Kotaku game logThe last thoughts of a Kotaku staff member about a game we’re playing.Nintendo’s first major version of 2021, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Rage, packs together a relaunch of a seven-year-old game, along with a new adventure, but of bitten dimensions. The main draw is the last one, which offers a showcase of what could be an open-world Mario game. More, Bowser’s anger technically has a couch mode of cooperation. But if you intend to pick up the collection just because of this and that, keep in mind this simple tip: no.
Like you, I like it Mario Games. I love great sofa co-ops. (Living in a household full of four people is one of the few things helping me through the pandemic.) So I picked it up Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Rage about the second time I heard he had local cooperation.
Here’s how it works. You, as player one, are distributed like Mario. You walk around and see some paint that strongly resembles the signed graffiti of Shadow Mario, the bastard from Super Mario Sunshine. Soon, you’re driven to another realm, where you come across Bowser Jr. (as if Sunshine-style paint was not a clue). This is the one who plays two commands.
Bowser Jr. is less of an entity and more of a gadfly. As usual, he confines himself to his buggy, which player two uses to fly around him, collecting coins and the like, all in the service of player one’s assistance. The second player does not get confused with the defined precision platforms Mario games since the Paleolithic era. Indeed, as far as I’ve experienced, there are few or no stakes for those who control Bowser Jr. And worse, it’s too easy to fly straight off the screen with nothing but a small indicator indicating Bowser Jr.’s location. , at least in the local cooperative. (Bowser’s anger has online cooperation, but for that you would need two Switch consoles. I failed to try this.)
It’s the kind of “cooperative” way perfect for, say, a younger sibling or a child – interactive enough to make them feel serious. At the same time, it is not so invasive as to allow player two to cheat things, accidentally or intentionally, for player one.
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Now, that doesn’t mean Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Rage it is a total bust in terms of the cooperative sofa. I, in my basic eternity, I only used my Wii U play Super Smash Bros., and thus missed Super Mario 3D Worldinitial running. Why didn’t you tell me that Super Mario 3D World is a phenomenal couch co-op game? I played it at night in my household and I had an absolute blast.
For those like me who missed it for the first time, I would have forgiven you for thinking Super Mario 3D World it’s yet another Mario platformer with a fixed perspective. The trick is that you can play with up to four players, each taking on the roles of Mario, Peach, Toad and that other guy with the green hat and tight-fitting gym shorts. Each character plays a little differently. Toad, for example, runs the fastest, while Luigi has a little more time while jumping. Your goal is the same as in many of these games: get to the end of the stage and jump on a pole. As you complete the stages in a particular region, you will unlock the castle level of that region. Completion that will allow you to move on to the next area.
But here’s the catch: you scored. Every star you find, every Goomba you step on, gives you points. There is a common team score, but whoever scores the most individually is left with a literal crown. Moreover, whoever jumps higher on the pole at the end will then have that flag marked with a symbol of his character in the world beyond. You may forget the scores, but there is always a kind of visual reminder of who you are really winning all these stages. At any given level, yes, you work together, but you also work against each other.
Better yet, as with all the best local co-op games, you can ruin your team day. At the touch of a button, you can pick up any of the other players and, I don’t know, you can throw them at an enemy or from a cliff. However, you share lives as a team, so you often have to choose between sowing chaos and actually playing the game as intended. (Always choose chaos, folks.)
But Super Mario 3D World it’s smart enough to force you to work together in points. In one level, you and your team control an aquatic dinosaur corridor as you cross white water rapids. If you coordinate when you turn or jump, you will have more control, thus reducing the chance of withdrawing from the side of the stage. Another stage requires players to navigate on platforms marked with two opposite arrows. To make any progress, you will need to jump on the same arrow at the same time.
Bowser’s anger it can really be a disappointment when it comes to cooperative play. But if you’re hungry for a new co-op couch game and you missed it the first time, Super Mario 3D World worth checking out.