It appears I have a terrible affliction as a critic, the more I like something, the harder I find it to adequately and articulately convey my feelings about it without descending into a constant stream of superlatives to the point of sounding hyperbolic. Trying to keep my own proclivities in check when describing Super Mario 3D World has been an utter nightmare, but then I remembered an old saying that sums up the game perfectly – it is the cat’s pyjamas.
SMB3DW is without a doubt the 8th console generation’s first killer app and the game that WiiU owners and Mario fans in particular have been waiting for since the console launched last November.
That is really all you need to know. It is everything you hoped for and more. Go and play it already. But if you still need convincing, by all means, read on.
As you would expect 3D World keeps its narrative incredibly light. After almost thirty years of invading the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnapping Princess Peach it seems that Bowser has finally learnt his lesson and decided to conquer somewhere else; invading the Sprixie Kingdom and imprisoning its ruling class of fairies. Without that bastard plumber and his lanky brother to thwart his plans, victory was all but assured.
Or it was until one of the Fairies escapes to the mushroom kingdom via a crystal warp pipe to seek aid from the brothers Mario, Princess Peach and Toad.
Taking the same warp pipe, Bowser then appears, swiftly recaptures the Fairy, and then buggers off back down the pipe. Our heroes lead by Princess Peach then jump down the pipe after them, landing with a bump in the Sprixie Kingdom and the start of their latest adventure.
I say theirs because despite having his name on the box this is the first game in the series since Super Mario Bros 2, and certainly the first time in a 3D Mario game, that you’ve been able to play through the entire game without ever playing as the titular red plumber if you don’t want to.
Better still, each of the games four playable characters feel completely different to control but never out of place. As you would expect Mario is the usual jack of all trades, master of none type; decidedly average at everything. Luigi on the other hand can jump much higher and run faster than his brother, but has very little traction like he did in New Super Luigi Bros U. Toad is the fastest sprinter but can’t jump very high and plummets to the earth like a rock when he misses a jump. Peach is the polar opposite of Toad; the slowest character and able to float in the air just like she could in SMB2 all those years ago on the NES.
It would be easy to dismiss 3D World as merely a 3D version of that old classic, or simply a home console sequel to the 3D Land, but the truth is that there’s so much more to it than that. EAD have deftly mixed elements from both 2D and 3D entries together to create a game that is both familiar but fresh as a fire flower, borrowing elements from every Mario game that has come before it.
Getting from the start to the flag pole of each stage is the easy part. Collecting all of the games green stars and stamps used to send messages in Miiverse is the hard part, encouraging players to explore every nook and cranny, replay each level multiple times and utilise every last one of the games numerous and ingenious power ups.
Old favourites like the Fire Flower, Tanooki Suit and Mega Mushroom make a welcome return, accompanied by two of the best new power ups the series has seen in years – the cat bell and the double cherry.
You may have heard that the cat bell, as its name suggest and several million trailers have shown, turns Mario into a cat, giving you the ability to climb up walls, scratch enemies, perform a dive attack and automatically climb up to the top of the flagpole at the end of each stage. Sound over powered? Well that’s because it is, you’ll do everything you can to keep it as it not only makes it easier to defend yourself but is essential if you want to fully explore certain levels and find those precious green stars.
The double cherry is more of a game play mechanic than straight power up as it’s only available in certain levels which are built around its use. Every time you pick up a double cherry a clone of your character is made, up to the maximum of five per character. You also get to keep your previous power up so you can end up with twenty fireballs all bouncing round the screen at the same time causing all kinds of mayhem.
Each of the cherry levels are an absolute treat which require a very different set of skills than the other levels as you control all of your clones at once, in a similar manner to the Mario & Luigi games on 3DS, attempting to heard your tiny army of plumbers onto weighted switches down disappearing slopes and fighting regiments of enemies.
In many ways, the game modifying powers of the cherry characterises the inventiveness that runs through the whole of the game. As the familiarity of the games early stages slowly melt away it is replaced with much trickier and experimental levels. Such as a top down run through dark and dingy mines which can only be lit by lighting pyres with fire balls, trips down river on the back of a friendly dinosaur reminiscent of the turtle surfing from Mario Sunshine, sneaking through a pagoda, using the touch screen to bang gongs, open sliding doors and hide amongst goombas using one of the fallen brethren’s head as some kind of macabre camouflage.
