Mario's first Super NES adventure seriously improved on the visuals of its NES predecessors.

While he was introduced in a platform game, the dinosaur Yoshi went on to find fame on his own by appearing in several other Nintendo games. Beyond simple "me-too" appearances in the Mario Kart and Mario Party games, Yoshi also appeared in his own puzzle game, Yoshi's Cookie. Yoshi even took over the lead role for the second installment in the Super Mario World series, subtitled Yoshi's Island. Yoshi's Island put Yoshi in control of a baby Mario, who you had to keep safe from harm as you made your way from level to level. Yoshi also made another platform game appearance in Yoshi's Story for the Nintendo 64. Add to that some bit parts in Mario Tennis, Super Mario 64, and Super Smash Bros. Melee, and you have an impressive list of games featuring Nintendo's dinosaur.

Yoshi brought it all full circle in 2002 by again becoming Mario's faithful mode of transportation in the GameCube platformer Super Mario Sunshine. Where will he turn up next?

The inclusion of Yoshi put a new spin on the classic Mario game mechanics.

By the time Mario made the jump from 8-bit to 16-bit, he had already been through some pretty amazing adventures. The original Super Mario Bros. set the standard for what an 8-bit platform game should be. Closer to the end of the NES life cycle, Super Mario Bros. 3 gave us a glimpse of the future. Super Mario World was released in North America in 1991, and it delivered on every possible count. It refined some of the wild costume-changing elements found in Super Mario Bros. 3, and it also offered a ton of levels, many with hidden exits and extra goals. The game definitely felt much larger than your average Mario game, making the title "World" a fitting one indeed.

As a launch title for Nintendo's 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Mario World set the tone for the 16-bit era much the same way that Super Mario Bros. did for the 8-bit days. With its bright color palette, its impressive stereo sound, and the hardware muscle of the SNES backing it up, Super Mario World was a clear indicator that the 16-bit era had truly arrived in style. Sega's Genesis may have been first, but with Super Mario World in tow, the SNES burst out of the gate in full sprint.

Mario gained a cape in Super Mario World, refining the flight mechanic introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3 quite nicely. Given the larger size of World's levels, the ability to explore the sky above was pretty exciting, as you never knew what hidden secrets you might find. From the Butter Bridge to the Star Road, Super Mario World had a plethora of different level designs. The game also introduced the world to Yoshi, the hungry dinosaur who could breathe fire, fly, or kick up killer dust clouds, depending on which type of turtle shell he was holding in his mouth.

Super Mario World's large number of hidden goals gave the game a new dimension that previous Mario games had only hinted at. When you combine this light puzzle solving with the other refinements that Super Mario World made to an already winning formula, you're left with a game that is, without a doubt, one of the greatest games ever made.

In my personal opinion, Super Mario World is the most perfect realization of the Mario universe ever created. It took all the basic mechanics introduced by and developed in the NES games and then used the then-new SNES hardware to take the classic Mario gameplay in spectacular new directions. Whether it was cage climbing, magic capes that for some reason made you fly, Bowser in a giant clown copter, or good old Yoshi, everything about Super Mario World was polished, stylish, and fun.