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Super Mario 3D World |OT| Next-gen starts right meow!
- Thread starter Frolow
- Start date
Nope to second quote. I have a US Wii U, but I don't live in the US. This is why I can't get a replacement. No warranties on the thing.
This is so so true. Sadly sometimes, you are forced to use the Gamepad's screen. In those cases, you need to restart the stages to re-live the amazing art style.This is one game where I definitely don't want to be playing Off-TV, at least during my first playthrough. Need to experience that "magic" in its full glory.
That said, it's the reason I'm taking a bit longer with the game than I would like. The TV keeps getting commandeered from me.
Art is part of graphics. That's how a Wii game won best graphics at E3 one year (Kirby's Epic Yarn). Graphics means visuals. What you mean is that art can make up for technical limitations, which is certainly true. This game has amazing graphics.
Green Mamba
Member
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the overuse of flat rectangles making up the worlds. Has the same problem from 3D Land of making the worlds look like weird little dioramas. The lack of significant terrain height variation combined with the limited moveset feels like it further limits what your acrobatics are capable of accomplishing outside of what the game is specifically designed to allow you to do. It is a very developer guided experience.
Completed up through
. Last boss was pretty awesome, actually.
Post game spoilers below:
I haven't completed all the post game yet, but I think I have a pretty good feel for it. I still feel roughly the same about it as I did many pages ago--absolutely a better title than 3D Land (which isn't really hard to do at all) but only just. Run button nonsense and limited acrobatics really hampers its potential. The limited control you have over the camera is frustrating at times as there are a few areas where it is pulled back too far and sitting at an odd angle to accurately gauge your jumps. There are a lot of neat ideas in this game but I wish it wasn't so reliant on items and powerups to do so.
Overall, fun, but does not satiate my appetite for 3D Mario. Really hope they weren't lying when they said this game is not the future of the 3D Mario series. I'd really like to see them try to get back to 3D Mario basics and drop this attempt to 2Dify it--I'd really like to see the return of more open ended levels (there are like... a couple I would define as open ended in only the most literal sense in this game), even smaller scale ones like Buoy Base. Let me run around a world, not down a line.
Absolute funniest moment playing through so far--the World 8 level with the flipping blocks you ride over lava. Played it multiplayer with two others. Hopped on the rectangular block, and it flipped as it does--suddenly and very vertically. One of us exclaimed "Holy shit" and we were all thrown off, killing all three of us. I think we game overd there twice, but I'm not too keen on how all of the characters share the same pool of lives. NSMB did that better I think, so the group isn't held back by a lesser player.
Also, whoever decided to make the ally pickup button in multiplayer the run button is Satan incarnate. Not even NSMB with its chaotic multiplayer was that bone headed.
Completed up through
Star World
Post game spoilers below:
Galaxy's spin's return is welcome, but I really wish the character that utilized it wasn't so freaking slow, and didn't lose it when using a powerup, the only character who loses her specialty when using a powerup--in this sense it kinda feels like she wasn't fully realized in the development process and was a last minute addition (which I think she was). But still, a nice little wink and a nod of a throwback. Like a bittersweet reunion of the Mario style of old in a lesser Mario of new.
I haven't completed all the post game yet, but I think I have a pretty good feel for it. I still feel roughly the same about it as I did many pages ago--absolutely a better title than 3D Land (which isn't really hard to do at all) but only just. Run button nonsense and limited acrobatics really hampers its potential. The limited control you have over the camera is frustrating at times as there are a few areas where it is pulled back too far and sitting at an odd angle to accurately gauge your jumps. There are a lot of neat ideas in this game but I wish it wasn't so reliant on items and powerups to do so.
Overall, fun, but does not satiate my appetite for 3D Mario. Really hope they weren't lying when they said this game is not the future of the 3D Mario series. I'd really like to see them try to get back to 3D Mario basics and drop this attempt to 2Dify it--I'd really like to see the return of more open ended levels (there are like... a couple I would define as open ended in only the most literal sense in this game), even smaller scale ones like Buoy Base. Let me run around a world, not down a line.
Absolute funniest moment playing through so far--the World 8 level with the flipping blocks you ride over lava. Played it multiplayer with two others. Hopped on the rectangular block, and it flipped as it does--suddenly and very vertically. One of us exclaimed "Holy shit" and we were all thrown off, killing all three of us. I think we game overd there twice, but I'm not too keen on how all of the characters share the same pool of lives. NSMB did that better I think, so the group isn't held back by a lesser player.
