It's an interesting detail that Yoshi's Island 1 has a naked Koopa at the start, and Yoshi's Island 2 has an empty shell at the beginning. I like to think that Koopa is looking for his shell, not realizing it's in a different level.
Wanna make it crazier? The lone koopa could represent Mario and the shell represents Yoshi, Mario gets a shell when riding Yoshi, a powerful armor and weapon (and btw, some koopas use their shells as weapons to attack Mario in smw)
Most Mario games would open the first level with a goomba as the first enemy that you encounter, but Mario World's first enemy is a dive-bombing naked koopa
Level 1 always felt like the more bizarre experimental design, where they showcase a bunch of new mechanics, while 2 is more along the lines of what you'd expect coming from the previous entries. (Though obviously they both have new mechanics)
I was thinking the same. YI1 doesn't feel like a tutorial level, even though it does teach you certain things. The main point of the level seems to be "this isn't the NES anymore... check out all these fancy new features we added!"
It's interesting that they introduce steep slopes right off the bat. Let's the player know that tricky slopes might be part of levels later on, and that sometimes there can be more than one way to navigate to the end. i.e. you can sometimes avoid enemies by going to another height, but other times the enemies might have the high ground and it's easier to walk below.
It can almost be seen as the devs asking a psychological question: do you want the safe and familiar (go right)? Or do you want to explore something new (go left)?
YI1 is a reintroduction of Super Mario Bros. 1’s mechanics - enemy hopping, coin collecting, and Fire Flowers. YI2 is SMB3 (and because Japan and the US got different SMB2s, we have neither item-pulling or poison mushrooms). They’re both tutorials, showing that SMW1/SMB4 is capable of doing what both those games did - and more. In other words, it’s reminding the players that they’re playing with power - Super power.
@@thegreathadoken6808 Wasn't "Blast Processing" just a hardware glitch in the console's clock that Sega's engineers couldn't figure out how to fix so they just advertised it as a feature?
I know at some point that Yoshi's House was supposed to itself be a level, but I assume they split it up because there were SO MANY mechanics to introduce that they just couldn't put them all in the same level And this is why you don't get the feather until World 2, because it's SO MUCH MORE complicated than any other mechanic that they had to devote an entire sub-area to giving you a playground for it.
There's another aspect to the tutorial. So, at the start of the game, you probably visit Yoshi's House, and learn that he left to rescue his friends. Let's imagine the player decides to go Yoshi's Island 2 first, and then finishes the level while riding Yoshi. Should the player then decide to bring Yoshi back to his house, and hit the Message Block while still riding Yoshi, then the game informs the player to go find the Switch Palace by going to the left on the world map.
It's a nice look at how Miyamoto and the gang wanted there to be more freedom in Mario games With SMB1 only having horizontal scrolling, SMB2 (USA) adding vertical, SMB3 having both and a world map, SMW expanding upon that and letting players explore and beat different levels in a nonlinear fashion, and it all leads to SM64
Fun fact: Yoshi tells you about the switch pallace to the left if you bring him back home and hit the message block, allowing a player who chose to go right to learn about the switch pallaces in the game’s first area.
We talked about this in our game design course and the influence our culture has on how we design and tackle objectives - since the game was made in Japan, where you read right to left, the expectation was potentially to guide you right, towards the clearly marked castle on the world map, make you see the dotted yellow blocks, make you curious to go left and explore there. It's super neat and makes me love the opening to this game so much more.
@@viridisspielt nope, in older Japanese texts, you read lines top to down, then right to left. In the late 1800s/early 1900s, when Japan was more open to external cultures due to the meiji restoration, they started creating things such as store signs which only took one horizontal line of space, inspired by western counterparts (before this store signs where written in a vertical line of space). Because they read from right to left normally, that’s how they wrote their signs, right to left. It’s only recently in the last 50 or so years where reading left to right in a horizontal line has been standardized. However, this aspect of top down right to left is still used in books, where sentences are written in a straight line downwards, then move left to the next line. Even in your example, nearly every manga i’ve read in Japanese, you have to read the text (characters) top down, right to left.
