Super Demo World III is one of those SNES romhacks that actually feels like a lost Mario game—except someone cranked up the difficulty just enough to keep you sweating. The first level lulls you in with familiar greens and blues, then suddenly you're dodging fireballs from some new enemy that definitely wasn't in the original Super Mario World.

The sprite work is gorgeous, like someone polished up the original assets but kept that crunchy 16-bit charm. And the music? Half remixes you'll hum for days, half original tracks that somehow fit right in. I died way too many times on the third world's spinning platforms before realizing you gotta time your jumps just slightly earlier than feels natural.

If you've played Mario hacks before, this one stands out because it doesn't just rely on cheap difficulty spikes—the levels actually feel designed, not just thrown together. That said, maybe don't start here if it's your first romhack. You'll have a better time if you remember where the run button is.