Super Mario Bros. turns 30 this month. The fact that we are still talking about this game and series after all these years is a testament to how significant it has been since the start. Throughout the course of the month we here at Nintendo World Report will be sharing our thoughts and memories of different games in the Super Mario Bros. series. Today we are discussing Super Mario World.

While the following comments are from our staff we encourage our readers to share their own thoughts in the Talkback section below. Happy 30th Anniversary Super Mario Bros.

Justin Berube, Features Editor

I don't remember exactly how I learned about the existence of Super Mario World, but I remember wanting it badly. I saved up my money for months as a kid but still didn't have enough for a Super Nintendo with the latest Super Mario Bros. game. My parents then made a deal with me. They told me if I gave up having a birthday party then they'd give me the rest of the money I needed for a Super Nintendo with Super Mario World. Of course, I accepted the offer.

Friends at school didn't believe me when I told them I got a Super Nintendo, but I quickly proved them wrong when I brought a SNES controller and a copy of Super Mario World in for show and tell. The questions I got from everyone then were all about what it's like using Yoshi.

You see, back then Yoshi wasn't a tired and true staple of the Mario series. He was a brand new character that also acted as a vehicle for Mario. Yoshi was a huge deal and a major draw to the game.

I have many fond memories of playing Super Mario World. The game was so much more vibrant than the Mario tiles before it, there were tons of secrets, and the music was great too. I remember getting stuck at the final battle against Bowser. The next day some older girl at school ended up giving me tips on how to win. I quickly went home and beat the game thanks to her advice.

Super Mario World may not have been the talk of the playground like Super Mario Bros. 3 was, but I think that is mostly because Mario World was for a new console that most people didn't have yet. With that said, I think Super Mario World is a better game than Super Mario Bros. 3 and it's still one of my favorite games of all time.

Bryan Rose, Reviews Editor

Super Mario World is the game I have the most fond memories of while growing up. I still remember my dad walking out of KB Toys with the Super Nintendo in his arms. When I got home I knew that would be the game I'd play the most on the system. This ended up being true because for the first few years I had the SNES it was the only game I owned until Street Fighter II came along. I think that's why this was the first Mario game I actually got pretty good at - I didn't have anything else to play on the system, so I had to play that to get my fix. Not that I was GOOD good, I always made sure to use Star Road in the Donut Plains section to get to Bowser and it took me years to fully beat the game, but it was the first video game I ever beat. I'll always remember the happy ending with the fireworks and all the Yoshis hatching because all was now well in Dinosaur Land. Warm, fuzzy memories!

People usually cite this or Super Mario Bros. 3 as their favorite game in the series. I'm partial to Super Mario World because it was the game I truly grew up on and was the first one I beat. I don't think the levels or graphics are as diverse as 3, but in every other aspect the game seemed to be a huge improvement. This was the first Mario game that actually made you feel like you were travelling across one cohesive world. It made players feel like they were on this long journey and there were so many secret pathways to Bowser it felt like an experience within itself just to get to his castle. To this day I think the game is one of the beefier experiences on the Super Nintendo despite being a launch title. The 96 different exits feels huge and I have to say I never really did clear each and every one of those levels. Maybe I need to go back...

Whenever I think of Super Mario World, it's nothing but positive memories. It was my first, and for a long while my only, experience on the Super Nintendo which is my favorite video game console to this day. Super Mario Bros. 3 does have it's number in a couple of areas, but it's still a fantastic game with great level design and new concepts that blew my mind back in the day. I never thought Mario would be able to fly in the sky so easily or that I could control a mysterious green dinosaur that eats everything until I turned on my Super Nintendo for the first time. I have nothing but great memories when it comes to this game, and it's probably in my top 10 favorite video games of all time to this day.

Andrew Brown, Associate Editor (Australia)

The SNES was my first Nintendo console, but my first experience with Super Mario World was through renting the game at my local toy store. In fact, the style of the game was first introduced to me through Mario Is Missing, which for whatever reason I had rented before this game. The SNES version of the *gag* edu-tainment title featured sprites, musical themes, and elements from Super Mario World, which came as an interesting surprise when I did finally get to play the big-name title.

After completing the original trilogy on Super Mario All-Stars, this next game blew me away. I particularly loved the morphing overworld map (something we didn't see again until New Super Mario Bros. U!), the incredible castle version of the theme music, and the secret level exits. Boy, was I surprised when the title screen stage actually turned out to be a playable level in the Special World!

Whenever I talk about how great game manuals used to be around the time of the SNES, this is one of those jewels - colorful artwork, a fleshed-out intro story, a full double-page map of the world. I particularly like the character descriptions, learning about Chargin' Chucks, Thwomps, and Wigglers. Stuff like this really made the world of Mario so much more immersive. I'd love it if the new digital manuals start to incorporate details like this in modern Nintendo games.