Gamers Still Call This 1990 Classic the Best Nintendo Game Ever Released
It's so difficult to make a video game that resonates with people right off the bat. It's even harder to make one that still garners new fans 36 years later. Super Mario World is the type of special experience that did both.
Released as a launch title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990, the game was a proper polishing of all the ideas Nintendo wanted to implement with their mustachioed mascot on the NES, but they didn't have the wherewithal to do so yet.
Super Mario World maintains such a strong following and even makes a claim as the best Nintendo game ever released because it combines innovation and traditionalism. The platforming mechanics are still emulated by new games today because Nintendo perfected the components that make a great platformer and a great game, regardless of genre.
Some fans were debating why the game is listed as perhaps the best one Nintendo ever produced, and one commenter thinks it's because of its overall flawlessness. All components of the game came together to deliver a signature Nintendo experience.
"It gets the label that it does because of the amount of polish that went into that game. There's a lot of secrets to discover, the challenge level in the game has a steady and forgiving curve, the controls are perfect, the music is 100% pure Mario-ium, and the graphics are great, with large sprites, vivid colors, and good use of transparencies."
The experts over at Nintendo Life rankedSuper Mario World the third-best Nintendo game of all time according to fan scores. The game has a score of 9.3/10 on the site.
"This remains an incredible achievement of invention and sheer entertainment that the 2D platforming genre has struggled to match ever since. Introducing Yoshi and an expanded overworld with multiple paths, Mario World overflows with secrets and secret exits that were perfect for fuelling playground gossip and elevating it to the upper-est echelons of platform video games, 2D or otherwise."
One gamer on RPG.net created an entire thread on a message board titled "Super Mario World is the best game ever. Fight me." While some people on the thread thought the game hadn't aged very well, defenders of it said the classic Mario experience in the game endures through the years and set a standard that is still impressive.
So while there can't ever be a consensus best Nintendo game ever, Super Mario World has as many staunch defenders as any game in the company's history!
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 3:30 AM.