That said, playing Super Mario 3D World again now, the gameplay actually feels like a bit of an awkward fit for the presentation. Mario doesn’t need to wiggle his bum before he pounces, for instance, but the move is so much the better for that small detail, and that's just one of many. The suite of cat suit animations are also just so lovingly composed.
The environments are wonderfully vibrant, from the way shrubs and flowers bop along to the jaunty melodies that are apparently piped into each area, through to the impressive amount of variety between worlds. The visual design is also still a highlight. And as is so often the way, Super Mario 3D World’s true scope - its full set of Worlds - doesn’t become apparent until well after you’ve “beaten” the game.
Levels generally contain standalone micro-challenges too – short, single room set pieces that are one and done.
Power-ups add to the variety, giving Mario a cannon on his head, or allowing him to be cloned and tasking players with wrangling several of the portly plumber at once. There’s even a level that pays homage to Super Mario Kart, complete with music straight from the SNES classic. There are levels with all sorts of fun concepts – playing in silhouette, walking on invisible tiles, steering through mazes of Futurama-style pipes, and navigating paths with panels that flip each time you jump. In another, players use the gyro functionality to activate blocks themselves. In one level platforms appear and disappear in time to music. Much like the Galaxy games, this has allowed Nintendo’s designers to flit nimbly from idea to idea. Many of the points made in that review very much still stand, in particular the entertainment value from the fact that each level is typically built around a unique gameplay twist. The Spice of Lifeīack in 2013, IGN’s reviewer praised Super Mario 3D World for being a joy to play, both in single player and with friends. Both parts of the package certainly have their moments – and Bowser’s Fury in particular has a pretty interesting central hook – but by the time I was finished I still had an itch that Mario’s cat suit didn’t quite scratch.
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