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Super Mario World Wiki & Guide

Super Mario walkingGreen Yoshi walkingSuper Luigi jumping

Mario and Luigi’s holiday in Dinosaur Land turns into a rescue when Bowser and the seven Koopalings kidnap Princess Toadstool. This wiki covers all nine areas and their 96 exits, every enemy and boss and where it appears, the power-ups and Yoshi, with sprites, poses and maps drawn from the game’s own graphics.

Released
1990
System
Super Nintendo
Director
Takashi Tezuka
Exits
96

Start with the worlds →

Explore the wiki

Worlds & levelsNine areas, every level, exit and castleEnemies & bosses60 enemies and the KoopalingsCharactersMario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and BowserPower-ups & itemsEvery power-up and useful objectControls & cape flightRunning, spin jumps and the capeYoshi & shell coloursWhat each shell does in Yoshi’s mouthWorld routeThe route and the Switch Palaces96 exitsAll 24 secret exits and Star WorldCollectiblesDragon Coins, switches and completionFun triviaDetails hidden in the gamePicturesSprites, maps and artwork

The worlds of Dinosaur Land

Yoshi’s Island on the Super Mario World mapYoshi’s Island7 levels · 0 secret exitsDonut Plains on the Super Mario World mapDonut Plains11 levels · 5 secret exitsVanilla Dome on the Super Mario World mapVanilla Dome11 levels · 3 secret exitsTwin Bridges on the Super Mario World mapTwin Bridges6 levels · 1 secret exitsForest of Illusion on the Super Mario World mapForest of Illusion9 levels · 5 secret exitsChocolate Island on the Super Mario World mapChocolate Island10 levels · 2 secret exitsValley of Bowser on the Super Mario World mapValley of Bowser9 levels · 3 secret exitsStar World on the Super Mario World mapStar World5 levels · 5 secret exitsSpecial Zone on the Super Mario World mapSpecial Zone8 levels · 0 secret exits

All the levels, world by world · World route and Switch Palaces

Mario and Luigi

Mario walkingMarioSuper Mario walkingSuper MarioFire Mario walkingFire MarioLuigi walkingLuigiSuper Luigi walkingSuper LuigiFire Luigi walkingFire Luigi

Luigi is the second player, taking turns with Mario on the map. Power-ups and forms

Yoshi

Green Yoshi walkingGreen YoshiHatches in Yoshi’s Island 2.Red Yoshi walkingRed YoshiSpits fire with any shell.Blue Yoshi walkingBlue YoshiFlies with any shell.Yellow Yoshi walkingYellow YoshiStomps with any shell.

Yoshi and shell colours

Bosses

The seven Koopalings

Iggy Koopa sprite from Super Mario WorldIggy Koopa#1 Iggy’s CastleMorton Koopa Jr. sprite from Super Mario WorldMorton Koopa Jr.#2 Morton’s CastleLemmy Koopa sprite from Super Mario WorldLemmy Koopa#3 Lemmy’s CastleLudwig von Koopa sprite from Super Mario WorldLudwig von Koopa#4 Ludwig’s CastleRoy Koopa sprite from Super Mario WorldRoy Koopa#5 Roy’s CastleWendy O. Koopa sprite from Super Mario WorldWendy O. Koopa#6 Wendy’s CastleLarry Koopa sprite from Super Mario WorldLarry Koopa#7 Larry’s Castle

Reznor, Big Boo and Bowser

Reznor sprite from Super Mario WorldReznorThe four fortressesBig Boo (boss) sprite from Super Mario WorldBig Boo (boss)Donut Secret HouseBowser sprite from Super Mario WorldBowserFront Door and Back Door

How to beat each boss

Creatures of Dinosaur Land

Koopa Troopa sprite from Super Mario WorldKoopa TroopaGoomba sprite from Super Mario WorldGoombaRex sprite from Super Mario WorldRexChargin’ Chuck sprite from Super Mario WorldChargin’ ChuckWiggler sprite from Super Mario WorldWigglerPokey sprite from Super Mario WorldPokeyDino-Rhino sprite from Super Mario WorldDino-RhinoLakitu sprite from Super Mario WorldLakituBoo sprite from Super Mario WorldBooThwomp sprite from Super Mario WorldThwompCheep Cheep sprite from Super Mario WorldCheep CheepMagikoopa sprite from Super Mario WorldMagikoopa