@@bolson42 Mangas and prose novels are vertical text right-to-left but most other writing that children (target audience of this game) will experience, like textbooks and magazines and anything on computers, are horitzonal and left-to-right.
SMW was one of the first big games to place a significant focus on non-linear exploration of an overworld map, and they probably wanted to introduce the feel of an "open world" from the very beginning. Worth noting that the early builds of the game had an even bigger emphasis on non-linearity, with FOUR entirely different paths accessible from the start.
Yeah. This first choice may have had a path led to a dead end (yellow switch palace) but beyond Yoshi's island, you start to get actual choices with how you progress, including the ultimate back door path to the final boss (which funnily led you only to the "front door").
As a SMW speedrunner let me tell you I don't usually activate the Yellow Switch Palace.. but when I do I also beat the 96 exits and collect the Dragon Coins and the 7 secret 3up moons.
Kudos to the devs for including tutorial text in those speaker boxes, making them totally optional. Few things are as annoying as mandatory tutorial content bringing the gameplay to a halt on replays where you know this stuff. It's a good compromise between "all in the manual" and "no manual onhand but here's some info if you need it."
A small thing you forgot to mention is that these chucks are also immune to yoshi's tongue, meaning they not only teach you that not all enemies are edible but killing it also becomes an optional extra challenge for players. (Or it also shows how not all enemies are worth fighting)
I don't know how many people can relate to this, but something I found when I played Super Mario World is that the game feels... unusual. Not bad, just very unlike what I'm used to in Mario games. There's some very strange level elements that only exist in this game, and some of the levels feel like something you could expect to see in Super Mario Maker. Definitely gave the game its own charm, making it stand out a lot. I appreciate that, even if it feels very weird at times.
I completely relate to this, and it's part of why I feel SMW is one of the best Mario games that exists. While it does have its flaws, such as the feather being a bit OP, and the dino miniboss getting a little bit repetitive over time, it genuinely just radiates this feeling that the devs were having a good time constantly throwing ideas around the office that they thought would be fun or interesting, and I love that.
Indeed, when you look at smm and smw, you really notice a lot of missing features tbh. I think the same can be said for smb3, but not as much. New soup really is dry when it comes to feature inclusion in smm tbh
1’s faster paced nature is fitting for its more optional completion. Perhaps it was intended for those curious players who chose not to go the “intended” path marked by the right sided castle (a clear signal for progression), and thus are soon awarded with the yellow switch palace! Which, btw, you eventually see regardless upon entering into donuts plains, giving a chance for players who skipped out on 1 to go back to see what the big switch does. All in all it beautifully echoes the openness of Mario World’s design in regards to level choice! Great video :D
My sister and I booted up the game in 2-player mode and assumed we were each to take a route. She took the route with Yoshi and I recall bring disappointed not to encounter Yoshi in my route.
What’s neat about both levels is that both offer different rewards. If you complete YI1 first, you then get access to the Yellow Switch Palace, which will make some following levels easier. And if you complete YI2 first, you get the gift of speed since you now have the option to avoid YI1 in its entirety.
Never thought about the double first level thing before - an interesting choice. This game has such tremendous replay value because of its great design. It's so deep, with the star road, special zone, switch palaces, and all the alternate exits. (Note: push the L and R buttons at the same time to re-enter a castle or fortress you've already completed!)
I seem to remember at some point someone saying that Yoshi's Island 1 was intended for more advanced players from the original Super Mario to begin with. Since this would be one of the first times that they are gives a choice in directional movement, they would naturally prefer going to the left, to level 1. Meanwhile, players new to the series would tend to the right to level 2, and thus be given the far more chill first level experience. This could be apocryphal, as I don't remember where I found that information, but it seems as good a reason as any for the situation.
My first thought would be that one is the first level of "easy mode" because it leads to the Yellow Switch Palace, thus adding in those extra safe-guards; meanwhile, the second would be "normal mode" if you never go back, because you won't have those safety nets in later levels. But it is interesting to think about, because you can definitely see the freedom of choice in all the secret exits and Star Road. A tradition that carried forward, in some form of another, right to Odyssey.
