Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury Review
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
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Super Mario 3D World was a great game on the Wii U and it still is on the Nintendo Switch. The following review focuses primarily on Bowser’s Fury. What is this new game? Is it worth picking up Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury to check it out? Let’s take a look!
Super Mario 3D World is pretty much the same as it was on the Wii U. There are some minor differences, like the addition of friend-based online multiplayer, but otherwise if you played the game on the Wii U, than you know what it is. Please check out our Wii U review here.
Exert from Super Mario 3D World Wii U Review
Mario no longer is the lone hero, inexplicably saving the Mushroom Kingdom over and over again. These days, he usually likes to invite along his friends. His brother, Luigi, is a given and Toad is naturally along for the ride, but for Super Mario 3D World the developers thought it’d be nice to let the girl come along as well. All four characters are playable, and you can use pretty much any Nintendo controller from the last eight years or so.
Anybody familiar with the franchise will be right at home. Instead of running left through an increasingly difficult set of levels, however, these are all 3D. Instead of it being a flat side-scrolling platformer, you must run and jump in what is effectively a third person action game. It works, for the most part, although it adds a new level of difficulty to the overall game. (You must learn how to time your jumps and accurately land, which would be better if there was actually 3D, as on the 3DS.)
Controls are tight and the graphics are beautiful, often surprisingly so. It’s easy, at first glance, if you’re looking at screenshots, to dismiss this as another Mario game – nothing seems to have been added in the transition to HD. When you see some of the lighting effects, or some of the unique locations, you’ll be surprised by what Nintendo have managed to do, and perhaps a little angry they haven’t done it more often. Wide open fields and neon wonderlands are few and far between, but when you see them, you’ll see that the Wii U is capable of more than it’s letting on.
Bowser’s Fury
With an instal base of over 70 million, it won’t be hard to sell more than the sub-5 million copies that went out to Nintendo Wii U owners. But for those that might have played the original, or are mostly intrigued by what is new in this package, let’s talk about Bowser’s Fury. What is this game? Is it more 3D World or more Odyssey?
In Bowser’s Fury, Mario teams up with Bowser Jr to stop Bowser Sr. You see, Bowser has gone mad and now has turned into a giant, very scary version of himself. Mario has to go around collecting Cat Shrines (basically cat stars) in order to unlock the power of…a giant Cat Mario! Yes, Mario can become a giant too. There are no limits in Bowser’s Fury, apparently! And we love it!
The gameplay in Bowser’s Fury is free roaming, like one of Super Mario Odyssey‘s smaller worlds, as Mario travels between islands. Each island has multiple tasks for Mario to take on. These tasks are very similar to the type of play that you’ll find in 3D World. Basically Bowser’s Fury is Super Mario Odyssey meets Super Mario 3D World.
And these two types of gameplay work together very well. While some of the tasks can feel a little repetitive at times, overall there is a good variety of things to do. From saving lost kittens to racing across the water on a dinosaur that’s not named Yoshi. Its fun and sometimes pretty challenging, but luckily you don’t have to do it on your own.
Bowser Jr is an excellent traveling companion! If you have a second player in your house (no online), they can control him. If not, don’t worry, the computer will control him. You can set the level of help that Bowser Jr gives you depending on how hard or easy you want your experience to be. His A.I. is really great. The ability to tailor his help to your skill level is yet another way Nintendo is pushing their games to be incredibly accessible.
You can also direct Bowser Jr to attack enemies or collect things for you via the touch screen, which also works well.
The best thing about Bowser’s Fury is the Giant Boss Battles. They start out easy enough and get harder as you go. Though the hardest thing is avoiding giant Bowser when you don’t have the ability to turn big yet. Whew.
It won’t take you long to “beat” Bowser’s Fury but you want to 100% it right? You know you do, and doing htat could take you 6-8 hours, depending on your skill level. Bowser’s Fury is a wonderful addition to the 3D World port.
Bowser’s Fury is a blast. It takes everything thats great about 3D World, a little bit of Mario Odyssey, and adds in giant Cat Mario vs. giant Bowser battles. Plus its looks good and sounds good while doing it. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is a must buy on the Nintendo Switch.
Thank you to Nintendo Canada for providing a digital code for this review. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is now available at retail and via the Nintendo Switch eshop!
Overall: 9.0
Gameplay: 9.0
Visuals: 9.0
Audio: 9.0
Article By Daniel Fugate
Daniel Fugate has wanted to be a writer since he was seven years old. He has a bachelor's degree in English and he's a huge Animal Crossing fan. The Wii U and 3DS are currently his favorite video game systems!
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Twitter: @df2506