The Story of Super Mario World

A documentary on the making of Super Mario World, the launch of the Super Nintendo, and how the game perfected the concepts of the Super Mario series.

CHAPTERS
00:00 - Introduction
01:48 - Part 1: The End of an Era
20:27 - Part 2: A Whole New World
43:16 - Part 3: Rumor Has It...
01:02:45 - Part 4: Evolutionary, Not Revolutionary

NOTE: Early Super Mario World prototype footage and fan hacks are artistic renditions and do not represent an actual Nintendo product.

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[Tommyskylarr]

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!

[GamingHistorian]

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!

[HoopsandHipHop]

This was an absolutely phenomenal documentary. I'm always elated when a new Gaming Historian video comes out!

[eventhorizon]

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.

[beetheb]

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.

[ModernVintageGamer]

top tier video, but my favorite part was from 0:00 to 1:18:24

[psivewri]

The sounds in Super Mario World are burned into my brain. So many great memories :)

[sandyrodz]

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❤

[Grapegum]

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.

[chezman]

The YouTube 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.

[jacktion]

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.

[DJKi]

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.

[LetsFindOut]

Your documentaries are soooo well written and edited. Thanks for the great content, man!

[AprehamLincoln]

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.

[FinalFantasyUnion]

What a wonderful treat! Only part-way through so far, but the quality is incredible!

[piobarojasv]

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!!

[Drew]

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.

[ultimateman]

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!

[itcamefromabox]

Man this game tested my little hands as a kid lol One of the most impactful games of my childhood 💘

[profusionlifetv]

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.