![]() ![]() But even so, Super Mario 3D World felt like a step backward for 3D Mario games. In fact, its Captain Toad puzzle-box levels were so good that Nintendo fleshed out the concept into an entire game. In retrospect, I acknowledge that its tighter focus led to some really brilliant level design that wouldn’t have otherwise been possible. It’s a much narrower version of the 3D Mario formula, and after Super Mario Galaxy‘s gravity-bending physics and exploration-heavy levels, it felt especially constrained. 3 template, with an overworld map and levels that mostly flow from point A to point B. The Galaxy titles blew the lid off of what was possible for a Mario game, launching Mario into new dimensions and creating a really satisfying new template for what a Mario game could be.īut Super Mario 3D World did something really strange: Instead of using Super Mario 64 as its template, which almost all of the previous 3D Mario games had done ( Galaxy 2 could maybe be seen as an exception), it went back to the Super Mario Bros. ![]() Remember, before Super Mario 3D World, Nintendo had released Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii, which might be the best Mario games ever made. I was one of 13.5 million people who actually owned a Wii U, and I was really excited for another 3D Mario game. Each new game introduces something fresh to the franchise, and each one is satisfying in its own way.Īll that said, I had a certain expectation in mind for Super Mario 3D World. Again, this template is still seen as the default for the genre.Īlmost 40 years later, Nintendo still hasn’t released a bad - or even a mediocre - mainline Mario game (opinions on the spinoffs may vary). In the same way, Super Mario 64 established the template for what the 3D collectathon platformer should look like. 3 established the template for the 2D platformer - a template that is still seen to this day as the default for the genre. People toss around words like definitive when describing games they love, but I think definitive describes the Mario series better than almost any other franchise in gaming history. A hat that transforms you into a T-Rex? Double check. Part of this is that Nintendo’s tentpole franchise reinvigorated the video game industry after the great crash of 1983, but another part of it is that Nintendo is constantly using it as a whiteboard for some of its most off-the-wall innovations. Mario is undeniably one of the most iconic names in video game history. ![]()
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