[Music]
in 2015 retro gamer magazine asked
readers to list their top 10 video games
for the magazine's 150 greatest games of
all time feature
coming in at number one on almost 20
of all ballots was super mario world
it was a landslide victory
and for good reason
super mario world not only showed off
the new bells and whistles of the super
nintendo it redefined what super mario
games could be
the goal was no longer to get the high
score and defeat bowser it was to
explore an entirely new world finding
hidden paths and secret levels
mario had an arsenal of new power-ups
moves and friends
but above all
the game gave players more freedom than
ever before
super mario world is widely considered
the apex of 2d platforming
but it was a masterpiece made under
challenging circumstances
for the first time new competition
threatened nintendo's position in the
video game market the super mario world
development team had to learn new
hardware the 16-bit super famicom or
super nintendo and they had to learn it
quickly in order for the game to launch
with the new console
the result was the best super mario game
yet and arguably ever
it helped ensure nintendo stayed
competitive in a new more powerful era
of video games
this is the story of super mario world
[Music]
it's about time for the famicom to start
dropping off
i think people are getting tired of it
hiroshi yamauchi
in the summer of 1988 nintendo president
hiroshi yamauchi made a stunning
declaration
the famicom era was coming to an end
nintendo's family computer console or
famicom for short was first released in
japan in july of 1983. by 1988 nintendo
had sold 12 million systems and untold
millions of games giving them a 90
percent share of the japanese video game
market
but yamauchi had reason to be concerned
sales of the famicom had peaked in 1986
and were slowly dropping
in an exclusive interview with japanese
magazine touch yamauchi expressed
disappointment in the famicom's recent
sales numbers and admitted that the next
generation of consoles had arrived there
was new competition in the video game
market in october of 1987 nec a massive
electronics corporation threw its hat in
the ring with the pc engine console nec
boasted about the technological
superiority of its system and planned to
release a cd-rom attachment in the
future the pc engine appealed to
teenagers and young adults
in just two months nec shipped more than
500 000 consoles
nintendo was also keeping tabs on sega
sega was planning to launch their new
console the mega drive in october of
1988.
sega boasted their new system would be
capable of more than just playing video
games it would have a modem a printer
and more
the mega drive was also the first 16-bit
video game console sega proudly slapped
a 16-bit label on their system
all of a sudden nintendo's 8-bit famicom
seemed underpowered and outdated
but yamauchi had a surprise
in the interview with touch magazine he
announced that nintendo was shifting
focus to their next generation console
the 16-bit super famicom
yamauchi had been teasing the system
since 1987 not coincidentally a month
before nec released the pc engine
now in 1988 yamauchi was ready to reveal
more details not coincidentally a month
before sega released to the mega drive
the news was more than an announcement
it was a warning for potential buyers
don't waste your money nintendo's latest
console will be available soon
the super famicom was much more powerful
than its predecessor it had a custom
16-bit cpu more memory a custom sony
sound chip more than 32 000 colors to
choose from a higher max resolution
stereo sound and more
but yamauchi believed looking at only
the technical aspects of a console was
naive the strength of a video game
system was in the software and the super
famicom he boasted would allow
developers to make games they'd never
thought possible
yamauchi revealed that nintendo was
currently prototyping several games
themselves and one of them was super
mario brothers 4.
it was a surprising announcement mainly
because nintendo hadn't even released
super mario brothers 3.
over the past summer mario creator
shigeru miyamoto and his team within
nintendo's entertainment analysis and
development group were wrapping up super
mario brothers 3. nintendo planned to
release the game in october of 1988.
miyamoto considered super mario brothers
3 the definitive mario game on the
famicom and the true sequel to the
original super mario brothers it was 10
times the size of the first game with
eight massive worlds containing 90
levels and an array of new power ups
super mario bros 3 also utilized a
multi-memory controller chip on the
cartridge that pushed the famicom
hardware to its limits
by the end of development miyamoto's
team was exhausted
he believed they quote put everything
they had into it
but there was no time to rest the higher
ups at nintendo gave the team a new
directive
make super mario brothers 4 for the
super famicom and have it ready by
launch
making super mario brothers 4 a launch
title was a no-brainer for nintendo
super mario brothers was easily the most
popular series on the famicom and its
international counterpart the nintendo
entertainment system making a new super
mario game for nintendo's new 16-bit
console was a sure-fire way to sell
hardware
but with new hardware to learn and a
tight deadline the team needed more
resources
so they grew in size adding additional
programmers testers and artists
they also brought back veterans of the
16 plus staff members assigned to super
mario brothers 4
9 worked on super mario brothers 3.
among them was toshihiko nakago
nakago was a programmer from systems
research and development or srd an
independent development company with an
office located conveniently inside
nintendo's kyoto headquarters nakago
served as the director of programming
for super mario bros 4.
