I don't have a lot of detailed thoughts on this one. It was a fantastically fun time, and I believe the immense flexing of the visuals (animations, environment art, and VFX) is never going to be praised as much as they deserve. This is easily one of Nintendo's greatest triumphs in terms of game art, and while I know whatever magic happened on this team probably won't cross-pollinate because being in 2d is what made this art fidelity even possible on the Switch, it gives a vision of what Nintendo can do with modern art technology when not wholly blocked by low-end hardware.
The gameplay is excellent. I never liked 2D Mario movement, so I feared I'd bounce off this one, but they really have polished it into something that feels easier to control from the perspective of someone who never got used to their acceleration and momentum physics. The Wonder effects are obviously all cool as hell, and the transformations are okay (Elephant is the best, Drill was never exciting to get), but the real huge win is all the badges that really change how the game plays. I couldn't drop the double-jump badge once I got it, as it's just too good.
The levels are 80% good. That's really what stops it from being a 5/5 perfect game for me. Most of the level design is flawless, fluid, and full of little twists that are enough not to be too hard or too easy. But, unfortunately, there are some mechanics and levels that just plain suck. There are a couple of RNG-based sequences that are simply not fun. There is an expert badge, the pogo-stick constant jump one, that basically becomes RNG by turning movement into raw physics and then offers horrible challenges that require a level of precision the mechanic simply doesn't allow for consistently.
My last complaint is the Final Final Test that is unlocked after 100%ing the rest of the game. The first sequence of this level is literally RNG, using hazard cycles that will never be exactly the same depending on when the player jumps and parachutes into them, which basically ruins the entire thing from the start. The rest of the level was mostly fine, save for the horrifying Invisibility sequence that blocked me from being able to beat it (even with easy-mode Yoshi and some online assistance). The whole thing is more challenging, IMO, than the White Palace in Hollow Knight, and I'm not really bothered I couldn't beat it because it was hard in ways I thought were mostly annoying at best.
Overall, great game. Definitely one of my favorite platformers ever that is unfortunately brought down by a handful of huge stinker moments.
The gameplay is excellent. I never liked 2D Mario movement, so I feared I'd bounce off this one, but they really have polished it into something that feels easier to control from the perspective of someone who never got used to their acceleration and momentum physics. The Wonder effects are obviously all cool as hell, and the transformations are okay (Elephant is the best, Drill was never exciting to get), but the real huge win is all the badges that really change how the game plays. I couldn't drop the double-jump badge once I got it, as it's just too good.
The levels are 80% good. That's really what stops it from being a 5/5 perfect game for me. Most of the level design is flawless, fluid, and full of little twists that are enough not to be too hard or too easy. But, unfortunately, there are some mechanics and levels that just plain suck. There are a couple of RNG-based sequences that are simply not fun. There is an expert badge, the pogo-stick constant jump one, that basically becomes RNG by turning movement into raw physics and then offers horrible challenges that require a level of precision the mechanic simply doesn't allow for consistently.
My last complaint is the Final Final Test that is unlocked after 100%ing the rest of the game. The first sequence of this level is literally RNG, using hazard cycles that will never be exactly the same depending on when the player jumps and parachutes into them, which basically ruins the entire thing from the start. The rest of the level was mostly fine, save for the horrifying Invisibility sequence that blocked me from being able to beat it (even with easy-mode Yoshi and some online assistance). The whole thing is more challenging, IMO, than the White Palace in Hollow Knight, and I'm not really bothered I couldn't beat it because it was hard in ways I thought were mostly annoying at best.
Overall, great game. Definitely one of my favorite platformers ever that is unfortunately brought down by a handful of huge stinker moments.