Super Mario 3D World Review | Awesome Games

Adam from Awesome Games writes: 'There are no guns in Super Mario 3D World – no brutal melee kills or unnecessary expletives. You won’t encounter any micro-transactions forcing you to pay over the odds, a DLC season pass, or any contrived quick-time events covering up a developers’ lack of ideas. Instead, what you will find is an eclectic ensemble of everything that makes Super Mario 3D World an essential, unmissable purchase: exceptional level design, immaculate presentation, and an uplifting display of heart-warming passion from a company that concentrates on video games – and nothing else.'

[RTheRebel]

You're Goddamn Right ;)

[mcstorm]

Cant wait to get this game tomorrow but I have way to many games to get through now hmmm plenty of gaming to do me thinks.

[curtis92]

So after reading the opening lines, they gave it a 5/5 out of spite & nostalgia. (and likely because they're tired of not having any wii U games).

Seriously, does this game do ANYTHING that countless other mario games haven't already done? You know... the same exact reasons people complain about countless other franchises that just keep doing the same thing?

I guess when the same game is released on a yearly basis it 'lacks innovation and is just a grab at money' but if it's released only every 3 years or so then 'they stayed true to the franchise and didn't add anything to change what we know and love.'

Sorry... I just get tired of nintendo games always getting the nostalgic edge in reviews.

[MONKEYDLUFFY]

Some1 has never played a mario game. They 8nnovate like crazy

[curtis92]

Ive played almost every single mario game dating back to NES. The last time there was innovation was Galaxy. Ever since it's been rinse & repeat. And near perfect review scores based not on the game but on the nostalgia of the franchise.

[WeAreLegion]

Well, some of the new platforming mechanics are unique. They don't necessarily innovate, but this is such a creative game. It's a combination of fanfare and tight, new mechanics that make people love this game so much. I certainly do. Will I be playing it next week? Probably not. But right now...it's pretty fun.

[THEMIGHTYDOOVDE]

Im guessing your pissed cos Nintendo skool ND, Dice and Activision on a regular basis. Im also guessing Nintendo being the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful developer EVER also makes your little fanboy vagina go limp too!

[KonsoruMasuta]

I don't know where you got that from. I read the first couple of lines and it says nothing about nostalgia or spite. He mentions the good level design, good presentation, and passion.

[thegent]

Yeah I really don't get what curtis is thinking. Anytime I read anything slightly negative about thia game is from someone who hasn't even played it

[zero_gamer]

Well this comment is some free entertainment!

[deafdani]

A polished game is a polished game.

Uncharted 2 wasn't innovative on absolutely anything compared with the first Uncharted game. But everything on it was polished to the maximum, so it got universal acclaim from reviewers and gamers alike.

The same could be said of The Last of Us, which isn't ground breaking on absolutely anything. However, EVERYTHING about Last of Us was extremely well done, and its reception from gamers and critics show this. As a matter of fact, The Last of Us is Naughty Dog's final PS3 essay where they employed pretty much everything they learned from the Uncharted franchise, and made it better.

Mario 3D World is yet another example of a game that doesn't necessarily innovate, but what it does, it does it so damn well that everyone loves it all the same.

Do you expect every single damn game to be ground breaking like the original Mario Bros, or Zelda Ocarina, or Halo, or Grand Theft Auto III were? Yes, not going to happen. The vast majority of incredibly well-received games aren't innovative or groundbreaking at all, they just build upon the tried and proven mechanics of past games in their respective franchises and improve on said mechanics. Grand Theft Auto V is also a pretty damn good example of this.

You're singling Nintendo out for something that the vast majority of game companies do. That makes you a unreasonable hater, nothing more, nothing less.

[curtis92]

You make great points.

But I expected with new hardware to see a mario game that wasn't an HD version of a 3DS game. Also looking at NSMB U, again, recycled game in HD that's not taking the series anywhere it hasn't been many times before. Yet, most reviews keep giving the series praise for... doing what? Is being polished really enough? It's a great thing, no doubt, but if the substance isn't changing at all...

I'm really not trying to troll. Just seems there's a big double standard in this industry.

[deafdani]

I can assure you that 3D World is more than just a HD version of the 3DS game. I liked Mario 3D Land well enough, but for me it wasn't as compelling as the Galaxy games, although it was still excellent.

It's true that Mario 3D World takes tha basic concept that Nintendo already did on Mario 3D Land. But it doesn't just stop there. Oh, no.

3D World is so incredibly well designed, you can have a blast with it either playing solo, or with friends. That's a pretty big accomplishment. The level design is downright amazing, the graphics are superb, the control of the characters is better than ever (seriously, it just feels better to control Mario on this game than it did on the Galaxy games, it's pretty subtle but it's there), there are no tutorials at all in the entire game - they don't explain a single thing to you, they leave it to you to figure everything out, and somehow, it just works. On top of all that, you're not constrained to a single character, you can choose to tackle levels with either Mario, Luigi, Toad or the Princess... and they all control differently, giving you certain advantages or disadvantages on the stages depending on which character you choose.

All of these concepts have been applied to previous Mario games on a major or minor degree, but never did a single Mario game have all of what I just described in a single package. There's actually a lot more to the game than what I just said, but I hope you understand what I mean: Mario 3D World is a incredibly well done game, with superb graphics, awesome and varied gameplay, superb controls, a lot of collectibles, and a lot of content, all of this with great replay value. It doesn't need to innovate on anything particular to be an amazing game, if everything it does is superb.

My only complain about this game is the extremely limited camera control, where it's practically inexistant on many stages, which sometimes lead to unfair deaths. But this is a rather pretty small complaint on a otherwise almost flawless game. So, for me, having played it for around 12 hours already over the weekend, I can see why it's getting superb reviews, even if it doesn't really introduce anything truly new to the formula.

And New Super Mario Bros U has gotten good scores because it's the best game in the "New" series. Simple as that. And that one actually does introduce a couple new things, like the challenges. Yet, despite being good, it's not anywhere near as good as Mario 3D World.