It’s been easy to forget about the Wii U lately, with this month's high-profile launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
In fact, it’s been easy to forget about the Wii U in general;
Nintendo's console has sold poorly since its release last November, and
truly exciting software has been all but non-existent. Until now.
Super Mario 3D World
is the best game on the Wii U by far, and arguably the best game to
come out this holiday season on any platform. It sees Nintendo finally
firing on all cylinders again, at a time when it's needed the most. It's
Nintendo at its creative, playful, unhinged best.
Nintendo typically uses its 3D Super Mario titles as a showcase for new hardware, so the design of Super Mario 3D World could have been cause for concern. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, it draws most of its influence from 2011's Super Mario 3D Land,
a fantastic 3DS title that took many by surprise. Both games share the
same isometric perspective and simple eight-way directional control; by
limiting camera and player movement, the two come off as an accessible
hybrid between previous 2D and 3D Super Mario releases. While
the formula is proven, some will certainly feel slightly disappointed
that the Wii U isn't seeing an all-new blueprint.
But Super Mario 3D World
blows that notion away within minutes of its opening sequence. Even if
the overarching design is something we've seen before, almost every
individual stage is bursting with invention. As with the head-spinning Super Mario Galaxy
games, Nintendo is more than happy to introduce a completely new
gameplay concept only to discard it after a single level, and it's this
momentum that ensures Super Mario 3D World is never predictable
and never boring. You’ll ride white-water rapids atop a friendly
dinosaur, learn to match your jumps to shifting platforms that appear in
time with a disco-funk soundtrack, and guide Mario around a Super Mario Kart-inspired track that plays like nothing as much as an early Sonic the Hedgehog game. And that’s without spoiling some of the crazier stages in store.
Tight controls and level design are a given with Super Mario,
though; the series' most successful games are the ones that best apply
new, recurring elements to the existing template. On that count, too, Super Mario 3D World
is a resounding success. You play the game as one of four protagonists —
Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad, harkening back to Super Mario Bros. 2
on the NES. Each has subtle differences in control: Luigi has a
slightly more powerful jump than Mario, and Peach's ability to hover in
midair makes her perhaps the strongest character. But the quartet can be
controlled by up to four people at once, bringing the New Super Mario Bros. games' riotous multiplayer into 3D for the first time.
Almost every individual stage is bursting with invention
The new power-ups are also
instant classics. Cat Mario is both the cutest and one of the most
powerful abilities the Italian plumber has ever attained, letting him
scamper up the side of walls, claw away attacking Goombas, and scale the
top of the level-ending flagpoles for maximum points. Double Mario,
meanwhile, is a mind-bending addition that sends clones to run alongside
your character and mirror their every action. It’s sometimes a boon,
but often sent me into paroxysms of rage as I failed to wrap my head
around controlling as many as five Marios at once.
Nintendo has specifically
designed certain levels to provoke that sort of reaction, and I found
myself gently cursing Kyoto for bestowing this "power" upon me. Still,
letting one of them die doesn’t count as a lost life, and it does feel
more fair to take on the Hammer Bros. when there are two of you. The
power-up is also a neat way to handle some of the levels that were
designed for several characters; although Super Mario 3D World
occasionally feels a little lonely for the solo player, I rarely felt
that the level design suffered from Nintendo’s collaborative focus.
Via: The Verge
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