Also, whoever decided to make the ally pickup button in multiplayer the run button is Satan incarnate. Not even NSMB with its chaotic multiplayer was that bone headed.
gamergirly
Member
Repost this for everyone asking about controls.
Should be in the OP
HeisenbergLannister
Member
Just finally cracked it open after being glued to Zelda since last night, but finally had to put it on the charger for the second time. Between this and Zelda, it's like living in a Nintendo Heaven this weekend. I got almost to the end of world 2, when I finally thought "I can switch characters" as I had been strictly Mario.
Can't wait to get back to both.
Can't wait to get back to both.
Repost this for everyone asking about controls.
Yes but does it have to be a motion plus controller?
The Librarian
Banned
The boss of 6-C is awesome. Makes fantastic use of the double cherry power-up.
MiamiWesker
Member
I want some ghost mii's. My NID is Dvader. I will be doing some speed runs.
Dion Blaster
Member
I think the fault of confusion does lie with Nintendo. I'm not sure why they would single out the Classic Controller Pro, it did seem to imply that the regular old CC wouldn't work. That just didn't make sense to me though, since every single other controller that can hook up to the system works.
Repost this for everyone asking about controls.
Nice, thanks for the confirmation. Never bought a CCP since I'm a pretty big fan of the CC as it is, so this is good news. Got enough controllers for 4 player co-op now, should the need ever arise.
Heavy's Sandvich
Member
Can I play this game with a dance mat?
I'm loving this game so much. It's the first mario game since SMW that I've played through a level 5 times in a row to see everything, and just because it's fun.
Galaxy games were good, but I was never much a fan of the linearity/mission-style structure. This game is much more Mario to me.
Galaxy games were good, but I was never much a fan of the linearity/mission-style structure. This game is much more Mario to me.
Agreed. I run all the time and I am constantly picking up the other players.
A question for you lucky guys who get to play this game now (I'm from the EU, but I have to wait until Christmas anyway!
it's the ideal way to play the game pretty much. Of course gamepad is good and required for some levels.
Yeah, shouldn't be that way it seems. However, NSMB multiplayr in general is more boneheaded with the unavoidable accidental headjumping on allies.
I'm not too far into it. Something seems a bit off, its slow, and the fixed camera makes this feel cheap. In fact, the whole presentation is underwhelming in contrast to previous 3D Marios. An overworld map was amazing in the 1990's. How about an overworld fit to scale using the Wii U power? The castle in 64 was interesting. Enough with the overworld maps. Besides all that negative stuff, the level design is great, and its fun.
I was like "Man, this game is so friggin easy. So easy peezy to get all 3 stars and stamps. Psh, baby game."
And then I made it to World 3 and the fence level... and lost so many men trying to get the second star. Not to mention I can't even find all the stars for a few levels. How wrong I was forgive me Mario-san.
And then I made it to World 3 and the fence level... and lost so many men trying to get the second star. Not to mention I can't even find all the stars for a few levels. How wrong I was
forgive me Mario-san.
Repost this for everyone asking about controls.
Nice, I actually just came in here to ask if the nunchuck was supported. That should make co-op a lot better than if everyone else was just stuck using the sideways Wiimote.
scytherage
Member
Really beautiful game. This proves there must be a unique way to make games for Wii U and still ensure that they're next-gen.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Super Mario 3D World Impressions:
Super Mario Bros 3 represents an end-point for the classic Mario platformer mold. A fully-formed package of sharp level design and well-tuned play controls in a compact package, it must have left Nintendo in a odd predicament. How do you follow up something that feels like the culmination of the series? "By going bigger!", apparently, as Super Mario World sacrificed the tight play controls and level structure for larger spaces to accommodate aimless keyhunts, and with a hilariously overpowered Cape in tow. Super Mario 64 continued this new style, giving you large playspaces to explore, with the occasional SMB3-esque obstacle course in the Bowser levels.
Super Mario 3D World, then, is the alternate universe sequel to SMB3. Instead of abandoning the focused platforming game design of SMB3, Nintendo built on it, bringing its spirit into the 3rd dimension.
Like SMB3, SM3DW is filled with over a hundred short, clever levels, each one often revolving around a new gimmick or idea. The levels are separated into "worlds" with overarching comforting "themes", but I put those into quotations because they don't really matter. As if EAD Tokyo had a kind of game developer ADHD and soon as they pick something up, they're off to the next wacky thing. The level of creativity on display is staggering; one level has you infiltrating a Japanese pagoda fortress, complete with Goomba disguise. Another, a top-down segment where you utilize your fireballs in Zelda-esque puzzles(and its a nice showcase for the fantastic lighting system). The next one, you're zipping around skinny pathways narrowly dodging spike logs with honed precision, and then the next one have you exploring a sprawling savana, running after SM64's bunnies and wishing there was more time on the clock. Like the Angry Sun and Kuribo's Shoe from SMB3, there are so many ideas here that you'll see once, maybe twice, then never again.
