This game is an absolute breath of fresh air from the past decade of 2D Mario games.
It is an explosion of creativity from start to finish! The addition of the Wonder Flower makes it so that each level is unique and interesting, which makes up for the powerups being relatively simple. The powerups being simple doesn't necessarily mean they're bad, the drill powerup is especially fun to use, but they are not as integral to the experience as they were for the New Soup series. I also have to mention that the music is super fun, but was not as instantly iconic as some other Mario OSTs out there.
The moment-to-moment gameplay is incredibly refined, Mario and the rest of the characters' movement is so polished and smooth that I never lamed the levels for my deaths, even on the harder levels. The badge system was also really fun to use. The only criticism I have with it is that some badges are just not worth using because you have to give up a cool movement ability to get minor boosts. If you could use two or three badges or one per category it would make experimenting with badges more fun.
Another issue I have with the game is that the bosses are way too repetitive and there are not enough of them. The airship levels all ending the same way by turning off the canon at the end of a short hallway was especially egregious to me, not to mention Bowser Jr being a majority of the bosses of this game. However, they are fun enough that it doesn't take away from the overall experience.
I also want to speak on the online, I felt that this is one of Nintendo's best implementations of online in this manner. The sense of comradery that I felt when helping out other people in the puzzle levels or vice versa for those where you have to find the coins that are spread out through the level was something I did not expect from it. Putting down signs to help others who are struggling feels great, I like helping people out even though I can't interact with them directly. I only wish that if you are playing locally or in a lobby with friends we could have an option to have it work a bit more like the new soup games in the interactivity, I miss the chaos that came from it.
I could see myself coming back to this game anytime, and it is a large leap forward for a game series that was so stale for so long. I hope they take what this game did right and enhance it even more for future titles, I can't wait to see what they come up with!
It is an explosion of creativity from start to finish! The addition of the Wonder Flower makes it so that each level is unique and interesting, which makes up for the powerups being relatively simple. The powerups being simple doesn't necessarily mean they're bad, the drill powerup is especially fun to use, but they are not as integral to the experience as they were for the New Soup series. I also have to mention that the music is super fun, but was not as instantly iconic as some other Mario OSTs out there.
The moment-to-moment gameplay is incredibly refined, Mario and the rest of the characters' movement is so polished and smooth that I never lamed the levels for my deaths, even on the harder levels. The badge system was also really fun to use. The only criticism I have with it is that some badges are just not worth using because you have to give up a cool movement ability to get minor boosts. If you could use two or three badges or one per category it would make experimenting with badges more fun.
Another issue I have with the game is that the bosses are way too repetitive and there are not enough of them. The airship levels all ending the same way by turning off the canon at the end of a short hallway was especially egregious to me, not to mention Bowser Jr being a majority of the bosses of this game. However, they are fun enough that it doesn't take away from the overall experience.
I also want to speak on the online, I felt that this is one of Nintendo's best implementations of online in this manner. The sense of comradery that I felt when helping out other people in the puzzle levels or vice versa for those where you have to find the coins that are spread out through the level was something I did not expect from it. Putting down signs to help others who are struggling feels great, I like helping people out even though I can't interact with them directly. I only wish that if you are playing locally or in a lobby with friends we could have an option to have it work a bit more like the new soup games in the interactivity, I miss the chaos that came from it.
I could see myself coming back to this game anytime, and it is a large leap forward for a game series that was so stale for so long. I hope they take what this game did right and enhance it even more for future titles, I can't wait to see what they come up with!