I don't think I have the patience to beat Super Mario World (SNES) anymore

[MaximRecoil]

I bought an SNES when they first dropped to $99 in price (for just the console and one gamepad, no pack-in game). I bought it specifically for the Street Fighter II port that had just come out, but I'd have to wait another week before I had the money for that (I was 17 at the time, making $64 a week working weekends). I figured I'd borrow a game from my neighbor, or rent some games in the meantime. My neighbor lent me Super Mario World which he got as a pack-in game with his system, so I went home to fire it up.

 

I ended up playing the game pretty much steady for a few nights in a row until I beat it. I have positive memories of that, and it became a new favorite of mine. A few years later, in '95 or so, I rented the game and played it through again until I beat it. I have generally positive memories of that too, but mingled with more negative memories than the first time I beat the game.

 

I bought the game on eBay a few years ago so now I actually own it. I dubbed around with it a few times, but never got around to sitting down and seriously playing it. The other day I decided to sit down and give it another go, for the third time in 17 years. Now it is just irritating me more than entertaining me. Things that I used to accept with an attitude of "Well, that's just the way things are" now annoy me. For example, upon dying, having to repeat areas that I've already completed. Why would I want to do that? The only thing I can think of is the programmers simply wanted to be jerks; because there is no way in hell they could believe that most people would find that amusing.

 

Have you ever known of anyone who actually likes such a "feature"? For example, imagine someone is playing a game that always starts you right where you left off after you die. How many of those people do you think would wish that the game had been programmed to start them off at the beginning of the level they'd already gone through, or worse yet, a few levels back (that can happen in SMW if you lose all your lives and continue)?

 

Super Mario Bros. 3 is even worse because it has no save function at all! Who wants to sit down and try to play that behemoth of a game through in one sitting? You're obviously not going to be able to do it the first time you try, and not the second time either, and probably not even the tenth time (discounting the use of a walkthrough guide). So unless you want to leave your NES on pause for extended periods of time, you're going to have to be doing a lot of level repeating before ever beating that game. Maybe I would have been up to it as a kid but now when thinking about it I just say, "Yeah right".

 

Do any of you find your patience wearing thin with some of these old games as you get older? Maybe I'm becoming a "grumpy old man".

Edited August 22, 2009 by MaximRecoil

[darthkur]

he other day I decided to sit down and give it another go, for the third time in 17 years. Now it is just irritating me more than entertaining me. Things that I used to accept with an attitude of "Well, that's just the way things are" now annoy me..........

Do any of you find your patience wearing thin with some of these old games as you get older? Maybe I'm becoming a "grumpy old man".

 

Yep. It's one of the many "perks" of getting on in age. Isn't life grand?

[Gabriel]

Do any of you find your patience wearing thin with some of these old games as you get older? Maybe I'm becoming a "grumpy old man".

 

It's not just "getting older." I've never found the idea of starting the level over because of one mistake to be good game design.

[MaximRecoil]

I've never found the idea of starting the level over because of one mistake to be good game design.

 

Me neither, but I more readily accepted it as a kid. Now I'm far more likely to say "screw this" and shut the game off.

[MagitekAngel]

Not necessarily older, maybe just wiser.

 

When you were a kid, the world was a much smaller place to you. You had a lot less responsibilities, less of a need to look forward to the future, and probably a lot more time to do whatever you wanted. 8 hours straight trying to beat Contra? Sure, why not? What else were you going to do on a rainy Saturday?

 

But as you get older and your life experiences become wider, richer, and deeper, you find yourself having to spread yourself a little thinner as your responsibilities and experiences multiply. You're not going to play Contra until four in the morning if you have to work at six (unless, of course, you have poor judgement, like me )

 

Super Mario World is a favorite of mine as well, I own the cartridge, and I played through it a few short months ago. But I did it in the lull between the end of term and the beginning of exams. I probably wouldn't have played it all at once if I had papers stressing me out.

 

I'm not saying I think you lead a life wracked with stress and pressure, only that there are more factors in general, both positive and negative, vying for your attention and patience than when you were, say, 17. As great a game as it is, Super Mario World can't win every time.

 

I am not a psychologist.

[StanJr]

Some of those things do tend to wear on me as I get older, but I still prefer doing parts of levels over again (or even entire levels) to games where dying or losing really has no consequence and you just start right back up where you died. Why bother having the character "die" if you just start back where you left off. Snore. No challenge.

