I'm currently playing this game on Switch and it's, well, okay. Pretty good. It delivers exactly what is on the box, a 3D version of Super Mario Bros. But I must admit that I'm feeling a tad underwhelmed. It feels as though Nintendo at this point (thinking of its original Wii U release) was running out of ideas for Mario, and this videogame was their latest and most blatant attempt to turn 2D Mario fans into 3D Mario fans.
I think the lack of world design is beginning to bore me. It's always the same scenery: grass world, desert world, ice world, water world, sky world, lava world. I should point out that I'm currently at the 3rd world, so it's possible that I'll have my wish later on, but it's still a bit pedestrian so far.
To its credit, 3D World plays very well, looks nice, controls are sharp, it delivers as advertised. And I really ought to wait until I've seen everything before making a final judgement. But at this point, this feels like one of the lesser Marios. It doesn't reach the heights of Super Mario 64 or the Galaxy series, and for classic gameplay, I say New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe beats this one easily (that might be the best 2D Mario ever, but we'll never dislodge our love of Super Mario World in a million years), and the two titles feel almost like mirror images of one another, showcasing the strengths (and weaknesses) of 2D and 3D videogame design.