koji kondo who had written music for the
series since its inception returned to
compose the music and sound effects
hideki kono and katsuya eguchi were once
again in charge of maps and stage design
then there was shigeru miyamoto
by 1988 miyamoto was nintendo's rockstar
developer and chief software producer
and with the super famicom in
development his responsibilities
increased dramatically along with
consulting on the super famicom's
console and controller design miyamoto
had to work on three other upcoming
games
so out of necessity miyamoto took a step
back in his role as producer for super
mario brothers 4. he later recalled
basically i stood by and watched closely
interjecting various ideas of my own
here and there
and finally takashi tezuka an unsung
hero of the super mario series was put
in charge of the super mario brothers 4
project
tezuka first joined nintendo in 1984 as
a designer making instruction manuals
and playing cards but occasionally
artists got teamed up with game
designers to work on projects and one
day tezuka got paired up with shigeru
miyamoto
the two formed a powerful partnership
together they designed and developed the
first super mario brothers the legend of
zelda and more
during the development of super mario
brothers 3 tezuka may have taken on too
much work
along with director duties he also
created character art and visuals for
the game
tezuka later admitted development didn't
come together well
as a result nintendo delayed the release
of super mario brothers 3 by six months
tezuka would not make the same mistake
again
i didn't think it was good to take on
too much he said
as the director of super mario bros 4
tezuka focused on managing his staff and
helping with the game's overall design
he delegated visuals to a new member of
the team
shige
fumihino hino was a relative newcomer to
nintendo it was only his second year at
the company and he had only worked on
one other game a sequel to famicom grand
prix f1 race and it never got released
now hino was assigned to arguably
nintendo's most important project
he felt a ton of pressure saying super
mario brothers 3 was really well made so
it was intimidating to know it would be
compared to that for that reason i
worried a lot over how we could present
super mario in a fresh way
but luckily the super mario brothers 4
team had a much more powerful console to
work with the super famicom and they
were excited to try all the new bells
and whistles
head programmer toshihiko nakago was
relieved he and his programmers no
longer had to worry so much about
hardware limitations and miyamoto
thought it would be easier to create
visuals with the new vast array of
colors
the team also got some upgraded
development tools up to that point mario
levels were created by hand on graph
paper then transferred into a computer
by programmers
now the designers had software that
allowed them to edit levels directly on
the computer
of course there would be a learning
curve with new tools and new hardware so
the mario 4 team started with an
experiment
we ported mario 3 to the super famicom
as a hardware experiment and even though
the colors and sprites were more
detailed it was still the same game
maybe realized that we couldn't just
make the same game again we had to
create something new so it was in that
context that we talked about how to make
the most use of the new hardware
shigeru miyamoto
by now nintendo had solidified the super
mario brothers formula
mario games were about athleticism
running fast jumping high dodging
obstacles and stomping enemies they were
about friendliness to new players anyone
could pick up a mario game figure it out
and have fun
and finally super mario brothers was
about freedom
if players wanted to blaze through a
level without collecting a single coin
they could do it if players wanted to
take their time use power-ups and
explore levels they could do that too
people could play super mario brothers
however they wanted
tezuka and miyamoto believe this new
mario game should not change what made
the series so special instead nintendo
could perfect the concepts add fun new
elements to the game and show off the
latest technologies in the super famicom
it would give players the most complete
super mario experience yet
meanwhile on november 21st 1988 nintendo
revealed a prototype of the super
famicom at their kyoto headquarters
representatives from more than 200
companies including tv press magazines
and newspaper reporters were on hand to
see the unveiling nintendo announced
they would ship the super famicom by
july of 1989 an extremely ambitious
deadline
nintendo also showed some early game
demos but notably absent was super mario
brothers 4.
the development team was still trying to
solidify the game along the way they
made constant changes
early on the super mario brothers 3
influence was apparent the graphical
style including mario's sprite was very
similar
many enemies looked identical to their
super mario brothers 3 counterparts
and the koopaling bosses still occupied
the castles
they also brought back familiar
power-ups like the raccoon suit for
flying
and the world maps looked strikingly
similar albeit much larger
it may have looked too similar
co-workers frequently commented it
doesn't look all that different from the
famicom games tezuka took the criticism
to heart and made some changes
shige fumihino gave the sprites more
detail
at one point the team even experimented
with a three-dimensional look but they
didn't stop there
map director hideki kono also changed
the world map considerably clearly
departing from the mario 3 style
in addition to graphical upgrades the
super mario brothers 4 team had to
figure out how to show off the new
features of the super famicom the 16-bit
console could do all sorts of neat
tricks like background scaling and
rotation and transparency effects and as
a launch title nintendo wanted super
mario bros 4 to show off the new
hardware
but miyamoto was hesitant to throw in
new things just for the sake of it he
said just because we found something
cool the hardware could do something
that made us go whoa if it ruined the
balance or flow of the game we didn't
want to include it the development team
thoughtfully added new elements
large sprites emphasized the super in
super famicom transparency effects in
the water and on enemies immersed the
player into the game
scrolling backgrounds gave levels a
sense of depth
rotating platforms gave mario new
challenging boss fights
in addition to the technological
upgrades the super mario brothers 4 team
also honed in on the core game design
luckily they had a wealth of player
feedback at their disposal
[Music]
on october 23 1988 after two and a half
years in development super mario bros 3
finally hit japanese store shelves the
game received rave reviews and was the
best-selling famicom game for months but
super mario bros 3 wasn't the most
friendly to new players miyamoto wanted
to find a better balance with super
mario bros 4. as a launch title the game
needed to appeal to players of all skill
levels
so the team implemented a few features
to make the game a bit easier they added
checkpoints to levels that made mario
big if he was small in addition the team
added an item reserve box in the
previous game mario could stockpile
power-ups and use them before entering
levels now mario could bring extra
power-ups into the level if he got hit
or if players press select the item
would drop down automatically
by the summer of 1989 super mario
brothers 4 was starting to separate
itself from the previous games and the
development team took it a step further
by giving the game a new title
with a whole new world for mario to
explore there could be no better name
super mario world
