were guaranteed to get my money everytime they release a new console. Now I wait and see. This new trend can backfire. The customer doesn't feel rewarded for brand loyalty anymore. It's a bad thing for the gaming industry.
It's not so bad. I grew up in the NES era, and even back then I knew older players claiming that "it was better before (when people met in the arcades, etc.)" There's still a lot of creativity in gaming and not only in the indie scene. Dark Souls was incredibly creative for example. Nier Automata was also inspired. Although I'll give you that one thing I really hate in nowadays is that most games start very slow with a boring 40 min+ tutorial. I really miss jumping straight into the action and learning the buttons/mechanics as I go. In most cases the extended tutorials are really not necessary. I believe I missed quite a few excellent games because I quit like 5 min after I'm done with the tutorial. It turns me off completely and I never pick the game again.@@DrSlick
My main man Norm. I’m in dire need of a Mario 64 documentary. I’ve tried watching some other creators versions. But the level of detail you provide, research, and behind the scenes information is incredible. I have watched this video at least 5 times!
Big fan
Maybe not about Mario 64 in particular, but I recommend you check out Classic Gaming Quarterly, especially his console launch retrospectives, as well following years after console release.
It's a tech demo, the game has no substance
One of my most memorable games playing as a kid with my friends. Thank you for the trip down memory lane!
Before video: "1 hour 18? I'm not watching all that". After video: "Well that was one of the best hour and 18 minutes I've spent in the last week". Absolutely wonderful, TV broadcast worthy level of production. Thanks for putting many big smiles on my face and multiple exclamations of "oh my god I remember that!"
You are the true boss man! Love your videos to death! This is the quality we strive to reach one day! BIG FAN!
Man I'm tearing up, I'd do anything to be a kid again and play through this for the first time. My brother and I probably spent 100s of hours in this game, and it always felt like there was more to find.
I have depression an at times I will sit outside, look to the sky an dream of the days of hanging with the boys, playing SNES, chasing the ice cream truck, an riding our bikes farther an farther away from our homes. Oh early 90s, you were the best.
@@SpAzArDoUs1 Yeah, can relate to this so much it's not even funny. I honestly think that it was peak social evolution....far enough along that we had phones and easy ways to stay in touch, but no so far along that we had social media and texting, and the constant expectation of being immediately available.
I hope when I die , I get to replay those years that you are speaking of.
look at kaizo mario, it is difficult hacks of super mario world. people generate their own levels and it's fun to learn all the secrets hidden in the game engine
@@TheLikesofMehminus your dad leaving, right?
I remember having dreams about getting a SNES for Christmas when I was in 4th grade. Had one every night pretty much. When I opened it on Christmas it was literally a dream come true and Mario World was the game I played most. Definitely a defining moment in my childhood, and so many other people's as well. Thanks for making this it was a nostalgia parade!
Dude, wtf. This should be on Netflix or something.
Just wow.
There aren't enough serial killers in it to be considered Netflix material.
But it's on TH-cam where you can watch it without paying a crummy subscription fee and millions of people have gotten to enjoy it that way. I don't know why people hold Netflix in such high regard.
@@roskelld You're right.
@@ramingr I totally get the sentiment of your post, this documentary is as professional as it gets and easily competes with any studio effort. It totally deserves all the praise it's getting.
It would be great to rid ourselves of using platforms like Netflix as a standard bearer for quality when I think there's more than enough content on this and other platforms to show that creators don't need that kind of backing or permission to make wonderful content we can all enjoy.
@@roskelld Dude, i was being serious. I do see your point.
Hands down, the game that made me a gamer. I loved this game SO much that I found a "normal nintendo" as I called it as a kid sealed back up in its box in a closet with the games Mario bros and super Mario bros 2. I loved Super Mario world so much that I decided I wanted to play these older version and boy am I glad I did, Super Mario bros 2 (Doki Doki Panic) was one of my all time fav games at the time along with SNES super Mario world. I played lots of games but these ones really held a special place in my heart (along with Donkey Kong), There is even an old VHS of me as a kid jumping on a fake mushroom as a kid (looked the same as the games) and making the sound when you grow big. Then my parents somehow as poor as we were, were able to BUY a family nintendo 64 and it was the last gift they let me open. I screamed, I cried I DIDNT EVEN CARE THERE WAS NO GAMES.. Then they told me to go look upstairs in the closet and Super Mario 64 was there rented from a blockbuster cause they couldn't afford the console and the game at the same time. That was and will forever be the best Christmas memory I have ever had.
