When it began to become clear that Nintendo was porting many of its Wii U games to the Switch, many fans naturally hoped that Super Mario 3D World would be one of the games that made the leap. It’s hard to believe it lasted almost four years, but we’re finally just a few weeks away before this much-coveted Mario gem has a second chance in the spotlight, and this time in the Super Mario 3D World + Bowser Fury mask, provides an extra way to get started.
For those who missed it for the first time, Super Mario 3D World is a continuation of the brilliant 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land and tries to build a kind of halfway between the 2D linear game of The new Super Mario Bros. games and the freer 3D game in roaming, such as Galaxy and Odyssey.
That being said, it’s harder to lean towards 2D games. While each of the over 100 stages of the game is technically “open”, meaning you can run anywhere you want, each still has a linear path with a flag at the end, rather than different stars or months with different tasks assigned to them. Your character’s movement is also blocked in eight directions, to emphasize that in its center, this is still a game about running straight, just like his 2D brothers.
If you’ve already played the Wii U version, you may notice that some improvements have been made to this Switch port. Many of them are subtle; the user interface has changed a bit, the native resolution seems to have been increased and some of the default camera angles seem to have changed (although we’ll have to spend a little more time comparing the game side by side with the Wii U before we figure out how much time Nintendo spent on it). Igniting your cat also allows you to climb a little higher before it runs out, making it easier to reach higher edges.
The most obvious difference, however, is the increased running speed. As brilliant as the Wii U version of 3D World was, its characters could have done it with a bit of momentum, and that’s exactly what happened here. Granted, each character still has their own unique running speeds (Toad is still the fastest and Peach is still the slowest), but they’ve all been increased accordingly to make the game feel a little lower. This is especially welcome when reviewing the older steps to pick up any of the hidden green stars and stamps that you missed along the way.
Speaking of stamps, they are really present here, although they are used for another purpose. In Wii U games, the stamps you found could be used in Miiverse (ah, remember Miiverse? Glory Days), so you can add a little flair to your posts. Because Miiverse is out of fashion. tragically with us, the stamps are now used in the new bright photo mode. If you are familiar with the Super Mario Odyssey Photo mode, it’s the same here: you can rotate the camera, zoom in and out, add filters and the like, but this time you can place the stamps collected directly on the game world (and this time they have color).
One of the main selling points of 3D World is its cooperative support for up to four players, and the Switch port has received a number of improvements on that front as well (Captain Toad stages, for example, can now be played with four players instead of only one). While the Wii U version insisted that everyone play on a single system, here you also have the option to play local wireless multiplayer with multiple switches, so that each has its own screen.
There is also online multiplayer, but at this stage we have mixed a little with it. I played a short four-player session with a few other posts, and while it was a fun time, he also stressed the importance of a strong connection. One of the other players in our group was playing in a warehouse with a weak Wi-Fi signal, which led to many cases of freezing of the action while their connection fell behind. However, when things went smoothly, the performance was perfect, so we set out to spend a little more time online before we thought about the latter.
So far, everything is fine with the main game, but there is also a not so small issue of its spin-off mode, Bowser’s Fury. From what I’ve played about it so far, here’s the best way we can describe it: you know how I said 3D World was a mix of open-world 3D Mario games and linear 2D games, but I leaned more toward The 2D? Bowser’s anger is what you would get if he leaned more towards the 3D ones.
The short section we can talk about in this preview is a small area called Scamper Shores. It is an island on a larger map, which acts as its own autonomous scene. When you pass under a huge cat’s head bow, the area “activates” and you can start collecting Cat Shines, the main collectible for this mode. In essence, there is a giant bell called Giga Bell, which is at the end of the Scamper Shores. To activate the bell, you need to collect a set number of cat shines: once you get enough of them, the bell comes to life and you can collect it, turning Mario into the massive Giga Cat Mario and allowing yourself to take the massive Fury Bowser.
Cat Shines are collected by taking on a series of missions, in a line similar to Super Mario 64 or Sunshine. In Scamper Shores, for example, you can get one Shine by reaching the lighthouse on the stage and earn another by finding and defeating a bad Luigi Shadow. There are also five smaller Cat Shine pieces hidden around the area, which make up another Shine if you find them all.
Although this makes everything sound like a complete 3D Mario game, it’s worth remembering that, as we say, it’s even more of a cross between 2D and 3D. Although you can travel freely around the Scamper Shores, and although Mario now has a full 360-degree directional shift instead of being blocked in eight directions, there’s still a pretty obvious path through the island: if you could, you could go all the way and watching it from a distance would still look like a 3D World stage. It’s just that, instead of following a pillar, you go back and forth, collecting a series of glows.
Bowser Jr. accompanies you on this adventure, which can be controlled by either a second player or AI. You can’t play with him at all, because he needs to discover some secrets with the brush, but at least you can determine how much the AI version decides to get involved: a lot, a little or not at all. Opt for at least one assist, and Bowser Jr. will throw, collecting free coins and hitting enemies to make things easier for you. It will also keep all the power supplies you get and keep them in an inventory, which means you can build a strong collection of backup power supplies and order them on the go. Look no further for a Boomerang Bro suit when you already have a couple on the bench.
If you don’t like having Bowser Jr. make things easier for you, you can completely disable support. This allows you to invoke it by pressing the R button to display a cursor, which can be oriented with the gyroscope to indicate the areas you want to investigate. Incidentally, this is also how you activate some of the objects in the main 3D World game that previously required the Wii U GamePad’s touch screen (and yes, you can use the touch screen of the switch in portable mode if you prefer).
At this early stage, it looks like Bowser’s Rage will offer at least something a little different to fans who could have already rinsed 3D World when it was originally released seven (!) Years ago. Although it remains to be seen how long this mode is, it is safe to say that this turns out to be an impressive package no matter what, especially for those who missed the Wii U game for the first time. We will have our final impressions closer to launch next month, but so far things look promising.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury launches on February 12, 2021.
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