 

That said, I agree, there are some games, due to a lack of fun gameplay, that do wear on me to the point that I no longer have much interest in playing them. I think ultimately it says more about the fun level of the game, though, than it does about me.

 

Rapidly Aging Stan

[MaximRecoil]

Some of those things do tend to wear on me as I get older, but I still prefer doing parts of levels over again (or even entire levels) to games where dying or losing really has no consequence and you just start right back up where you died. Why bother having the character "die" if you just start back where you left off. Snore. No challenge.

 

The challenge lies ahead not behind. Behind is where you've already been; a challenge you've already overcome. The second, third, fourth, etc., times through it is less and less parts challenge and more and more parts irritation. This is especially true of the annoying forced [slowly] scrolling levels that you have to simply wait for rather than being able to go through at your own pace.

[MagitekAngel]

I never much cared for the scrolling levels either; I think they wear on everyone's patience. And yet Nintendo still puts them in, right up to and including New Super Mario Bros.

[jeremysart]

The only part of Super Mario World that treads on my patience are the Special World levels. Man, those levels piss me off, and their goofy names.

 

And I can totally agree with the annoyance of the scrolling levels. Though I dont have a problem sitting through SMB3 and beating it.. I usually avoid the scrolling levels and world 7 at all costs (whistle!).

[lushgirl_80]

I can never beat Super Mario 3 lol.. I always get bored around the last level and just turn it off. I never saw the ending. Super Mario Bros 2(the US version) I can beat in one sitting,that one's alot of fun.I'd have to say alot more fun than the 3rd one.I know alot of people would'nt agree but I kinda like part 2 better.

[MaximRecoil]

I can never beat Super Mario 3 lol.. I always get bored around the last level and just turn it off. I never saw the ending. Super Mario Bros 2(the US version) I can beat in one sitting,that one's alot of fun.I'd have to say alot more fun than the 3rd one.I know alot of people would'nt agree but I kinda like part 2 better.

 

I've never had the patience to get very far in SMB3. That's probably because I never tried it as a kid. I first tried it somewhat recently and I've only tried it a few times since then. When I realized there was no save function or password system, I wasn't interested in putting any time and effort into the game only to have it lost as soon as I turned the machine off.

[lushgirl_80]

I hate Koopa's kids! Especially during the last few levels it gets really monotonous.If you don't get the whistle and get stuck on level 7 ,that really blows....I really get bored in the last level,the hellfire level. Super Mario 3 is a good game but it's too overrated.

 

Same with Super Mario World.Never beat that game..it just gets a bit repetitive afterwhile.

[Atariboy]

I don't understand your complaints about Super Mario World. The levels are short and 99% of them are extremely easy. They even have a midway marker on the levels. You never lose more than perhaps 60 seconds of your progress.

 

If you lose all your lifes and lose your progress over several levels, it's because your not taking advantage of the cartridge save. All you have to do is beat a castle, fortress, or ghost house. It's something you'll regularly have to do and you'll always be having a opportunity to save every few minutes.

 

One easy way if you somehow could manage to burn up all of your lifes and was concerned you'd lose your last one and couldn't make any forward progress, would be to warp to the ghost house in Donut Plains below the Top Secret Area, and fly up with a cape and then fly to the level exit, it takes about 20 seconds and your progress is saved anytime you want to do it. Just do it if you somehow manage to run out of lifes, though I've never heard of anyone having that problem in SMW since it hands out lifes all the time. Then you could ever restock on lifes at the Top Secret Area.

[almightytodd]

I think it may be generational. I grew up with Atari. My kids grew up with Nintendo. Their complaint with Atari is that the games are too short. My complaint with Nintendo is that the games are too long. My son would rent a Nintendo game from Blockbuster on Friday, disappear for the entire weekend, then announce that he'd finished the game so we could return it on Monday. It reminds me of the World of Warcraft episode of Southpark, where they ponder the question, "How can you kill something that has no life"? One year, I spent a summer playing Half Life, for 30 minutes a day... ...in God mode... ...with a "walk thru" and it still took me three months to get to the end. I'm thrilled to have found Atari Age, and to have so much fun playing all the new homebrews that come out. If I play Nintendo at all, it's with an emulator so I can use the function keys to save program state when I come to tricky parts.