Super Mario World remains my all-time favorite platformer. Great job as usual!
Same I played that game for years. Lost count how many times I clocked it.
Think I used to speed run it before speed running was a thing.
Dude I can't stand you Patrick
I cant ever decide if I like SMW better or DKC they are both so damn good.
Having grown up a Sega kid, and so I didn't get to play any mario game until I was in my 20s, I honestly think Mario 3 is easily a better game than SMW. SMW feels rushed, and it was. It was half the length of mario 3 and so it's over before it really even feels like it started, you just blast through it in half an hour or whatever, and then the game is over. It's a bit too easy as well
It's kind of a minor criticism really because it's still an amazing game and is better than 99% of all games. But just with the high standards of the Mario series, SMW feels like a step backwards somewhat. They really should have made a super Mario World 2. I know they did, but super Mario World 2 is a Mario game in name only, it plays nothing like the other games in the series from both before and after, and quickly was turned into it's own spinoff series as soon as the n64 came out, and to this day they keep releasing those games, but they're called the Yoshi games, not the Mario games
It's no wonder that super Mario World has the most romhacks of any video game. And it's because it was so so short, and it was the only game with they engine we ever got. People desperately want more
I dunno whether it's a nostalgia thing for some people. That's why I mentioned I didn't play them until my mid 20s. I have no nostalgia for any of them
@@duffman18
Yes Mario world is definitely easier than the previous games, but it's better quality game
I’ve always liked Super Mario World, it’s fun and cool game. I used to play it back on my 3DS using the Virtual Console there. One of the best Mario games ever tbh.
I remember my Super Nintendo bundled with Super Mario. That game made you excited to wake up early on a Saturday, because I wasn't allowed to play it all night on school nights. No other game had the same replayability, and vast amount of discovery long after you beat the last boss. Super memories for a super game and console
I love Super Mario World. It ties with Super Mario 3 as the quintessential 2D Mario game for me.
I can't decide between either
Same but for me as a kid of the 00s I grew up with these as two of my best GBA games along side Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, Pokemon Fire Red, the port of link to the past and loz Minish Cap
Mario 3 was an incredible leap in getting the most out of the aging NES hardware. Mario World is a masterclass in design, art and game feel. Don't think there has ever been a 2D mario that has been as responsive coupled with the fantastic SNES controllers.
I personally like SMB3 better. I recently played through 3 and World and 3 is definitely better, in a few ways World seems like a step back.
One thing I find better in Mario 3 is the importance of lives. Super Mario World was kind of when it was becoming apparent that lives were an archaic holdover from arcade games. You were able to replay levels if you wish, but one problem with this is you can just life-scum the entire game, and it's also the only way to be sure you can finish a level without the risk of being sent back to the last save point. Since then, there have been so many games with such an obvious exploit. In Mario 3, a finished level couldn't be replayed, making the act of exploring every part of the level all the more important in order to progress.
That said, one massive quality of life improvement was a save system. Mario 3 was honestly too long for a game that asked you to beat it in one sitting. World is bigger with much more content, but you're able to save your progress, and turning the system off no longer erases what you've accomplished. It feels so nice to just have an addition like that; gets rid of the anxiety completely.
This game, more than any other game, holds a special place in my heart.
I just tested up at this comment
This. I WISH I could truly explain how this game makes me feel...
as a game designer, this was such an inspirational video. Hearing how and why they designed super mario world reminds me of the reason i wanted to make games to begin with. especially hearing the part about games being a playground you want to go back to over and over.
I grew up in the 90s (born April of 90'). And i absolutely have tons of memories playing Super Mario World with my best friend and my older sister. It was a fantastic game, very well made without question. With that said I always enjoyed Super Mario 3 more for some reason. Its just a more fun game to play, just in my humble opinion. It seems like the limitations forced more creative solutions in Super Mario Bros 3.
You should really be given an award as a documentarian, another stand out documentary, hopefully it's not another 2 years before the Super Mario 64 installment lol, I will be keeping an eye out.
I was literally thinking he deserved an "award" as I glanced down too see your comment.
@@bluecafe509 Sure you were /s
Thank you for the countless hours of entertainment. Entertainment and Inspiration. Some of my favorite content of all time is right here on The Gaming Historian.
Totally agree one of the best documentary channels on TH-cam.
