Super Mario World is regularly put forward as the greatest Mario game of all time. It perfected 2D platforming to the extent that it still holds up today, and felt like a game that just kept on giving thanks to its trove of secrets, secrets-within secrets and secrets-within-secrets-within-secrets. One of these is the legendary Special World, one of the most difficult groups of levels in the Mario canon. How to unlock it: The Special World is only accessible through Star World 5. Around halfway through Star World 5, there are five blocks, the second of which contains a beanstalk. Climb the beanstalk (or fly using the blue Yoshi), pick up the key at the end of the walkway, then you'll gain access to the super-secret Special World, packed with its own vast selection of gruelling levels that'll bring back traumatic memories of Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. Then, if you complete this world, you unlock the game's biggest secret...
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
