I haven't played this game yet, but I don't really see the problem with levels being floating obstacle courses, or with a lack of exploration. This has never been what Mario is about TBH, which is where 64 missed the point entirely.
It's a matter of interpretation. As an obstacle course game, this is great, and some of the levels do feel like fantastic self-contained areas, even if they are floating in the sky. Other than that damned time limit that really doesn't belong, some of the levels are great.
However, in the 2D Mario games, there actually IS a lot of hidden areas and alternate routes in many of the levels, along with alternate exits and hidden areas on the map. Also, the levels feel like they're part of the bigger world they're in - for example, there's a snow world where all the levels are in the snow, a desert world with a pyramid and an oasis level (such as in SMB 3), and more. Here, the level themes are random, and they don't feel like part of a bigger world.
I realize the actual mechanics of this game are rather specific, but I still like it when a game tries to give the feeling that you're in its fictional world. If you look at the map screen on Super Mario World, spreading in all directions, and the dots representing levels, it feels as if the map is a representation of where you are in the overall world, and the levels are the "close-ups" of where you are, as you go through them. Here, the levels are self-contained boxes scattered around a field you can run freely in, which doesn't feel like a world at all. It doesn't bother you, and that's fine, but I do feel like it's something the previous games did better with.
^That second paragraph confuses me. I simply can't see a difference in the SMB 3 or SMW world themes and those in this game. The way you described it doesn't make it any clearer. Maybe I need to buy the game to really get what you're saying.
"What's out there? What's waiting for me?"
I still think they need to lay off the nostalgia for a while. I do appreciate the changes they made (like actual bosses instead of the same Koopaling or Bowser fights), but they still need to remember that nostalgia does not make a game good. That being said, I do not have a problem with nostalgia, I just think that Nintendo has been milking Super Mario Bros. 3 since Galaxy 2. While that is not a bad thing, there are other Mario games that deserve more nostalgia. Instead of the Tanooki Suit, how cool would it be to have the Cape Feather or even Fludd? But, as always, it does not make or break the game. Control and level design are what matters the most.
The control is great, the level design, which is largely gimmick-based for each level, is also good, but rather than nostalgia (and this game, unlike, say, the largely Super Mario World-themed New Super Mario Bros U, isn't stuck in the past), what I was annoyed by was the game's lack of feeling like a cohesive world. Other games in the series, except Super Mario 3D Land, felt more cohesive.
@csoniccolors
Bring back the cape feather!
While I do love the themed worlds as seen in SMB3 and NSMB, I also feel that the way 3D Land and 3D World deviated from that allowed for more freedom with the level designs. Original locations such as the circuses and futuristic skyways were easier to incorporate precisely because each level didn't have to be designed to match with the world theme. The worlds were a bit less immersive, yes, but the more varied level design was a fair trade-off to me. I do agree that there should've been more secrets and alternate paths like in the 2D games, but oh well. Still a great game.
My opinion of this game has gone way up since I wrote this review. I'm thinking of rewriting it, or deleting it if possible and starting a new one, but I don't want to bother the mods. I've also come to accept the "jump in a box" thing as simply being symbolic.
Also, there were actually quite a LOT of secrets as well, and a good number of alternate paths. I felt like it really brought back that aspect of the 2D games well.
You're right; there were still plenty of secrets. I just meant that I would've liked to see more alternate exits leading to different levels and areas. The game did have secret levels you could find on the overworld, but the levels themselves generally had only one goal at the end. Part of why Super Mario World (SNES) is my favourite Mario game of all time is because of how many of the levels had a second exit you could find that'd open up a different path in the overworld. =)
As I said, still a great game, but the branching paths aspect is one of the things I love most about the 2D games.
Leave a Comment:
It's Super Mario in 3D alright, but it's more Arcade than World
Like Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, this is one of those games that I really enjoyed playing, but which somehow feels like it's missing something.
3D World has some of the most creative level designs the Mario series has yet seen. There are finally some very original locations, such as trains, a disco circus, and even an SNES Super Mario Kart-themed level. The cat suit, and how it opens up the world by letting you climb walls, is probably the best power-up the series has yet had, while others such as the double cherry are fun to mess around with. My 5-year-old nephew was laughing as five copies of Luigi ran around the level and he tried to control them all.
One thing that bothers me about the levels, is that they're self-contained largely single-gimmick obstacle courses that are suspended in the air. Seeing all these little boxes floating around in a largely empty and flat world map, representing self-contained levels just felt very disconnected, and unlike in, say, New Super Mario Bros. U, I didn't feel like I was actually exploring a world, but instead jumping into themed challenge boxes. I'd actually rather have Invisible Walls surround a level that has a real setting, than the way they did it here.
The other thing is that the levels don't encourage exploration as much as I'd like. There are nice out-of-the-way items and hidden secrets, but few alternate routes. Ironically, the 2D games had levels that felt like they had more freedom, but it does look like they're at least trying. However, the timer sure doesn't help. I like to take my time and explore, and both the level designs and timer are working against me on this one.
However, where the game truly shines is in multiplayer. During Thanksgiving, I tried out multiplayer with my brothers, sister-in-law, and nephew. It was a blast. The multiplayer is still chaos, like with the 2D games, but now you get to split up slightly, like having one player slide through a pipe while another walks on top of it, or one player tries to jump up a wall while another, wearing the cat suit, simply climbs it.
It makes sense. In single-player, I crave a more immersive experience, an actual "world" to live in. In multiplayer, fun is the bigger issue. And multiplayer greatly succeeds.