What a fun experiment this was. I like it more than I like vanilla 3D World, it just feels so focused and finely honed. A minor gripe I've always had with 3D World proper is that it's such a scattershot of ideas... all Mario games throw a lot of ideas together but 3D World didn't feel like it gelled for me. Just ah yeah, here's some fairies... they build stuff with carpentry tools... here's a bunch of cat themed stuff occasionally, and some circus/casino stuff. Oh look, Captain Toad minigame. None of this stuff is BAD, but it made the game feel thrown together (which in part disappointed me because it's basically just an iterative 3D Land sequel, and I already thought 3D Land was just okay), a lot of ideas but none fully explored beyond a cursory glance; hell, that's even why they made Captain Toad Treasure Tracker! Bowser's Fury manages to take many elements from 3D World that felt thrown together and remixes them in cohesive and thoughtfully considered ways. It's very simple to say "things are cat themed because you're in cat world", but it works, and they use the cat themed stuff to actually build memorable locations with fun challenges. I also love the unexpected Mario Sunshine sequel stuff (Jr and the paintbrush, evil ink ruining a beach vacation, shines and light), it worked really nicely and helped make the world feel full and interesting. Combine that with excellent imaginative level design, an extremely fun soundtrack, and a unique kaiju attack gimmick? Just a wonderful game all around that doesn't waste any of your time with menial filler content. Just about the picture perfect definition of all killer, no filler.