Version Differences

This page is to compare the different versions of Super Mario World.

Versions

There are six versions of Super Mario World that are currently allowed on the leaderboards.

Abbr.	Version	Found
J	Japanese	The only version with Japanese text, this version was released in Japan.
U	North American	The localized version of the game for NTSC audiences.
UW	North American All-Stars + World	This version was bundled in with Super Mario All-Stars.
E0	PAL v1.0	Rare. The localized version of the game for PAL audiences, but the resolution hadn't been updated to fill the PAL screen.
E1 or E	PAL v1.1	The updated version of the PAL release. This version removed the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
EW	PAL All-Stars + World	This version was bundled in with Super Mario All-Stars in PAL regions.

Version Differences

	J	U	UW	E0	E1	EW	Notes
Text	Japanese	English
Intro Screen	Auto	Actuate					In order to advance passed the intro cutscene, a button must be pressed on all versions but J.
Save Boxes	Small	Big					The size of the save boxes had to change to accommodate English text, so they take up more time to display.
Switch Palace Fanfare	Short	Long					The amount of time required to dismiss the Switch Palace fanfare was changed to make it easier to read the cutscene text.
Reenter Castles with L+R	No	Yes
Level Design	Edible Dolphins	Small Level Changes					See Level Differences.
Gameplay	Original Physics			Updated Physics			In order to accamodate the framerate change, the physics were changed in the PAL region so the game didn't seem to run slow.
Framerate	60 Hz			50 Hz
Resolution	256x224				256x239		The E0 version had black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
Exit Counter	>= 96	Up to *96	>= *96	blue; >= 96		>= *96	By collected extra glitched exits, the counter can go above 96 in all but the U versions.
Luigi	Mario palette swap		Unique Graphics	Mario palette swap		Unique Graphics
Exiting Game	None		Press Select on Overworld	None		Press Select on Overworld

Releases

Super Mario World has been released on 6 systems, but not every version is available on every system. Here is a chart that shows which versions exists on each system.

	J	U	UW	E0	E1	EW
Super Nintendo	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Wii VC	✓	✓			✓
3DS VC	✓	✓			*
WiiU VC	✓	✓			*
SNES Classic	✓	✓			*
Nintendo Switch Online	✓	✓

* While PAL 3DS, WiiU, and SNES Classic releases exist, they are actually the U version, since the 50 Hz versions are of no use anymore.

How to Tell Which Version You are Playing

The 256x239 resolution of the PAL versions (shown on left) causes more of the bottom of the level to show on screen.

If you aren't sure which version your cartridge is, just follow this questionaire:

1. Is the text in Japanese?
   • Yes - J version
   • No - continue...
2. What system are you playing on?
   • 3DS VC, WiiU VC, SNES Classic, or Nintendo Switch Online - U version
   • Super NES or Wii VC - continue...
3. When the title screen shows, does the ground take up 2 or 3 logs vertically? (see right)
   • 3 - E1 version
   • 2 on Wii VC - U version
   • 2 on Super NES - continue...
4. Are you playing a version of All-Stars + World?
   • No - go to 6.
   • Yes - continue...
5. When the title screen shows, does the ground take up 2 or 3 logs vertically? (see right)
   • 3 - EW version
   • 2 - UW version
6. Go to Yoshi's Island 1 and hold run and right as the level loads. What happens?
   • Mario hits the Koopa and dies - U version
   • Mario runs under the Koopa and survives - E0 version

PAL vs NTSC

To compensate for the PAL system that runs at 50fps opposed to 60fps - developers made Mario run faster in the PAL rom to offset the difference. As a result Mario can make jumps that are not possible in the NTSC version, so different routes would be taken. It is difficult to compare runs between these two versions. Even though Mario's running speed was increased to make up for the slower framerate, other parts of the game like cutscenes and the overworld were not sped up, so generally runs on PAL versions will be much slower because of this.

This video demonstrates some of the speed differences between PAL and NTSC versions of the game:

J Version Advantages

• J version is 0.267 seconds faster for each save message.
• J version is 3.2 seconds faster for each switch palace.

Taking into account these differences this is how it affects some main categories:

Category	J is faster by
11 Exit	0.534 seconds
No Starworld	2.670 seconds
All Castles	3.204 seconds
96 Exit	20.810 seconds

Level Differences

• The message at the end of Funky reads "YOU ARE SUPER PLAYER!!" on the J version instead of "YOU ARE A SUPER PLAYER!!" like the other versions.
• There is no yellow ! block at the beginning of Donut Plains 2 in the J version.
• There is visible cut-off on the J version on the right side of Donut Secret House if you scroll the screen to the right.
• The time limit was changed to 400 seconds from 300 seconds in the J version of Lemmy's Castle.
• There are fewer arrow signs at the end of Chocolate Island 3 in the J version.
• The 3 extra lives below the orb in Sunken Ghost Ship are not present in the J version.
• There are fewer green berries in Funky in the J version.
• There is no cape near the beginning of Vanilla Dome 1 in the J version.

,

Nintendo Super System

The Nintendo Super System version allows the player to begin in any of the seven "zones".

There is a relatively little known arcade release of Super Mario World for the Nintendo Super System. Released only in the US, the Nintendo Super System is essentially a Super Nintendo in an arcade cabinet. This version can be differentiated from all others by the title screen (shown right). The Nintendo Super System version of the game is identical in all levels to the U version of the game, except that the message box in Yoshi's Island 4 is no longer present (because Start+Select is disabled). Most glitches also function identically.

There are several changes which make this version technically the fastest official release of Super Mario World. For one, the game does not save, so save prompts never appear. The intro cutscene can be skipped immediately after the message box text appears. Castle cutscenes can be scrolled by the player by mashing, drastically reducing their length. Finally, the player may choose to start in any one of the seven "zones", with previous levels already completed. The only change which could adversely affect speedruns is that Start+Select is disabled. Overall, this version would save several minutes compared to the versions above in a 96 exit run.

For the leaderboards, this version is not currently allowed. This version can be run on a standard SNES (or emulator) through a flashcart, but obtaining a legitimate copy is prohibitively expensive. Additionally, only a very small number of such units were produced, while all the above versions have millions of sales. Finally, because of the massive time savings, allowing this version would essentially invalidate all historic runs.