Written By: Tyler Selig
Rating: 9.5/10
Verdict: Super Mario 3D World doesn’t
re-invent Mario, but embraces everything that brought Mario to the dance. That
-- and some really clever and fun level design – makes this one of the best
Mario games ever.
I have a long history with
Mario, much like I’m sure a lot of “old school” gamers do. I remember the NES
packaged with the first solo Mario game. I remember Donkey Kong. I remember
playing Mario pretty religiously through my youth, to the point where I would
dream of playing Mario 3. I would sneak over to my older brother’s room, where
the NES was, and play it at five in the morning. For some reason he still likes
me.
But the
thing is, as much as I love Mario and I honestly feel no childhood is complete
without Mario, I don’t follow Mario as much as I should. There are amazing
installments that I just haven’t played, such as Galaxy. I hadn’t even played
Super Mario 3D Land, which this is a sequel to. I generally just for a while
without playing any of the games and then one day I think, “I should play the
latest Mario.” So that means I miss some. But there was no way I was going to
miss this one. It’s also because of this that I may not catch every reference
to older games so forgive me if I act like something is new when it isn’t.
And I’m
so glad I didn’t choose to ignore it, because it’s easily within the top three
of all Mario games for me. Maybe it’s blasphemy that Super Mario 64 isn’t in my
top three, but Super Mario 3D World joins the likes of Super Mario World and
Mario 3, with honourable mention to Mario 2 and yes, Super Mario 64.
Nintendo
didn’t give us a completely new experience, but instead decided to jam
everything Mario into one title. There are references to the other games all
over the place, and while that may not sound as appealing to some people –
considering some people hate the fact that Nintendo “milks” the Mario franchise
– as it does others, it’s a positive in my book, because not only did they show
old fans love, but they did include some awesome ideas like the cat suit. Who
doesn’t love the cat suit, with how adorable the characters look walking around
on all fours? Not to mention that you need it to get a fair share of the stars
and whatnot in the game.
Mario
will always have that Mario charm. It’s undeniable, and it’s one of the reasons
he is so loved in this world. Mario is a legend and it’s hard to deny that.
Some Nintendo haters like to play Mario down like he’s overrated, but I think
they’d be overjoyed if Nintendo stopped making consoles and just made games for
their system of choice.
Having
so many Mario games can be a little much if they don’t do anything great with
the IP, but when the Mario games are on point, they’re the best platformers of
their kind in the entire world. Super Mario 3D World is on point with fascinating and genius level design that offers
different and often intense experiences in each world.
Super
Mario 3D World does a glorious job of giving you classic platforming but
Nintendo threw in levels that make you sit back and just say, “Wow, that was
cool.” An example of this are the music based levels which provide a nice break
and something refreshing. The game offers a lot of variety, be it speed runs
for stars, the musical blocks, the racing levels or just the way they switch
everything up. Instead of letting you feel safe and allowing everything to seem
familiar, even late in the game they include things that you haven’t yet seen
in the game. You never really know what you’re going to get from level to
level. From beginning to end, it’s exciting, and they top it all off by having
an intense and amazing final level/boss battle. It’s because of this blend of
new and old, and this mixture, that the game is one of the most fun games of
the year.
I have
to gush a little over the music because it’s tremendous. Yes, there are
re-workings of old songs, and they are incredible. There are new tunes, and
they are just as good. Even from the main menu, the music just works and puts
you in the mood. My personal favourite is the Ghost House music, which is
tragic and eerie, like y’know, a Ghost House should be. I know this is a short
paragraph because I don’t want to go into every single song and all the intricacies,
but the soundtrack is so, so good.
The game is extremely polished,
and even the little things add to the experience. I know that the way it uses
community, with the drawn pictures and whatnot, isn’t a new thing. It was in
the last Wii U Mario game, and I loved it then like I love it now. It’s a joy
seeing Miis standing around to “talk” to and having them present you with
whatever the player wanted to draw. Then there are the Ghost Miis that are in
levels if you go back and revisit them, which allow you to see how other people
played the game. My friend made fun of my Mario skills on Facebook randomly one
day.
It’s a small, but nice little
touch, that the music muffles when you’re in water. It isn’t something that
should get a lot of attention but it’s neat that it’s there.
Or the
fact that Nintendo does an outstanding job of balancing difficulty. Some levels
are just hard. Some levels only get hard when you want to get all three stars.
If you’re a completionist then I’m sure there will be moments that have you
pulling your hair out. However, Nintendo is for the children (to quote ODB),
and if you are having a difficult time getting through a level, they’ll throw
you a bone and give you a power-up that makes you invincible, except for
falling in holes.
Which brings me to the
multiplayer. It’s not original, but it’s back. You play as one of four
characters (it makes me happy that at one point Mario 2 was seen as the bastard
son, but now the characters are openly influenced by that one in particular),
and playing with a friend or three makes the game significantly harder. But it’s
fun. The game somehow makes you want to work together but be competitive. Sure,
you want everyone to get through because it eats up lives if one of you die,
but at the same time, you need to fight for points (in which you get a crown no
less), and it ends up becoming a matter of “screw you, I’m out,” as you watch
your friend fall to his death. Some have criticized the camera, but it was never
a huge problem for me. Maybe a minor issue here and there, but nothing worth
kicking up a stink about.
Another negative I’ve seen in
reviews is that the game doesn’t use the Gamepad as well as it should. I get
the argument… Mario is a killer app and you would think they would have used
Mario to show what the Wii U is capable of. They don’t really do this, outside
of a few levels here and there where you use the touch-screen or blow into it.
I suppose if you look at it that way, it’s a little disappointing. I think it’s
more that they are smart enough not to force something in that doesn’t work. I
don’t think Mario is the game to show that off. I think a Zelda or a Metroid is
more likely to do so. I see the brief usage of the features on the gamepad as
more of a welcome swerve here and there.
Again, it’s the care that they
put into the whole experience that makes Nintendo the developers that they are.
At their best, and I know I sound like a fanboy, they understand games perfectly.
I can’t help it, once in a while something comes along that just has me smiling
the whole time (like the most recent Muppets movie), so I can’t help but say it’s
one of the best games of the year.
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