Did you give him $4.99 through here?? How?
@@RobertWrightOneManCovers there's a heart icon with a dollar sign in it under the video next to other icons like share. Press that heart icon to give him money
@@MentalLiberation Thank you!
Omgoodness! I'm so excited to watch this! I've been watching the History of Tetris over and over.
You do phenomenal work Norman, keep it up!
I've just seen this video / documentary for the first time and the quality of it blew me away - let alone the level of research and fun facts. Brilliant work. Thank you so much for this.
Thank you so much the time and effort,you or your team put into this. I was filled with so much nostalgia and so much interesting info that blew my mind. You have hours great content thanks so much
Glad you enjoyed it!
Played it on release, and it changed my world, still to this day, a top 5 of all time game on my list. It's so good, not only is it totally playable for a new generation of gamers, but it still holds up as a solid 10/10, 33 years later!
I've watched this 3 times in the last week. The nostalgia, the information and the memories of these old games plus the hype for the new stuff on the horizon back then is just pure comfort food for me while I am working. Amazing video and so well put together!
It certainly was. This was phenomenal
1:06:33 As these people toured around the country, I wonder how many of them would go to their hotel room after work, lock the door, close the blinds and play SMW until 2am.
I don't know why every time i watch a video by you, i end on the verge of tears, by seeing how important gaming has been for so many people. The work and utmost respect that you have when talking about this games and consoles, brings joy to my soul in a level I can't fully grasp.
Thanks.
The quality of your content is that good that it could easily be shown as a documentary on any Documentary TV Channel. And no one would notice that there are no 100 people working on it in the background. This is just great.
Credits: Am I a joke to you!?
@@LaNoir. Dear Credits: we both know that most people are not interested in you. You need to face it to feel better. 😉
Imagine being the guy Yoshi was named after. What a Legend.
You think that’s crazy, imagine being Mario Segale.
@@rruhland You think that's crazy, imagine being god and named after Chuck Norris
@@arksin11Being named Yoshi >>>>>> Being named Chuck Norris
*Girl
@@Mari_Izu " UhM, aChKuLLy, "gUy" iN tHAt cOnText Is a GeNdEr NeUtRal TeRm,,,,"
I wish Norman had more videos, but then I realize amount of work and craft he puts into every video. Can’t wait for the next one
Shigeru Miyamoto and that entire generation of developers deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for blessing us with such a unique barrier breaking medium.
I thought about your comment, initially thinking it was silly. But god damn you are right. They've bought so much happiness and developed a world wide network of enthusiasts.
his generation are true legends.
though i am old now but have to admit, the young people now at nintendo are realy talented.
i think nintendo has formed again a great young team, it is very hard to think of a total new mario game with new caracters outside tradition, you need realy people who love what they are doing and love the company, and ofcourse managment that can let go of old ideas.
gues miyamoto is getting older and let them create👏
@@chrisc475 - Me too. Thought it was silly at first and then thought how right he is.
@@stonecodfish2365new from Nintendo: World Peace (requires a paid subscription)
I never thought it was silly and think it is amazing idea!
Awesome documentary, very thoroughly and carefully researched. Extremely insightful. I always love watching your content, without a shadow of doubt you're the one and only Gaming Historian. I learned a bunch of stuff I never knew before about one of my (if not *my*) favorite games ever, and one of the SNES killer apps. I loved playing SMW as a child and I still love to play it as an adult. It's most certainly one of the reasons why the SNES/SFC is my favorite console ever. It is undoubtedly a masterpiece.
Looking at how SMW changed from that initial prototype was very interesting to see, I love the all-new direction the developers went with the final game though I really like those proto sprites too.
I absolutely love Cape Mario and how you have complete freedom to fly over the levels once you master it. It's a bit of a shame Tanooki Mario was cut but I completely understand it, the only way you could do something similar with it is with the P-Wing.
Takashi Tezuka is indeed the unsung hero of the Mario series and many other Nintendo games. It's too bad nobody online seems to ever talk about him. Looking at it another way, he truly is the Luigi to Shigeru Miyamoto's Mario.
It also caught my eye how Tezuka took the criticisms the SMW prototype received to heart and changed SMW from being too similar to SMB3. Clearly an excellent decision that completely paid off. Same with the "Evolutionary, Not Revolutionary" quote. SMW was indeed the next evolution of what Mario was before.