I believe the split paths concept was more so introduce the player to the idea of having multiple paths, showing that they will have different rewards and objectives. The left path, reveals the switch's existence. While the other path is the objective, but easier with the switch pressed.
One cool thing is that if you do complete Yoshi's Island 1 first, you'll be rewarded with the Yellow Switch Palace, which will make Yoshi's Island 2 easier by covering pits and giving the player Power-ups with the Yellow Exclamation Blocks This can be a cool Tutorial for the players to look out for the other switchs, since after you hit the switch a text box will say that you turned the invisible yellow blocks into solid, and later in the game you'll see other invisible blocks with other colors That also teaches that hitting the blocks makes levels easier and maybe can even unlock some new paths and levels as you see in Donut Plains 1 with the Green Blocks, which will also teach the player about secret levels
When I was a little kid and tried to play this game, I couldn't beat the level in the left because it was too difficult, so I went instead to the right after various failed attempts. After watching this video, the message I thought they meant to send is that it doesn't matter if you can't beat a level, you can always go to another path and comeback later when you know more about the game
I think it’s pretty clear that 1 is a tutorial for more experienced players to understand how this game is different from mario 3 and any previous titles, while 2 is a tutorial for any players new to the series where seeing those differences isn’t as important as simply understanding the basics. What’s also interesting is how 1 is optional and 2 is mandatory. 1 will give you a special reward for clearing it, but learning the things it teaches you isn’t necessary at all since you will have the opportunity to learn them later. It’s almost like a teaser for future levels. Whereas 2 is mandatory, which is why it has yoshi as part of the tutorial. However, I personally find this design choice to be sort of conflicting with my first statement. If you have an easier tutorial, i think that should be the optional one, simply because the mechanics of a new game are much more important and because old players won’t have to play an extra level just to learn the basics. This would mean Yoshi is in the “first” level, which fits better with the idea that it introduces new concepts.
Not to mention, the level on the path toward the Yellow Switch Palace also teaches you about the importance of the associated blocks a bit more than the other level does. After hitting the switch, you can have an instant understanding of how things would have been different in 1, especially if you lost the 1up or something.
I love that you added a subtle reverb effect to your voice when talking about underground caves. It's the a t t e n t i o n t o d e t a i l that takes these videos to the next level.
I also think they did this to introduce the idea of multiple routes to the player; World is considerably less linear than it's predecessors, with so many alternate paths. It's all very cleverly done : )
i always enjoy zoomzike's editing. subtle details like the yoshi percussions on levels relevant to Yoshi, or the reverberance on his voice during the underground levels. if no one else has noticed this i hope you go back and listen out for them
There's 4 first levels in Super Mario World: the tiny stage where the initial plot dialogue happens, Yoshi's house, the first stage you walk on, then the 2 levels on the sides of the house
To add to the thesis of this, I also see it as SMW prepping the player for the branching nature of the world map. Going with 2 takes you down the critical path, but taking 1 unlocks a the Yellow Switch which helps platforming in the long term.
i got into a mild disagreement about this in an SMW romhacking server if SMW had a "first level." i argued yoshi's island 2 and yoshi's island 1 were both the first level, but they said it was obviously yoshi's island 1. i think they were biased since they knew how to hack the game and im pretty sure yoshi's island 1 is the first level in the game internally
These are always fantastic! It just goes to show how much thought the developers put into making Mario and making sure the players learn concepts of these games.
