The weakest aspects of this one come from the fact it borrows, for the purposes of nostalgia sales, the design approach of Mario Bros. 3 (1988) and New Super Mario Bros. (2006). Specifically the egregious gambling nature of the casinos and box choice houses, insistence on timers in every level that prevent leisurely play, overabundance of coins despite having no meaningful extrinsic value, and inane boss reuse in spite of how simple they are, and worst of all needless score information. The score factor admittedly becomes more meaningful when playing with multiple people since there becomes a competitive crown stealing aspect, but I cant help but think that one of the main reasons Mario Galaxy plays so well is because they had the good graces to fade out the non relevant parts of the hud display during play. If you pick up a green mushroom in Galaxy you get treated with a life indicator for about 5 seconds and then it disappears, allowing you to focus on the beautiful aspects of play in front of you with no intrusive text in the way. Meanwhile in Super Mario 3D World you never escape from the fate of knowing all these needless stats at all times. I really hate the proximity score affects and abundance of coins and all this stupid pachinko shit that was in Super Mario Bros. 3 that people are too rose tinted to realize just suck then to and add nothing to the experience besides the stupid brain jingles you shouldnt want to be there anyway.
I wanted to lead with this caveching because I think in terms of spectacle this is otherwise a Mario title at its most dynamic and beautiful. Part of that praise comes from the fact I can play as Peach and not Mario which is huge because I'm a girl and love playing as girls in games. Beyond just that, all the levels are like 3 minutes long at most and literally every level in this damn game has a different camera angle, set of mechanics, and player interaction with the powerup. You'll bounce from 1 level where they expect you to climb like a cat between rafters to another level where you have to mow down pirannha plants with your jumps, to another level where you have to explore on the beach for a while to progress. There's a constant showmanship here in the oscillation of play, levels are short but sharp, like a violinist doing a solo. Does this make the levels come off more 'disposable' in a sense sure, but only really in the build up of the overall composition of the play experience. Each level is dynamic enough to exude its craft. There's one level I really loved where you were fighting everything in the shadows, this was used once and never again. Some may think that this approach is disappointing because it squanders a strong mechanic, however I think this helps keep the experience fresh and surprising. Sometimes the restraint is useful in building a larger moment.
Everything about the aesthetic of this is evocative of a circus performance, all the characters including Bowser are playing dress up. You surf on a large animal and save small people, its a Mario equivalent of Alice in Wonderland, which is a circus of dreams in its own right. Theres jazzy big band music and the lead up towards the end goes all out in flair and clourfulness. They are always changing the camera position to keep things disoriented 'towards' something, the center of the circus arena maybe? You're constantly going up and towards the center of the pit, even when you look on the map that's how it's laid out. Mustering your courage through green stars to progress to the top of the trapeze and perform your part of the show. The game had the good graces for instance in the final fight not to do an operatic showdown against Bowser in a 3 Stage Boss Fight ala Mario Galaxy or Mario Oddysey but instead switch it up by making it an autoscroller where you balance your position on the climb up dodging his invincible attacks. The stage itself becomes the boss which shows an incredible understanding of what is actually satisfying in these titles!
There are some ways in which I agree that the game feels mediocre, the build up takes time so the early worlds are admittedly snoozeworthy, though that can be counterbalanced by playing with friends or focusing on getting all the green stars early on. More crucially, the long jump in this game is painfully garbage which makes running into a boost just the operable mode. Stringing long jumps is a classic movement tech in these titles so stripping it away to force players not to have fun leap frog moments is a huge whiff. However, for me at least I think the statements of mediocrity are overstated.
This is way better than any of the 2D Mario titles its borrowing from, and significantly better than the 3D ones that came after it. It's even better than Mario Galaxy 2 as blasphemous as that may seem. Playing as Peach is just a breath of fresh air honestly, the amount of control on her float tech is incredible. I think most the people who weren't keen on this one overemphasized the humdrum of the early sections, played in isolation, or didn't play as peach. Try and separate yourself from these factors and you have a fantastic adventure. You don't see the circus aesthetic in earnest aside from this and maybe like Dropsy done without some of the exploitative elements of Barnum freakshow entertainment weighing it down, so have a heart when its done well I say. Stay Peachy!
I wanted to lead with this caveching because I think in terms of spectacle this is otherwise a Mario title at its most dynamic and beautiful. Part of that praise comes from the fact I can play as Peach and not Mario which is huge because I'm a girl and love playing as girls in games. Beyond just that, all the levels are like 3 minutes long at most and literally every level in this damn game has a different camera angle, set of mechanics, and player interaction with the powerup. You'll bounce from 1 level where they expect you to climb like a cat between rafters to another level where you have to mow down pirannha plants with your jumps, to another level where you have to explore on the beach for a while to progress. There's a constant showmanship here in the oscillation of play, levels are short but sharp, like a violinist doing a solo. Does this make the levels come off more 'disposable' in a sense sure, but only really in the build up of the overall composition of the play experience. Each level is dynamic enough to exude its craft. There's one level I really loved where you were fighting everything in the shadows, this was used once and never again. Some may think that this approach is disappointing because it squanders a strong mechanic, however I think this helps keep the experience fresh and surprising. Sometimes the restraint is useful in building a larger moment.
Everything about the aesthetic of this is evocative of a circus performance, all the characters including Bowser are playing dress up. You surf on a large animal and save small people, its a Mario equivalent of Alice in Wonderland, which is a circus of dreams in its own right. Theres jazzy big band music and the lead up towards the end goes all out in flair and clourfulness. They are always changing the camera position to keep things disoriented 'towards' something, the center of the circus arena maybe? You're constantly going up and towards the center of the pit, even when you look on the map that's how it's laid out. Mustering your courage through green stars to progress to the top of the trapeze and perform your part of the show. The game had the good graces for instance in the final fight not to do an operatic showdown against Bowser in a 3 Stage Boss Fight ala Mario Galaxy or Mario Oddysey but instead switch it up by making it an autoscroller where you balance your position on the climb up dodging his invincible attacks. The stage itself becomes the boss which shows an incredible understanding of what is actually satisfying in these titles!
There are some ways in which I agree that the game feels mediocre, the build up takes time so the early worlds are admittedly snoozeworthy, though that can be counterbalanced by playing with friends or focusing on getting all the green stars early on. More crucially, the long jump in this game is painfully garbage which makes running into a boost just the operable mode. Stringing long jumps is a classic movement tech in these titles so stripping it away to force players not to have fun leap frog moments is a huge whiff. However, for me at least I think the statements of mediocrity are overstated.
This is way better than any of the 2D Mario titles its borrowing from, and significantly better than the 3D ones that came after it. It's even better than Mario Galaxy 2 as blasphemous as that may seem. Playing as Peach is just a breath of fresh air honestly, the amount of control on her float tech is incredible. I think most the people who weren't keen on this one overemphasized the humdrum of the early sections, played in isolation, or didn't play as peach. Try and separate yourself from these factors and you have a fantastic adventure. You don't see the circus aesthetic in earnest aside from this and maybe like Dropsy done without some of the exploitative elements of Barnum freakshow entertainment weighing it down, so have a heart when its done well I say. Stay Peachy!
2 Comments
After playing a substantial amount of the post game I have some followup thoughts but I'll orient them as their own post. Look out for that.
Erato_Heti
1 year ago
Also I do like how furry this game is with the costume design but I didn't wanna say that in the byline.