Version Differences

This is a sub-page of Super Mario World (SNES).

Title Screen#

Japan	USA, Europe (Rev 0)	Europe (Rev 1)

The game's logo was redrawn for the international release. The Japanese logo is very similar to that of Super Mario Bros. 3, featuring much larger shadows and smaller Os than the international version. The international release also replaced the unique trademark symbol with standard blue letters. The wooden border was given more detail, and the copyright information was updated as well, with the copyright symbol and Nintendo logo also being given a few almost unnoticeable touchups. Since the European Rev 1 release displays all 239 scanlines, the border was extended vertically. Interestingly, this returns the height of the European title screen border to that of the 1989 build.

Each version handles files with 96 goals differently. The Japanese version doesn't mark this with anything special, the North American version denotes this with a star, and while the original European version handled it like the North American version, the Rev 1 ROMs gives the 96 a blue palette.

Japan	International

Some of the letters of the file select font were redrawn for the international versions. This applies to the letters A and B, and the numbers 1 and 2.

In addition to these changes, the intro screen upon starting a new game dissolves automatically in the Japanese version after the jingle has ended. In other versions, the player can let the text box remain on screen until a button is pressed. This also applies to the text in the Switch Palaces.

Dolphins!#

In the Japanese version, it is possible for Yoshi to eat the dolphins used as platforms. The US and European versions of the game both edit the dolphins' code so that Yoshi cannot eat them.

This change was (likely unintentionally) undone for all versions of the Game Boy Advance port.

Graphics Changes#

Japan	International

In addition to the standard translation of Yoshi's name, the international version also adds some shading to the sign, although this ended up causing a small graphical oddity on the part of the sign overlapping with the tree. The new graphic is also missing the bolt and has slightly darker shading on the pole.

Japan	International

More localization changes to the graphics.

Japan	International

And again. The lights to the side were also spread further apart to squeeze in the new name.

Oddly enough, two of Princess Peach's sprites look less polished in the international version — one that is used when she walks over to Mario after defeating Bowser (though not when she arrives at Yoshi's house after the credits) and one used when she kisses Mario. The latter graphic appears to be based on an earlier version.

Level Changes#

A few changes were made to the original version's levels to make the game easier. The GBA port retains these changes for all versions.

Donut Plains 2#

Japan	International

An extra Yellow exclamation block was added to the beginning of the stage.

Donut Secret House#

Japan
International

The walls at the end of the two main rooms were extended a bit to fill the whole screen.

Vanilla Dome 1#

This turn block with a feather in it is a normal turn block in the Japanese release.

Lemmy's Castle#

The time limit was changed from 300 seconds to 400 seconds in the international versions.

Chocolate Island 3#

Japan	International

The secret exit for Chocolate Island 3 (required to move forward in the game) was made a bit more obvious by adding two more arrow signs.

Ghost Ship#

The three 1-up mushrooms at the bottom of the Ghost Ship are not present in the Japanese version.

Funky#

Japan
International

There are only 3 green berries in the Japanese version. The international versions changed 6 of the red berries to green berries, bringing the total up to 9; this resulted (for 20 seconds per berry), in 60 seconds in the Japanese release, and 180 seconds in the international releases.

Japan
International

Engrish in the Japanese version was fixed for the International release. This change moves the words "YOU ARE" further to the left as a result.

Special World Course Names#

In the Japanese version, there are only four unique course names (each on consecutive courses), instead of using 1980s slang words.

Map Changes#

The digits in the Japanese version's level names use the same graphics as the lives counter. In the international versions, the numbers are part of the font.

Japan	International

Four levels in the Japanese version have extraneous numbers that were removed from other versions of the game:

Pressing L and R to reenter beaten castles/fortresses doesn't work in the Japanese version.

Credits#

The credits has a number of title changes, along with one additional "special thanks" credit for Nintendo of America employee Dayv Brooks:

Japan	International

The enemy cast list in the Japanese version does not have different names for the post-Funky enemies. This was a feature added to the International versions.

Enemy Names#

The enemy cast list was updated with new names for the international versions.

Nintendo Super System Differences#

The version of Super Mario World released for the Nintendo Super System got some minor tweaks to fit better as an arcade game.

• The most major change was the removal of the save system. Instead, you get to choose which world you start in from the title screen. If a world other than the first is chosen, the game unlocks the standard path through all previous castles (also unlocking all switch palaces of the previous worlds) up until the first level of the chosen world. As with SMA2, Sunken Ghost Ship is considered the first level of world 7.
• If the player begins the game from the first world, the opening scene moves onto the map screen automatically, instead of waiting for the player's input.
• For obvious reasons, the message in the switch palaces was altered to remove the reference to saving.
• The ability to exit previously beaten levels with Start+Select was removed. The exact reason for this isn't clear.
• The message box in the sub-level of Yoshi's Island 4 was removed as it described the Start+Select trick. This is the only change the NSS version did to any of the level data.
• During the castle destruction cutscenes, one can now press any key to make the next line of text instantly appear (or instantly end the cutscene if all have been displayed already), essentially allowing you to speed up the cutscenes. Seeing as you pay for the play time on the NSS, this was probably added to prevent people from complaining about the game wasting your money by not letting you skip them. However, this feature was quite clumsily implemented and has two bugs:
  • If you press a key, the next line doesn't appear until you let go of the key. This allows you to pause the text reveal indefinitely.
  • Because how the timing works, the rubble in Iggy's, Morton's, Lemmy's and Roy's cutscenes won't show up until somewhere between line 1 and 2. Being able to pause the text thus also allows you to pause the rubble appearing while the smoke animates as normal. As a result, the smoke can clear without the rubble being present (making the flag float in the air) until the key is released, at which point the rubble pops into existence.
• During a two-player game, players can no longer exchange extra lives with each other.

Virtual Console Differences#

In the ROM released on Wii Virtual Console (and all subsequent rereleases), three shades of blue are markedly brighter and less saturated in the global palette, making them closer to periwinkle than navy. This is likely due to the Switch Palaces--all three shades are used by the stripes on the walls, ceiling, and floors, and in the hallways at the end of the stages this texture covers most of the screen. The lighter colors are most likely an attempt to minimize the risk of seizures should the player enter this area running.