Bowser's Fury
released on Feb 12, 2021
Team up with Bowser Jr. in a free-roaming 3D adventure to stop his dad’s rampage. Run and jump across a series of islands to collect the mysterious Cat Shines, and battle against the colossal Fury Bowser whenever he emerges from the water to wreak havoc.
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This DLC that came as a side-mode for another entire game is actually my all time favorite Mario game. I hope in the future they turn this into a standalone game with more content.
Kinda mid
This review contains spoilers
Bowser's Fury is a unique and engaging sandbox experience everyone should play. Despite being on the shorter side, and being attached to 3D World on Nintendo Switch, it manages to be its own thing entirely.
Mario plays great in this game, nearly the same as in 3D World, no complaints there. Lake Lapcat, while small, feels expansive. Each island is fleshed out, and every challenge they provide is great fun. The Cat Shines feel rewarding, so much so that I went out of my way to collect all 100, and it's very much worth it. The only Cat Shines I didn't really care for were the "Blast the Fury Blocks" shines, they mostly involved waiting around. Some of the Cat Shine shards were also in obscure places. Regardless, the freedom this game offers you is a major point in its favor.
Another well executed aspect of this game is Fury Bowser himself. He is menacing and feels like a genuine looming threat throughout the game. When he appears, the gameplay changes up slightly and it's usually a fun mix up. However, my main issue with the Bowser encounters is how often they can happen, and how long they go on. It's mostly random but it can be annoying and disruptive at times. I wish they were handled a bit differently, since they can be a bit repetitive, but there's one other element of them that makes them great. The battles with Fury Bowser, of course. You can take small chunks out of his health bar by collecting Cat Shrines, but the real fight occurs when you awaken, and then collect a Giga Bell. Mario transforms into Giga Cat Mario and battles Fury Bowser when this happens, and the fights get increasingly long and difficult as Fury Bowser's health bar grows, and he introduces new attacks. His boss fights aren't particularly difficult or complex, but they're incredibly fun, especially the final battle.
I really think this game justifies the price of 3DW+BF, especially if you haven't played 3D World. It stands alone as a great game, but it's also nice as a companion title after completing 3D World. It's not the most fully-featured Mario game, definitely not the largest in terms of length or content, but it's well worth your time.
Mario plays great in this game, nearly the same as in 3D World, no complaints there. Lake Lapcat, while small, feels expansive. Each island is fleshed out, and every challenge they provide is great fun. The Cat Shines feel rewarding, so much so that I went out of my way to collect all 100, and it's very much worth it. The only Cat Shines I didn't really care for were the "Blast the Fury Blocks" shines, they mostly involved waiting around. Some of the Cat Shine shards were also in obscure places. Regardless, the freedom this game offers you is a major point in its favor.
Another well executed aspect of this game is Fury Bowser himself. He is menacing and feels like a genuine looming threat throughout the game. When he appears, the gameplay changes up slightly and it's usually a fun mix up. However, my main issue with the Bowser encounters is how often they can happen, and how long they go on. It's mostly random but it can be annoying and disruptive at times. I wish they were handled a bit differently, since they can be a bit repetitive, but there's one other element of them that makes them great. The battles with Fury Bowser, of course. You can take small chunks out of his health bar by collecting Cat Shrines, but the real fight occurs when you awaken, and then collect a Giga Bell. Mario transforms into Giga Cat Mario and battles Fury Bowser when this happens, and the fights get increasingly long and difficult as Fury Bowser's health bar grows, and he introduces new attacks. His boss fights aren't particularly difficult or complex, but they're incredibly fun, especially the final battle.
I really think this game justifies the price of 3DW+BF, especially if you haven't played 3D World. It stands alone as a great game, but it's also nice as a companion title after completing 3D World. It's not the most fully-featured Mario game, definitely not the largest in terms of length or content, but it's well worth your time.
Trotz technischen Mängeln ein gutes Stand-Alone Spin-Off von Mario 3D World. Eine Art Mario Odyssey Lite.
Bowser's Fury isn't a grand redefinition of 3D Mario, and it doesn't have to be in order to be interesting. While the open world design isn't exactly convincing (it feels too much like a bunch of traditional Mario levels loosely strung together), the sense of scale it provides in boss fights is novel, and the pressure that Bowser brings once he's in play is pretty exciting—almost like a Nintendo take on Dying Light. Also, it's nice to have a 3D Mario game you can 100% within a sitting or two.
Excellent proof of concept for the obvious massive open world Mario game Nintendo is currently keeping under wraps for the Switch 2 but Bowser activating fury mode was often very disruptive and annoying, there needed to be more of a mechanic around being able to delay or disable him, or trigger him to activate when needed.