One of my favorite of these new additions is the Double Cherry, a SMB2 reference in aesthetic if not in function. Grab one, Mario gets a clone, one that's controlled with the exact same controls as the original. You can have three, four, five or more Marios all running along, throwing out that much more firepower and covering that much more ground for collectibles. Some of the secrets of these levels only open up with a minimum amount of Marios, so its a fun challenge trying to get all of yourselves to the finish line.
Another big favorite is the much hyped Cat Suit, which may just be my new favorite Mario power-up. Nintendo's track record on new power-ups for our favorite plumber isn't that great; sometimes they're TOO good like the Cape in SMW, sometimes they just kinda stink like Bee Mario's lack of offensive abilities or Tiny Mario being effectively a power-down. Cat Suit Mario is not only stupidly adorable, he makes you feel powerful without breaking the entire level. He can climb up vertical walls, but only for a certain amount of time, and he's got a great dive attack, but you can only do it once without touching the ground. Like the best power-ups, it opens up new areas and gives you an advantage against certain enemies, but it doesn't completely trivialize the game, and it stinks when you lose it.
Even ideas that aren't "new" to the franchise are used to excellent effect. The Giant Mushroom from NSMB, kinda awkward and actually sucky in many areas, has specific, empowering appearances here; its never been used better. The Bullies from SM64 are repurposed in challenging clusters late in the game. With no Wiimote to shake, Flip-Swip platforms from Galaxy return, now activated with every jump, forcing you to think a few steps ahead of your next leap. The entire history of the Super Mario franchise is fair game here, polished and refined to fit into a huge adventure that feels like a celebration of its legacy.
And its never looked better. While New Super Mario Bros U was the first game in the franchise to enter HD, no offense to the NSMB team, but Super Mario 3D World feels like the true arrival. Spooky manors, fiery fortresses, poisonous swamps and snow-covered landscapes; the amount of visual themes in SM3DW is incredible, each one filled with characterful touches and a wonderful new lighting system. The tight focused level design and isometric camera means anything that isn't needed on the screen just isn't there, giving each level a framed feel dripping wet with a level designer's touch.
And the smaller size of levels doesn't mean there are no secrets to find. Every level has three Green stars, a stamp, and other hidden collectibles locked away in difference nooks and crannies of the level, encouraging exploration and skillful usage of all of Mario's moves and various power-ups. Its a giant toybox, waiting for you to find all its gags, and rewarded the ones who get the most of each stage with challenging post-game worlds filled with all-new content and harder remixed variants of the main game's areas.
Super Mario 3D World is pure fun; a colorful collection of platforming levels bursting at the seams with creativity and polish, backed by tight controls and clean, crisp visuals. Looking back at the many stage tropes and ideas it tackles, there's no better evidence of Mario's status as the perennial gaming icon, able to slip into so many roles and feel perfectly naturally. It doesn't have Galaxy's bombast, but it wasn't really trying to, and when you're riding inside a Kurubo Iceskate, dodging Goombas and listening to a joyous winter wonderland track, its hard to care about the differences. Super Mario 3D World is EAD Tokyo doing Super Mario Bros 3(D) in 2013, the 3D sequel to SMB3 Nintendo never gave us. Until now.
9/10
Super Mario Bros 3 represents an end-point for the classic Mario platformer mold. A fully-formed package of sharp level design and well-tuned play controls in a compact package, it must have left Nintendo in a odd predicament. How do you follow up something that feels like the culmination of the series? "By going bigger!", apparently, as Super Mario World sacrificed the tight play controls and level structure for larger spaces to accommodate aimless keyhunts, and with a hilariously overpowered Cape in tow. Super Mario 64 continued this new style, giving you large playspaces to explore, with the occasional SMB3-esque obstacle course in the Bowser levels.
Super Mario 3D World, then, is the alternate universe sequel to SMB3. Instead of abandoning the focused platforming game design of SMB3, Nintendo built on it, bringing its spirit into the 3rd dimension.
