PixlBit

 Number 11

 

I've said it many times, but I love Mario games. Mostly the platformers. I've been playing these games all my life, whether  it's a new game or replaying a past one.

I remember there was rumors about the next Mario game on a console. Rumors stated that the team behind the Galaxy games were working on it, and that it was a mix between either Galaxy, SM64, and 3D Land. Don't remember exactly on that last part but feel free to corrrect me on it. They announced it on E3 that year and it was titled Super Mario 3DWorld.

It looked like a better, more well polished version of 3D Land. I heard complaints on the internet that it played too similar to 3D Land. In other words, people weren't impressed. It wasn't till Nintendo showed off more of the game following a Nintendo Direct sometime after E3.

I loved what I saw, but I had to pass up on it at launch because its release date was too close to my little brother's birthday. It was either buy the game and make myself happy, or buy him a present and make someone else happy. I went for the latter option and decided to wait till xmas.

I got it on xmas and I was really excited. Usually when I get a 3D Mario platformer, I play it and my brothers watch me play it. But not this time. For the first time ever, my brothers could play with me in a 3D Mario game. My little brother picked Luigi because he's a Luigi fan, my other brother picked Mario, and I picked Wario. Naw I'm kidding, I picked Toad. It felt great that we would finally get to play a game like this together. It was a blast going through the stages, sometimes working together, and sometimes having friendly competition.

Let me talk about the game for a bit. 3D World uses the game gameplay and level design as 3D Land on the 3DS, but it's been tweaked and it is much more better. Levels can range from 3D to 2D perspectives or both, following a linear path from start to reach the flagpole at the end. I'm not sure how big or small the levels are compared to the Galaxies from the Mario Galaxy games, since they vary in size. But they do offer enough secrets for you to explore.

The stages themselves have collectibles that range from 3 Green Stars and one Stamp per level. You aren't obligated to collect all of the Green Stars, but you'll need a certain ammount of them to open new levels. Stamps are an optional thing to collect, they are stamps or images you can use when posting on Miiverse. Some of these collectibles are in the open, easy to spot. But sometimes they are in hard to reach areas, or well hidden. Sometimes it requires you to use a specific character since some stages have character specific switches, so you have to remember which character you have to use when you come back. You can clear the levels with any character, but you might have trouble on stages with characters like Toad if the gaps between jumps are too wide or if a platform is too high.

 Let's talk about the characters, there are 4, we ll 5, no 6 playable characters in the game. Mario is the most well rounded character with balanced running and jumping. Luigi jumps the highest but has trouble stopping when running. Peach returns as a playable character in a main Mario game for the first time in years, and she retains her floating ability from SMB2, but she is slow. Toad is the fastest runner but can't jump high and falls fast. Captain Toad from the Galaxy games is playable in special puzzle platforming stages that have you collect green stars, but he can't jump. Rosalina is also a playable character that you can unlock in the post game. She has the spin move from the Galaxy games on the ground and it turns into a double jump in the air. She is the slowest of all the characters. Like I said before, you can clear the stages with any character, but as before you migh have trouble with one character clearing a stage.

The game also has returning power-ups as well as some new ones. New Power-ups include the Super Bell which gives you the Cat Suit that enhances your speed and allows you to climb up walls. The Clone Cherry makes a copy of the character you're using, and the Lucky Bell is the same as the Super Bell, except that you can turn into a Lucky Cat statue.

The music is really good too, it is made by the Galaxy Orchestra (I think that's their name) and it consists of remade classic tunes to new music in jazz-styled arrangements, which is really awesome. I really like it, it's pretty fun and upbeat.

Levels are in  the style of 3D Land, but they are a blast. Some levels are long while others are short. Some levels are pretty big that have exploration like other 3D titles like Super Mario 64. Like there is even a stages that I think is based on Super Mario Kart or something. There's even a stage that I think Nintendo based on Koopa's Tower from the Super Mario Bros. Movie. It's pretty neat.

As for my final thoughts, the game is really good. The game isn't as good as the Super Mario Galaxy games, it's not that it's not that good, it just didn't have that same impact in my opinion. But that doesn't mean 3D World is bad. It's a very fun game with great levels and keeps you coming back to collect items you might have missed, and there's plenty of post game content too. Or you just want to revisit your favorite stages too or beat them in the fastest time possible. Plus for me, the biggest thing I praise is the local multiplayer. Nintendo has been working on a mutiplayer mode of sorts for years in 3D Mario games since Super Mario 64, and I'm not sure if anyone agrees with me, but I think Nintendo might have nailed it. Back then, my bros. would have to wait for me to finish up with a 3D Mario platformer so they could try it, now I'm glad we could all play the same game from start to finish, and that's what we did. The game is already fun on its own, but it's a blast with more people. Though the camera is the only real issue with playing with more people. Alot of people wished for an online multiplayer, it would have been neat if they did because I would love to play a 3D Mario game with friends online, but Nintendo is still learning from this online thing, so maybe one day we might have that. The game is just pure fun from start to finish and you just can't help but smile all the way through and it is better than 3D Land in every way possible.

So, did you ever play Super Mario 3D World? Thanks for reading and later.

*Images courtesy of me, Super Mario 3D World, and my Wii U.*