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[LinkSlayer64]

How many of us knew as kids you could spin jump off of spiked stuff? I certainly didn't.

 

[clevbrowns94]

I actually think SMW is harder than 3. I always find myself in the minority on that, however, so this thread is no surprise to me. =P

Even if you think the levels are harder, it's still hard to argue this because Mario World allowed you to save and replay earlier levels to stack up on lives. Only easy (well easier) way to beat 3 is with warp whistles, which is basically cheating by skipping several levels.

 

[C.Mongler]

Woooaaah, careful guys, we've got ourselves a pro gamer over here!

 

[DrFunk]

I loved how whimsical it can be

 

[Dyle]

I would argue that Mario World is forgiving rather than easy. The game gets quite difficult at the end, especially star/special world stages and the mechanics you listed are semi-advanced techniques that I never knew about as a kid. Thankfully Mario Maker provides us with thousands of difficult levels with Mario World mechanics, so we'll never have to settle for easy levels again

 

[nubbe]

Shit, you're right.



This is a warped perspective that I loathe from developers. Every one here used to be a kid. And most of us used to play hard games. And we loved it.

-the Mega Man games
-the TMNT games
-Contra
-Double Dragon
-hell, even the original SMB

The list goes on. Don't underestimate kids. Kids can handle challenging games.

Games I played as a kid, but I never beat them
SMW is a better game

 

[Bog]

You're just too good, OP. Use those skills where they're better served - such as playing the flute or shooting hoops.

I agree, you should shoot hoops, OP. You mastered gaming. Now move on to hoops.

 

[entremet]

I enjoyed it. Perfect balance. Special World was for Super Players

How many of us knew as kids you could spin jump off of spiked stuff? I certainly didn't.

I did, but you had to be Super Mario, right? Been a while since I played it.

 

[riverfr0zen]

A lot of good reasons above. As someone who played the previous games, and SMW right when it came out, I also felt at the time that a number of the things you mention were actually 'features' or 'improvements' that were possible on a more technically capable system.

So my response (and a lot of people I knew at the time) was not, for e.g., "Oh man, it's so much easier that I can re-enter levels, or exit in the middle of a level" but "Man, thank god we can do this now, can't believe we didn't have this before."

Also, as others have said, if you were there at the time and had graduated from previous games, it didn't really seem like it was much 'easier', necessarily. We didn't have the hindsight/skills attained from playing the more complex and difficult games that would come out in the future.

 

[Crayolan]

Because you're good at platformers? I didn't think it was necessarily hard when I played it, but it wasn't easy either. I game over'd a bunch. I guess it's easier than Mario 3.

 

[BiggNife]

I dunno, SMW is one of my favorite games ever and I always thought it felt really well balanced.

SMB3 gets too difficult at the end IMO.

 

[BGBW]

Re-entering levels for powerups?

Sounds like someone didn't find the Top Secret Area.

 

[jariw]

I finished the game with like 80 extra lives and I died about twice, and even then only because I was screwing around.

...when the game was released in 1991?

 

[Theslammer]

Even if you think the levels are harder, it's still hard to argue this because Mario World allowed you to save and replay earlier levels to stack up on lives. Only easy (well easier) way to beat 3 is with warp whistles, which is basically cheating by skipping several levels.

See, it's easier for me to beat 3 without the warp whistles. If you go through the game regularly, you can stack up on P-Wings, Clouds, Hammer Bros. suit(s) (I forget if there are one or two of them in the game), and use them all in World 8 (and World 7 for that matter since it can be a difficult world as well).

The thing that I find hardest about 3 is playing it in one sitting. As I've gotten older, I think 3, despite being a fantastic game to this day, suffers in one way since there's a lot of content to play in one sitting and would have been served better with save points. The save system in World was better designed, even if it didn't resupply you with all the lives you saved with.

I can replay levels, but I'm still loading my save with fewer lives. In 3, I just keep playing with all the lives I have, and I'm never in danger of losing them all. Then with the card-matching game and the money ships, and shoot, those are many ways to get lives.

A lot of good reasons above. As someone who played the previous games, and SMW right when it came out, I also felt at the time that a number of the things you mention were actually 'features' or 'improvements' that were possible on a more technically capable system.

So my response (and a lot of people I knew at the time) was not, for e.g., "Oh man, it's so much easier that I can re-enter levels, or exit in the middle of a level" but "Man, thank god we can do this now, can't believe we didn't have this before."

Also, as others have said, if you were there at the time and had graduated from previous games, it didn't really seem like it was much 'easier', necessarily. We didn't have the hindsight/skills attained from playing the more complex and difficult games that would come out in the future.

