I was shocked to see Majora's Mask beat out Super Mario 64 and I was even more shocked to see it beat Super Mario Bros. Two genre-defining, groundbreaking games. And now it's losing to Super Mario World.
I'm genuinely interested in why it is. The first Mario game I remember playing was Super Mario World probably close to 15 years ago, and I loved playing it. I still love playing it. But that's all it really has going for it; it's a fun game. Did it
really add that much to the series? If the game was never made, I don't think much of anything in the Mario series would be any different.
Majora's Mask on the other hand deviated from the norm of past (and future) Zelda games and delivered an experience that no other game had done.
The last three rounds have all been against classic Mario titles, so there's not much new that I can say (
here's my post vs. Super Mario 64 if you want to hear me burrow my nose deeply into Majora's ass). I will however reiterate that Majora's Mask is much more than a typical game. If you've played it a significant amount, you know the atmosphere. You know how unsettling it is. You notice how everything is just a little "off", down to the smallest details. You know the NPCs and how even the most inconsequential characters have their own stories. There are parts that make you feel actual emotions, not just "I have to jump over that line of paratroopas if I want star points!!" That's one of the main reasons why Majora's Mask is the superior game, among many others.
The gameplay is second to none. Everyone drools all over the gameplay of Ocarina of Time. Majora's Mask has a fine-tuned version and much more. Not only does it have all the cool little items and simple control scheme, you get four transformation masks that nearly have enough uses to have a game for each. The gameplay's great, and the open, 3D world of Termina is far better than the 2D generic world that we've seen numerous times in Mario games. You're free to do whatever you want in Majora's Mask. You can go to a dungeon and fight a big ol' demon fish, or you can help a guy in a bathroom that needs toilet paper. Just roll around as a Goron for 3 days and watch as the world ends if you want. The time travel system allows you the freedom to do anything you want in the game. It's certainly a lot more than "run right and jump on shit!"
I could rant about how amazing the music is or how intricately woven the many, many stories of the game are, but I don't think I have to. There's not much to say about Super Mario World except that it's a fun little game. It's glaringly obvious that Majora's Mask is the better game. Can anyone explain why Super Mario World is better for any reason other than "I played it when I was little and I like jumping on things"? I really don't think I'm straw-manning it, it's just that Majora's Mask is superior in every way, except maybe the name on the box and the ~nostalgia~ value.