Like SMB3, SM3DW is filled with over a hundred short, clever levels, each one often revolving around a new gimmick or idea. The levels are separated into "worlds" with overarching comforting "themes", but I put those into quotations because they don't really matter. As if EAD Tokyo had a kind of game developer ADHD and soon as they pick something up, they're off to the next wacky thing. The level of creativity on display is staggering; one level has you infiltrating a Japanese pagoda fortress, complete with Goomba disguise. Another, a top-down segment where you utilize your fireballs in Zelda-esque puzzles(and its a nice showcase for the fantastic lighting system). The next one, you're zipping around skinny pathways narrowly dodging spike logs with honed precision, and then the next one have you exploring a sprawling savana, running after SM64's bunnies and wishing there was more time on the clock. Like the Angry Sun and Kuribo's Shoe from SMB3, there are so many ideas here that you'll see once, maybe twice, then never again.
One of my favorite of these new additions is the Double Cherry, a SMB2 reference in aesthetic if not in function. Grab one, Mario gets a clone, one that's controlled with the exact same controls as the original. You can have three, four, five or more Marios all running along, throwing out that much more firepower and covering that much more ground for collectibles. Some of the secrets of these levels only open up with a minimum amount of Marios, so its a fun challenge trying to get all of yourselves to the finish line.
Another big favorite is the much hyped Cat Suit, which may just be my new favorite Mario power-up. Nintendo's track record on new power-ups for our favorite plumber isn't that great; sometimes they're TOO good like the Cape in SMW, sometimes they just kinda stink like Bee Mario's lack of offensive abilities or Tiny Mario being effectively a power-down. Cat Suit Mario is not only stupidly adorable, he makes you feel powerful without breaking the entire level. He can climb up vertical walls, but only for a certain amount of time, and he's got a great dive attack, but you can only do it once without touching the ground. Like the best power-ups, it opens up new areas and gives you an advantage against certain enemies, but it doesn't completely trivialize the game, and it stinks when you lose it.
Even ideas that aren't "new" to the franchise are used to excellent effect. The Giant Mushroom from NSMB, kinda awkward and actually sucky in many areas, has specific, empowering appearances here; its never been used better. The Bullies from SM64 are repurposed in challenging clusters late in the game. With no Wiimote to shake, Flip-Swip platforms from Galaxy return, now activated with every jump, forcing you to think a few steps ahead of your next leap. The entire history of the Super Mario franchise is fair game here, polished and refined to fit into a huge adventure that feels like a celebration of its legacy.
And its never looked better. While New Super Mario Bros U was the first game in the franchise to enter HD, no offense to the NSMB team, but Super Mario 3D World feels like the true arrival. Spooky manors, fiery fortresses, poisonous swamps and snow-covered landscapes; the amount of visual themes in SM3DW is incredible, each one filled with characterful touches and a wonderful new lighting system. The tight focused level design and isometric camera means anything that isn't needed on the screen just isn't there, giving each level a framed feel dripping wet with a level designer's touch.
And the smaller size of levels doesn't mean there are no secrets to find. Every level has three Green stars, a stamp, and other hidden collectibles locked away in difference nooks and crannies of the level, encouraging exploration and skillful usage of all of Mario's moves and various power-ups. Its a giant toybox, waiting for you to find all its gags, and rewarded the ones who get the most of each stage with challenging post-game worlds filled with all-new content and harder remixed variants of the main game's areas.
Super Mario 3D World is pure fun; a colorful collection of platforming levels bursting at the seams with creativity and polish, backed by tight controls and clean, crisp visuals. Looking back at the many stage tropes and ideas it tackles, there's no better evidence of Mario's status as the perennial gaming icon, able to slip into so many roles and feel perfectly naturally. It doesn't have Galaxy's bombast, but it wasn't really trying to, and when you're riding inside a Kurubo Iceskate, dodging Goombas and listening to a joyous winter wonderland track, its hard to care about the differences. Super Mario 3D World is EAD Tokyo doing Super Mario Bros 3(D) in 2013, the 3D sequel to SMB3 Nintendo never gave us. Until now.
9/10
Incitemaybe
Member
the bad thing about using the Classic Controller is that duck/ground pound etc. is controlled by the two tiny r/l buttons near the top center and not the larger outer ones.....those make you bubble.
Makes it pretty useless.
Well the idea is that the game is a 2D Mario turned into 3D. So they took an overworld from the 2D Marios and 3Dified that. I thought it was a cool idea myself.
Splash Wave
Member
Between this and A Link Between Worlds, Nintendo's composers have been killing it. The music in each of these games is phenomenal.
