Early SMW Screenshot

[MrPopo]

I was flipping through my recently obtained collection of Nintendo Powers and found an announcement that the Super Famicom had just been announced in Japan. It included a few screenshots of Super Mario World. Most interesting is the shot of the world map; things were changed significantly between when the screenshots were released and the final product.



My apologizes for the lack of focus on the picture. It looks like ass in the magazine as well; I'd guess they were taken with a camera. I've always found these early beta pictures to be quite interesting. The early beta shots of Starcraft are especially interesting to see, since they originally made it on the Warcraft 2 engine.

[omer]

wow . that blows my mind

[deathclaw]

It looks like ass in the magazine as well; I'd guess they were taken with a camera.

I don't know about other old magazines, but at least the games in old Nintendo Power magazines looked much worse on the pictures than in the game itself Which is really interesting, because it seems like nowadays it's just the opposite...maybe it's because they did not have Photoshop at that time.

[jfe2]

Nice find! I love stuff like this! I would totally play that beta build.

Super Mario World was the first game I ever played all the way through when I was a kid. So many great memories... It makes you wonder why Nintendo hasn't made a similar platformer since then. There have been plenty of 2D platformers set in the "Mario universe", but nothing that really captured the same feel as Super Mario World.

[fast]

Man I wish they had made Starcraft on the Warcraft 2 engine, then my zerg would not get stuck on everything. I talk like I actually play the game...

Like jfe2 stated, I would totally play this. Heck I played the Mario beta on the CD-i.

[Limewater]

Great shot! Thanks.

Was there any accompanying description of the game, or did they just give the screenshot?

It makes you wonder why Nintendo hasn't made a similar platformer since then. There have been plenty of 2D platformers set in the "Mario universe", but nothing that really captured the same feel as Super Mario World.

Well, if you're willing to step down to the NES, there is one mario game with a very similar feel to Super Mario World. But I'm sure that's not news to anyone on this board.

Note: The following may be complete BS.

DLC seems that have revived the design of 2D games, but at the same time it is a hindrance. People aren't willing to pay much money for 2D games. So, cool 2D games can be made, and I think things like game engines and art assets can often be developed much more quickly than 3D games. But, at the same time, the low price point lowers expectations for gameplay and discourages developers from spending a lot of time on game design.

But I may be completely misreading the situation.

Also, SMW is just a magical game, and it can't be too surprising that magic doesn't happen with each new Mario release.

[deathclaw]

Well, if you're willing to step down to the NES, there is one mario game with a very similar feel to Super Mario World. But I'm sure that's not news to anyone on this board.


Also, SMW is just a magical game, and it can't be too surprising that magic doesn't happen with each new Mario release.

Well, you pretty much summed it up why SMB3 has not the same feeling as SMW does Even though SMB3 is one of the greatest game I have ever played, it just looks dull for me when I think of things like red/yellow/green/blue switches, secret levels and many other things. Don't get me wrong, as I said - SMB3 is awesome...but it's missing something that's not so easy to describe.

[Dakinggamer87]

Thanks for sharing.. I remember seeing this in Nintendo Power years ago..

[MrPopo]

Great shot! Thanks.

Was there any accompanying description of the game, or did they just give the screenshot?

The description was mostly about the SFC itself. They mentioned that Mario was one of the titles, and it had all kinds of colors and layers and shit.

It's also a bit painful to read these Nintendo Powers, since they keep mentioning this game called Mother that they were going to release as Earth Bound in the States when it hit the NES. Except we all know how that turned out.

[grittykitty]

It's also a bit painful to read these Nintendo Powers, since they keep mentioning this game called Mother that they were going to release as Earth Bound in the States when it hit the NES. Except we all know how that turned out.

january 94, right? that issue of nintendo power is what started my whole interest in japan, since the mother "review" was part of an article on games released only in japan and were never available in english. i think the way the internet has grown allows for this situation to happen a lot less now, which is great!

to get back to the original topic, seeing early screenshots was always something i enjoyed too. sometimes the games get canned, and those screenshots are all we have to go on to envision how the game actually played! just think of all the original n64 incarnation of mother 3. and remember how fat the n64 joysticks were in the early 1995 photos (from spaceworld i believe)?