I completely agree. You really should be able to save in 3, even though I get why they didn't have it back when it was released since most games didn't. World's save system was a fantastic improvement to the game so you didn't have to beat all that content in a single sitting. It's not like we're playing Sonic where you can beat the entire game in less than an hour.

 

[CD'S BAR]

Pretty much every Mario game is ridiculously easy. That's part of what makes them so enjoyable and simple to pick up and play.

 

[tanooki27]

if you play something long enough to understand how to get really good you can get really good.

 

[Adam_Vania]

-Yoshi is basically a mushroom that never runs out

unless you get hit and he runs away. so not like a mushroom that never runs out.

-The cape allows you to fly infinitely and you are invincible during flight

learning how to fly reliably w that cape was not easy. even knowing how to do it, it takes some skill to pull off. flying in SMBW is far more difficult than SMB3's raccoon tail where you fly by hitting one button repeatedly.

-Also, very few things can pierce the cape's spin attack so you can just spam it and be virtually invulnerable

eh not really? range isn't very good and if you get hit you lose it just like anything else. you are not invulnerable, that's silly.

-You can re-enter levels and easily re-acquire whatever powerups you want, and then leave immediately with the powerups.
-You've got a reserve powerup available at all times even if you somehow get hit

these quality of life changes just bring the game up to more current standards. if you couldn't re-enter levels then the secret exits would make no sense. you have to replay levels to find all the exits. if you couldn't re-enter levels you would never get to revisit a level and see those colored switch blocks get filled in. removing this would break the game in so many ways.

-It's absurdly easy to get extra lives, between all the minigames, the many 1up mushrooms throughout the levels, the extra life you get from each Yoshi egg, and the aforementioned ability to re-enter levels and farm lives

there are ways to farm lives in Super Mario Bros. SMB2 gives you the chance to win extra lives via slot machines at the end of every level. you would have a point if extra lives guaranteed that you would complete a level. all a life is is another chance to complete the level via legit means.

I finished the game with like 80 extra lives and I died about twice, and even then only because I was screwing around.

What was the reason for Mario World being so piss easy?

it is easy to look at a high number of extra lives and think oh that means this game was easy. i dont really buy that though. an extra life is just another chance to win a level, to do so legit, purely through your own skills.

did you find the star world? did you find the secret world? did you find all the secret exits? i imagine all of that must have taken some work. yes the game is easier than previous games but if you want a challenge it is there.

 

[DeathoftheEndless]

Games are easier when you know all of the good strategies? Did not know that.

 

[TheShampion]

I always thought SMW was more about the secret exits and puzzles than any sort of platforming challenge. The hardest stages being only available if you solve all the "puzzles" of figuring out all the secret paths really puts a focus on that. Honestly, I prefer the more straight forward SMB3 and the Galaxy games, but I can appreciate what they were going for.

 

[Raptomex]

Pretty much every Mario game is ridiculously easy. That's part of what makes them so enjoyable and simple to pick up and play.

SMB2 (JP)/Lost Levels and even Mario Sunshine isn't a cakewalk. But I agree they are all easy to pick up and play.

 

[Sephzilla]

there are ways to farm lives in Super Mario Bros. SMB2 gives you the chance to win extra lives via slot machines at the end of every level. you would have a point if extra lives guaranteed that you would complete a level. all a life is is another chance to complete the level via legit means.

c'mon fam the Mario 2 slot machine was probably more rigged against you than actual casinos

 

[KojiKnight]

SMW was easier than 3 because world put a greater emphasis on exploration and finding secrets. If you say you got 96 exits super fast as a kid pre-internet you're a dirty liar... And if you didn't play to get all the exits, you were probably a rich kid with too many games to stay that focused.

 

[Hero]

You have to remember Nintendo aims most of their games as family entertainment. Just because an enthusiast/core gamer finds it easy doesn't mean it's something that most people would also find easy.

 

[Robin64]

Back when it first came out, the second half of Vanilla Dome was where it began to get hard for me. I breeze through all 96 exits now, but I'm not gonna pretend it wasn't a struggle as a kid. There are a lot of advanced secrets and techniques that make the game super easy, but we didn't know what those were right away back then.

 

[vixlar]

And of course, the ability to save. That was a game changer for me.

 

[thefro]

SMW isn't ridiculously easy. Difficultly balance is good and I died a lot playing it for the first time as a kid (who had beaten some hard NES games). Finding all the level exits is also a good challenge.

Special World is also tough.

 

[Pinky]

Well, I remember the game offering a modest challenge when I was a teen, but I would imagine I'd have a much easier time clearing it today(minus the special world).

 

[Papo Swing]

So I wonder if OP played the game as a kid when it came out or as an adult in recent years?

SMW was definetly challenging to my 7-8 year old self, but most likely not for ny current self. Even the the hidden levels where hard and finding the exits/secrets without internet was hard too.