Both levels also have different feelings when played second. Yoshi’s Island 1 with Yoshi has other lessons, and Yoshi’s Island 2 after hitting the Yellow Switch has a bunch of extra blocks to interact with (and reinforces the reward of hitting the switch by covering the only pit)
I like that you're rewarded with a strong upgrade for choosing either path to start. If you go right, you get Yoshi, which makes all levels, including the left one, much easier. If you go left, you get the Yellow Switch House which also makes every subsequent level easier.
in terms of timeline, i consider yoshis island 2 the first level because it leads you to the rest of the game while yoshis island 1 only leads you to a switch palace which the game can be played without
Design-wise, the "Rexes" always felt a bit out of place for Mario, especially since they appear so early. Then again, the whole game has a thing with dinosaur and dragon type enemies/characters beyond just the Yoshis, Bowser & the Koopalings... So, I just googled about the enemies, and only now learned that the the entire area of the game is called "Dinosaur Land." Apparently Mario & co. were there on vacation when the game begins... I guess that's what the instruction booklet for a game like this is for :P Though, really, they could've named more places Mesozoic themed - and less with food items! Anyway, another cool thing about the 2 starter levels is that you get to do a "you go that way, I go this way" thing right at the start of 2p mode. With 2 players the alternate exits and map routes become a little more interesting, too.
Thematically, Yoshi’s Island 1 feels more like what you’d expect from a “first level”, being a grass level instead of a forest one, but gameplay-wise, it’s 2 instead
This is something that more modern, open-world games should do more of; give the player two distinct ways to progress right away to tutorialize that making choices is part of the game.
Splitting the first level and forcing the player to choose between them *also* serves as a tutorial in itself. SMW features splitting paths several times in the overworld map, and the game introduces this mechanic before anything else. Neat.
I would think that 1 is probably geared more towards teaching players who have no experience with Mario, whereas 2 is geared more towards players who have previously played Mario 3 (for instance). I think this is supported by where the paths lead: 1's path leads to the switch, which makes certain challenges (e.g., 1's 1-up chase) a bit easier, whereas 2 takes you onwards to the rest of the game.
8:43 @ZoomZike I can tell you why the dev's put themselves and the player in the situation with Yoshi's Island 1 and Yoshi's Island 2. Yes, you do have the power of choice and that is a part of it's purpose of, but it is not just because of the challenges presented by the first level you choose. The thing that you also have to take into consideration is that they're teaching players about the multiple paths you can take in the overworld map and how certain levels can affect others. One of the things that I'm surprised that wasn't covered was the Yellow Exclamation Blocks. In Yoshi's Island 2 you see those dotted yellow lines between the two Question Blocks. The player, assuming that they have no idea what they are will probably glance over them. However, should they decided to take Yoshi's Island 1, beat it, then beat the Yellow Switch Palace and activate the switch, the player then sees all the Yellow Exclamation Blocks fly all over the map before the Switch Palace collapses and are offered the chance to save. Once the player makes their choice and heads over to Yoshi's Island 2 they now can see the Yellow Exclamation blocks where if they hit it they are awarded a Super Mushroom, and a little later on where the pit is sees that the Yellow Exclamation blocks covering the only pit in the level. With that in mind, the player learns that their choices in how they beat levels can impact where they go in the game's overworld and that beating certain levels can affect the gameplay of other levels moving forward. This isn't necessarily about making choices so to say, rather the developers want the players to explore the map as much as they want you to explore the levels and they reward you for that exact reason.
I think there's also credit to the overworld's design, if you choose to go left then it shows that there are secrets to be found with the Yellow Switch Palace, opening more paths for the player to explore in the overworld maps through playing levels, being much more open and less Linear by comparison of the SMB3 world maps. this then comes to it's closure as players find magical areas such as Star Road and the Special Zone.
Is 1, activate the yellow switch by climbing the ladder at the left on the map and then 2. You must follow certain level order to get the "*96" at the start of the game that indicates that you really completed the game (star levels and all). If you don't follow that order from the begining, you won't get that. I have years of experience, played when it got realized, and worked hard to get that order, way before the WWW, before emulators... and a few months after it got revealed in a nintendo power magazine lol.
You‘re out here uploading consistently high quality videos like this and making it look easy. It’s always a joy to be notified of a new video you posted, keep up the great work! Btw, I found you through your newer Mario Kart Videos, and I find them really interesting. As someone who grew up with newer Mario kart games, it’s really fun to see how much charm is packed into those stages, and you picking apart level design in general makes me appreciate these levels and the game devs more, be it Mario Kart or Super Mario World.
