SUPER MARIO WORLD
Super Mario World was the Mario series' first major title for the SNES system, and its only mainline game depending on how you count Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The game, much like many Mario mainline games, is considered to be among the best games ever made and introduced many important concepts that would persist in the Mario series for years to come, the most important of which has to be the introduction of Mario's dinosaur pal, Yoshi.
Once again, Mario and Luigi return as our protagonists, once again both bearing the same abilities and movesets as each other. They retain moves such as jumping, throwing fireballs, and invincibility from a Starman, alongside newer abilities. First, of course, they can ride Yoshi, but I think Yoshi deserves to be his own character. Then comes the Super Cape, which is fairly similar to the Raccoon ability from before, allowing the player to fly and flick enemies with the cape. This becomes the basis for Mario's forward B move in Smash, so I'd say it's fair to include. We also see the introduction of the spin jump, the basis for Luigi's and Dr. Mario's (and once upon a time, Mario's) Down B. Finally we have the Power Balloon, which can inflate Mario and allow him to float across the stage.
As for Yoshi, he gives us several abilities to work with. First up is his iconic maneuver of eating his enemies with his long tongue, although his ability to turn them into eggs hasn't been conceived of quite yet. He then has three additional abilities, each represented by his alternate color palettes in the game. First is the ability to breathe out a trio of fireballs, second, the ability to fly using a pair of wings, and third, the ability to hit the ground, kicking up a damaging cloud of dust. And of course, we can't forget Baby Yoshi, which is little more than an item Mario can use to eat all enemies before him.
Princess Toadstool and Bowser both return for this game, the princess once again doing very little in terms of anything we can actually work with for our purposes. Bowser, however, debuts the use of his Koopa Klown Kar, an item which will eventually form the basis for Bowser Jr.'s moveset in current Super Smash Bros. The Klown Kar allows Bowser to fly around above the stage, drop a cannonball called a Big Steelie, toss out Mechakoopas, and reign down fire upon the stage. All of this gives us strong possibilities.
All seven Koopalings return, each offering up potential moves, but still not enough to warrant them being separated out as individuals. Iggy and Larry's fights consist of them charging at Mario to knock him off the platform, spinning in their shells, and breathing fire. Ludwig's fight uses much of the same moves. Roy and Morton demonstrate the ability to walk up the wall before slamming back down on top of Mario, and Wendy and Lemmy travel between pipes and have a set of doubles of themselves to trick Mario. All of this gives us a lot of options.
As for the enemy characters, we have a number of returning veterans. First, we have the Goombas, or at least what might be a separate species called Galoombas, but which are functionally the same, and their winged offshoot Paragoomba returns as well. Koopas return, as well as their offshoots, such as Paratroopas and Dry Bones, alongside Hammer Bros., who can now float around on winged platforms, Sumo Bros., capable of kicking up fire blasts with a stomp (sounds like a Down B if I ever saw one), and Magikoopas, tricksters able to teleport and cast spells that turn blocks and items into enemies. Simply because of Kamek's existence, I will say yes to the Magikoopas, even though they don't have enough to work with yet. (I seem to be racking up a lot of those).
Lakitus return, this time with the ability to hide in pipes instead of floating around on a cloud, and the ability to fish using an item. Buzzy Beetles return as well, with a skeletal, spiky offshoot in Bony Beetle, and the Spike Top, which I'm pretty sure is the missing link between them and Spinies. Ninjis from Super Mario Bros. 2 make a surprise return, still just jumping really. Boos also return, doing much the same as before, but now with abilities such as flying in lines or circles and turning into blocks. Not much to work with but its there. Piranha Plants can fly up into the air now, surely the basis for their Up B in Ultimate. Cheep Cheeps still simply swim forward, though they might have cousins in the Blurps (which also just swim) and the Rip Van Fish (which sleeps until awoken). They also get a skeletal offshoot in the Fishbones. Bob-Ombs are still Bob-Ombs, Pokeys are still Pokeys, Bullet Bills are still Bullet Bills (though sometimes massive), and Thwomps have little babies called Thwimps now.
Now for the new enemies! Being set in Dinosaur Land, apparently, the game comes with a grand total of THREE dinosaur based enemies: Rex, a carnivorous dinosaur that walks forward, Dino Rhino, a triceratops-y creature that walks forward (but with babies that breathe fire), and Reznor, a bigger triceratops-y creature that stands in one place and breathes fire.
After them, we have the introduction of Chargin' Chuck, another possible Koopa offshoot, who did surprisingly well at offering up a moveset this time around. He can barrel forward with a shoulder thrust, demolishing anything in his path, toss baseballs and footballs around, jump in the air and clap his hands, and use a shovel to dig up large boulders. Weirdly enough, Koopa's sports-loving cousin is surprisingly versatile. Then we have Monty Moles, which are similar to Rocky Wrenches in that they are moles who pop out of the ground, except that Monty doesn't throw wrenches. He just kind walks around. Eeries are a new kind of ghost creature that doesn't do much. Wigglers are giant caterpillars that walk around but get angry if stomped on. Swoopers are basically bats. Fuzzies are little black fuzzy things that circle a platform or follow a line, and Lil' Sparkies and Hotheads are basically the same thing except on fire. Torpedo Teds are Bullet Bills but underwater, I guess. And finally Blarggs are giant lava monster that like to lunge at anything close by.
