Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury - Review

I think by now we have reached the end of games that can make the jump from Wii U to Switch, at least those made by Nintendo and right now, it is only the two Zelda games left that matter, so Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival. With Super Mario 3D World, it was always a question of when, not if and now that it has made the Switch (pun intended), how does it fair and more importantly, what is Bowser’s Fury all about?

Let us begin with the game that is old, Super Mario 3D World, what was essentially a console version of Super Mario 3D Land from the 3DS, World expanded on almost every aspect, including the player count. The story here is that whilst out for a walk, Mario and friends discover a clear pipe that looks busted up, breaking out the tools and doing some plumbing for the first time since the original game, they repair it. Once fixed out flies a Sprixie Princess, who explains that Bowser has been up to his old tricks again and kidnaps her friends and once the convenient explanation is complete, Bowser appears and captures her as well. Not one to let Bowser have his way, Mario and crew jump into the pipe to free the Sprixies and defeat Bowser, yet again and that is the story. As always, if you are coming into a Mario game expecting a tale of revenge, love and destruction, or anything that honestly isn’t Bowser does something bad, Mario stops him, then you are in the wrong place.

The story serves its purpose, allowing you to jump across multiple worlds, in order to stop Bowser, rescue the Sprixie Princess’ and then enjoy some cake and it is the worlds that are the stars here. There are a handful of worlds that let you explore some traditional environments and while there are not any fancy levels like the Starry Night inspired in New Super Mario Bros U, what is here are fun and delightful, which is what a Mario game should be. You start off with levels that are pretty open and straightforward, but pretty quickly they can change to become a challenge, with moving platforms, toxic water and auto-scrolling levels designed to infuriate even the most zen of people. Some of the later stages combine some of those elements, to provide a truly inspired challenge and then of course there is Champions Road, which unlocking can be a quest all its own, what happens when you beat it, that I can’t tell you as I never have.

While the general themes of the worlds are familiar, there is no way of knowing what the stages theme will be, until you get into it and by that I don’t mean if its grass or snow, but more, is it simple or hardcore. One of the earliest stages to test you, puts 100 seconds on the clock and has you get to the goal as fast as you can, straight forward stuff and even more so when you can see the goal right there. The test is of course, obtaining all the items in each stage, which means the three green stars and the stamp, because you need those to help unlock the bonus worlds later on. There is a secondary objective to each level, but while you can achieve it without unlocking it, until you beat Bowser, the game won’t tell you what it is, but you also need that to unlock the bonus worlds. There are a few stages that require you to have a specific character in there, meaning if you are playing solo, you need to jump back in with them, if you are playing with a friend, you need to ensure one of you has them. These levels are not that common, on thinking back I can only recall one stage for each character in the entire game, which is not to bad, so if you can’t stand being Toad, never worry about being forced to us him.

Speaking of the Toad, that brings us to the characters, of which there are four to begin with and you can unlock Rosalina after you have achieved a few post game milestones. The main characters are Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad and each has a set of skills unique to them, which can help you out, should a level feel like it would be better suited to a move set your character of choice does not offer. This is important, apart from the few buttons that require a specific character to hit, you can play the entire game as any of the characters, you will just discover some levels will have a path that might be easier for one over the other. Mario is your all-rounder, he is fast, can jump pretty well and will let you have the easiest time through the entire game, for those that speed is a priority, Toad is your go to guy. His jump is not the best, but he can power around the track like he has downed 17 cups of coffee and if that seems a bit much, there is always Luigi, who is just as fast as Mario, but can leap tall item blocks in a single bound. Peach on the other hand is better suited for those that need a little help, as she can float down, without any powerups, giving you a few extra moments to make a jump.

All of the characters can make use of the games many items as well, which is good, because the cat suit is just as fun now as it was when the game was first released. Being able to climb up a wall and then launch off, before diving towards the ground, honestly never gets old and if you have the cat suit at the end of a level, getting to the top of the flag is infinitely easier now, though you can still fail, so be warned. The Double Cherry is just as entertaining now as it was back then, though there are still some issues with it being needed at the end of levels and hoping you can keep your relevant clones with you until then. That though is made far more challenging by one of the biggest changes to the game on Switch, from its Wii U release, the speed increase.

Many folks played the game on Wii U and it was almost universal, it was a slow game, Mario and gang just moved slow, so one of the things they attempted to correct here was the overall speed in which all the characters now move and increase it they did. Notice that I did not say fix it and that is because of two things, the first is that none of the levels have been adjusted to account for the speed increase, which means that when you are running around, what might have been a tough jump before, is now a bit easier, what might have been a short hop before, can now become a massive leap and let you leap right off the edge of the level. That is not a joke, I can’t begin to count the number of times that I would jump and because I was moving at full speed, I would just clear the barrier that was placed there to stop me from running off the edge. This was not just related to that, the speed increase means that stopping to collect powerups can also be a real challenge, there were times when I would try to correct my path, but just end up ground round in a circle until I got to the item and when there are times on collecting Stars, you want to ensure you get it.