[MaximRecoil]

I don't understand your complaints about Super Mario World. The levels are short and 99% of them are extremely easy. They even have a midway marker on the levels. You never lose more than perhaps 60 seconds of your progress.

 

Most of the castles don't have a midway marker, and the levels that do have them don't grant them to you automatically at the midway point through the level like SMB does; you have to jump on the them (some of them are placed a bit out of the way). The typical lack of midway markers in castles is especially irritating, because they tend to be among the more difficult levels.

 

Also, I disagree with your claim that 99% of the levels are extremely easy. If that were true, then you could hand the controller to most anyone off the street and on their first time playing, they could zip through 99% of the levels with extreme ease. Obviously this is not the case.

 

If you lose all your lifes and lose your progress over several levels, it's because your not taking advantage of the cartridge save. All you have to do is beat a castle, fortress, or ghost house. It's something you'll regularly have to do and you'll always be having a opportunity to save every few minutes.

 

One easy way if you somehow could manage to burn up all of your lifes and was concerned you'd lose your last one and couldn't make any forward progress, would be to warp to the ghost house in Donut Plains below the Top Secret Area, and fly up with a cape and then fly to the level exit, it takes about 20 seconds and your progress is saved anytime you want to do it. Just do it if you somehow manage to run out of lifes, though I've never heard of anyone having that problem in SMW since it hands out lifes all the time. Then you could ever restock on lifes at the Top Secret Area.

 

It takes more than 20 seconds just to get to some other spot on the map that's more than a few points away. Why did they make Mario walk so slow on the map? In SMB3 at least he moves quickly on the map. Also, if you're burning up lives and need to go somewhere else to save, there is a good chance that you don't have the cape, and you'd have to go somewhere to get one if you wanted one to make a save level go quicker. Rather than do that I usually go to a level that I know has some 1UP mushrooms, but given the slowness of the map, it is usually an annoying trek to make.

 

Speaking of saves, it doesn't save your power-up status or the number of lives you have. When you reboot the machine, you always start off with the default 5 lives (even if you had e.g., 20 lives when you last saved) and small Mario (even if you had e.g., the cape). Thanks for that great "feature", Nintendo.

Edited August 23, 2009 by MaximRecoil

[Metalwario64]

Speaking of saves, it doesn't save your power-up status or the number of lives you have. When you reboot the machine, you always start off with the default 5 lives (even if you had e.g., 20 lives when you last saved) and small Mario (even if you had e.g., the cape). Thanks for that great "feature", Nintendo.

Looks like someone doesn't know of the Top Secret Area...

 

Maybe you should check out the GBA version, as you can save anytime and it saves your lives/status/etc.

[MaximRecoil]

Looks like someone doesn't know of the Top Secret Area...

I think I've been to most of the areas in the game, including plenty of hidden places; but the last time I played was in 1995. I don't remember much from it. If once you get there you can save lives/status then that would be nice. Maybe I'll cheat and look up how to get there on the internet.

 

I don't have a GBA (I don't care for handheld game systems).

 

Edit: Okay, I've definitely been there. It is one of the first secret places I found after figuring out how to fly back when I first played this game in the early '90s. In this particular game that I started a few days ago, I didn't even bother going to Donut Plains 2 and Donut Ghost House. I simply headed the other way and forgot about it.

 

So does this mean my status and lives will be saved now even when turning the machine off?

Edited August 23, 2009 by MaximRecoil

[the maddestman]

With the Super Mario games, did anyone else think it was an odd message to send our kids about eating mushrooms to double in size and stars to become invincible for a short length of time? lol

[acelkin]

With the Super Mario games, did anyone else think it was an odd message to send our kids about eating mushrooms to double in size and stars to become invincible for a short length of time? lol

 

Funny! Wasn't that whole thing inspired by Alice in Wonderland?

 

I had a profound thought(well, for me anyway). I was watching my son play Oblivion last night...he was letting his guy run into fire, burning away some of his health. I got to thinking..."life" was precious to us back in the day. 3 lives, maybe an extra one here or there, and that was it! I told my 15 yr old son "You kids these days don't appreciate your lives as much as we did. You got your endless checkpoints & saves." Yeah, I'm getting old...back when I was your age. hehe

[jeremysart]

I can never beat Super Mario 3 lol.. I always get bored around the last level and just turn it off. I never saw the ending. Super Mario Bros 2(the US version) I can beat in one sitting,that one's alot of fun.I'd have to say alot more fun than the 3rd one.I know alot of people would'nt agree but I kinda like part 2 better.

