By far my favorite 2D Mario game and even slots in above some of the 3D ones, both for the sheer creativity and joy of the whole experience and the way it tones down the glut of collectibles that feel like they've inundated so many of these.
It really does feel like it’s taking the spirit of what Odyssey did and continuing that onward. Each level has some weird new mechanic or idea or creative implementation or limitation (the level that’s just a dark forest where you can only see enemies’ eyes is a personal favorite) and at its best it has that same feeling of being the product of a massive, years-long game jam by a bunch of talented and creative designers. It also toned down a lot of the stuff that frustrates me about 2D Mario — the timer is gone and the levels allow for a pretty substantial amount of backtracking, so it doesn’t feel as agonizing when I miss a collectible or run past a wonder seed, and the badges allow for a really interesting array of ways to fudge the otherwise relatively precise platforming. The extra spin jump has been my go-to but the floaty jump, fast sprint, and the parachute hat have both been utilized to make it past otherwise challenging stages in ways that felt like good design — a perhaps intended solution to a problem that I was still able to arrive at without much signposting. (That the badges are all basically one of 3D Mario's signature moves like the backflip, crouch jump, triple jump, etc. feels perfect too). And when I realized the game doesn't actually care if you hit the flagpoles or collect the big purple coins when it comes to unlocking the challenge world so much stress left my body. I still got most of them, but missing one didn't result in brain-melting agony like missing a comet medal in 3D World did. The difficulty in this game feels incredibly well-tuned, and its systems provide a lot of ways to make certain aspects of it easier to master. And every stage has that feeling Odyssey had of constant, joyful surprises, but now packed in even smaller and tighter and more numerous spaces. This is one of the best 2D platformers I've played in a long time — and I know it's not weird to say that about the series that defined the genre, but considering I usually don't enjoy 2D Mario, that's about the highest praise I can give it.
Revision: the reward for 100%ing this game is the greatest piece of game design I've ever experienced, 11/10 GOTY.
It really does feel like it’s taking the spirit of what Odyssey did and continuing that onward. Each level has some weird new mechanic or idea or creative implementation or limitation (the level that’s just a dark forest where you can only see enemies’ eyes is a personal favorite) and at its best it has that same feeling of being the product of a massive, years-long game jam by a bunch of talented and creative designers. It also toned down a lot of the stuff that frustrates me about 2D Mario — the timer is gone and the levels allow for a pretty substantial amount of backtracking, so it doesn’t feel as agonizing when I miss a collectible or run past a wonder seed, and the badges allow for a really interesting array of ways to fudge the otherwise relatively precise platforming. The extra spin jump has been my go-to but the floaty jump, fast sprint, and the parachute hat have both been utilized to make it past otherwise challenging stages in ways that felt like good design — a perhaps intended solution to a problem that I was still able to arrive at without much signposting. (That the badges are all basically one of 3D Mario's signature moves like the backflip, crouch jump, triple jump, etc. feels perfect too). And when I realized the game doesn't actually care if you hit the flagpoles or collect the big purple coins when it comes to unlocking the challenge world so much stress left my body. I still got most of them, but missing one didn't result in brain-melting agony like missing a comet medal in 3D World did. The difficulty in this game feels incredibly well-tuned, and its systems provide a lot of ways to make certain aspects of it easier to master. And every stage has that feeling Odyssey had of constant, joyful surprises, but now packed in even smaller and tighter and more numerous spaces. This is one of the best 2D platformers I've played in a long time — and I know it's not weird to say that about the series that defined the genre, but considering I usually don't enjoy 2D Mario, that's about the highest praise I can give it.
Revision: the reward for 100%ing this game is the greatest piece of game design I've ever experienced, 11/10 GOTY.