Games 4-8
I wanted to go through the main line Super Mario games this year. It's been decades since I've played through many of them. I started with the early 2D games, Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World. Next will Be Super Mario 64, Sunshine galaxy and Galaxy 2. I might also give Odyssey another run depending on how this year goes.
Super Mario Bros. - Playthrough using no warps
It still blows my mind that this was the first console game I really played. For something this old it plays so well. The game is pretty barebones, a few secret warp areas, a couple powerups. Outside speedrunning there isn't a lot to do here outside blasting through stages. That said it set a solid foundation for a franchise that's still going to this day.
Super Mario Bros. 2 - Playthrough using no warps
This was one of my most-played games on the NES. The control is tighter than the first game, the music is great and so catchy people that I know who don't play video games recognize it when I whistle it, and the levels are much more complex with the lift/carry/throw mechanic, boss fights, super jumps, etc. Nintendo made a wise choice releasing this modified version of Doki Doki Panic in the west as Super Mario Bros. 2. It's been decades since I played this and I still remember every secret. Being able to use different characters was fun. Story time: As a kid my older brother and I had a combined birthday party since they're only days apart and we'd have more friends over at once. One of my brother's friends picked Princess Toadstool and another friend just ragged on him for picking a girl the entire time he was playing, just shit on the poor guy. Fast forward to his turn, he immediately picks Princess Toadstool.
Super Mario Bros. 3 - Playthrough completing all stages without P-wings
This is my favorite 2D Mario game, with Mario Wonder really close. The controls in this are among the tightest I've played in a 2D platformer, again with Wonder right behind it. The stages are bite-size but numerous and fun to explore. This really would have been a great portable game. Despite the number of stages, it never feels overwhelming, and I was always eager to jump into the next level. The powerups were a huge upgrade and each powerup feels significant and useful. Rare powerups like the tanooki suit have abilities players would have to experiment to discover. Being able to collect and save items for future use was one of the best additions to the game. For the really hard levels the P-Wing gave players a way to keep going if they got stuck, or the frog suit making a water stage easier to navigate. Again, the music is timeless, I still whistle this soundtrack almost daily. The visuals weren't much of an upgrade over 2, but the entire game had this film stage aesthetic to it that really pulled the entire presentation together.
Super Mario World - Unlocked all 96 exits
This was visually a massive jump from Super Mario Bros. 3 but for me it fell short in a couple areas. It looks great, the music is awesome, and it controls fantastically but it's less precise than SMB3. This game also has more play in the camera than SMB3 which while not a major issue took getting used to. The biggest issue with this game, and we're nitpicking here, is that the cape was often a means to just bypass levels entirely. Unlike the racoon leaf, the cape feather had no timer so after getting the hang of the controls for it, you could fly indefinitely. It wasn't all bad though, if you are good with the cape, you can unlock secrets before you're supposed to, and sequence breaking is always fun. This was one of the best launch titles ever released.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - Completed all main levels and unlocked all 100s.
Visually this game still looks amazing. When it first released it was just bonkers. This game is just everything thrown into a platformer I think they could muster. The game showcased some really technical platforming making great use of all the new mechanics the game features. The relay system getting Mario to his brother was a fun excuse to give Yoshi the spotlight, at least until Mario gets knocked off your back. The crying is annoying (there's a Game Genie code for that, I used it) and the way many enemies just charge right for you can make some levels brutal to get the 100 in. If you're 10 minutes into trying to 100% a stage losing Mario could easily make you miss a Shy-Guy holding red coin and a dozen stars. The levels in this game are pretty long compared to earlier Super Mario games, often with branching paths and it becomes easy to lose track of what you've collected.
I'll definitely keep trying to get 100 on the last few levels but for now I need a break from this one
EDIT: I decided fuck it and went back for the last 100s. Brutal.
