Easy, Super Mario Bros 3.
I liked World as well, it was a step up in detail and added some cool bells and whistles, but was a big step back in many other regards: a step back artistically, in level design, in difficulty balance, it had significantly fewer stand-out levels, and didn't feel nearly as epic.
Super Mario Bros 3 was to Super Mario World as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was to Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
I understand why people like World, Yoshi and it, switch blocks, Ghost Houses, and Star Road which features gameplay design good enough to be comparable to Super Mario Bros 3!
But mostly, I found the level design a bit too repetitive and uninspired when compared to 3. Look at 3, almost every single level has its own personality and stands out. You can describe things like "the boot level" or "the tower" or "the sun level" etc... and people will know what you mean. Super Mario World doesn't really have that. In fact, some of the NSMB games have better level design than World did (Wii in particular had some fantastic design). Many SMW levels were slow because of auto-scrolling without much to do, or because there were annoying puzzles that required you looping around and trying for some silly jump. SMB3 had auto scrolling levels too, but they were filled with stuff to do, constantly; World was running back and forth 90% of the time. Super Mario Bros 3 also is a more wondrous and epic adventure than World--which is rather confined by comparison. Remember SMB's Giant World? Well, that was NOTHINGG compared to World 5 that followed. On Ghost Houses, I love the concept, but found the design was often more than a little annoying.
It sounds like I hate World, I don't, it's actually one of my favourite 2D platformers, but I rank it a tier below games like SMB3, DKC trilogy, and Sonic 1/2 (not limited to these games, these are just some examples).
In short, I like 3 more because: It's more epic of an adventure, superior level design, more inspired levels, better action, worlds are more interesting, and difficulty balance is much better. It is the Sonic 2 of the Super Mario Bros franchise.
That's not to say World isn't without its goodness, I liked the presentation: Yoshi, the hidden bits on the map, Star Road, and the Ghost House concept., and the block concept was neat, too. This is the Sonic 3 of the Super Mario Bros franchise.
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
