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18 de febrero de 2021

Mario's Delightful Time Capsule

In the midst of so many Wii U games getting a re-release on the Switch I knew it would only be a matter of time before Super Mario 3D World received that re-release. Like many Wii U titles, this one was a gem overlooked due to the Wii U's low sales. Also like many Wii U exclusives, it means that so many missed out on it the first time. What makes Super Mario 3D World so special is that it's simply among the best Mario experiences you could have. It takes the best of Mario's 2D adventures and combined it with (then) the best of Mario's 3D adventures. It was the ultimate time capsule of everything that made Mario great, and so many people missed out on it. It is still a quint essential experience for Mario fans simply because of the time capsule it is, and remains even as Super Mario Odyssey has hit the scene.Mario games are never a plot driven affair. Normally they all involve Peach getting kidnapped and Mario going to save her. This one is different. In this one, however, Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach find a magic pipe that looks to be in disrepair. Mario and Luigi fix it... only for a Sprixie to emerge and explain to Mario and company that Bowser has come and imprisoned much of their population. She only speaks briefly before Bowser comes from the pipe, traps her in a jar and disappears. Fearing the worst, Mario and company hop into the pipe to go to this new world.The plot setup, if you couldn't tell, is largely ripped from the US version of Super Mario Bros. 2, only this time it isn't a dream. Also like Super Mario Bros. 2, you can choose between the four heroes: Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach. Each one has the abilities that made them worthwhile in that first outing way back in 1988. Mario is perfectly balanced, Luigi jumps the highest, Toad is the fastest and Peach can briefly hover in the air. There aren't a ton of reasons to use one character over another, however. Most of the stages are designed to be traversed in a similar manner.The game mixes the best of 2D and 3D Mario adventures. The game has a level by level design and a world map like 2D Mario games, but the over map acts as a hub similar to 3D Mario games. This means that instead of Mario following a pre-determined path you're actually free to explore the map without going on a track like in previous adventures. Sometimes you want to do this. The worldmaps sometimes contain Toad houses for items, 1UP Mushrooms, coins or even divergent paths to certain bonuses. Each time you complete a level you unlock new levels, sometimes multiple levels, and you don't have to complete every single stage to get to Bowser. There are even warp pipes (though not very many).Each stage centers around a concept. You're always introduced to this concept in a safe environment before it ramps it up. What makes this intersting for Super Mario 3D World is that it manages to make every level feel unique, experimental and fresh. Even if a concept gets repeated, there's an intersting twist on it that completely changes how you interact with it. You can get a small idea of what the concept is before jumping in. The stages themselves are usually fairly straight forward, but there are certain things to keep in mind as you go. The main goal of every level is to make it to the flag pole, but every level also contains green stars. Collecting these is important. As the game progresses you'll need them to unlock levels the further you get. Luckily there are green stars found in other places too such as mystery box stages, or doing the Captain Toad Treasure Tracker mini game. There are also stamps to collect in each stage, though this doesn't add much. It's just a collectible.Mario and company also have the ability to use various different suits and powerups. In most 3D Mario games, Mario's powerups are temporary, but here it takes a page primarily from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World where the powerups are permanent until you get hit, and where you can store one to swap out at any time. There are familiar power ups. The majority of which you've seen before. The fire flower is a staple. The game also gives you the boomerang suit once again from Super Mario 3D Land, the Tanooki Suit from Super Mario Bros. 3 returns, and so does the Mega Mushroom from New Super Mario Bros. The big introduction here, however, is the cat suit. With it you can use a forward attack to hit any enemies in your way, do a front dive, and climb up walls. This is especially useful as you can also climb the flagpole at the end of a level for a free 1UP with the catsuit equipped. There are also temporary powerups that can't be taken out of a level, but are useful when you find them. There's an ice skate in some ice levels that you can ride around it, propeller boxes to hover, and also mobile cannons you can carry around.In addition, Mario has access to a lot of moves he normally only has in 3D games. Mario can long jump, backflip, side jump, and wall jump. This allows for more flexibility within the level design, and sometimes this encourages you to explore in the levels themselves.Super Mario 3D World doesn't provide a huge challenge. Instead the engagement is based on the game's rather intersting level designs and tight platforming. If there is one game which demonstrates the absurdity of a life count in this day and age it is most certainly the Mario series (which, thankfully, Odyssey did away with). Super Mario 3D is going to shower you with 1UPs. Even if you falter, it's not unusual to find enough coins, hidden 1UPs or reach the top of a flagpole. Even more than that, if you fail at a stage more than 5 times, the game offers you a Super Leaf that will make you invincible to enemies to get through it. This is purely optional, but the point is that Super Mario 3D World isn't really out to punish you for screw ups.What CAN make the game unusually challenging, however, is multiplayer. Much like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, 3D World supports up to 4 players simultaneously. This can make some courses easier, but more often than not multiplayer is a hazardous experience that will be prone to ending friendships. In the first place, the camera only really centers on player one. More importantly it's easier to do such things as pick up friends and throw them into pits, jump on them and screw them up, or just get in each others way. This doesn't multiplayer can't be fun, it just means that if you're goal is progress through a stage you may find that this is a much bigger challenge when some courses require everyone to be on the same page. You can also play multiplayer online, but this has had mixed results (at least for me) and is even worse simply because a precise platformer like Super Mario 3D World... was simply not made for lag, should you encounter it. Stick with local multiplayer here if you're looking to play with friends.There are a few noticeable differences from the Wii U version. The most eye-popping is that the game simply has a cleaner look and is playing at a much higher resolution. In fact, the game overall runs much faster. Characters move through levels faster, and everything flows much better. This is going to make you think that levels are short, but really it's just that progress through them is much quicker than you remember. You no longer have access to the Miiverse, which is no big loss. But the biggest addition here is "Bowser's Fury," which is a new game in which you get to explore an island collecting Cat Shines. Every now and then Bowser will surface, you'll have to hide from him as he wrecks havoc, and then you'll resume. Once you've found enough in any given area you can become Giga Mario in cat form and battle Bowser. At first this seems fun, but the reality is that it gets old really fast. It looks beautiful, it flows seamlessly, but after a couple of hours of it, you're just going to go back to 3D World.If there were any downsides to Super Mario 3D World it would primarily be that some aspects of Mario games are not quite as charming as they once were. I mentioned the life system feels obsolete in a game that is so quick to dole out so many lives. The timer also doesn't feel necessary anymore. The only time you'll feel like time is of the essence is if you get stuck trying to find one last green star, only to have to start a level over again because of time. But the timer simply isn't that big a deal, or that constricting. It just doesn't really have a reason to be here other than because 2D Mario games once used it. Neither of these things is really detracting from the game, but it's hard not to notice them.All of that said, it's hard not to admire the creativity put into the game's levels and design. Super Mario 3D World remains one of Mario's best outings. It takes the best of 2D Mario games and combines them with the best of the 3D games. It allows for Super Mario 3D World to represent the best of what the Mario series has offered us over time. Given that Mario's next major outing to follow 3D World originally was Super Mario Odyssey, it felt like a love letter back in the days of the Wii U before Mario would evolve once again. Today, it serves as a reminder of where Mario has been as we remember the legacy he has created. It is a worthwhile game to play and delightful for Mario fans. Especially those who enjoyed the games that Super Mario 3D World opts to pay tribute to.

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Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury - US Version

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Mario's Delightful Time Capsule

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