GAME REVIEW
Review Scoring Chart - 10: Masterpiece; 9: Outstanding; 8: Very Good;
7: Good; 6: Above Average; 5: Average; 4: Below Average; 3: Bad; 2:
Awful; 1: Reprehensible; 0: Non-Functional.
SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD + BOWSER'S FURY
Developer: Nintendo
SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD + BOWSER'S FURY
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Nintendo's latest console, the Switch, is awash with games carried over from its previous one, the Wii U, which sold far less well. It's a strategy which has been a boon for Nintendo, padding out the Switch's library with games which never got the chance to sell as well as they might have, but less so for those of us who owned a Wii U in the first place, who have found original releases few and far between. In order to combat this, Nintendo has taken to adding extra material to the games in question. On the whole, this material has been half-hearted at best, with an extra character added to Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze and a few token side-missions reusing environments in Pikmin 3.
The headline extra in the port of Super Mario 3D World is a mode entitled 'Bowser's Fury', a more substantive addition which, were it not for its short length - about two hours to see the credits, perhaps four to finish everything - could be called a new game in its own right, one possibly hinting at a more open-world, non-linear future for the Mario series than even Odyssey, the Switch's own original Mario title.
There's no getting around that Bowser's Fury feels rushed in many ways and slightly uncomfortable in how it translates the controls and mechanics of 3D World, a game designed to feel like one of Mario's two-dimensional outings only in three-dimensional spaces, into a freer, more expansive experience. The continued use of a run button, in particular, clashes with the need to regularly adjust the camera compared to 3D World's fixed positions. The run button was and is a frustrating and unnecessary addition to the base 3D World game and will hopefully be exorcised - along with the similarly obstructive eight-directional movement, thankfully absent from Bowser's Fury - a second time once the next original 3D Mario game comes around. This re-release at least rectifies the problem in part by increasing the playable characters' movement speed, making walking not only tolerable but a useful strategic alternative to running in terms of gaining precision without slowing to a crawl.
The open structure of Bowser's Fury also needs a little finessing. Having every (unlocked) stage be accessible without transitioning in and out of an overworld ironically makes the game more linear, as each stage has to exist within a smaller space to fit seamlessly into a larger world. Thus, levels tend to either be highly vertical or long and narrow, with limited paths to their apices and repeated treks required to collect their various rewards. Those rewards, the Cat Shines, are awarded for the completion of individual challenges as per Super Mario 64. Though enjoyable, there's a lot of repetition and the player must physically leave the stage and re-enter after a short period in order for the design to transition from the needs of one challenge to the next. This is, again, almost certainly a consequence of the condensed design: more expansive stages would allow all the Shines to be accessible at once, as in Odyssey, whereas such an approach within tighter spaces would allow the player to collect them all in very short order.
Though the open structure of Bowser's Fury has its charm, its shortcomings highlight the limited applicability for future, bigger Mario releases. The Super Mario 64 structure of large, free-form independent stages linked to a substantial overworld remains the gold standard and one which Nintendo will hopefully revisit in the future. The other big differentiator between Bowser's Fury and other Mario games is the presence of Bowser himself, this time in enormous Godzilla form and periodically awakening to wreck havoc on the otherwise peaceful surroundings. It's a fun gimmick, with certain Shines either solely or more easily accessible with Bowser awake but with the added difficulty of him raining fire and, yes, fury on you from every angle. As elsewhere, there are improvements which could have been made - waiting to him to awaken to collect Shines where it is a requirement is a drag - but is a fun experiment for the series.
The kaiju-inspired boss battles with Bowser are similarly enjoyable, if emblematic of the game itself by being a little too easy and over too quickly. As somebody who prefers to play games for the playing rather than difficulty, the almost complete lack of challenge was not a major issue for me, though did give the game a slightly pedestrian feel. The ability to store numerous power-ups has interesting potential for platforming, allowing players to swap out abilities depending on their situation, but having each readily available and allowing Mario to absorb two extra hits (one for a Super Mushroom) makes any difficulty negligible bar the insta-death threat of lava. Having Bowser Jr. as a partner, who can be sent to kill enemies or collect items from afar - or if he's not doing it himself - has a similar effect, particularly for one repeated challenge where the player is supposed to chase and get close enough to a shadow enemy to land a blow, unless Bowser Jr is sent to do it instead.
The lack of difficulty is also a notable feature of the 3D World base game. This is a considerably more linear experience than Bowser's Fury, though its stages are larger and more self-contained, with just enough space to reward exploration into the nooks and crannies. It is one of Nintendo's most ceaselessly inventive Mario outings, with almost every stage coming with its own unique mechanic and endless iterations on it. Consequently, the game changes its demands of the player so often that even when the style of one stage frustrates, it is swapped out so quickly that there's no chance of it causing the player to become reluctant to continue. The bite-size levels are also perfectly suited to the Nintendo Switch's option of portable play, making it all the more surprising the game wasn't carried over earlier.
Though the moment-to-moment experience of 3D World is one of regular surprise and inventive fun, it also comes off as rather slight. Mario games have rarely used story as much more than a framing device, but here it is even more sparse than usual. The lack of a binding theme (64 had its castle, Sunshine its tropical paradise, Galaxy was in space, etc.) gives the game a slapdash air, rich in its individual parts but with far less care seemingly put into the bigger picture. As per the structure of the 2D releases, the game is structured into eight worlds consisting of a number of individual levels in addition to a couple of standalone - and underwhelming - boss battles. Traditionally, levels would take on the aesthetic of the world containing it - ice-themed worlds containing ice-themed levels, and so on - but 3D World only applies this, loosely, to the first level of any given world. Gameplay-wise, this makes no difference and might even be welcome if the style of any particular world doesn't appeal, but contributes to the game's cobbled-together feel.
If the focus on the shortcomings of 3D World and Bowser's Fury seems unduly harsh for two games (or one-and-a-half, let's say) which are consistently enjoyable and comfortably above the standard of any non-Nintendo platformer on the market, it's only because of how close they come to greatness that their inability to make the most of their potential feels all the more pronounced. These are delightful games, though, charming in everything from the colourful, cartoony visuals to the varied and evocative soundtrack: Bowser's Fury is notable at a mininum for the introduction of heavy metal to the Mario soundscape. If other 3D Mario games feel like complete meals, 3D World is more like a series of delicious snacks, individually scrumptious but not quite as fulfilling on the whole. Bowser's Fury is a tasty starter - a whole course, though a small one - offering worthwhile experimentation and remixing within the Mario formula. It might not offer enough to justify a full game, but is fairly generous as a bonus addition. Even if you've played 3D World before, there's plenty here to justify a return visit. [ 7 ]