Every enemy, with the levels it appears in

Power-ups and items

Super Mushroom sprite from Super Mario WorldSuper MushroomFire Flower sprite from Super Mario WorldFire FlowerCape Feather sprite from Super Mario WorldCape FeatherSuper Star sprite from Super Mario WorldSuper Star1-Up Mushroom sprite from Super Mario World1-Up MushroomP-Switch sprite from Super Mario WorldP-SwitchKey sprite from Super Mario WorldKeyYoshi Egg sprite from Super Mario WorldYoshi Egg

Every power-up and useful object

In the game’s words

Welcome! This is Dinosaur Land. In this strange land we find that Princess Toadstool is missing again! Looks like Bowser is at it again!
The opening message box
The red dot areas on the map have two different exits. If you have the time and skill, be sure to look for them.
A message block in Yoshi’s Island
There are five entrances to the Star World in Dinosaur Land. Find them all and you can travel between many different places.
A message block in the Star World

More of the game’s own text

Quick tips

  • Hold Y to run: at full speed the cape lets Mario take off, and a running jump goes further.
  • Press A for a spin jump. Super Mario can break some blocks with it and bounce safely off tougher enemies.
  • The reserve box at the top of the screen keeps a spare power-up; press Select to drop it.
  • Press L or R to slide the screen and look ahead.
  • Red dots on the map mark levels with two exits; keys and keyholes, or a second goal, lead to the other one.
  • In a level you have already cleared, press Start and then Select to go back to the map.

Controls and cape flight · World route

Did you know?

  • There are 96 exits: 72 levels have one goal and 24 have a second, secret exit.
  • The game’s own text calls the princess Princess Toadstool, as the opening message box shows: “In this strange land we find that Princess Toadstool is missing again! Looks like Bowser is at it again!”
  • The ending’s cast of enemies spells the Jumping Piranha Plant “PIRHANA PLANT”.
  • Morton, Roy and Ludwig are not drawn as sprites: like Bowser in his Clown Car, they are pictures on the SNES’s Mode 7 background layer, made from their graphics when the battle starts.
  • Yoshi’s head and body are copied into video memory from a separate graphics bank as he moves, so a single pair of sprite tiles covers all of his poses.
  • It was one of the two Super Famicom launch games in Japan, with F-Zero, and became the best-selling game on the system (20.61 million copies).

More trivia

FAQ

When did Super Mario World come out?

On 21 November 1990 in Japan, 23 August 1991 in North America and 11 April 1992 in Europe, for the Super Nintendo.

How many exits are there in Super Mario World?

96: 72 levels with one goal each and 24 secret exits. All 24 secret exits.

How do you get the cape?

Take a Cape Feather. The first one is dropped by the flashing Super Koopa in Donut Plains 1, and Top Secret Area gives a supply of power-ups.

How do you reach the Star World?

Through the five Star Roads, opened by the secret exits of the Donut Secret House, Vanilla Secret 1 and Valley of Bowser 4, and by beating Soda Lake and the Forest Fortress. Star World.

What is the Special Zone?

Eight hard bonus levels reached through the secret exit of Star World 5. Beating them changes the colours of the map. Special Zone.

Where can I play Super Mario World today?

It was re-released as Super Mario Advance 2 on the Game Boy Advance (2001), on the Wii (2006–07), Wii U (2013) and New Nintendo 3DS (2016) Virtual Console, on the Super NES Classic Edition (2017), and for Nintendo Switch Online members since 2019.

Sources & picture credits

Pictures drawn from the Super Mario World (SNES) game data: sprites are assembled from their tiles the way the game draws them, in the palette of a level they appear in; blocks, coins and berries are built from their 16×16 level-tile definitions with the animated tiles in place; maps show the overworld’s terrain layer (the level tiles and paths on its other layer are not in the asset export). Animation timing is approximate. The box art was already on this wiki. Game content © Nintendo.