An odd title to review, in part because two very different titles have been packaged together. Super Mario 3D World, a remaster, retains all that made the original one of the few ‘must-own’ titles in the Wii-U era.
Not satisfied with simply making that same game available to a new audience, Nintendo issued a handful of small tweaks that actually improve upon the 3D World as presented in 2013. Most notably, the speed of the game has increased. It is almost unnoticeable unless you have the two releases side-by-side, but it makes a large difference in how the player perceives the challenges that face them. The Wii-U version was a bit of a ‘hang-out’ game for single players, with each additional player more chaos was introduced. The 2013 version thrived on the chaos it could produce, but still provided a traditional Mario experience complete with masterclass level design for those that were willing to take on the game alone. With the slight speed tweak, some of that chaos--perhaps lost on some 2013 players--is now available to people playing by their lonesome. An impact of this, is that the multiplayer now feels like the secondary experience instead of the primary one. Regardless, either way you slice it, 2021 or 2013, Super Mario 3D World is a must for platforming fans. The game harkens back to some of Mario’s greatest moments, to me Super Mario Bros. 3, and continues to mix-up its mechanics in a satisfying manner as the game progresses.
Moving to the more interesting addition here, it is fair to say Bowser’s Fury is overrated. That is not to say it isn’t yet another essential Mario title, it absolutely is. Yet, the discourse around the game has been overwhelmingly positive, where I fear some will be met with a tinge of disappointment expecting this to be ‘the’ premier Mario title.
Let’s talk about those negatives. The game is fairly short. I’m not one to criticize length alone, but coupled with some faint feelings of repetitiveness, the length is worth spending some time on. The game can be beat in two or three sittings, and during that time you will encounter a similar Bowser encounter around seven to ten times. Further, as is typical in Mario games, there are plenty of ‘collect them all’ challenges sprinkled throughout the game. In longer Mario entries, the collection segments allow the game to showcase some of the finer details each level, but here, where the experience never takes a real moment to breathe, moments where the game chooses to not-iterate begin to feel like unnecessary padding. Finally, the movement is clearly adapted from a non-full range 3D title, and you feel that at times. Sometimes the camera doesn’t keep up with your pace, at other times you miss a triple jump or other fluid movements that other Mario games are so well known for. Again, these are all minor negatives, that fail to hold this back from being an essential Mario entry.
The biggest positives have been stated better elsewhere, but in sum, the game is frictionless. Never before have you felt so free to move where you want, and how you want, through the entire space of the game. The reverence towards the game is largely well earned, and this ability to capture the concept of an open-world platformer so well is a main reason for it. The game is essentially bottled joy: gameplay, level design, music; all in harmony with one another. For the most part, the game continues to innovate and push itself forward through its final act.
Maybe Bowser’s Fury is the Charles Barkley of the Mario series: a model of perfection, but for a flawed tendency to hoist up bricks from beyond the arc. At the end of the day, Bowser’s Fury is high tier Mario, but it still has it’s minor quirks.
Not satisfied with simply making that same game available to a new audience, Nintendo issued a handful of small tweaks that actually improve upon the 3D World as presented in 2013. Most notably, the speed of the game has increased. It is almost unnoticeable unless you have the two releases side-by-side, but it makes a large difference in how the player perceives the challenges that face them. The Wii-U version was a bit of a ‘hang-out’ game for single players, with each additional player more chaos was introduced. The 2013 version thrived on the chaos it could produce, but still provided a traditional Mario experience complete with masterclass level design for those that were willing to take on the game alone. With the slight speed tweak, some of that chaos--perhaps lost on some 2013 players--is now available to people playing by their lonesome. An impact of this, is that the multiplayer now feels like the secondary experience instead of the primary one. Regardless, either way you slice it, 2021 or 2013, Super Mario 3D World is a must for platforming fans. The game harkens back to some of Mario’s greatest moments, to me Super Mario Bros. 3, and continues to mix-up its mechanics in a satisfying manner as the game progresses.
Moving to the more interesting addition here, it is fair to say Bowser’s Fury is overrated. That is not to say it isn’t yet another essential Mario title, it absolutely is. Yet, the discourse around the game has been overwhelmingly positive, where I fear some will be met with a tinge of disappointment expecting this to be ‘the’ premier Mario title.
Let’s talk about those negatives. The game is fairly short. I’m not one to criticize length alone, but coupled with some faint feelings of repetitiveness, the length is worth spending some time on. The game can be beat in two or three sittings, and during that time you will encounter a similar Bowser encounter around seven to ten times. Further, as is typical in Mario games, there are plenty of ‘collect them all’ challenges sprinkled throughout the game. In longer Mario entries, the collection segments allow the game to showcase some of the finer details each level, but here, where the experience never takes a real moment to breathe, moments where the game chooses to not-iterate begin to feel like unnecessary padding. Finally, the movement is clearly adapted from a non-full range 3D title, and you feel that at times. Sometimes the camera doesn’t keep up with your pace, at other times you miss a triple jump or other fluid movements that other Mario games are so well known for. Again, these are all minor negatives, that fail to hold this back from being an essential Mario entry.
The biggest positives have been stated better elsewhere, but in sum, the game is frictionless. Never before have you felt so free to move where you want, and how you want, through the entire space of the game. The reverence towards the game is largely well earned, and this ability to capture the concept of an open-world platformer so well is a main reason for it. The game is essentially bottled joy: gameplay, level design, music; all in harmony with one another. For the most part, the game continues to innovate and push itself forward through its final act.
Maybe Bowser’s Fury is the Charles Barkley of the Mario series: a model of perfection, but for a flawed tendency to hoist up bricks from beyond the arc. At the end of the day, Bowser’s Fury is high tier Mario, but it still has it’s minor quirks.