Super Mario 3D World Review
Super Mario 3D World is a game that will make you rethink how you want to play 3D Mario games and is a definite must have for your collection of Wii U games. Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS reinvented the 3D Mario system and this game expands on that with many new unique ideas. However, while playing I found myself wanting to play one of the more expansize 3D Mario games like Galaxy and Sunshine more and more. This game has many innovative, charming and creative ideas but it's definitely not without its few shortcomings.
STORY
This game actually starts a bit differently than you may expect it to. With Princess Peach as one of the main characters it's hard to figure out what Nintendo would do to change the story in this game. Well there’s a good side and a bad side to this. On the bright side Nintendo covers up this plot hole very well with a story that, while slightly different, is just as simple as the classic stolen princess motif. On the bad said, it really doesn’t change much and you may find yourself caring even less about the outcome of the game than you usually do. Unlike most Mario games this game does not take place in the Mushroom Kingdom and instead takes place in a new magical world where you’ll encounter many fairies known as "sprixie"s, cat power-ups and the villanous Bowser who’s trapping these sprixies in a bottle. Although I love this new world, how amazing it looks and the nostalgia I get because of how much it reminds me of the world in Super Mario World, one big thing bothered me the whole game. Bowsers evil deed in this game is capturing sprixies in a bottle and every time you beat a boss stage you save one of them, but why? What is the purpose of these sprixies and why must our heroes go through the act of saving all of them? I’m sure that the reason is mainly because the sprixies are trapped by Bowser and nothing else but it bothered me throughout the whole game that they never explained what the sprixies are and never gave me a reason to care about saving them.
VISUALS
It’s safe to say that this is one of the best looking Mario games to date. The visuals are great with vibrant colors, a great source of lighting that’s featured in almost every first party Wii U game and amazing particles and textures that really lure you into the game play. This game takes you through some visually impressive areas such as the bright sunny beaches, to the lava filled castles, to outer space and even to a ghost ship on a rainy night. With all these different varieties there’s a lot to see. In certain forest areas you can see these whiter particles floating around in the sky and when it rains you can see the water drip off your screen which adds a really cool and creative touch, especially since it looks so realistic. My only complaints about the visuals in this game are that in certain areas, especially in the rain, your characters can look almost clay-like, which doesn’t change much but can be a minor distraction, and in most cases a lot of the levels can look blocky and very polygonal. These levels are expansive and visually impressive but on occasion I saw myself taking a glance and wondering why the world had to be so square and box-like so often. However, there’s still a ton of visual variety in the end and much to explore. The biggest issue I had with this games visuals is that it’s not on the 3DS and sometimes I feel like the game forgets that. From time to time I caught myself being unable to tell the distance between one platform and the one I’m jumping to which resulted in my death many a time. Although, despite these minor issues I find the visuals in this game quite flawless.
GAMEPLAY
Mario 3D World controls exactly as you'd expect it to. It's got the tight controls of every Mario game that's come before it and you always feel a constant connection between your inputs and your characters movements. It should be mentioned that this is the first 3D Mario game to ever feature four person coopertive play. Players can take turns playing as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad and an extra character that can be unlocked after clearing the main story of the game. Like the U.S. version of Super Mario 2 all characters have a special ability that you and your friends can use and abuse to get through the level. Although, for the sake of not spoiling anything I won't be going over the unlockable character. Mario is the most balanced character in the game. He jumps exactly like you'd expect him to and is very easy to use on any occasion. Luigi, like he is in most games, jumps much higher than his brother but has the disadvantage of not stopping as short after a run. Peach jumps like normal but if you hold down the jump button she can do a very short glide that is always helpful when you're in a pinch. However, when playing with friends I tended to feel like Peach ran the slowest out of the group. Toad runs faster than everyone else but also has a much shorter jump than the other characters. These different abilities can lead to absolute chaos during multiplayer and can create some very strategic platforming during single person play when you try to figure out which character would be best for each level. Besides the characters there are also many power-ups featured throughout the game. There's the cat bell which will turn your character into a cat giving you the ability to climb walls, scratch enemies and do a quick and speedy cat dive. The double cherry makes multiples of your own character which paves the way to some interesting and puzzling platforming situations. You can imagine that with friends this item increases the chaos even further. Besides these two new items the tanooki suit, the fire flower and the boomerang bros. suit all make a return giving you many different abilities to play around with. There are even little extra items such as the cannon block, the light block and the goomba suit to name a few. The levels in this game feature quite a lot of depth and diversity. While playing through the eight worlds of the main story I never felt like I was doing the same thing twice. There are even many collectibles scattered around the levels to further increase the replay value and exploration of the levels. Three green stars are cleverly hidden in almost every level and you find them in order to open the gate to the boss doors in each world. Stickers are also scattered in each level and every sticker you find can then be used in posts you put onto Miiverse. Without regarding the collectibles this game is relatively easy to get through only increasing in difficulty as you go on but with the collectibles certain areas of this game can actually become relatively difficult. I also never experienced any glitches or lag throughout my playthrough and I felt engrossed in the gameplay the whole time. Nintendo is known for gimmicky levels in games to show off the power of their system in the past such as the ball rolling levels and blue star levels in Super Mario Galaxy but in this game the levels that would be seen like that, such as the Plessy surfing levels, brought some variety and something new the table. These levels are also spaced out far enough for them to never get repetitive or boring. Altogether the gameplay is some of the best seen in 3D Mario history.
REPLAYABILITY
So when it all comes down to it, do you get your money’s worth with Super Mario 3D World? Well yes you definitely do. With the core multiplayer aspect there will always be something to come back to when you have friends around. The chaotic and cooperative aspect of this game leaves hours of fun and hours of friendship ending to be had and it’ll be hard for the experience to end with the vast amount of levels that are in this game. Even if you beat every level with your friends and fully complete the game you can always go back in with a new group of people and have a whole different experience. If you’re someone who prefers to play games like this alone then there’s still a lot of fun to be had collecting all of the green stars, collecting all the stickers and trying to hit the top of the flagpole with every single character on every single level. There’s even a bonus game called Super Luigi Bros. which is an unlockable version of the original Super Mario Bros. arcade game starring Luigi. This allows for a little diversion from the regular gameplay and just ends up giving you one more thing to come back to.
RATING
Super Mario 3D World is an experience that all Wii U owners, Mario fans and general gamers alike should all take part in. A lot of work was put into this game and it shows from start to finish. Besides my minor complaints like the fact that this game forgets it’s not a 3DS title on occasions and the polygonal structure of certain levels, this is definitely one of the best Wii U games to date and is an expansive title with lots of fun still waiting to be had. I give Super Mario 3D World my rating of 9.0 out of 10.
Super Mario 3D World (9.0 out of 10)