The other new addition that the game included was a camera, allowing you to take photos of your screen and not just captures. The camera included is the same one, with almost the same filters from Super Mario Odyssey, so if you used that at all, you will know what to expect here, all the images in this review were taken using that camera, so that should show how versatile it is, or at least how things can look. The problem is there are times when the camera refuses to move, so even though you can trigger it, the camera won’t pan or rotate, leaving you the option to zoom and apply a filter and there are other times when you can pan, but are given no room to rotate. I can understand that the game was never built to include a camera on Wii U, but if they added it here, they should have done everything possible to make sure it worked, right now it is ok for me, but I can be certain Virtual Photographers are going to get annoyed fast. The camera is also included in Bowser’s Fury, which is also a nice segue into the new and mysterious mode.

While Super Mario 3D World is more linear in nature, Bowser’s Fury is a sample of an open world and by that I mean it is an open world, one very large world, filled with cat shines. Let me explain that tidbit of information by explaining that everything in this world is cat themed, from the enemies to the trees and flowers, everything has a cat element to it. But before you get into the world, you have to go through the story build up and that is really about the only story you will get, the game has Mario walking along a path, when he discovers a large M, just like from Super Mario Sunshine, after that Mario falls into a giant puddle of ooze.. or ink, something. After coming to in this new land, Mario discovers that Bowser Jr is panicking over Bowser’s new look, whilst Mario looks unimpressed, Bowser Jr begs for his help and being the good guy that he is Mario sets off to right the wrong. The problem is, there is never any further explanation about what is going on, Bowser is really mad and that is it, even after you knock him back as you progress through, you still only get told he is still mad. I know Mario games are not traditionally known for their in-depth stories, but this is really skating on thin ice.

Thankfully, the platforming is infinitely better than the story and that is because it blends 3D World and Odyssey together, to create something incredible. Summing it up, you get the world size of Odyssey, but you get the mechanics and items of 3D World, and yes the combination might not seem like it is too special but given we have never had anything like this before, it actually is. When you start out, there are only a few atolls, small islands, to explore and each island holds five cat shines, with each one you obtaining, powering up that locations lighthouse. Because the locations are so small, there is a lot of treading over the same ground, but when you return to a location, things will have shifted around.

Exploring the islands and obtaining cat shines is not as straight forward as you might think, because at random times Bowser will emerge from his cocoon of ink/goo and wreak havoc across the land. When Bowser does emerge, it is not six weeks of winter that we can enjoy, but instead is six or so minutes of attacks, new platforms appearing and more, it really changes up the experience, there are even some cat shines that only possible to obtain when Bowser has broken lose. Of course, you will have seen it in the debut trailer for the mode, but when Bowser busts out, Mario can power up into Giga Cat Mario, by making use of the Giga Bell. When this happens, it becomes more of a battle of giants, than a platformer, but should you not wish to fight, if you have a cat shine nearby waiting to be collected, it powers up the lighthouse, which causes Bowser to flee.

The encounters with super angry Bowser happen often enough, but if you are needing him to appear, you can always tap down any Bowser amiibo and it summons him. There were times though, that I had Bowser appear far more frequently that I would have liked, I am talking within minutes of me sending him packing previously. While it is not a big deal in the grand scheme, having to put up with the world changing, when you are trying to obtain a cat shine is just plain frustrating. The other issue that annoyed me here is once you collect 50 cat shines, you trigger the final fight, which is fine, but when you jump back in, nothing changes, Bowser is still made and appears, making that fight at 50 and the credits that play after it, pointless.

Bowser’s Fury is also loaded with many new enemy and world designs, mostly everything has cat themes applied, but even with that there is an extra layer of attention to everything, which means we are talking about the presentation. For the most part, both parts of the game look the same, Bowser’s Fury has the edge, if only because it was designed for the Switch, where as 3D World was made for the Wii U, but regardless, both look great. There are some issues with the 3D World part of the game, in some of the larger levels and I mean the ones that have a longer draw distance, where there is considerable pop in. This doesn’t impact the performance of the game, it still runs very smoothly, but when you move back and forth up the stages, seeing elements vanish and appear, without even the slightest hint of effort to hide the pop, is noticeable.

The performance also sticks to the smooth side, even when you have a few people playing and while trying out the online was not really possible, ahead of the game being publicly released, the local multiplayer is just as much fun. Bowser’s Fury does suffer from a lack of variety though, given it is set in one major location, you will get to see the same themed islands and obstacles a lot, even the enemies and while I can understand the world, I really would have liked some variety. At this point though, you should know what you are getting in a Mario game, the locations are bright and colourful, except ghost and lava levels and no matter if docked or in handheld, it all looks great on the Switch.

The sound design is again, mostly the same as what you might expect from a Mario game, there are catchy tunes aplenty in 3D World and each has come across wonderfully from the Wii U release. Bowser’s Fury does have a few tracks, but you will hear the same tracks far to often given that when you are in the water, or not in a timed event, the same music plays. It is catchy and enjoyable, but only for about an hour, after then it becomes a bit of a monotonous nightmare, which is a shame.

Super Mario 3D World coming to Switch makes sense, it was a solid game on Wii U, but like most of the rest of the Nintendo efforts, suffered from a lack of players, now though that should change. Bowser’s Fury is a wicked little add-on for those who have already played the main game and while I would have loved to have seen more in it, what is there is delightful and fun. The adjustments to the main games speed are going to catch some players off guard, a lot and with a valid reason, the courses haven’t been corrected to account for the extra speed, which will result in a number of frustrating deaths. If you have played the game previously, or are coming in new, what you will find is a fun game, played solo or with a friend and the inclusion of Bowser’s Fury is great, it might not be a meowsterpiece, but it is pretty close.