This Week's Retronauts Takes on the (Super Mario) World

Nintendo's 16-bit debut celebrates its 25th birthday this year—listen in as we rediscover the magic behind this classic platformer.

Article by Bob Mackey Contributor

Updated on March 30, 2015

This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.

I have to admit, the prospect of recording a full episode of Retronauts about a single game made me more than a little nervous—mostly because I'm always worried about running out of things to say.

Still, I knew if one game could support an entire Retronauts episode, it would have to be Super Mario World. As I state in this episode's intro, it dawned on me recently that Mario's first 16-bit game remains one of my all-time favorites—I just don't think of it in those terms because it's such an obvious choice. (Kind of like saying Citizen Kane is your favorite movie.) And that's really what inspired this installment of Retronauts: The fact that a lot of us take Super Mario World for granted. Once a game like it becomes a bonafide classic, it seems that we (myself included) view its greatness as self-evident, simply because we've been exposed to it for so long. That said, this episode sets out to rediscover just why Super Mario World has earned its status as one of the best platformers ever. (And if you look at the running time, I think you'll see we did a pretty thorough job.)

Joining us for this one is Jeremy and Duckfeed.tv's Gary Butterfield, who co-hosts many a podcast I heartily endorse. As always, you can keep up with the latest Retronauts news via our Twitter and Facebook accounts, and check out some of our video content over on our YouTube page. And, in case you forgot, Retronauts is fully funded by our Patreon campaign, so if you can afford to donate even a dollar a month, please consider it! Every little bit really helps our cause.