In short, no two stages are the same and the levels of creativity on display are immense. You never quite know what’s coming next. Mines, pagodas, fun fairs, haunted houses volcanoes, trains, fields and everything in between; Mario goes anywhere and everywhere. It’s as if EAD just threw every idea they could think of into the mix and the game is all the better for it.
That’s before I’ve even mentioned the games experimental maze-like side missions featuring Professor Toad, the object of each is simple enough – collect all five stars, but there’s one important caveat: Professor Toad can’t jump, therefore controlling the position of the camera is almost as important as moving your character. As such, they are the complete antithesis to the main stages more traditional twitch style gameplay and are almost puzzle like in their execution.
You’ll also need to go off the beaten path to find them all, as unlike previous Mario games you can go where ever you like on the world map, which is now home to all kinds of secrets, hidden levels and bonuses waiting to be found.
The only parts of the game that I found slightly disappointing were the boss battles, no, that’s not entirely accurate. I did enjoy each one of them; my only reservation was the lack of Bowser. You fight weird angry geo dudes in volcanoes, the usual spinning buggers from 3D Land and their female star chucking cohorts among others but you only face Mario’s Nemesis twice. Variety is great and all but, I would have liked it if they’d been more fights against everyone’s favourite dinosaur, pig, turtle… thing. Seriously, what the hell is Bowser supposed to be anyway?
This brings us swiftly onto the games most radical new feature: multiplayer. Sure it has been done before in NSMB, but it always felt somewhat tacked on and never really worked properly in 2D. Frustration often set in if you were playing with other people who were not at similar skill level to your own or someone tore away from the pack. This is why I’m so happy to report that it works well in 3D, unless someone tears away from the pack in the same manner as NSMB. I can see why this problem would remain as the only solution would be to split the screen, which would ruin the experience. Sadly, there’s nothing Nintendo can do to stop people from being arseholes, but since it’s local co-op at least you can throw things at the offending player.
When everyone is playing properly though, having the whole gang together completely changes the tone of the game, from a somewhat measured experience to complete and utter chaos. Players both having to cooperate and make sure that everyone gets to the end of each level as all lives are pooled, a feat made easier by the games larger platforms, whilst simultaneously competing for the highest position on the flagpole and with it that coveted but purely decorative crown. Like most pointless shiny things, desire to be the one wearing the crown more often than not overtakes all rational thought turning every player into a potential Macbeth as these machinations usually manifest with the current bearer getting booted off a cliff by one of their fellow team mates whilst they yell “HAIL TO THE KING BABY!!!!”
Sorry, I’m not sure what came over me just then. Where was I? Not only is Multiplayer a ton of fun, but also a brilliant showcase for the WiiU’s technical capabilities, as even at its most hectic the game maintains a constant 60 fps throughout whilst looking absolutely gorgeous. Not only is this the best looking Mario game ever made, but also possibly one of the best looking console games to date, period.
Considering that this is Nintendo’s first proper crack at a 3D Mario in HD, the quality of the presentation is so high that it even puts some of Sony and Microsoft’s best efforts on the PS3 an 360 to shame and further legitimises the WiiU’s next gen credentials.
Sadly, the same can’t be said of SM3DW’s gamepad features, which are relatively sparse. In single player, the second screen is mostly used to mirror what’s being displayed on the TV. Although there are a couple of touch centric levels in which you touch platforms on the gamepad screen to create new routes for yourself as well as blowing into the pad’s mic to move platforms with fans in them.
That’s not to say that the game pad features aren’t useful, in fact the ability to stun creatures and smash bricks is incredibly handy in multiplayer and as always, the ability to play the entire game without having to turn on the TV at all is always a welcome feature as well.
So should you get Super Mario 3D World? Look at it this way, I don’t know what you’re doing wasting your time still reading this review when you could be playing the game instead. It’s another classic slice of Nintendo magic and a very real contender for GOTY. Considering the competition this year, that really is saying something!
If you own a WiiU, Super Mario 3D World is not just a great game to consider adding to your library, it’s essential.