I think Miiverse integration in this title is amazing!
The stamps are the obvious ones (and hope becomes universal, both in games and to use in any Miiverse community)
But the player feed you get after completing the level is a great idea. Get to see instant feedback/thoughts, cool pics and possible useful tips and hints. It never seems to bother me.
Also the random Miis on the Game world with their posts, novel and could enjoy or ignore at your leisure.
The stamps are the obvious ones (and hope becomes universal, both in games and to use in any Miiverse community)
But the player feed you get after completing the level is a great idea. Get to see instant feedback/thoughts, cool pics and possible useful tips and hints. It never seems to bother me.
Also the random Miis on the Game world with their posts, novel and could enjoy or ignore at your leisure.
princemarth23
Member
Yeah I've been liking it a lot as well. It really does add something to the game.
Tom Nook Sawyer
Member
GameXplain actually tweeted out a few days ago that they retested the Classic Controller and it did work! Not sure why the game doesn't promote it though
Gonzo The Great
Banned
The game does promote it; take a look at the back of the box. The Classic Controller Pro is just an upgraded version of the original with different button placement.
won't read the whole thing till after I finish the game, but thanks for the in-depth impressions/review!
I'm betting I'll be walking away with a pretty similar take at the end
Excellent write-up, JC.
Also, the link you provided to the Snowball Park theme allowed me to find the Lava Rock Lair theme (also used in other castle levels), which is probably my favorite theme as of World 6. That's how far I got last night, having abandoned my original plans of starting Zelda in favor of more Mario.
On a side note, I love the level Piranha Creeper Creek. Also, I think I stumbled across the same shortcut Dax found. (World warp spoiler:
)
Also, the link you provided to the Snowball Park theme allowed me to find the Lava Rock Lair theme (also used in other castle levels), which is probably my favorite theme as of World 6. That's how far I got last night, having abandoned my original plans of starting Zelda in favor of more Mario.
On a side note, I love the level Piranha Creeper Creek. Also, I think I stumbled across the same shortcut Dax found. (World warp spoiler:
Orange Warp Pipe you reach above Piranha Creeper Creek, using the Cat Suit to scale the walls by the toxic waterfalls after the underground portion near the end.
This is easy logic: Does the game use motion controls? No. Even if the game used motion controls: does it use the gyro sensor? No, why would it.
Wii Remote Plus isn't required arbitrarily. It's only necessary when the game in question requires precision movements and thus uses the gyro.
I hate you so much right now.
The Pro isn't singled out. It's simply the new standard. Like how the Wii Remote Plus is the new standard ever since it existed. Or how the DualShock 3 was the standard and replaced the Sixaxis Controller.
Super Mario 3D World does use the gyrosensor. Not with Wiimote though as I understand it.
Nice write up.
It's like SMB3 made love with SMB2, and its child had an affair with SM3DL.
There's so much fan service and throwbacks, and yet even when you pull away that nostalgic candy coated veil, you get something truly original.
If anything, I'm trying to hold back on playing this game start to finish in one sitting. It makes me feel like I'm back in the 6th grade, playing SMB2 for the first time. I love this game.
TheSpaceBetween
Member
Just finished World 6. It took me forever to find the stamps in the clear pipe level and the Japanese styled level. So now that I'm at World 7 I'm
.
interested to see what World 8 will be since 7 is the lava/Bowser themed World
I love the huddle of Chargin' Chucks by the sand sculptures in Sunshine Seaside. Taking them out with the boomerang power-up is sogood.gif. I also love how that level has a surprise
. Perhaps my favorite beach-themed level ever.
are a brilliant touch.
Plessie section underground
Ha! That's amazing.
Some of these hidden one ups I swear.
I'd take a game full of Captain Toad levels AND a game full of Plessie levels. These Mystery Houses are great, too -- like a WarioWare version of 3D Mario.
The hidden
8-bit Luigis
Does anyone know where I can find a longer, SFX-less version of the theme from the first Bowser confrontation?
InsaneZero
Member
This cat suit powerup is just possibly my favorite powerup in the series, closely beating out the Cape. It's just so fun to run up things, do that jump attack, and just run around like a boss.
Just got to the start of world 6 and the variety in this game is amazing. The amount of ideas needed to make this game is mind blowing. Even the green stars are varied in the way you get them in each level. One will be hidden, one will be star coins and one will be in a warp box area.
"Let's Put Everything In!"
Indeed.
"Let's Put Everything In!"
Indeed.
Whaaat? There have amazing final bosses in the latest Mario games.