It's a shame how it seems Nintendo appears to have forgotten about these design philosophies over time and more recently made some games extremely similar to one another as far as 2D Mario games go. Of particular note, NSMB2 was extremely similar to NSMBW to the point of reusing all sort of assets (Graphics, Music and Gameplay) from it, just with a coat of gold and adding nothing new, which I think it's such a shame, because it made people think the NSMB series has always been this extremely unoriginal thing while NSMB2 is the one only game that reinforced that notion and forever tainted the NSMB series reputation.
The first NSMB was an amazing game that had unique powerups, bosses, and an all-new soundtrack. It also brought 3D Mario gameplay (Triple Jumps, Wall Jumps, Ground Pounds, etc.) to 2D Mario, and afterwards NSMBW added true multiplayer, which was one of the longstanding dreams of Miyamoto, and it was awesome too. It also brought back the Spin Jump (and added the little spin jump AKA Twirl) from SMW and Yoshi for the most complete the 2D Mario gameplay up to that point. Personally I consider them both worthy successors to SMW. NSMBU is a great game too, and, even though it is also derivative from NSMBW, nowhere as much as NSMB2 and it still had a good amount of new music, levels, and Powerups, the (P-Wing) Flying Squirrel Suit. It also added new characters in the form of Nabbit and Peachette in NSMBUDX. And it was cool how it had a 3D SMW-style Map and brought back the Baby Yoshis. I'd love if they made a full-fledged game using the new characters (especially Peach and Daisy) along with their gameplay mechanics that Super Mario Run introduced as well.
Similarly, the Super Mario Land games were amazing for their time too and added series mainstays Daisy and Wario.
Super Mario Maker is awesome and it certainly made a dream a reality for both developers and us fans, and I love seeing all of those rom hacks too along with SMW in HD/widescreen but I would love another new 2D Mario/NSMB game in the future because they have potential to be worthy successors to SMW.
Also the decision Hiroshi Yamauchi made with making SMW a launch title was a great one and undoubtedly the right one. He completely knew what costumers wanted for the SNES/SFC launch and that led to us getting the masterpiece SMW is, but it's interesting to see how in juxtaposition NSMBU didn't make much of a difference as a launch title when the Wii U launched (which was Satoru Iwata following in Yamauchi's footsteps but didn't work that one time due to various different reasons). How the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch didn't have a Mario game as a launch title were interesting decisions in retrospective too.
Finally, after the 90s Console Wars, which gave us some gems like Sega does what Nintendon't or NOT on 32x Adapters/NOT on SEGA/Only on Super NES, there will always be something inherently funny about having Sega Genesis games on the NSO and VC.
Masterpiece, this documentary was to the level of the game it was talking about.
I’ll never forget playing this for the first time. I miss it so much, it was so much fun to explore and find the secret exits
A fantastic and well made documentary that truly made me feel like a kid again. I could feel my 5 year old self anticipating this 16 bit treasure as you were describing the build up to Mario world's launch in America. I haven't truly felt that way in a long time. Thank you.
I think I am going to go play some mario world now.
Thank you so much!
That's touching. Hope you had a good play that day.
Generous!
Thanks so much for all the work you did on this. This was like reliving my childhood, and getting to step back in history and re-experiencing everything that made Nintendo in the 90s great was a feeling I would pay any amount for.
My pleasure!
The game’s soundtrack is my very definition of “Nostalgia!”
Many Mario games continue to come out….But this game will always be immortal!!
Great video as always. The amount of research that goes into these is quite impressive. A video like this for A Link to the Past would be awesome.
As someone whose first gaming experience (that I can recall anyway) was a 3D console (64), I remember having a hard time caring about 2D games as a kid. Nothing in the style really held my attention until I tried SMW after our family picked up a SNES with it and a couple other games at a garage sale around the new millennium. The art style, music, over world, secrets, characters, and just overall presentation really left an impression on me that no other title before SM64 was able to. Although of course I've been able to comfortably revisit all eras of retro games from the NES onwards as a teen/adult, I still think SMW is a very special title that oozes charm and creativity, and is easily my favorite 2D Mario game, if not 2D platformer in general.
Amazing job as usual here, consistent quality of this degree (especially for free) can't be commended enough.
My experience was the opposite. I grew up on NES and SNES titles, so the transition to 3D games represented a real learning curve for me. In retrospect, I'm hugely nostalgic about both Mario 64 as well and Super Mario World.