Wowie wowie, this was so good.
I don't know where this game came from, but I'm glad I stumbled upon it because it may be one of my new favorite indie 3D platformers.
First off; this game is RIDICULOUSLY fluid to move around in. Your moveset is deliberately limited in super clever ways. You never wish you had more movement options, because there are so many things you can do with the few moves you have. Not a single platforming death felt cheap. It encouraged me to understand the physics and master them. Just masterfully done.
The game's structure is strange, but I really dig it. The game is basically one big Banjo-Kazooie-esq world with a TON to do. You only have a few things to collect, but they all feel like such an accomplishment when you find one. The EXP as a collectable is a cute mix-up. It functions fundamentally the same as Music Notes in Banjo. But them NOT being an object to see that single number go up, delivers a waaay different kind of satisfaction. It's pretty smart. Besides the big open world Owl level, you have a few little platforming challenges throughout, and a decent gauntlet towards the end. I can't stress enough how AMAZING that final gauntlet felt. It's been a while since I've played 3D platforming level-design THIS good.
The only grips I have with the game are one; before the final platforming challenge, there's a pretty lame boss fight. But it isn't very hard, just quite a bit of waiting around.
And the game only having one level, while a cool idea, ends up feeling a little small in scope. This may not be a bad thing to some. But I find myself loving the surprises that come from exploring new worlds in these kinds of games. I would have preferred something like three smaller worlds. Even so, the way this game chooses to pace itself is very unique and provides a very comfortably small experience.
The visuals are also worth mentioning, they are so stupidly well done. It is, at first glace an N64 game. But once you see it in motion, it's obvious they didn't limit themselves 100% with this illusion. The animation is insanely smooth, the worlds are huge and the game runs at a really smooth... 30fps lol. I know this is a point of contention for some, but I didn't mind at all. The game didn't make me WISH it was in 60fps. It was fine. It defenitly helped I played this on my CRT. Highly recommend if you're able to. It felt perfect for it. Thank god it wasn't emulating the slow down a game of this size would have had on that fuckin' system.
Anyways, this game is excellent. Super excellent. It's less than $10 and worth every penny. We need more games like this. Oozing with passion and skill. It's confident and doesn't over-stay it's welcome.

Pretty dang good like, god damn. Especially for a gameboy game. This might be the most impressive GB game I've played.
It could be kinda cryptic sometimes, but overall, really well paced!
The dungeon design was so crazy satisfying. I mised tight, focused 2D zelda dungeons.
The Eagle dungeon was like a brain massage, it was awesome.
The story and how it wraps up is so cool too.
I knew elements of the story going in, but had no idea how it played out. Really introspective and bittersweet feelings to evoke through a
Gameboy game.
I really wish this was a game I had as a kid.

I could probably write a novel about this game and how much its connected with me.
The excellence in every aspect of its storytelling.
How it's the only MMORPG I can remotely stomach.
Or how the community and developers have one of the healthiest relationships I've ever seen in an online game, let alone one THIS big.
But I'm sure you already know all that if you're reading this.
The only reason this isn't getting 5 stars is because this amazing experience is still trapped in an MMO. A genre that demands time, money and patience. And a lot of all three of those things.

Yeah it's peak. No duh it's peak.

I was really really looking forward to this. I feel we hadn't had a refreshing 2D Mario since NSMB in 2006. After seeing how Nintendo handled Mario Odyssey, I had complete faith in them to make a banger 2D Mario again... And I was not disappointed at all. This is, probably, my new favorite 2D Mario next to Super Mario World. Which is a STEEP pedestal.

I think the strongest thing this game has going for it is how creative it is. Every stage has a unique gimmick that always keeps you on your feet. I don't think I was annoyed with any level in this game, they were all such a treat. Some I liked more than others, but I can't think of a stage where I thought "that was a miss". It's so effortlessly batting a perfect game. The powerups really helped with that as well. The pool is a bit smaller in this game, but they're able to get so much mileage out of the few they have. And this is a small thing; but I'm so happy none of them are "flying" power-ups. No racoon or cape adjacent power-ups. Refreshing to say the least. One thing that I really missed from 2D Mario were all of the secrets that used to be in the games. Since the original NSMB, secret exits and alternate paths have been basically absent from the series. And while Mario Wonder has plenty of secrets, it still didn't have the "create your own path" sorta deal Mario World had. But I think it made up for it with the plethora of hidden exits, mostly leading to challenge levels or the special world. As well as having a decently "nonlinear" pace most of the time. Finding those secrets could be a bit aimless at times, but almost always had a tell. The level design always encourages you to figure it out yourself... or ya know have someone online tell you where it is.

The online features were not something I was super keen on. On one hand; they are really well implemented and the sense of community is super cute. One the otherhand; I think random people telling me where all the secrets are would have killed a big aspect of the game I enjoyed so much. To each their own, I'm just glad I could turn it off for sure.

Also that being said; the game is pretty easy. I may not be the best judge because i'm awesome mario gamer kid. But I just never felt too challenged. Even up until the very end. It was comfortable and pretty breezy. I felt sometimes the gimmicks were just getting started as you reached the flagpole in a stage. Never felt I was "mastering" any of these new ideas. Just getting little fun demos of them, I guess.
Overall, it's a small nitpick, because the game is a ton of fun and I could put it down for 3 days straight. Maybe I was just spoiled by the insane Mario Maker levels over the years.
The badges are big reason the game can be so easy though. I like the badge mechanic, it's fun and adds a lot of flexibility to your movement options. But they do NOT feel balanced around most of the challenges in this game. I ended up using the poofy hat one most of the game because it was so endlessly useful. Made platforming way easier, and you could easily just scale walls combining it with your wall-jump. Felt a little busted, but the game encourages you to use them so hard. Not sure how I ultimately feel about the addition.

Without spoiling it; the reward for completing everything was also very lame. The reward for completing the main game and getting all of the wonder seeds was cool, but it is NOT worth grinding out the purple coins for the standees.

This game's style and charm is definitely going to be its claim to fame. And for good reason, it looks amazing. The expression on the character and world design is some of the best I've ever seen from this IP. Taking Mario and squad to new kingdoms always leads to such creative ideas. The artists are able to be so much more free to play with color-theory, enemy design, etc. You can really tell the artists in general had a blast with this game. Such a sense of creative freedom all the way through. I particularly really liked the UI. Every icon, text prompt and menu felt really snappy, slick and had a lot of personality. Not super gaudy, just a really good balance of new and old design principles. Probably the best i've seen in a Mario game? Probably. To nitpick again; I feel Bowser and Jr. could have used some extra style. They felt weirdly "on model" compared to the others.

So all the nitpicking aside, this game is excellent and I cannot stress enough how good it felt to play a Mario experience like this again. I didn't realize how starved I was until the plate was put in front of me.

Super disappointing. I haven't play the first two games in a while, but I don't remember them being this.. nonsensical.
The mechanics are super fun. It feels amazing to move around in a level. It feels good to fight things, it feels good to weave around bosses attack patterns, so its infinitely more frusterating when the game NEVER challenges you at all. Ive heard the challenge needs to be self imposed or it comes from the ranking system. But I don't like that. The game should be satisfying without having to work to make it satisfying. It was engaging on a gameplay level. And it felt like it was begging to be the whole time. I think their approach was trying to be like some action platformer visual novel? Which maybe could work... Too bad the story felt pretty milktoast. Some of the bigger subtext referencing the other games in the series was lost on me, but on a surface level, this story is lame as hell.
I loved the original game. But I'm second guessing my memories if it was anything like this.
A very "nothing game" with the veneer of being a "something game".