Super Mario World is a liar (for good reason)
Super Nintendo centerpiece Super Mario World is often praised as not only one of the best Mario games of all time, but also one of the best video games ever made. Little did we know, this classic adventure has been deceiving us for over 30 years, at least when it comes to the capabilities of a single enemy.
Before the advent of complex physics systems, developers sometimes designed little tricks into their games to convey feats that were not technologically feasible at the time. The fine folks at the Mario blog Supper Mario Bouillon recently brought an example of this phenomenon to our attention, explaining how Nintendo fooled us into believing Super Mario World's Beach Koopas can launch themselves down slopes by momentum alone.
In Super Mario World, blue Koopas launch themselves off ramps to ostensibly demonstrate momentum physics. However, the physics is falsified. Instead of actually using momentum, the Koopas are simply programmed to jump when they hit an upward ramp, as seen in the footage. pic.twitter.com/bE83y83CaY
— Supper Mario Broth (@MarioBrothBlog) December 12, 2023
Although Beach Koopas appear to gain air thanks to the speed they build when going downhill, they are actually programmed to jump – something only the yellow variety otherwise does – when they reach an upward slope. According to game designer Kaizoman, who observed for the first time this element of Super Mario World's design it only happens to turtles that spawn in the level without a shell; those who have come out of their shell will function normally when approaching similar slope configurations.
Furthermore, only blue Beach Koopas are designed to work this way. And while they appear scaleless in a handful of levels, only Cookie Mountain and Groovy contain ramps to jump off (trust me, I checked). Nintendo's designers have put all this work into two small moments, the second of which most players won't see for themselves unless they persevere through the extra-hard, double-secret challenges that await at the end of the game.
Super Mario World is full of similar magic tricks including scrolling backgrounds to increase the sense of movement on the floating platforms of Forest Secret Area special, hidden characters used to bypass level name length limitations. This may be a controversial opinion, but video games are cool, even if they lie to your face.