but everything changed when not
surprisingly nintendo decided to delay
the release of the super famicom
there were a multitude of reasons
the super famicom hardware was for the
most part ready to go
but there was a distinct lack of
software nintendo was still working on
launch titles and although 21 companies
had signed on to become third party
developers for the system
none of them had development kits yet
there was also a global chip shortage a
new generation of semiconductor and chip
technology caused manufacturers to split
their production capacity that drove
prices up considerably yamauchi hoped to
keep the super famicom at a price point
of around 20 000 yen or around 150
however with the chip shortage the cost
of the super famicom could shoot up
beyond 30 thousand yen or around 225
dollars and with the chip shortage
nintendo maxed out its manufacturing
capacity at that time nintendo produced
3 million famicoms and nintendo
entertainment systems per month they
were also dealing with stock shortages
of their new handheld system the game
boy nintendo planned to launch the game
boy in north america later that year the
stock shortages led one columnist to
comment why launch a competing product
when you cannot cope with what you
already have
there was also still life left in the
8-bit famicom super mario brothers 3 was
a huge success and enix's upcoming
dragon quest 4 was guaranteed to fly off
store shelves it was so popular that nx
planned to release the game on the
weekend to prevent kids from skipping
school to buy it yamauchi's early
teasing of the super famicom seemed to
have worked in a famitsu magazine survey
many readers claimed they would rather
wait for the super famicom than buy a pc
engine
although nec's pc engine was selling
well
it was still nowhere near the reach of
the famicom which was now in one third
of japanese households and sega's 16-bit
mega drive failed to make much of an
impact they had only sold 400 000 units
up to that point
with the threat of competition dying
down there was simply no need to rush
the super famicom's launch
so on july 28 1989 nintendo held a press
conference at their kyoto headquarters
and announced they were delaying the
super famicom for an entire year
but while the delay made headlines there
was more to share
nintendo unveiled a new design of the
super famicom and for the first time
they previewed their most anticipated
game
super mario world
but surprisingly the reaction was mixed
while many publications were impressed
by the technological advancements they
felt somewhat disappointed in the
gameplay and graphics
famitsu magazine commented that it looks
to be the same as the previous mario
games and electronic gaming monthly a
u.s publication getting early scoops on
games from japan stated super mario
world was not as graphically impressive
as nintendo's other upcoming games
but this would not deter takashi tezuka
shigeru miyamoto and the rest of the
super mario world team the delay of the
super famicom turned out to be a
blessing in disguise
with another year of development at
their disposal there was plenty more to
add that would turn super mario world
into one of the greatest platformers of
all time
with the super famicom delayed until the
fall of 1990 the super mario world team
had an extra year to work on the game
for shigeru miyamoto and takashi tezuka
it was a chance to refine the game's
balance
how could the development team ensure
both newcomers and veterans got the most
out of super mario and how could they
give these players more freedom to play
the game in their own way
the team often met late into the night
discussing potential ideas
but one idea unearthed a wealth of
possibilities
i think great video games are like
favorite playgrounds places you become
attached to and go back to again and
again
wouldn't it be great to have a whole
drawer full of playgrounds right at your
fingertips
miyamoto and tezuka found their
playground with the world map
nintendo first introduced a world map to
the super mario series with super mario
bros 3. it allowed players to choose
what levels they wanted to play to reach
the end however it was still a fairly
linear experience to get to bowser and
save the princess
the development team initially carried
this concept over to super mario world
but besides some updated visuals it was
functionally the same
but what if the world map was more than
just a map miyamoto said we were
thinking that players should be able to
play with the map itself
so the map got a complete overhaul mario
had a whole new world to explore
dinosaur land and players were free to
explore dinosaur land how they wished
rather than having eight separate worlds
dinosaur land was one massive area with
interconnecting regions players could
backtrack and replay levels or explore
new areas of the map the development
team filled the map with secret levels
and hidden paths
this gave players new ways to experience
the game for example players could find
a secret passage to bowser's castle
quickly or take their time and play
through all the levels in order and
beating bowser was no longer the end of
the game there were 96 exits players
could find throughout dinosaur lands 74
levels sometimes mario found a secret
pipe that led to a new exit
other times a key opened up a new
pathway on the map players might find an
area that they previously thought was
unreachable the development team
provided clues to help the player find
these secret exits for example levels
that flashed red had multiple exits
visual clues like a notch on the cliff
side or a pipe off the beaten path might
mean a nearby secret and thanks to a
save battery on the cartridge players
could take their time to find all the
exits
a number on the main menu let players
know their progress
but the changes to the world map were
not just about levels and secrets they
also brought balance to the game
for many games developers would add an
easy mode or hard mode to the main menu
to change the difficulty but miyamoto
was not a fan of this design choice
instead he wanted players to adjust the
difficulty as they played
so the director of programming toshihiko
nakago came up with an idea
dotted line blocks
the idea started from a simple addition
the team wanted to try new block types
and levels
from there it evolved into much more
throughout levels players came across
various colored dotted lines when the
player found the corresponding switch
palace on the map the blocks activated
it made levels easier by providing a new
platform for mario to jump on or
providing power-ups if players wanted to
make the game harder they could ignore
the switch palaces
dinosaur land now resembled a board game
there were nine unique areas to explore
like forests of illusion twin bridges
and star world
and many regions were named after food
like donut plains vanilla dome and
chocolate island
with a new map and unique regions for
mario to explore character designer
shige fumihino saw an opportunity to
update many of the game's visuals
mario got a makeover with back pockets
on his overalls an emblem on his hat and
improved shadows
specifically requested mario have white
in his eyes
hino complied with the request but left
mario with tiny black eyes when he was
small
he thought it gave mario more character
hino also added small details mario
flashed a peace sign when he finished a
level when mario lost to life a look of
horror swept over his face
but hino didn't stop with mario many
classic enemies including goombas
lackatoos and dry bones got a new look
koopa troopas changed significantly
previously koopa troopas acted like
turtles slowly moving around levels
now koopa troopas walked upright mario
could bounce them out of their shell
revealing a vulnerable little reptile in
