Can you keep playing Super Mario World after beating Bowser?
Yes, absolutely! Beating Bowser is just the beginning of the fun in Super Mario World (SMW). While the credits may roll, SMW has an absolutely staggering amount of content beyond the main story path. As a hardcore SMW fan whose collected all 96 exits multiple times, I implore all gamers not to put down the controller after Bowser!
Vast Worlds Unlocked After Bowser
According to long-time Mario fansite MarioWiki.com, defeating Bowser opens up not only nostalgic areas like the Mushroom Kingdom itself, but also iconic worlds like Star World and the Special World.
| World | Description |
|---|---|
| Mushroom Kingdom | Features Peach‘s iconic castle, delicious Power-Up mushrooms, and of course your trusty steed Yoshi! |
| Star World | This challenging world was my personal favorite to uncover. With 5 unique levels accessible by warps on the map, Star World will test even seasoned platforming veterans with tough obstacles, puzzling secrets, and merciless enemies! |
| Special World | Perhaps the crown jewel unlocked after Bowser, the Special World features 8 of the most grueling, controller-throwing levels the Mario series has ever seen. And you‘ll need to beat them all to unlock… |
And those are just some of the many new levels and areas I discovered after taking down Bowser my first time in 1991! Since then, I‘ve replayed Super Mario World over 50 times and still find new hidden paths and unlockables to this day.
Replayability Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
In my decades of gaming since, very few titles can match the pure replayability of Super Mario World after Bowser. SMW sharable passionate gamer and retro game expert Scott Burns explains that the max completion percentage is finding all 96 exits in the game. That‘s right – 96 exits spread across the massive Dinosaur Land map!
To unlock all 96 exits, you‘ll need to not only beat each level, but find each hidden key and keyhole leading to hidden levels and shortcuts to other worlds. Trust me, even with the Internet and decades of experience, tracking down some of these exits will puzzle even the most hardened Goomba-stomping veterans.
And beyond exit-hunting, SMW offers endless replay value by mastering each level to improve your…
- Score – World record chasers can rack up millions of points through skillful play. My personal best is 12 million, but the world record is over 40 million!
- Time – Speedrunners practice precision play to set best times for getting through levels or the full game. The infamous player Darbian holds the SMW any% run record of just ~9 minutes!
- Lives – Can you beat the entire game with just 3 lives? 1 life? Grab a cape feather and try not to touch the ground!
I must have played SMW for 10,000 hours in my life and still joyfully lose weekends hunting for new secrets and self-imposed challenges.
Awesome Unlocks After 96 Exits
As veteran player Darren Passos discovered on Twitter, completing the full 96 exits unlocks permanent, wide-reaching changes. The bright green hills become a ominous dark red, peaceful clouds turn foreboding, and Koopas become…Mario clones? Strange but true!
The full list of unlocks according to MarioWiki includes:
- Red palette swap for overworld
- Koopalings turn into Mario
- Yoshi‘s House upgrade
- Top Secret Area access
That last one is key – the Top Secret Area grants unlimited access to powerups like Fire Flowers, Feathers, Mushrooms and more! I can‘t give away ALL my secrets, but trust me that it will give pros a huge advantage in tackling tough levels.
So in summary, Super Mario World offers an absolutely delightful bounty of content, challenges, and discovery after saving Princess Peach. I‘ll be continuing to hunt for secrets and set new personal records until I can no longer wrap my arthritic hands around a SNES controller! So strap on those Raccoon ears and take to the skies – we‘re going beyond Bowser!
What has been your favorite thing to discover past beating Bowser? Let me know in the comments!
