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Games of the Decade: Expansion Pass #11/Blog a Day #20

Hello everyone, how are you?

3D platformers are usually a single player game and one thing I always wanted to see if a 3D platformer tackle co-op play. If there is one thing we can agree on is that Nintendo is one of the few developers out there who still believe in local co-op and when it comes to 3D platformers they still are among the best. In 2013 Nintendo finally answered the question "What if you can play a 3D Mario game, but with more people?" The game? Super Mario 3D World.

                                               I love the jazzy music in this game

Super Mario 3D World is a follow up to the 2011 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land. It was originally shown at a Nintendo E3 Direct back in 2013 and many people had mixed impressions on the game. Many were expecting Super Mario Galaxy 3, myself included. Others were saying that it was originally a 3DS game. Whatever the reason was, some people weren't sold on it. Me? It's another 3D Mario game so I was going to get it whether people had mixed opinions of the game or not. I didn't get it till Xmas later that same year and since the game had co-op in it I decided to play it with my brothers. So how was the game?

The game begins with Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad enjoying a fireworks show one night at the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi suddenly spot a glass Warp Pipe and they attempt to fix it and when they do a fairy known as a Sprixie pops out of the Warp Pipe. She is pleading for help as Bowser has captured all the Sprixie princesses of the Sprixie Kingdom. Bowser arrives and captures the final Sprixie in a bottle since we all know glass bottles are the weakness of fairies. Our heroes give chase and end up in the Sprixie kingdom to rescue the Sprixies from Bowser.

In many ways Super Mario 3D World is like Super Mario Bros. 2. All the 4 characters from 3D World have the same abilities (for the most part) like they did in SMB2. Mario is balanced, Luigi can jump the highest, Peach can float, and Toad can run the fastest. You can play as any character you want at the beginning of the game so my best suggestion is pick a charactere that fits your playstyle the most. One thing I love is that before you start a level you have the option of choosing a character you want to play as so you can pretty much play as anyone in any level before you start a level. You can also play as an additional secret fifth character and Captain Toad as well.

 

                                 The game never throws the same level twice at you

Like in all Mario games, power-ups return. You have the classic staples such as the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower, the Super Leaf to more recent power-ups from recent Mario games like the Mega Mushroom and more. New to the game is the Super Bell that allows you to run faster, swipe at enemies, and you can climb up walls to find secrets in the game. It's definitely one of the more versatile power-ups in the game and one of the most fun too.

The levels are all big enough to accomodate more people and have enough areas to find secrets like Green Stars and Stamps which are the colectables in the game. The levels are in 3D but they play like in a 2D Mario game that has a flagpole at the end. And yes there is a timer like in 2D Mario games. Each level you play through never throws the same thing at you as in you always see something new and they never overstay their welcome, which I love.

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" On the Wii U and the game should still be fairly cheap too. However an enhanced port called Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury was released on the Switch recently which some extra content added. It has an all new mode called Bowser's Fury which allows you to explore a large open-world like area with collectibles that are structured like a collect-a-thon platformer like Banjo-Kazooie. The main mode now includes online play which allows you to play with 3 friends. The base speed of the characters have now been increased as well and the game even include a photo mode to capture your favorite moments. Either way you play this game you are bound to have a ton of fun.

 

                 This is still by far the best rain effects that I've seen in any game

Final Thoughts: Super Mario 3D World is by far one of the best Mario games ever made. The music is really great and has some nice jazzy beats to it, it definitely feels unique to other Mario tunes. I love how all the characters have retained their abilities from SMB2 which makes them unique since they don't play the same, and in many ways you can make the game easier or harder on you depending on who you play as. The levels are a good size to accomodate 4 players at once and if you're wondering, yes you can solo the whole game on your own if you want. But it's more fun with more people since it can turn into some really chaotic fun and you'll definitely have some laughs.

My favorite thing about it is that you can play with more people which is one thing people have wanted for years. They actually tried to add co-op play in Super Mario 64 by having a second player play as Luigi but they just couldn't do it back then. Super mario 64 DS had a sort of multiplayer mode that allowed you to play with 3 other players to compete to see who collected a number of collectibles. It was a smaller scale thing but I imagine it was a sign that they were on to something. Even the Galaxy games allowed you to play with another player in some way. But they finally did with 3D World.

When I first played 3D World with my brothers back in 2013, I always thought "wouldn't it be cool if you could play with friends online?" They finally added online play with the recent Switch port of the game. With or without online though, this game is much more fun playing with more people. I don't think I would of enjoyed the game that much all those years ago if I didn't play it with my brothers. Sure it's a Mario game, I know I'm going to love it. But being able to finally play with more people definitely makes 3D World even more special to me personally. I hope one day if we ever get Odyssey 2 or Galaxy 3 I hope that they add co-op for them both online and offline because it's more fun going on an adventure with more people.

 

Captain Toad actually got a spin-off game using the same concept, just expanded upon

It's great that you can do things on your own. But don't shun others if you need them to help you out on something. Sometimes you can get some really great ideas and have some fun together.

Well that's it for this one. We are now moving on to the top 10 of the Expansion Pass after this post and hope you are all excited to see what those top 10 game are. For the next one we are going to see what is the shadow beyond the red fog and check out the omnious looking tower. Thanks for reading and remember...

 

 

*All images were taken by my Wii U and my copy of the game*