Super Mario World: Death Land is one of those brutal SNES romhacks that takes the cheerful, colorful world of the original and cranks up the difficulty to nightmare levels. You still recognize the familiar controls and power-ups, but suddenly every jump feels like a life-or-death decision—because it usually is. Pits are everywhere, enemies spawn in ridiculous spots, and those innocent-looking blocks? Yeah, half of them are traps.

At first, it seems almost unfair, but there’s a weird satisfaction in finally nailing a section after dying 20 times. The level design is clever in a sadistic way—once you learn the patterns, you realize it’s not just random cruelty. Still, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’ve got patience (and maybe a few spare controllers).