its underwear
some would even try to recover their
shells or kick them at mario
along with classic enemies hino and
tezuka came up with new ones among them
was wiggler a volatile caterpillar
charge and chuck a football playing
koopa that took three hits to take down
and ripped van fish a sleepy fish who
excitedly chased mario when he woke up
and what was dinosaur land without a few
dinosaurs there was rex who required two
stomps to take down
dino rhino a large nearsighted enemy who
turned into a dino torch if you stomped
on him
reznor a fire-breathing triceratops that
guarded several fortresses
and blarg a massive dinosaur who lurked
beneath the lava waiting for mario to
pass by
but not every dinosaur was an enemy in
fact one new friend would forever change
the super mario
[Music]
series for the past five years shigeru
miyamoto had a sketch of mario riding a
dinosaur taped up at his desk he had
wanted to implement the idea since the
first super mario brothers game the team
tried to add it to super mario brothers
3 but technical limitations prevented
them but with the more powerful 16-bit
super famicom there was hope
tezuka noticed the sketch again and
decided to give it a shot
he took the idea to character designer
shige fumihino and asked him to draw a
dinosaur that mario could ride like a
horse
hino's first idea came out looking like
a crocodile
tezuka made some suggestions
the dinosaur should be smaller
cuter and related to the koopa troopas
hino made modifications and over time
the character's final form took shape
a green dinosaur with a shell on its
back that doubled as a saddle
tezuka recalled that quote he turned
into quite the cute character
as a placeholder they named the
character yoshi a nickname of miye
yoshimura an artist on staff
but the name stuck
writing yoshi was a fun new way to
explore levels because he offered more
than just transportation
yoshi could eat enemies or grab hard to
reach items help mario jump extra high
and traverse rough terrain yoshi could
also gain new powers for example with
the different colored koopa shells yoshi
could breathe fire temporarily fly
or stomp the ground in addition he could
eat berries scattered around levels to
earn more time power-ups and coins yoshi
also provided mario with a free hit when
an enemy hit mario yoshi would run away
but the player had an opportunity to get
yoshi back
the team also added adorable baby yoshis
in various colors
mario could feed the yoshi's enemies to
make them grow up and each colored yoshi
had specific traits when they gobbled up
koopa shells
essentially yoshi was a new robust
power-up for mario to use on his journey
the development team brought back old
power-ups as well
there were the usuals the super mushroom
to make mario big a fire flower that let
mario shoot fireballs and a superstar
that granted temporary invincibility
the development team initially brought
back the super leaf which turned mario
into a raccoon and allowed him to fly
temporarily but with all the other
changes happening they thought they
could do better so they experimented
with a few ideas such as wings before
finally settling on a cape
the cape acquired by picking up a
feather worked similarly to the raccoon
suit players could hit enemies with it
and after a brief runoff could
temporarily fly
but it offered so much more players had
more control mid-flight and by rocking
back and forth they could stay in the
air much longer mario could also attack
enemies from above
it was the most intricate power-up in
the series thus far
the development team constantly tinkered
with the cape controls many test players
found it too difficult at first
and thanks to the extra buttons
available on the super famicom
controller mario also had a new move
the spin jump by pressing the a button
mario could destroy blocks from above
bounce off obstacles and stomp enemies
the development team even utilized the
shoulder l r buttons on the new
controller it allowed the player to
scroll the screen forward or backwards
slightly
in previous super mario games certain
levels required players to take a blind
leap of faith
now players could scout out what was
ahead before making a decision
super mario world was finally coming
into its own the development team
overhauled almost everything a new world
new enemies
new friends
new mini games and new power
and to complement everything were the
brilliant compositions and sound effects
from composer koji kondo
since the beginning kondo had worked on
the super mario brothers series
composing the memorable original theme
while working on super mario bros 3 he
composed a plethora of new music with a
distinct reggae vibe and a ton of
percussion
but after completing the project pondo
thought he may have composed too much
music
as a result he felt like each song made
less of an impact
kondo's favorite songs were ones with
beautiful melodies
he felt they left a more profound
impression on people
so with super mario world he wanted to
focus on one melody and incorporate it
into multiple songs
but due to the new hardware he found the
work quote 100 times more difficult
kondo had to make all the sound samples
himself and learn new software tools but
he quickly realized the super famicom
allowed him to do so much more with the
music
the 8-bit famicom only had 5 audio
channels and was limited to electronic
sounds
but the super famicom had 8 dedicated
sound channels and supported samples and
sound effects from all kinds of
instruments
as a result kondo got to completely
rethink what game music could be
kondo used a variety of instruments for
both the music and sound effects
it resulted in a rich warm sound unlike
anything players had ever heard before
in a super mario game
[Music]
players heard kondo's catchy melody
throughout the game
the above ground music made the melody
sound bright and fun
[Music]
in contrast the fortress music gave the
melody a sinister mysterious vibe
[Music]
condo added a few subtle musical cues
too when mario found yoshi a new
percussion track kicked in over top the
music
[Music]
pondo even added a reverb effect to the
sounds while mario was underground
adding to the level's atmosphere
[Music]
and with the additional memory in the
super famicom kondo was able to compose
a title song for the game a first for
the super mario series
[Music]
by the summer of 1990 two years after
development started super mario world
was mostly complete
tezuka and his team felt they had taken
the concepts that made the series so
special freedom athleticism friendliness
and perfected them it was a massive
side-scrolling 2d platformer
nintendo packed everything into a 4
megabit cartridge an impressive feat
considering all the new graphics and
sound
on the game's packaging nintendo added
super mario bros 4 as a subtitle
reminding players that this was a
continuation of the beloved series from
the famicom super mario world was the
quintessential launch title it showcased
the hardware's new technologies while at
the same time providing fans of the
series comfort and familiarity
in many ways it embodied the super
famicom the primary colors of the
console red green blue and yellow were
found throughout the game
in koopa shells
yoshi's
and even on the game's box art
shige fumihino who had been nervous even
to start development felt that they had
perfected the genre i felt like with
super mario world we had done everything
we could with a side-scrolling jumping
game he said
with development finished all that was
left was for nintendo to release the
super famicom
ever since nintendo announced the delay
of the system a year earlier the company
had been mostly silent
but on june 21st 1990 they finally had
an update the super famicom was coming
out on november 21st 1990.