 

SMB3 was always one of my favorites, but I can agree with you. I had a LOT of fun on SMB2. I especially like finding the warp zones. Luigi was always my favorite to play as since he jumped so high! What was your favorite world?

[Herbarius]

Hmm, reading in this thread always make me wanna play Super Mario games

[Metalwario64]

So does this mean my status and lives will be saved now even when turning the machine off?

If you mean by getting to the Top Secret Area, then no. But that area makes it super easy to stock up on lives and power ups however. The center [?] contains a Yoshi. Get on the Yoshi and continue re-entering the stage as many times as you want to get endless 1-ups from the Yoshi [?].

[Atariboy]

It takes more than 20 seconds just to get to some other spot on the map that's more than a few points away. Why did they make Mario walk so slow on the map?

 

Use the Star Road, you can get anywhere in the entire world in just a few seconds by using it.

 

Also, if you're burning up lives and need to go somewhere else to save, there is a good chance that you don't have the cape, and you'd have to go somewhere to get one if you wanted one to make a save level go quicker. Rather than do that I usually go to a level that I know has some 1UP mushrooms, but given the slowness of the map, it is usually an annoying trek to make.

 

Which is why the Top Secret Level is there. You can go there anytime and get spare lifes, powerups, and Yoshi's, and go South to the Ghost House directly below it and fly up and out to the end of the level to get a save prompt. The only thing you can't get at the Top Secret Level are colored Yoshi's, but they're mostly useless anyways except for the blue flying Yoshi who can easily be gotten on Star Road without much of an investment in time.

 

So does this mean my status and lives will be saved now even when turning the machine off?

 

No, but it's not a feature that's necessary. 5 lifes is plenty and no one ever usually has a problem of running out since you get them constantly, and no one cares about your score. And as has alreayd been mentioned, if you have a problem with lifes, simply go to the Top Secret Level and activate the block that usually holds Yoshi. If you do it while on Yoshi, a life will pop out of the box. Rinse and repeat as necessary to stock up on lifes, you can get a extra life in about 2 seconds using that method.

 

I urge you to not give up on the game, your complaints are largely easily remedied with SMW and don't really exist for the game. There's midway markers even in most of the castles and fortresses actually. Its very easy to save your progress, travel the map quickly, get powerups and lifes, and the midway markers on virtually every level ensure that even with a death that you don't lose much progress.

 

The game would lose most of its charm with infinite lifes that respawn you fully powered up at the point you died. If you really need that to enjoy the game, there's Game Genie codes for SMW that let you do all of that and even float through the levels if you desired.

Edited August 24, 2009 by Atariboy

[MaximRecoil]

Use the Star Road, you can get anywhere in the entire world in just a few seconds by using it.

 

I don't have access to the Star Road. I remember it from years ago, but I don't remember how to access it.

 

The game would lose most of its charm with infinite lifes that respawn you fully powered up at the point you died. If you really need that to enjoy the game, there's Game Genie codes for SMW that let you do all of that and even float through the levels if you desired.

 

Well, the game does offer infinite lives; you just have to do boring and repetitive things to get them each time you power up the game (it would be so much nicer if the game simply did a real "save state" at save points). I never suggested that you should be fully powered up when you respawn (that wouldn't even make sense); only that you shouldn't lose linear progress.

 

In any event, I did beat this game last night, for the third time in 17 years. I didn't find a lot of the hidden areas however; only enough to progress in the game. Maybe at some point I'll go back and look for the Star Road; but for now, I've had just about enough of that game. The game should stay saved for a long time to come, given that I replaced its battery a couple of years ago.

[Lemmi]

ive beat Super Mario World advance (GBA sp) about 9 times in the past year

first i just beat the game with all 96 levels

then i went for all the coins

then i went for the fastest time i could beat bowser (11min)

 

i dont know if i could play the SNES version now after playing the GBAsp version, but i used to play the SNES version alot back in the mid 90's

 

oh and i hated playing SMB3