So did OP play in the 90s with a SNEs or recently?

 

[Shaanyboi]

There's literally no chance this guy died only twice 100%ing the game. And It's weird to have a stealth brag thread about an easy game.

Reminds me of when I worked at a Gamestop and some 10 year old came in repeatedly to brag about how he beats games so easily.

 

[woopWOOP]

Main game being so easy* and made even easier with the save system is why I'll always prefer SMB3 over World tbh

*those secret levels used to kick my ass tho

 

[Nose Master]

Short of lost levels, no Mario mainline is difficult. Not every game has to be challenging to be fun.

You also don't have to cheese powerups or abuse the cape, yknow.

 

[Coinspinner]

Children generally suck at video games, and it was made for children. At the time I (as a child) thought it was harder than SMB3, and that was mostly due to the controls and feature set being more complex.

 

[rodrigolfp]

uh? you are not invincible during flight and spin jumps. wtf? or my game has bugs?

 

[Savinowned]

Dude I got that game when I was 10 years old, about 15 years ago now and I still can't beat Tubular.

 

[DrROBschiz]

Is this some kind of stealth brag topic?

this game owned my shit for years and i still havent completed special world

maybe i should go back and put all my current experience to the test

 

[Theslammer]

Man, all this talk about difficulty for kids vs. adults reminds me:

I first played Mario 3 when I was maybe 3 or 4. It wasn't until 6th grade that I finally beat it. Same with Punch-Out!! The games aren't as tough now (except Mike Tyson/Mr. Dream in the latter), but back then, I replayed Mario 3 everyday to try to beat it, along with Mario 1, Mario 2 (even that was hard for me back in the day), Rambo, POW, Golgo 13, and just about every game imaginable. It was hard as hell for me to complete anything.

 

[PillarEN]

I didn't find it ridiculously easy as a kid when it came out.

Same. I didn't actually make it that far until years after the SNES was relevant.

 

[PuppetSlave]

No It was an great balance imo. I remember that once world came a lot more people in my class played and talked about mario compared to before. In hindsight some of that could be attributed to it being more accessible. Shit my cousins had trouble actually passing the first few levels in earlier mario games, it just didn't click with at all. Now people could get further into the game and becoming more hooked and therefore also actually slowly learning the platforming skills instead of giving up after a few tries.

It is totally tubular. (I watched pixels last night, it was horrible)

 

[vixlar]

uh? you are not invincible during flight and spin jumps. wtf? or my game has bugs?

You're invincible from below in spin jumps, but from the sides you're still vulnerable.

About flying, I think you can attack to below or when sliding in the floor after landing, but that's all.

Saying you're totally invincible is an overstatement.

 

[ZAMtendo]

Go outside for a walk, bud.

Lol.

 

[Galang]

Been a while since I played, but I don't remember it being easy :/. I never abused the cape or yoshi though

 

[Peltz]

if you play something long enough to understand how to get really good you can get really good.

Pretty much. I was never able to beat games like Mega Man or Mario 3 as a kid, and now can beat them each without dying. That's what +25 years of gaming experience will do for you.

Mario games were never a hardcore challenge (other than SMB2J).

 

[daninthemix]

They did it to annoy you, personally.

 

[Akuun]

It was perfectly balanced for when I was a kid. I progressed okay, but definitely got my share of deaths.

And of course, the special world wrecked my shit. I gave up at the one where you needed to chain balloon powerups to proceed.

 

[Raptomex]

It was perfectly balanced for when I was a kid. I progressed okay, but definitely got my share of deaths.

And of course, the special world wrecked my shit. I gave up at the one where you needed to chain balloon powerups to proceed.

Tubular

 

[spekkeh]

Shit, you're right.



This is a warped perspective that I loathe from developers. Every one here used to be a kid. And most of us used to play hard games. And we loved it.

-the Mega Man games
-the TMNT games
-Contra
-Double Dragon
-hell, even the original SMB

The list goes on. Don't underestimate kids. Kids can handle challenging games.

I loved SMW more than those games so I'm not sure what you're trying to argue here.

 

[Servbot24]

I think the difficulty level is pretty well balanced. It gave me some challenges as a kid without making me overly frustrated.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Most of the difficulty is regulated to extra levels and keys. It also has a save system. The game isn't much easier than 3 overall. 3 has a lot of difficult levels in worlds 5 through 8 though. But you can skip a lot of them. 3 is a better game for me as an adult. World is a lot more accessible though.

 

[higgsboson1997]

I like the fact that it's easier - I could never get past the 3rd world in SMB3.

 

[AuthenticM]

I loved SMW more than those games so I'm not sure what you're trying to argue here.

I'm saying that kids can play and enjoy hard games, contrary to what some game designers think.