on august 28th and 29th nintendo held a
sho shinkai trade show at the harumi
international exhibition center in tokyo
there were now 33 developers making
games for the super famicom many of the
companies were at the show to
demonstrate their upcoming games
but all eyes were on nintendo for the
first time they premiered the final
version of the super famicom the system
would cost 25 000 yen or around 170
and come with two controllers to keep
the price down nintendo didn't include
any cables or power adapters
nintendo also premiered their two launch
titles
the first was f-zero an ultra-fast
arcade racing game it showcased one of
the super famicom's new technologies
mode 7 which gave a faux 3d effect
the second game was super mario world
nintendo set up 10 super famicom
stations at the trade show so attendees
could try out the new games eight of
them were dedicated to super mario world
people packed the booth for the entire
show
the media was impressed by all the
latest changes to the game
electronic gaming monthly called it the
premier piece of software shipping with
the super famicom
the hype for super mario world and the
super famicom was bigger than ever
nintendo received 1.5 million pre-orders
for their new console from wholesalers
with so many pre-orders nintendo worried
that launch day might be a little
chaotic
so they encouraged retailers to
implement a reservation system when
selling the super famicom one store had
so many reservation requests they held a
lottery and sent out postcards to the
winners
two years after announcing the system
nintendo was finally ready to enter the
next generation and for the first time
they were launching a new console with
real competition in the market
in the early morning of november 20th
nintendo loaded 100 trucks with boxes of
super famicom consoles along with f-zero
and super mario world cartridges
in an event dubbed operation midnight
shipping nintendo sent out their newest
console in games in the dead of night
hoping to ward off thieves and on the
morning of november 21st 1990 the super
famicom and super mario world were
officially on store shelves in japan
launch day was a mixed bag the haku hing
khan toy park store which didn't take
reservations had a massive line outside
the entrance the store sold super
famicoms on a first come first serve
basis
as a result many customers left without
a console
but other stores like the odakyu
department store were relatively calm
the store issued reservation tickets six
weeks ahead of time anticipating that
kids would play hooky to get the system
the store sold 1500 super famicoms on
launch day
but the biggest issue was the lack of
stock
although nintendo had 1.5 million
pre-orders they could only ship 300 000
consoles many smaller stores
particularly mom and pop shops didn't
receive any consoles
some stores took advantage of the
shortage by offering the super famicom
bundled with software at a marked up
price
retailers accused nintendo of stalling
production to create a false shortage
and drive up demand
nintendo responded by promising to
increase their manufacturing capacity in
1991.
despite the issues the super famicom was
a hit according to a report from
nintendo the initial stock of 300 000
consoles sold out in just three days
and super mario world was the crown
jewel of the system
to put it simply it's everything a game
should be challenging frustrating
rewarding and most important of all
unbelievably addictive i'm still nursing
an injured finger from a weekend solid
and i mean solid play if you've got the
super famicom this is as essential as
the power supply
julian jazz rignal
mean machines
super mario world received rave reviews
from the press famitsu magazine gave the
game a score of 34 out of 40. they wrote
the mario series repeatedly powers up
and this may surprise some players but i
felt a lot of power in this entry it
feels like it has three times the ideas
without impacting any of the
fundamentals that make mario games so
much fun
but even with all the praise some
reviewers came away slightly
disappointed they expected more from
nintendo's new 16-bit console
one reviewer considered the game a bit
stale compared to super mario bros 3.
others found the extra controls
challenging to learn
none of that stopped customers from
scooping up super mario world many
people bought the game even without
owning a super famicom by february of
1991 nintendo had sold 750 000 copies of
super mario world despite only selling
six hundred thousand super famicom
consoles
super mario mania once again swept over
japan a new wave of super mario
merchandise including plushies and toys
hit store shelves
bandai released super mario world mario
and yoshi's adventure land an
interactive anime compatible with
bandai's tedebiko toy phone
there were cross promotions with food
and beverage companies including
mcdonald's there were mangas based on
the game such as the super mario koon
series
nintendo and warner pioneer released the
game's soundtrack on cd featuring new
jazz arrangements of koji kondo's music
konami even released a gambling machine
mario roulette based on the mini game in
super mario world
the super famicom and super mario world
were a success
nintendo hit its goal of selling three
million consoles within a year by august
of 1991 three months ahead of time and
in total nintendo would sell three and a
half million copies of super mario world
in japan making it the second
best-selling game on the super famicom
by 1992 the super famicom overtook nec's
pc engine in sales cementing nintendo as
the top dog in the japanese video game
market
but when it came time to bring the super
famicom and super mario world over to
north america
things wouldn't be so easy
[Music]
when nintendo first revealed the super
famicom in november of 1988 sales of the
8-bit famicom were declining but its
north american counterpart the nintendo
entertainment system was setting sales
records in 1988 nintendo of america sold
7 million nes consoles and more than 40
million games
for the second year in a row the nes was
the number one toy in the united states
the country had nintendo fever
if you haven't heard about the nintendo
entertainment system odds are you've
either just awakened from a two-year
sleep or you don't have a child under
the age of 14. nintendo is simply the
toy of the late 80s a marketing
phenomenon every bit as remarkable as
the cabbage patch kids craze a few years
back
dennis lynch chicago tribune
1989 looked to be another banner year
for nintendo of america but just like in
japan there would be new contenders in
the market at the 1989 summer consumer
electronics show in chicago sega
introduced the genesis the north
american version of the mega drive
nec brought the pc engine over as the
turbografx 16 and the hot buzz word of
the show was bits
to the general public more bits meant
better video games the turbo graphics 16
was technically an 8-bit console but
sported dual 16-bit graphics chips and
nec marketed the console as a 16-bit
system
sega boasted that the genesis was the
only true 16-bit system and promised
arcade quality graphics stereo sound and
unsurpassed gameplay
with nec and sega bringing in more
powerful consoles it begged the question
where was nintendo's 16-bit system
officially nintendo said it had no plans
to launch a 16-bit console in north
america during their presentation at the
summer ces show nintendo played a video
hosted by a costumed mario that
showcased the nes in game boy mario
tried to convince the audience that
16-bit consoles were not the future of
video games and that the nes was plenty
powerful
the press called it propaganda
but while nintendo of america feigned
disinterest in 16 bits video game
magazines were picking up news on the
super famicom from japan
video game magazines had seen a
resurgence in the past year thanks to a
booming video game industry
nintendo even had a magazine nintendo
power with an estimated 1.2 million
subscribers
nintendo carefully chose what to cover
and what to keep up its sleeve
and it wanted to keep the super famicom
up its sleeve
but other magazines didn't have those
restrictions and regularly looked to
japan for the latest video game news and
rumors
there was game pro video games and
computer entertainment and game players
but by far the magazine with the most
coverage of japan was electronic gaming
monthly or egm
in their very first issue from may of
1989 the magazine revealed the super
famicom calling it the most incredible
game system ever seen
in their second issue egm had full color
photos of the super famicom prototype
along with the first mention of a new
super mario game super mario brothers 4.