Ironically, Super Mario World has a 3rd tutorial level, Donut Plains 1. Donut Plains 1 introduces you to the iconic cape ability, the increases exploration the game offers, and the unique and varied enemies you'll find throughout the remaining worlds
This game is very clever and has many smart decisions that improve and evolve Super Mario Bros! However, I for some reason find myself much more interested in Super Mario Bros 3 over Super Mario World.
The first level is yoshis island 2, as it is the first level you need to complete to progress towards the final level, yoshis island 1 is an alternative option that unlocks an aid for when you start your journey.
I wish the two levels had proper names or something like "Yoshi's Island L/R" or "W/E" signifying the direction instead of the order. For some reason Yoshi's Island 2 will always be the first level in my mind. Perhaps because it actually was the first level I ever played in SMW!
Dude, learning about the level design is so cool. I didn't think about how much time it took for the developers to make the first two levels and avoid confusing the player, while also placing blocks and platforms in the right place so the player learns the game as he's playing. Absolutely genius stuff.
The reason why the game had two first levels Zike is that just like SMB3 had an emphasis on secrets, Super Mario W O R L D had an emphasis on secret exits to the degree where you just simply cannot get past World 5 without taking advantage of the game's gimmick.
4:03 Oh my god after all these years I never realized the mushroom is coming out from behind the bush. I never really understood that, I thought a mushroom would just pop out of Mario randomly on certain levels.
Another reason is that the devs didn't know numerical order. They had gone around the office polling employees for weeks and couldn't figure out if numbers went 1-2-3 or 2-1-3. Counting wasn't taught in schools back then.
I've always suspected the anticipated order was for players to start with Yoshi's Island 2. Notice that the Yellow Switch Palace is completely offscreen whereas the rest of Yoshi's Island is onscreen and the castle is clearly visible. The moment you start the game, you see the castle ahead of the path to the right, and have no clue what's up the left side. But as you continue toward the castle, the levels get increasingly more difficult, and you'll notice yellow switch blocks appear frequently with each stage. I think it's expected that new players who are trying to make a beeline for the castle will find themselves struggling with more difficult parts of Yoshi's Island 3 and 4 and take a break from trying in that direction and go back to see what Yoshi's Island 1 is hiding behind it, only to discover a Yellow Switch Palace at the top of the mountain that fills in all those dotted boxes. Lesson Learned: If you see dotted blocks, look for a switch palace. If you're skilled enough to continue without needing the Switch Palace, then where do they put the Palace but right in your face at the entrance to the very next world? But you can't reach it from where you are. You can now see what you'll reach if you take the other route from the start, and that might incentivise you to return to the previous world. 2 lessons learned: 1, you can return to previous worlds (something you couldn't do in Mario 3); 2, you can gain information from one world to help you find helpful secrets in another world. In addition, no matter what order you do the levels in the first world, you get the immediate connection that Yoshi's Island 2 is an easier level while Yoshi's Island 1 is a harder level. But Yoshi's Island 1 provides a permanent reward that can make future levels significantly easier.
On Christmas morning in 1991 when my mom was hooking up the newly opened Super Nintendo my sister and I were reading the Super Mario World instruction manual, educating ourselves on the different level pieces so that we only had to worry about coordination instead.
3:05 "Notice how all the fruits in the bushes are at the exact height for Yoshi to eat them by simply walking by" (proceeds to walk under an apple that's too high to be eaten automatically) Also it's not BROZE, dude, it's still pronounced brothers. Cute breakdown anyway.
The details and care put into making these first 2 levels alone describe pretty well Super Mario World as a whole. An absolutely amazing Mario game and much likely my favorite retro Mario ^u^
The reason behind this game design isn’t unclear. In interviews in the past the team stated that player choice in how they want to play was one of the guiding ideas in development. They rehashed stuff multiple times, trying to maintain a balance of new exciting features that made use of the new hardware while still maintaining the elements that players loved from the previous Mario titles.
