Super Mario World is better than Super Mario Bros. 3

In my opinion, Super Mario World ranks not just among the best Mario games ever made, but among the best games ever made. In this debate, I will definitively prove that Super Mario World is better than Super Mario Bros. 3, considered by many to be the best Mario game ever made, by examining all the key aspects that makes a video game good - presentation and graphical design, soundtrack, gameplay, level design, post-completion appeal, and more. To begin, I want to describe why the graphical style and design in Super Mario World is superior. I want to make note immediately, however, that this is not a direct comparison of graphics, because the two games were on different systems, with SMB3 being on the weaker 8-bit NES and SMW being on the much power powerful 16-bit SNES. Instead, this is purely a comparison of graphic design and feel. Let's take a look at this picture from World 1 of SMB3. As you can see, it looks decent - pretty good for an NES game. Mario and the Piranha Plant are recognizable, as are blocks, platforms and scenery. However, look at that background - it's literally just a single shade of blue! Even the original Super Mario Bros. offered at least some clouds. Additionally, it lacks the same sort of retro charm you could find in the original or it's sequel - sure, it looks OK, but what do people think of when they think of NES Mario? The original game. To compare, here is a shot from World 1 of SMW. Putting aside the obvious graphical improvement, the design here is just much better. The platforms look less mechanical, Mario looks more iconic, and the background isn't just a single color. The game just looks and feels brighter, and that is due to its superior artistic design. As you can see, just from the first world alone SMW has a clear advantage in art direction and style. What about the music? Well, it's yet another masterpiece from Koji Kondo. In addition to distinct themes for each area on the map, there are also multiple level themes: the overworld theme, athletic theme, underground theme, underwater theme, ghost house theme, and castle theme. What makes these unique is that each of them is a variation of the same melody. That may sound odd at first, but when you actually play it you'll understand why this was made - unlike previous Mario games, which focused on distinct 'worlds' or 'kingdoms', SMW is one big world. By creating a basic melody and remixing it, the game feels more cohesive and whole - you don't feel like you are playing in vastly different areas, but simply different parts of one big world. This brings me to my next point, the overworld map. Simply put, the overworld map is a vast improvement over the one introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3. In SMB3, once you've beaten a level you can't play it anymore without restarting, and once you've cleared a world you can't go back and play it again without starting a new game. This is an example of a SMB3 overworld map: As you can see, it's fairly basic - 6 levels, a fortress, a castle, and some Toad Houses and 1-up stands. However, as explained earlier, you can only enjoy the levels once - if you beat it, it's gone. Additionally, while there is a branching path (levels 3 and 4), it doesn't even really matter because you can just bypass it entirely and go to the fortress. Now, let's look at the Super Mario World map: As you can see, it is massive. As you can see, on the map there are two types of main levels: yellow levels and red levels. Yellow levels are traditional linear Mario levels, but red levels contain secret exits, which lead to a different pathway. To give an example, let's look at Donut Plains 1 - the first level in the second world. Depending on which exit you take, the path you take can differ dramatically. Because you can now go to levels as many times as you want, these secret exits add a new element to the game, encouraging you to explore levels for new secrets and hidden paths. Simply put, this is a vast improvement from SMB3. Another thing you'll notice with the map is the top two worlds in the right corner. Those are Special World and Star World, two bonus worlds that aren't required to beat the game. Star World can be used for quick transport between the different map areas, and one you find the secret exit in the fifth star level you unlock the entrance to Special World. Special World contains 8 insanely hard levels and beating it is maybe more satisfying than beating Bowser. Speaking of beating Bowser, I'll mention another thing: the Koopalings now have their own unique boss battles. In SMB3, every Koopaling battle was the same: stomp them three times and avoid their magic. In SMW, there are four different Koopaling battle formats - Iggy and Larry are defeated by pushing them off of a platform and into the lava, Lemmy and Wendy are defeated by stomping them three times as the pop out of pipes, Morton Jr. and Roy are defeated by stomping them three times before the walls crush you, and Ludwig is defeated by stomping him three times while avoiding his fireballs and spinning shell. The fortresses contain Reznor battles, where you must knock four fire-breathing dinosaurs off platforms and avoid the collapsing floor, which are much harder than the pathetically easy Boom Boom battles in SMB3. The final battle with Bowser is also more satisfying - rather than tricking Bowser into falling down a pit, you defeat him by attacking him with his own machines! Now, let's get to power-ups. To be fair, Super Mario Bros. 3 does indeed have more power-ups - in addition to series staples like the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman, it introduces the Super Leaf (allows you to briefly fly or float down with repeated button presses), Frog Suit (which increases jump height and allows for easier swimming), Tanooki Suit (which gives all the benefits of the Super Leaf as well as the ability to briefly become a statue), and Hammer Suit (which allows you to throw hammers like a Hammer Brother). However, the two best items - the Tanooki and Hammer Suit - are extremely rare and only available in a few select places in the game. This becomes infuriating when you realize that, if you do happen to find one of these rare items in a level, you can't come back and get it again because the level is locked forever. If you want to be able to kill Thwomps and Boos with hammers, you'll have to trek all the way through the game all over again to find it. In contrast, Super Mario World only introduces two new items - the Cape Feather (which allows you to fly and float down by holding down a button) and P-Balloon (which allows Mario to temporarily float) - but these can be found and re-found in a number of levels. Even still, SMW has a better item than the Tanooki or Hammer Suits: Yoshis. Yoshis give Mario an extra hit, can be used to eat most enemies and, when dismounted on a jump, can give Mario some added height to cross gaps. Additionally, Yoshis get special powers by eating shells, and Yoshis of different colors can be found that grant their color's power in addition to the shell's power. Red shells/Red Yoshis can shoot fire, Blue shells/Blue Yoshis can fly, and Yellow shells/Yellow Yoshis can cause enemy-harming earthquakes when they hit the ground. One underrated aspect of SMW is it's amazing level design. Jason Schreier of Kotaku writes that "As you start to run and jump through each level, you start learning the rules, sometimes from little instruction boxes that pop up and toss you clunky hints like 'This gate marks the middle of the area! ' but usually from clever environmental clues. You see a red shell next to a row of enemies, so you throw it at them to see what happens, and bam, you see that killing nine enemies in a row will get you an extra life. Rule learned. That sort of elegant level design—the type of lesson that makes you feel smarter because you figured out the answer yourself—is missing in many of today’s over-tutorialized games, which may be one of the big reasons Super Mario World is so highly revered". Simply put, the genius level design of SMW eases players in to a difficult adventure, but lets them learn the lessons themselves. Players may die a couple of times, but the lessons they learn help them along the way. In short, Super Mario World is superior to Super Mario Bros. 3 due to its superior artistic design, soundtrack, overworld, level design, boss battles, and power-ups, in addition to the introduction of bonus challenge worlds in the Star World and Special World. I look forward to my opponent's opening arguments! References:1. . http://kotaku.com...