Releases

It should be noted that the Japanese packaging includes a "Super Mario Bros. 4" subtitle that is not seen anywhere inside the game itself.

Title screen

The star that appears next to a count of 96 goals on the title screen does not appear in the Japanese version. The European (PAL) version shows the "96" in blue without a star.

Japanese version	U.S. version

The copyright dates are different because the U.S. version was released later. However, we have no explanation for the slight differences in lettering, shadows, and wood borders.

Yoshi's House

In Yoshi's welcome message, the paw print was a new addition to the U.S. version. The Japanese message is signed "Super Dragon Yoshi."

Japanese version	U.S. version

Now let's take a look at Yoshi's mailbox. In the Japanese version, the Yoshi sign is in Japanese as expected. On the mailbox's door, the "T" with a line over it is the symbol for the postal service in Japan. This symbol is also present on the mailbox in the U.S. version.

Kappa Mountain

Those familiar with the SMW manual know that the Yellow Switch Palace is situated on top of "Kappa Mountain." In Japan, the kappa is a mythical creature that holds water in a bowl-shaped depression in his head. It is said that if the water spills out of his head, the kappa becomes very weak.

The lower part of Kappa Mountain looks similar to the top of kappas' heads. We've included pictures of two video game kappas for comparison: Kappa the Imp from Final Fantasy III (Super NES), and Kapp'n from the Animal Crossing series.

Center: Kappa the Imp. Right: Kapp'n.

Castle re-entry

The code to re-enter beaten castles (press L + R buttons simultaneously) works for both the U.S. and European (PAL) versions, but not the Japanese version.

Oh!

In the five-tiered 1-Up chambers, if Mario hits the block containing the 1-Up last, he gets the 1-Up as a prize. Hitting an empty block correctly will reveal a circle. In Japan, a small circle is generally used instead of a checkmark as a symbol for "yes" or "correct."

Reznor

Also seen in the credits, Reznor was originally known as Bui Bui.

Japanese version	U.S. version

Tastes like tuna

Yoshi can eat the Dolphins in the Japanese version, but not in the U.S. version. This was probably changed to prevent possible frustration caused by eating too many of the Dolphins, who are used as stepping stones to help you cross over a large body of water.

Thanks: Nintendo JJW

Bowser's Castle

Bowser's neon sign in the Japanese version reads "KOOPA," his Japanese name.

Japanese version	U.S. version

Special World

The quad-color disc formation on the Special World map screen is the Super Famicom logo (and PAL Super NES logo). If you didn't already know, the Super Famicom is the Japanese equivalent of the Super NES.

Japanese version	U.S. version

Super Famicom logo

Funky

In the Japanese version, there are a total of three Green Berries, compared to nine in the U.S. version. The first six Green Berries in the U.S. version are Red Berries in the Japanese version.

The coins at the end spell out "YOU ARE SUPER PLAYER!!" in the Japanese version. An "A" was added between "ARE" and "SUPER" for the U.S. version, resulting in 12 more coins. To make room for the "A," every letter before "SUPER" was moved two places to the left.

Japanese version	U.S. version

Japanese version	U.S. version

Official Player's Guides

To get the complete game guide in Japanese, you'd have to buy two books. Book #1 covers the first eight worlds (Yoshi's Island through Star World) and only has a brief overview of the Special World. The second book provides full maps of the Special World courses. Nintendo of America's guide covers the entire game in one book, as usual.

The Japanese books—titled Nintendo Official Guidebook: Super Mario World and Nintendo Official Guidebook: Super Mario World (Continued)—were published by Shogakukan. Nintendo Player's Guide: Mario Mania was published by Nintendo of America (in conjunction with Tokuma Shoten Publishing).

The enemy, character, world, and item names below are from these official game guides. Some English names are sourced from the U.S. instruction booklet.

Areas

Characters

Enemies

Ending sequence

The following table compares the names given in both versions' ending sequence. In the Japanese version, the enemy names are displayed in the English alphabet, leading us to believe the designers attempted to American-ize the names a little.

Note: The names for Jumping Piranha Plant, Bullet Bill, and Koopas don't change in the Japanese version's credits after beating Funky.

Items

Levels

Level names are from the game text.

Notes:

• Ramune is a citrusy soft drink in Japan. Going along with the food theme, "Sunken Ghost Ship" could have been named "Soda Pop Trench Sunken Ship."