The rhino-like mini bosses faced at the end of the fortress stages are called Reznors in the US version of the game. They are named after Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. This follows the same format of the Koopalings, all being named after famous musicians.
The game’s ending shows Mario wearing red shoes, while Luigi is wearing green. However, both brothers wore brown shoes during the rest of the game.
The 2 ammunition type enemies in Super Mario World are named Bullet Bill and Torpedo Ted. In Japan they were simply called “Killer” and “Torpedo”. Since they were named Bill and Ted for the US version, it is believed this may be a tribute to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Party on dudes!
The symbol shown on top of the “Special World” is actually the symbol for the Super Famicom, Japan’s version of the SNES.
Waiting in the “Special World” for a few seconds will actually trigger a remixed version of the Super Mario Theme to Play!
The shape on Yoshi’s mailbox is the symbol for the Japanese Postal Service.
In the Japanese version of the game, Yoshi can eat the dolphins. This was changed for all other versions of the game. The thinking behind it was Nintendo may have been worried about cultural differences, or just wanted to make the level easier since you can use the dolphins as platforms.
The forest in Super Mario World is called the Forest of Illusion, while The Legend of Zelda’s forest is called the Lost Woods. In the Japan though, both are called “Mayoi no Mori” (Lost Forest). Since the standard exits loop you in a circle, it shares a similarity with Zelda returning you to the beginning of the forest.
Early screenshots of the game contained Mario wearing the raccoon suit. This would eventually be dropped and replaced with the cape.
