Notes: I finished all levels, collected all stamps, and collected every green star. I did not, however, beat every level with every character because I have a life.
Super Mario 3D World is, bottom line, a great game. The levels are well-designed, and filled with tons of creative ideas, that unfortunately tend to play it...just a bit too safe.
Mario's first 3D adventure in the HD era is simply great, yet not quite extravagant enough to be amazing. The levels are good, but very few of them genuinely blew me away with that classic Mario magic. I also felt that some of the levels tended to be just a bit too short, although the game makes up for this with a constant stream of fresh ideas in every level.
However, the post-game is amazing throughout and every level left me wowed with how far they were able to push the mechanics of this game. So many creative ideas in just so many levels. The difficulty for these levels is also just perfect, leaving me challenged yet not raging. I also actually enjoyed Champion's Road quite a bit, although it did take me around 230 lives.
Super Mario 3D World is a game that suffers a problem only possible with Mario. It's too great. Had Nintendo just played it slightly less safe, this could have been a genuinely awe-inspiring game, rivalling the likes of predecessors such as Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 64. Unfortunately, I feel as if it will forever be remembered as that one Wii-U Mario game that just wasn't quite amazing enough.
Super Mario 3D World is, bottom line, a great game. The levels are well-designed, and filled with tons of creative ideas, that unfortunately tend to play it...just a bit too safe.
Mario's first 3D adventure in the HD era is simply great, yet not quite extravagant enough to be amazing. The levels are good, but very few of them genuinely blew me away with that classic Mario magic. I also felt that some of the levels tended to be just a bit too short, although the game makes up for this with a constant stream of fresh ideas in every level.
However, the post-game is amazing throughout and every level left me wowed with how far they were able to push the mechanics of this game. So many creative ideas in just so many levels. The difficulty for these levels is also just perfect, leaving me challenged yet not raging. I also actually enjoyed Champion's Road quite a bit, although it did take me around 230 lives.
Super Mario 3D World is a game that suffers a problem only possible with Mario. It's too great. Had Nintendo just played it slightly less safe, this could have been a genuinely awe-inspiring game, rivalling the likes of predecessors such as Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 64. Unfortunately, I feel as if it will forever be remembered as that one Wii-U Mario game that just wasn't quite amazing enough.
Reviewed on May 02, 2023