it couldn't have made nintendo happy
super mario brothers 2 hadn't even been
out for a year in north america and
nintendo was spending 1989 hyping up
super mario brothers 3 due to come out
in early 1990
by the fall of 1989 nintendo of america
could no longer deny that a 16-bit
machine was in the works
vice president of marketing peter main
confirmed the super famicom was real and
coming to japan but he stopped short of
announcing a north american release
instead maine affirmed that the company
wanted to ring every last megabyte of
power from the nintendo entertainment
system before jumping into the 16-bit
generation
in other words any announcement of a new
16-bit system would cut into nintendo of
america's sales
but that didn't stop the press from
talking about the super famicom in super
mario brothers 4. electronic gaming
monthly repeatedly brought over the
latest news from japan in issue 4 they
confirmed super mario brothers 4 was now
called super mario world and showed the
game's first screenshots
despite the whisperings of a 16-bit
console nintendo of america had another
record year in 1989.
they sold an astonishing 9 million nes
consoles
for the third year in a row the nes was
the number one selling toy
in addition nintendo's new game boy
handheld introduced in august of 1989
sold around one million units in less
than six months
and despite the new competition nintendo
still controlled about eighty percent of
the four billion dollar video game
market
in 1990 looked like another big year
nintendo of america was preparing to
launch their highly anticipated new game
super mario brothers 3.
the company spent the past year hyping
up the game with teasers and early
releases on the play choice 10 arcade
cabinet the game was even in a hollywood
film the wizard
in january of 1990 nintendo power had an
article about the making of super mario
bros 3 featuring a write-up on mario
creator shigeru miyamoto the article
briefly mentioned that miyamoto was
working on games for the super famicom
including super mario bros 4
but that wasn't all in the mailbag
section a reader noted he read about the
super famicom in other magazines and
wondered why nintendo power had not
talked about it more the magazine
replied that the super famicom wasn't
even out in japan they only wanted to
provide information that was quote
timely and accurate
nintendo power now had a subscriber base
of almost 2 million this was their first
acknowledgement of the super famicom in
super mario world
with the hype of super mario bros 3
dying down a new hype emerged for
nintendo's next console and super mario
game
and those other magazines kept the hype
train moving rumors swirled about what
the super famicom would look like in
north america and when exactly it was
coming
one rumor suggested that the super
famicom was actually a more powerful
32-bit system
another report claimed that nintendo
planned to call the new system sfx in
north america
there was even gossip that the super
famicom would come to north america as
an attachment to the nes
by the fall of 1990 it seemed like
nintendo was tired of the rumors and
speculation in september nintendo power
published a blurb on the unveiling of
the super famicom in japan along with
screenshots of super mario world they
also took a jab at other publications
asking readers to stick with nintendo
power for quote hard facts and not wimpy
rumors
but electronic gaming monthly also
covered the unveiling of the super
famicom in japan
and much more extensively their november
issue had a multi-page preview of the
console super mario world and other
upcoming games
still with all the previews rumors and
speculation
no one outside of nintendo knew when the
super famicom and super mario world were
coming stateside
but 1990 proved to be a defining year
for nintendo of america the company had
another record-breaking year with 3.4
billion dollars in sales nintendo now
controlled 87
of the video game market super mario
brothers 3 was a colossal hit selling
seven and a half million copies and
grossing more than 400 million dollars
at the time it was the best-selling
stand-alone video game ever
nintendo also sold 3.2 million game boys
along with 9 million games
but despite all the accolades nintendo
also saw problems
the nintendo entertainment system was
saturating the market
one in four households owned an nes and
in homes with children aged 10 to 14
almost 100
owned an nes
for the first time in north america nes
sales declined down to 7.2 million units
and the company's projections for 1991
were even lower nintendo estimated they
would only sell four and a half million
nes systems
there was also the threat of competitors
particularly sega
nintendo president hiroshi yamauchi once
stated that sega was not a legitimate
contender in the u.s market
but that had changed by the end of 1990
sega had sold around 1.5 million genesis
consoles and had an 80
share of the 16-bit market the company
expected to sell even more consoles in
1991.
the public was ready for the next
generation
according to sega 60 of genesis owners
were nintendo fans who traded up
a rand youth poll revealed that one of
the most requested items on a teenage
boy's wish list was a new video game
system despite 90 percent of the
participants already owning a system
the venerable nes is finally showing its
age compared with this competition the
nes offers inferior sound and fuzzy
graphics in japan buyers are being
treated to nintendo's super famicom an
awesome new game machine but no plans
have been made for the us debut of this
system come on nintendo how about equal
rights for american buyers
dennis lynch chicago tribune
nintendo of america saw the writing on
the wall
it was time to enter the 16-bit
generation
in january of 1991 less than two months
after the super famicom hit stores in
japan nintendo of america officially
confirmed that the super famicom was
coming to north america
at the 1991 winter consumer electronics
show attendees waited in line for 20
minutes to see a demonstration of the
system nintendo showed previews of a few
games including pilot wings and f-zero
but the biggest hit was super mario
world one reporter said it looked like
quote the best mario game yet
nintendo of america's peter main
predicted the super famicom would go on
sale in the united states by the second
half of 1991. nintendo wanted to have
more software available before launching
to entice developers and compete with
sega nintendo removed their exclusivity
agreement the super famicom would have a
new design and eventually a new name in
north america
the super nintendo entertainment system
nintendo predicted it would sell 2
million consoles by the end of 1991
but selling the 16-bit system would be
much more challenging in the united
states than in japan
in japan the economy was booming
nintendo was selling super famicoms
faster than they could make them and
this was despite a shrinking consumer
base
since the mid-1970s japan's birth rate
had declined and the average family had
one and a half children the result as
one analyst explained fewer children are
surrounded by more rich adults and that
means that the money spent on each child
increases
but in the united states the situation
was much different the country was in
the tail end of a recession war in the
middle east more than doubled oil prices
the failure of many savings and loan
institutions hit the lending market hard
more than 1.8 million people were added
to unemployment because of this
consumers were spending less and saving
money wherever possible
so when nintendo announced a 200 video