As far as stages go, Super Mario World's levels, much like Super Mario Bros. 3, are separated out into seven easily definable zones: Yoshi's Island, which is pretty basic fare and the basis for the Yoshi's Island stage from Melee; Donut Plains, which is also fairly basic fare; Vanilla Dome, which is literally a volcano; the Twin Bridges area, which speaks for itself; the Forest of Illusion, which I think may be the Mario series' first foray into a jungle theme; Chocolate Island, which is a kind of chocolate-colored canyon area; and Castle of Bowser, your standard Bowser's Castle type area. And of course we can't forget Star Road, the collection of bonus stages. I think all of these are acceptable.
Mostly, the items are mainly standard Mario fare. Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, and Starmen return, while Koopa Shells can now be used as items without the Koopa attached to them. We also see the introduction of the Feather, which gives Mario his cape, and the Power Balloon, which inflates Mario. All are fun.
Now, let's see what we've got.
Characters:
Mario: Jump, Fire Flower, Starman, Axe, Springs, Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet, Raccoon fly, flip tail, leap, swim faster, throw hammers, turn into statue, p-wing, ride Yoshi, flight with cape, flip cape, spin jump, inflate
Luigi: Echo of Mario, Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet, Raccoon fly, flip tail, leap, swim faster, throw hammers, turn into statue, p-wing, flight with cape, flip cape, spin jump, inflate
Bowser: Jumping, fireballs, hammers, minions, slamming down, Koopa Klown Kar, mechakoopas, rain fire, Big Steelie
Princess Toadstool: Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet, P-Wing, warp whistle, music box
Yoshi: eat enemies, fly, breathe fire, dust cloud, baby Yoshi
Toad: Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet, chest, card game, slot machine
Wart: spit bubbles, Phantos, reference character?
Koopalings: spin in shell, slam down, magic spell, bouncing ball, magic ring, climb walls, pipes, doubles, breathe fire
Birdo: jump, spit eggs, fireballs, drop crystal ball, Mask Gate
Boom Boom: swing fists, spikes, drop key, fly
Koopa: Shell Tuck, Shell Spin, Paratroopa Wings, Hammers?, outside of shell
Dry Bones: Echo of Koopa
Hammer Bros.: Jump, throw hammers, boomerangs, fire, sledgehammer, slam down, float on blocks, sumo stomp
Goomba/Galoomba: walk forward, Paragoomba, Mini-Goomba, pick up block, parachute
Shy Guy: Beezo wing, Beezo trident, Snifit pellet, ride Ostro, ride Autobomb
Lakitu: Float on cloud, throw Spinies, hide in pipes, fish
Magikoopa: teleport, magic spell, enemies into items
Chargin' Chuck: charge forward, baseballs, footballs, jump and clap, dig up boulders
Piranha Plant: Bite, walk, ptooie, breathe fire, float in the air
Buzzy Beetle: Para-Beetle, Buster Beetle, Bony Beetle
Blooper: float, fly, string of babies
Cheep Cheep: jump, Boss Bass, Big Bertha, Rip Van Fish, Porcu-Puffer
Spike: Cough up spike ball
Boo: swoop, turn invisible, move as a group, turn into block, Big Boo
Wigglers, Pokeys, Bob-Ombs, Rexes, Dino Rhinos, Reznors, Tweeters, Ninjis, Cobrats, Monty Moles, Rocky Wrenches, and Chain Chomps all tentative
Bosses:
Mouser: Throws bombs
Tryclyde: Breathes fire
Fryguy: Breathes fire, splits into smaller fryguys
Clawgrip: Throws rocks
Stages:
Mushroomy Kingdom
Mushroom Kingdom
Kingdom I
Mushroomy Kingdom (Underground)
Sky Plateau Stage
Mushroomy Kingdom (Underwater)
Fishing Bridge Stage
Giant Mushrooms Stage
Fortress Wall Stage
Bowser's Castle (SMB1)
Sky Stage
World 9 (Weird Stage)
World 1 (SMB2)
World 2 (SMB2)
World 3 (SMB2)
World 4 (SMB2)
World 5 (SMB2)
World 6 (SMB2)
World 7 (SMB2)
Grass Land
Desert Hill
Ocean Side
Big Island
The Sky
Iced Land
Pipe Maze
Bowser's Castle (SMB3)
Yoshi's Island
Donut Plains
Vanilla Dome
Twin Bridges
Forest of Illusion
Chocolate Island
Castle of Bowser
Star Road
Items:
Super Mushroom
Life Mushroom
Fire Flower
Starman
Fire Bar
Bullet Bill
Bullet Bill Blaster
Spring
Poison Mushroom
Vegetable
POW Block
Bomb
Bob-Omb
Shell
Timer
Door Potion
Egg
Rocket
Super Leaf
Frog Suit
Tanooki Suit
Hammer Suit
Kuriboh's Shoe
Warp Whistle
Music Box
P-Wing
Feather
Power Balloon
Thanks for reading! Next time, I'll be analyzing, and in some cases re-analyzing, every character we have so far, starting with an analysis and re-analysis of Mario, combining his new moves with his old moveset already established.
