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When it started to become clear that Nintendo was carrying a lot of its Wii U games to the Switch, naturally many fans were hoping that Super Mario 3D World would be one of the games that made the jump. It’s hard to believe it’s taken nearly four years, but it’s ultimately only a matter of weeks before this much-requested Mario gem gets a second chance in the spotlight, and this time in the guise of Super. Mario 3D World + Bowser Fury, it contains an additional mode to start.
For those who missed it the first time around, Super Mario 3D World is the sequel to the brilliant 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land and attempts to build a sort of house halfway between the linear 2D gameplay of the New Super Mario Bros. games, and more free 3D gameplay like Galaxy and Odyssey.
That said, it leans more heavily towards 2D games. While each of the game’s 100 stages are technically “ open-ended ” in that you can run anywhere you want, they each have a linear path with a mast at the end, rather than various stars or moons with different tasks that are assigned to them. Your character’s movement is also locked in eight directions to help emphasize that, at its core, this is still a game on the straight run, just like its 2D siblings.
If you’ve played the Wii U version before, you might notice that there are some improvements to this Switch port. Many of them are subtle; the user interface has been changed slightly, the native resolution appears to have been increased, and some of the default camera angles appear to have changed (although we’ll have to spend a bit more time comparing the game side-by-side with the Wii U version. before we can determine how long Nintendo has spent on this). The cat’s power-up also allows you to climb a little higher before it runs out, making it easier to reach higher ledges.
The most obvious difference, however, is the increase in running speed. As brilliant as the Wii U version of 3D World is, its characters could have done it with a little push 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 bit tighter. This is especially welcome when revisiting older stages to collect hidden green stars and stamps you missed along the way.
Speaking of stamps, they are indeed still present here, although they are used for different purposes. In Wii U games, the stamps you found could be used in Miiverse (ah, remember Miiverse? The Glory Days) so you can add some flair to your posts. Since Miiverse is unfortunately no longer with us, the stamps are now used in the new glossy photo mode. If you’re familiar with Super Mario Odyssey’s photo mode, it’s the same here: you can rotate the camera, zoom in and out, add filters, etc., but this time you can also place your collected stamps. directly on the game world (and they are in color this time too).
One of 3D World’s main selling points is its cooperative support for up to four players, and the Switch port has also received a number of improvements on this front (Captain Toad stages, for example, can now be played with four players instead of one). While the Wii U version insisted that everyone play on one system, you also have the option to play wireless local multiplayer with multiple switches, so everyone has their own screen.
There’s also online multiplayer, but at this point we’ve only used it a little. We played a brief foursome session with a few other posts, and while it was a fun time, it also underscored the importance of a strong bond. One of the other players in our party was playing in a hangar with a weak Wi-Fi signal, which led to many instances of the action getting stuck while their connection was catching up. However, when everything was going well, the performance was perfectly good, so we aim to spend a little more time online before giving our final thoughts.
So far everything has been fine with the main game, but there’s also the not-so-small issue of its brand new spinoff mode, Bowser’s Fury. From what we’ve played so far, here’s the best way to describe it: you know how we said 3D World was a mix between open world Mario 3D games and linear 2D games, but leaned more towards the 2D ones? Bowser’s Fury is what you’d get if she leaned more toward 3D.
The brief section we can talk about in this preview is a small area called Scamper Shores. It’s an island on a larger map that acts as its own stand-alone stage. When you pass under a giant cat head arch, the area will “ activate ” and you can start collecting Cat Shines, this mode’s main collectible. Basically, there’s a giant bell called the Giga Bell that can be found at the end of Scamper Shores. To activate the Bell, you need to collect a set number of Cat Shines: once you have enough, the Bell comes to life and you can collect it, transforming Mario into the enormous Giga Cat Mario and allowing you to tackle the massif. . Fury Bowser.
The Cat Shines are brought together by taking on a series of missions, in the same vein as Super Mario 64 or Sunshine. In Scamper Shores, for example, you can get a Shine by hitting the lighthouse on the stage, and gain another by finding and defeating an evil Shadow Luigi. There are also five small cat shards that are hidden in the area, which is another shard if you find them all.
While this all looks like a full-fledged Mario 3D game, it should be borne in mind that, as we say, this is still a cross between 2D and 3D. While you can move freely around Scamper Shores, and although Mario now has full 360-degree directional movement instead of being locked in eight directions, there’s still a pretty obvious path through the island: if you could zoom in all the way and watch it. from a distance it would still look like a 3D World scene. It’s just that instead of aiming for a flag pole, you go and come and collect a series of Shines.
Bowser Jr., who can be controlled by a second player or by the AI, accompanies you on this adventure. You can’t play at all without him by your side as he needs to uncover secrets with his brush, but you can at least define how much the AI version decides to get involved: a lot, a little or not at all. . Go for at least one assist and Bowser Jr. will do an about-face, collecting loose parts and knocking down enemies to make it easier for you. It will also keep a hold of any power-ups you get and keep them in inventory, which means you can build up a large collection of save power-ups and request them on the fly. No more searching for a Boomerang Bro costume when you already have a couple in the bank.
If you don’t want Bowser Jr. to make things easier for you, you can turn off support altogether. This still allows you to invoke it by pressing the R button to bring up a cursor, which can be aimed with the gyroscope to point to areas you want it to examine. Incidentally, this is also how you activate some of the main game 3D World objects that previously required the Wii U GamePad’s touchscreen (and yes, you can use the Switch’s touchscreen in handheld mode if you prefer).
At this early stage, it looks like Bowser’s Fury will at least provide something a little different for fans who may have already flushed 3D World well when it released seven (!) Years ago. While it remains to be seen how long this mode lasts, it’s safe to say that it is shaping up to be an impressive package, especially for those who missed out on Wii U play the first time around. We’ll have our final impressions next month as the launch approaches, but so far things look promising.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury launches on February 12, 2021.
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