game system that was not compatible with
nes games many parents were outraged
in the united states the average family
spent 225
on toys per child
almost all of it would have to go to the
super nintendo
when a reporter asked a mother of three
if she was going to buy a super nintendo
for her kids she exclaimed no way we're
not shoving the old nintendo in the
closet i've got 700
invested in that baby
a father from california called it
immoral
the press jumped on the controversy
claiming the super nintendo would make
the nintendo entertainment system
obsolete
nintendo had to do some serious damage
control they argued that adding backward
compatibility would make the super
nintendo even more expensive
they also insisted they were not
abandoning the nintendo entertainment
system the nes they claimed was an
entry-level system for people not
wanting the latest graphics sound or
challenge
it was a cassette tape in the super
nintendo was a cd a console for the
veteran player who had gotten their full
enjoyment out of the nes
but it wasn't just the super nintendo
parents blamed nintendo for their
child's lower school grades and eye
strain and claimed the games were too
violent nintendo was also accused of
monopolizing the industry the company
had been hit with multiple anti-trust
lawsuits and for the past year the ftc
had investigated nintendo over
anti-trust violations such as price
fixing nintendo denied any wrongdoing
but settled the case and agreed to send
out up to 25 million dollars worth of
rebates to customers the rebate took the
form of a five dollar coupon that
consumers could only use to buy more
nintendo games
but industry insiders were skeptical
that people would ditch nintendo
completely
as one writer put it nintendo may have a
tough time but kids still tend to get
what they want
that was true
some kids couldn't wait and had already
imported the super famicom from japan
plus nintendo had arguably the biggest
weapon of all
super mario
super mario brothers 3's success
catapulted mario into another
stratosphere according to his q score a
measurement of popularity among brands
and celebrities mario was now more
popular among children than mickey mouse
there were more than 300 licensed mario
products in the united states worth 200
million dollars in annual sales
there was a saturday morning cartoon a
breakfast cereal and even a planned
feature film with rumors that danny
devito would play the leading role
if anything could help convince
consumers to pick up a new console it
was a super mario game back in 1986 when
nintendo launched the nes nationwide
they released a version bundled with
super mario brothers it played a
significant role in driving sales
it seemed like a no-brainer to do it
again for the super nintendo
on june 1st 1991 nintendo officially
unveiled the newly designed super
nintendo entertainment system at the
summer ces show in chicago
the big guy in the home video game
market has finally caught up with a pack
you're looking at nintendo's much
awaited 16-bit home system the super nes
it's a big step forward for nintendo
fans better sound better graphics and
much more sophisticated play this is
positioned for the true
heavy user who wants that next level of
play experience not for everybody
nintendo set up multiple super nintendo
stations at their booth where attendees
could try out mario's latest adventure
and other upcoming titles the system was
scheduled to launch on september 9th
1991 and come bundled with the latest
mario game super mario
world
but while nintendo touted the super
nintendo in super mario world their
competitor sega had an ace up their
sleeve
sonic the hedgehog
sega came up with the character to
compete against the super mario
juggernaut the company first announced
their speedy new video game back at the
winter ces show and was ready to launch
the game to retail stores
sonic the hedgehog received high praise
from the press
video games and computer entertainment
declared at last sega has their own
mario and sega had one more surprise in
store
the sega genesis was getting a price cut
down to 150 dollars
and would come bundled with sonic the
hedgehog
the company knew the battle between
sonic and mario would be critical in the
16-bit market
and sega was not going to play around
they now controlled 90
of the 16-bit market and had a two-year
head start on nintendo
sega president tom kalinski shrugged off
the super nintendo claiming nintendo
would have to play catch up with sega
while nintendo hoped to have around 18
games by christmas sega would have more
than 100 and for the second half of 1991
sega had a 15 million dollar advertising
budget
after sega announced their new sonic the
hedgehog console bundle
sales surged
for the first time nintendo of america
had legitimate competition in the video
game market
but they hoped super mario could save
the day
[Music]
on wednesday august 21st 1991
a toys r us store in cerritos california
opened a shipment box from nintendo
inside was their new 16-bit console the
super nintendo
the system arrived almost three weeks
ahead of time over the next few days
stores around the country started
receiving shipments
soon the word got out the super nintendo
was here
[Music]
the super nintendo launched with f-zero
pilot wings and the bundled game
super mario world
praise for mario's latest adventure
poured in from magazines newspapers and
school playgrounds
electronic gaming monthly gave the game
a score of 36 out of 40 calling it
easily the best mario adventure yet
and video games and computer
entertainment called it by far the best
installment in the mario saga but some
critics expected more from super mario
world entertainment weekly claimed
nintendo was beating a dead koopa and
that mario was doing quote all the
things he's been doing for the past five
years
but it didn't seem to bother anyone else
who played super mario world
it was mario at his finest
nintendo backed the super nintendo
launch with a massive 25 million dollar
advertising blitz
the september 1991 issue of nintendo
power made its way to 2 million
mailboxes across the country with super
mario world featured on the cover
inside was a 16-page guide featuring
maps items enemies tips and more
nintendo invaded televisions as well
there were commercials with a jazzy new
slogan now you're playing with power
super power
and nbc aired a new super mario world
cartoon on saturday mornings
super mario world and the super nintendo
even made their way into grocery stores
there were cross promotions with pepsi
kool-aid shasta soda and kraft mac and
cheese
nintendo also released mario mania a 150
plus page guide all about nintendo's
hero including a super mario world
strategy guide
by october nintendo sold more than 500
000 super nintendo consoles and was on
track to sell 2 million by the end of
the year
but the demand for the super nintendo
was not as high as it was in japan
some stores sold out quickly a manager
at electronics boutique in greenville
south carolina commented if we got 50 in
tomorrow we'd have 50 sold but in other
areas the super nintendo was easy to
find
one reporter in detroit called eight
local toys r us stores and all eight had
the system in stock
nintendo could blame sega for the lack
of super nintendo craze
the genesis was cheaper had more games
and offered backward compatibility with
master system games via an adapter and
sega was more than willing to pit sonic
against mario their commercials featured
the games side by side the message was
simple
mario is old and slow
sonic is fast and cool
sega also launched the sega world tour
traveling to shopping malls around the
