Super Mario World 2 Plus 3 - The Essence Star is one of those fan-made SNES hacks that actually feels like it could’ve been a real sequel. It mashes up elements from Yoshi’s Island and Super Mario World, but with way more levels, new power-ups, and some surprisingly polished sprite work.

You start off with Mario and Luigi as usual, but the level design throws some curveballs—like hidden exits that actually lead to entirely new worlds instead of just shortcuts. The first time I played, I got stuck on this one ghost house puzzle for way too long before realizing the solution was hiding in plain sight. Classic Mario troll logic.

What’s cool is that it doesn’t just recycle old ideas—there are new enemies, remixed music tracks, and even a few mechanics borrowed from later games (like Yoshi’s flutter jump). If you’ve burned through the original SMW and want something familiar but fresh, this romhack’s worth a look. Just don’t blame me when you lose an afternoon to it.