I was just a second grader when I first played and beat SMW in 1991. I was speedrunning it by 1992. It wasn't my first Mario game, but the experience will be forever burned into my memory. As a game reviewer, SMB3 will always be my favorite 2D Mario. But SMW will always have a special place in my heart. It's a testament to the skill and care of the designers that the gameplay mechanics are so easy to understand. As for why there are two first levels (aside from tutorial purposes), it's to emphasize SMW's exploration. There are branching paths, but unlike SMB3, the paths forward don't appear on the map until you've beaten the preceding levels. You don't know where the next exit may lead, which makes the setting seem more spectacular and far greater in scale; it is truly Super Mario _World._ It also indicates to the player that experimentation is not only okay, but essential. Since there are multiple exits that lead to different paths, the player is incentivized to replay levels and approach them in different ways. As this was the sequel to SMB3 and the launch title of the SNES, it'd make sense that it's designed in such a pronounced way. Nintendo wanted to make a strong first impression with their new system, and it shows.
I've been playing my GBA copy of this game for 20 years and am just now learning that those blue blocks in the subworld are moveable. My mind is blown.
I was nearly about to immediately comment "Super Schrödinger's World", and now that I've gotten 30 seconds through the video, I see you already beat me to the punch. Well played, sir.
the reason for this is to teach the player about routes and how there's multiple ways to beat the game (things like optional levels, buttons, secret exits, etc) ideally, the level on the right would be the real first level while the level on the left is the first bonus level, both thrown at you at the same moment, making you able to choose which route you'd like to explore first... go left, get rewarded with a button which'll change the future experience of the story mode forever... go right, proceed the story mode as intended (with or without button, totally up to you) it basically serves as a choose your own adventure type mechanic which ended up becoming very VERY important in later games like Super Mario 64 (matter fact, allowing the player to choose how and when to clear certain levels ended up saving SM64's level design and solving an otherwise difficult task for the developers: how do you implement a finish line (or flagpole) in a 3D environment? answer: spread stars all around the world)
The funny thing is, as a kid playing this game for the first time, I did know how to spin jump... and that was it. I didn't know the other buttons did anything useful and I didn't bother to try them, because pressing Y didn't seem to do anything, and clearly I was jumping, so I spin jumped everything to death until I reached a point that I couldn't get past with the spin jump because the spin jump is a shorter jump, so I read the manual again. I literally thought Yoshi couldn't jump because every time I tried I'd get off him! I didn't think I was doing anything wrong, I just thought that's how the jump worked and that it was different from the intro demo.
I think the reason the game has 2 First levels is because they wanted to show off the world map feature immediately and While SMB3 was the first game in the series to have one, it was released late into the NES and it players probably did not know you could move backwards in a level.
Story this reminds me of:I remember finally getting a Gamecube controller for the Wii as a kid not just to play Gamecube games but the SMW Masterpiece in Brawl. Because of the mapping the big A button does the spin jump while the tiny B button does the regular jump and it felt so weird
What I like is that the levels have both text boxes that tell you how to play and parts that the level design teaches you. You may not know how to clear each challenge in one before going to another, after which the player has the option to go back into one of the stages (an unseen thing in in a Mario game up to now) and try it out.
Also presenting you with two first levels is the first indication of alternate paths in the game, though not secret exits. And, yes, those are in SMB3 so could have been taught later like they were there, but...
I always found it interesting how Super Mario World technically has two first levels. This video is a great look at how well designed both of them are!
That Magnum Killer was such a huge moment for me, I was like ENEMIES CAN BE THIS BIG? OH GOD WHAT DO I DO 6:47 heh that's how i did it. i never figured out those blocks or spin jumping as a kid.. but in fairness i didn't own the game, just played at people's houses.
Este es de los videos más interesantes que haya visto sobre primeros niveles de videojuegos. Nunca había visto de esa forma los primeros dos niveles de SMW y es una forma muy ingeniosa de enseñar al jugador a jugar sin tener que recurrir a un aburrido tutorial que te dice todo lo que puedes hacer. Bien jugado Nintendo, bien jugado.
