The entire graphical style of Mario World is better here than I’ve ever seen it – this includes many past hacks that change the look of this game (like Redrawn), fan games, or Mario Maker 2. Of course all of this is 100% subjective, but anyone who doesn’t like these changes can still appreciate the effort that went into this. The overall graphics pop more, while still feeling very appropriately-old-school Mario in slightly more detail. I can’t compliment this new aesthetic enough!

• + Backgrounds. In addition to having slightly more detail, there are now additional background layers to levels, producing more depth, with a more polished parallax look. Most skies have a lovely color gradient now, rather than a single color like before. This is a vast improvement on most levels, making this look like the same game but it came out far later in Super Nintendo’s life cycle.

• + In addition to visuals, everything feels a bit more fleshed out, as if all the new features always belonged there. Being able to switch to Luigi should’ve always been there. You can start any game with two difficulty modes – Encore Mode is perfect for those who wish to play this classic again just a bit less comforts.

• + Most of the original music is still there, and the new additional music is tastefully inserted here and there.

• + New sound effects are also tastefully done. Sound to Mario sliding or Chucks throwing balls adds just a bit of depth that you quickly get very accustomed to, as if it always belonged there.

• - That iconic circular effect transition that centers on Mario at the very end of completing a level (along with the cute sound effect at the very end of it) has been completely removed. Now it just does a basic fadeout as you slowly walk off. Few aspects of this game are more “Mario World” than this little transition at the end, and it is SORELY missing here. I don’t know if this was removed because it didn’t play nice with the new background layers, but despite how minor of an issue this may be, I IMPLORE the creator to put this back into this otherwise incredible hack! It’s just not Mario World without it.

• - Three new problems in the final boss fight with Bowser. The first (and imo worst) problem, there are now various moments of stuttering/loading which occur every single time the music starts and stops. These brief screen freezes didn’t exist before, and it’s very off-putting to experience… this just needs to be fixed. Second, the mechakoopas have been completely replaced by goombas/galoombas, despite functioning the same way. This is such an odd decision considering how iconic the mechakoopas are to this fight, and should’ve been left alone. Lastly, I don’t mind that Bowser takes more hits to beat, but since it goes on a lot longer now, there needs to be something new to keep the fight interesting. Bring in a new obstacle/projectile to dodge, or better yet, give new AI to Bowser to surprise you near the end. Otherwise as it stands now, he has a lot more hit points and the fight simply drags on for too long.

• - Nearly the entire ending is now missing – everything has been removed after the fireworks and getting back the princess. I assume this was done to save space, but I was really hoping to see a more extensive ending if anything, or perhaps a crushed Bowser’s castle on the map without Bowser still flying around… something. So between vanilla SMW having a vastly superior ending, and the new problems with the Bowser fight, the ending now leaves a LOT to be desired in its current state.

In closing: If anyone wants a fresh take on vanilla SMW, I absolutely recommend this, and hope to see it further improved. And a side note – in my view, truly the ULTIMATE Mario World improvement hack would now be this hack, combined with the enhancements of two other incredible SMW improvement hacks: ‘Super Mario World 30th Anniversary Edition’, and ‘Just Keef Edition’. One can dream.