Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury review: a fantastic double feature

As the mathematical equation of a title implies, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury bundles two discrete video games into one package. An “old” one, a new one, the couple have been loosely bonded by a shared love for cats. Yes, cats. But beyond that pseudo-superficial connection, the duo represents a rare fork in the road for the future of Nintendo’s diminutive plumber.

On a road is Super Mario 3D World, a little-played but carefully revised version of a Wii U game that combines the best of Mario’s adventures in 2D and 3D. Although technically a sequel to Super Mario 3D Land on the Nintendo 3DS, Super Mario 3D World freely borrow from the entire series. An alternative title for Super Mario 3D World would be “Super Mario’s Greatest Hits”: the multiplayer of New Super Mario Bros. IN, the colorful levels of The world of Super Mario, the dynamic mobility of Super mario 64.

Nintendo isn’t afraid to bend the Mario franchise in clever ways; its designers never completely break the formula. As a result, if you know how to play a Mario game, you have the tools to play all Mario games. And so loving Mario games means noticing the little details that set them apart, like how one emphasizes the coin collection or another features a power-up inspired by a forest creature known for its swollen (and mythically magical) testicles.

Super Mario 3D World it is based on this assumption that most players can already speak your language. The stages feel, to a longtime fan, familiar or, to put it another way, referential. There is little new here, except for the fluffiest improvement in the game: the catsuit allows Mario and his friends to scale walls and launch a diagonal dive attack. The game is polished to an inch of its life, even by the standards of the Mario universe, in which every enemy, block, and bottomless pit is intentionally placed. But this game just feels, I don’t know, brighter? Maybe it’s the high definition 3D character designs, which look like collectible vinyl figures. Or maybe it’s the precision of the movement, honed over decades of refinement.

Danielle Riendeau carefully summed up the magic of the game in the original Polygon review:

Super Mario 3D World does not reinvent Mario’s formula. But it is in every way its own game, with a bright and cheerful aesthetic supported by inspired level design and a cast that matters. It strikes the perfect balance between nostalgic touches and clever new twists, and I’m never disappointed with a boring boss or an all too familiar retread. In all my years playing with Mario’s gang, I have never been so happy to launch into the unknown, and 3D world offers challenge, surprise and joy at almost every moment.

Image: Nintendo EPD / Nintendo

I won’t go so far as to say Super Mario 3D World it is my favorite entry in the historical franchise. I will say that it is the entry that I am most likely to recommend to both newcomers and inactive fans returning to video games in adulthood. The four-player online multiplayer feature helps. And there’s a genuine comfort in the reliability and consistency of adventure, like listening to Fleetwood Mac’s. Great Successes.

To extend that comparison to its breaking point: although most people prefer the Great Successes album, Fleetwood Mac’s most obsessive fans (read: me) will rather hear Canine, the band’s experimental album that is not 100% explosive, but radiates personality for its ambitious and sometimes misguided intention. I accept that I cannot spend this entire review talking about Canine, The best and most underrated Fleetwood Mac album, but, patient reader, I can tell you about Bowser’s fury: the Canine from Mario games.

Image: Nintendo EPD / Nintendo

Bowser’s fury, the new half of this strange double feature, is the first Mario game in a completely open world.

The story begins with the premise of a children’s book: Bowser has been turned into an oily abusive father the size of a skyscraper in black acrylic paint (don’t ask me), and Bowser Jr. needs Mario’s help to bring his father back. lizard in his typical style. I grumpy and incompetent. A second player can control Bowser Jr., or the game’s artificial intelligence will control the partner, who floats around Mario, hitting enemies with a paintbrush and unlocking hidden power-ups.

First, Bowser’s fury It doesn’t seem to be that different from other 3D Mario games. Mario finds himself on a beach, surrounded by coins and platform blocks and the usual baddies. But in the distance is another set of platforms, and further afield, still more platforms. Imagine Super mario 64, but instead of discrete stages, each location is an island in a large archipelago.

The scope is overwhelming, similar to Super mario galaxyScenarios full of satellite planets, in which Mario looks like a small speck in an infinite void. And similar to the original Super Mario Galaxy, the scope of Bowser’s furyThe open world doesn’t allow for the artistic precision of other Mario games.

Image: Nintendo EPD / Nintendo

To put it another way: if most Mario games are meticulously designed obstacle courses in which every object and work of art is precisely where it should be, Bowser’s furyThe open world looks like a toddler’s room after a day of play – colors, toys, and distractions everywhere. It’s messy and inhabited, but if you take a breath, you’ll notice that the space has its own charm and warmth.

The royal playgrounds, the islands that make up each challenge, are no less fun than any other Mario 3D setting, packed with clever puzzles and some difficult but never infuriating platforming paths. The tropical setting offers a surprising variety of architecture, such as a castle that Mario must break into, a very tall tower that he must climb, and a beach with invisible platforms that form a maze for sweet and confused Mario. sensation your way through. Plessie, the orange Loch Ness monster, materializes all over the world, eager to take Mario from port to port and compete in some of his own aquatic challenges.

The challenges reward the cat’s glitters, which are similar to the stars in any other Mario game. But this is where things get weird, where Mario’s formula doubles much more than before, where it almost becomes something entirely new.

As Mario, you must complete these challenges in an unspecified period of time. If you don’t rush, the game gets Plus challenging. A storm will sweep over the island, the world will go dark and the kaiju-Bowser will appear, transforming the world into hell. Obelisks rain down from the sky like onyx missiles; the sulking dad spits bolts of fire; Stray kittens scattered around the islands turn into demonic cats.

Image: Nintendo EPD / Nintendo

I found three ways to get rid of the belligerent intruder, none of them easy: I could pick up a cat’s glitter and scare it off. He could wait for the storm to pass, a long and usually deadly prospect. Or I could turn into a giant cat and kick his tuchus.

If Mario collects enough shiny cat glitter tokens, he has the option to ring a huge bell that transforms him into a Mario XXXXL in a cat suit. Paired against the burly Bowser, the two fight as Godzilla against Kitty Kong. These boss fights are as repetitive as all Mario vs. Bowser fights, except for a nifty tweak: the islands, towers, and mountains of the open world become shields and barriers in these clashes.

Although previous Mario games have imposed time limits on individual stages, the countdown clock has been generous and visible. The series has largely encouraged players to move forward at a leisurely pace, inviting them to get to know the environment and then overcome their obstacles. With the looming threat of a gigantic Bowser and his limitless projectiles, Bowser’s fury trace a different course from Mario’s formula. Familiar spaces become unknown with each new pillar that is brought into the surface. The game, without warning, goes from memorization to improvisation.

Image: Nintendo EPD / Nintendo

My colleague Julia Lee noted in her preview that Super Mario 3D World is “the most chaotic Mario game [she’s] ever played. “I agree. And I love it. It’s fresh and unpredictable and different from what I expect from this series.

Initially I thought of the two games: Super Mario 3D World Y Bowser’s fury – made for a mismatch. But bouncing between the two I found that their formulas complement each other. Super Mario 3D WorldThe series approach similar to a history lesson acts as a control group, Bowser’s furyThe experimental twists are even more surprising.

It is Bowser’s fury Mario’s future? I doubt it. The formula has worked too well for too long to go too far down this antagonistic open world path. But I hope we see similar deviations from Nintendo in the future, new ways for the familiar to surprise us.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury It will be released on February 12 on Nintendo Switch. The game was reviewed on PS4 using a pre-launch download code provided by Nintendo. Vox Media has affiliate associations. These do not influence the editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find Additional information on Polygon’s ethics policy here.