country to let people try sonic the
hedgehog in super mario world
according to sega 88 of the participants
preferred sonic
house to house fighting continues
unabated war drums beat along the shores
of lake michigan and bugles blair west
of the rockies the marshall music of the
silicon samurai's hearts from the east
the question is no longer if there will
be a video game war but rather who will
win it
arnie cats
video games and computer entertainment
the launch of the super nintendo in
super mario world officially signaled
the beginning of one of the greatest
battles in video game history
the console wars
sega and nintendo duked it out for
control of the 1991 holiday season
in the end both companies claimed
victory
nintendo claimed it sold 2.1 million
super nintendo units
sega disputed the figure claiming it was
closer to 1.4 million
meanwhile sega claimed it sold every
system it could make in 1991
1.6 million units nintendo argued it was
closer to 1 million units nintendo knew
they were in for a long war so in
january they slashed the price of the
super nintendo to 180
by the summer nintendo cut the price
again to 150
that same year nintendo expanded their
16-bit territory by launching the super
nintendo in australia and europe bundled
with super mario world the game once
again received glowing reviews
the fight between sega and nintendo
would drag on for years both companies
attempted to one-up each other with new
and exciting games hardware attachments
and peripherals
children would argue on playgrounds and
in classrooms and declare their
allegiance to sega or nintendo
for nintendo super mario world remained
a key weapon in the console wars it was
bundled with a super nintendo for years
and nintendo president hiroshi
yamauchi's declaration that the strength
of a console was in the games rang true
the super nintendo strong software
library paid dividends
in the end nintendo would come out on
top of the 16-bit console wars
super mario world was released during
what many consider the best years of the
franchise in january of 1992 nintendo
power reported that for each nintendo
system the nes game boy and super nes
the number one game was a super mario
game
[Music]
when the super nintendo first launched
nintendo's vice president of marketing
peter main commented that the system was
evolutionary not revolutionary
the same could be said about super mario
world
mario's 16-bit debut did not
significantly change the mario formula
and many reviewers took issue with that
but super mario world did perfect the
formula and today super mario world is
widely considered a masterpiece
mario creator shigeru miyamoto admitted
he was happy with how the game turned
out
but he felt that he was only scratching
the surface of what video games could
become
in a 1995 interview he said
i joined nintendo because i wanted to
create a product that people would talk
about and remember and that's what i
want to do in the future too create
something that will make an impact on
the world
over the next several years miyamoto
would experiment with new cutting-edge
technologies on the super nintendo and
for nintendo's next console codenamed
project reality miyamoto would bring the
super mario series to the third
dimension giving mario more freedom than
ever before
but even with new advancements in
technology
super mario world stayed with him
miyamoto would later confess in an
interview with usa today that super
mario world was one of his favorite
mario games
it was the culmination of everything
that made the series great
but more importantly
miyamoto was proud that it launched the
careers of several of his co-workers
director of programming toshihiko nakago
would continue to program countless
games for nintendo
today he is the president and ceo of the
company he had been programming for for
years
systems research and development
level director katsuya eguchi would
direct his first game star fox in 1993.
star fox utilized new technology that
pushed the super nintendo hardware to
its limit
in 2001 he created animal forest later
known as animal crossing which gave
players their own world to explore
today he's a deputy general manager at
nintendo
map director hideki kono would direct
one of the best selling games on the
super nintendo
super mario kart
today he is in charge of the mobile game
division at nintendo
composer koji kondo continued to compose
music for nintendo and still does today
he has written some of the most
memorable tunes in video game history
shige fumihino worked as a character
designer for several more years before
getting to tackle his own game the
quirky strategy game pikmin for the
gamecube
but hino's most significant success may
have been yoshi
yoshi was a hit with women and children
and nintendo quickly realized they could
do more with the character yoshi started
getting his own line of games and in
1995 he even starred in a spin-off of
the super mario series yoshi's island
it's no surprise that the cute green
dinosaur is now a staple of the mario
franchise hino is still with nintendo
working as a designer and planner
director takashi tezuka would be heavily
involved in just about every future
mario and zelda game
today he is an executive officer in
nintendo's game development division
over the years his game design
philosophy has remained consistent
i want to make games that no matter how
many times you clear them you want to
keep that game and hold on to it like a
treasure
i want to keep making games with that
mindset
takashi tezuka
with super mario world tezuka succeeded
in making a game that people cherished
nintendo has re-released it many times
in 1994 they included the game in an
updated version of the super mario
all-stars collection and bundled the
game with the super nintendo
in 1998 nintendo released super mario
world under their players choice banner
an honor given to nintendo's
best-selling games
in the early 2000s nintendo ported the
game to the game boy advance
super mario world has also been
available to download on the nintendo
wii wii u 3ds and switch consoles
some players who grew up with super
mario world couldn't get enough
in the early 2000s the internet brought
super mario world enthusiasts from all
over the globe together and soon
fan-made hacks of the game appeared
online
one notable genre of hacks known as
kaizo contains extremely challenging
super mario world levels
oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god
[Music]
oh my god
in 2015 takashi tezuka led development
on a dream game for mario fans
super mario maker now players could make
their own levels from various mario
games including super mario world
for more than 30 years super mario world
has captivated players young and old
it's no surprise that many people
consider it one of the greatest games
of all time
for anyone still on the fence about
super mario world the answer is yes
download it now this is the apex of
16-bit platforming a cornerstone of the
gaming canon and most importantly just
as much fun to play today as it was 20
years ago
if you're yet to experience the thrill
of discovering a secret exit the joy of
soaring through a level with your super
cave or the unique tragic comedy of
accidentally running off a cliff while
trying to catch up to a runaway yoshi
you're in for some of gaming's best love
and most iconic moments
morgan sleeper nintendo life
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do
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do
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do
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[Applause]
[Music]
do
[Music]
you