3D World, 6 years later

Gloriosa Daisy

Gloriosa Daisy

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So I played Super Mario 3D World for the first time today after recieving it for Christmas yesterday, over six years after its initial release.

I'm going to post a more thorough review when I get any%, but from what I'm getting so far I like it a lot. The graphics are amazing, the music is good too, and I like the multiple character selection and control selection. I haven't played multiplayer thus far but the system this game has seems to be a large improvement from Galaxy 2. The gameplay mechanics are entertaining but do not live up to Galaxy 2 - I like the powerups and they kept most of the moves from the predecessors, but I prefer rideable Yoshi to Plessie, and I generally don't feel as free and flexible as in the first four 3D Super Mario games.

The level design is pretty good - I like how it's a combination of open world with finding the stamps and green stars with the special things like the slot machine, Captain Toad levels, and Mystery Houses, on the side, but it is a bit too easy like Galaxy 1.

My main gripe is the lack of story elements and little to no dialogue.

However, Galaxy 1 and 2 are two of the games I grew up with and have always loved. Galaxy 2 sacrificed some of the things I liked about Galaxy 1, such as being even more linear and getting rid of the story, but it still upgraded it in a lot of ways, and Galaxy 3 would have been amazing to bring everything together and make a true masterpiece. I've heard relatively bad things about 3D Land, which I may like, but even if I don't that's understandable, because the 3DS is a much less powerful console than the Wii, but the Wii U... that was in HD, it had better specs than the Wii, it kept the Wii remote and nunchuck and both classic controllers and added onto it with the GamePad and the Wii U Pro controller... it would have been so perfect. We haven't even had Galaxy 3 announced yet 9 years since Galaxy 2.

So, on its own, I find 3D World a great game but in comparison to what Galaxy 3 on the Wii U could have been, it's a big dissappointment.
 
3D world was pretty good. I wouldn't consider it part of the 64/Sunshine/Galaxy/Oddysey family, though. 3D Land/World are more of their own thing in my eyes. If anything I'd say they're closer to the 2D series.
 
Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I've always loved this game for its unique power-ups, level themes, and bosses, even though it's not quite on the level of the Galaxy games. Trust me, you'll love the game more and more as you progress through it, and there's even Galaxy references and themes postgame, so don't stop playing after the credits.

Also, 3D Land is a lot like this game in terms of gameplay, but the level themes and bosses are significantly blander and it didn't feel nearly as creative or unique. It's not a bad game and there are people who really enjoy it, but I would recommend every other 3D Mario game first.
 
3D World is definitely superior to 3D Land (albeit with slightly less inspired level designs and just recycling the same ones from 3D Land). It has better graphics, a great selection of characters, interesting power-ups, and (imo most importantly) the return of the almighty spin-jump!
I agree with 10000 Needles on that 3D Land/World are kinda in their own little corner of the main Mario game genre: they're not full-fledged sidescrollers but they're not exactly big plot driven 3D games like the majority of 3D Mario games. They're basically 2D Mario games in 3D spaces.
 
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I think 3D Land and 3D World are much more inspired games than Galaxy 2 will ever be.
 
El Zorro said:
I do think 3D World feels like a sequel to Land too. Why would this not bother you while Galaxy 2's similarity to 1 does?
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I'm not BLOF but for me personally it's that it doesn't retread the exact same plot as 3D Land and doesn't act like a soft reboot to an amazing original plot. 3D World had a new kingdom and didn't focus on Super Leaves. It was another game in the 3D Land/World "series", like Sunshine is to 64.
 
Merry Moldo said:
It was another game in the 3D Land/World "series", like Sunshine is to 64.
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Strongly disagree with that. FLUDD's mechanics made Sunshine very distinct from Mario 64. 3D World was the same exact thing as 3D land but with co-op and cats. It's not like Sunshine to 64, it's like NSMBWii to the first NSMB.
 
El Zorro said:
I do think 3D World feels like a sequel to Land too. Why would this not bother you while Galaxy 2's similarity to 1 does?
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3D World isn't just the first Land with a 2 slapped on it as a full-priced retail game.
 
10000 Needles said:
3D world was pretty good. I wouldn't consider it part of the 64/Sunshine/Galaxy/Oddysey family, though. 3D Land/World are more of their own thing in my eyes. If anything I'd say they're closer to the 2D series.
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I think that's sort of fair. The style of 3D World (haven't played 3D Land) is similar to the 2D games more so than the 3D games even though they are in 3D. That's maybe why 3D World got into SMM2.

Santa Claws said:
Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I've always loved this game for its unique power-ups, level themes, and bosses, even though it's not quite on the level of the Galaxy games. Trust me, you'll love the game more and more as you progress through it, and there's even Galaxy references and themes postgame, so don't stop playing after the credits.
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I know about
You get Rosalina when the game finishes: she has a spin attack but is slower
But other than that not really. It's nice to see green stars coming back from Super Mario Galaxy 2, this time being consistent in 3 per level not counting boss fights, mystery houses, etc. and being no secret and available from the start.
Merry Moldo said:
recycling the same ones from 3D Land
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I haven't played 3D Land. Maybe playing this first was a bad move but whatever
Merry Moldo said:
They're basically 2D Mario games in 3D spaces.
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That's a very comprehensive description of it actually.
Jack Black said:
It's still bad
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I don't think so per my OP. You may not like it but I do, and I'd definitely say it did well for what it set out to do and was popular with good reason, though not as much so as Galaxy.
Mcmadness said:
I'd be annoyed if it were another Galaxy game.
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Galaxy 3 is a very popular idea, and imo the Wii U was the perfect opportunity.
Merry Moldo said:
I'm not BLOF but for me personally it's that it doesn't retread the exact same plot as 3D Land and doesn't act like a soft reboot to an amazing original plot. 3D World had a new kingdom and didn't focus on Super Leaves. It was another game in the 3D Land/World "series", like Sunshine is to 64.
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I get that SMG1 and SMG2 are published as "first game" and "sequel" but personally I more see them as the same game with SMG2 being an expansion pack for the first one. The plot of SMG2 doesn't really continue from the first one or add anything valuable and the gameplay is exactly the same at its core with just some new things stuck on. I see SMG1 as the one which really feels like an epic space adventure, but with weaker gameplay, where SMG2 expanded on the gameplay and gave us a fresh set of levels plus the green stars, with additions, but didn't really continue the same epicness quite as much. So often I'll just use "Super Mario Galaxy" to refer to both of them collectively as I see them as the same game, and I put a number on the end if I want to specify one of them. Together they constitute what is to me undoubtedly one of Nintendo's greatest masterpieces that I have been able to play.
 
Sure, but I think 3D World had fewer new power ups which IMO were less interesting and the level design was a lot closer to 3D Land than Galaxy 2's was to the first. Cat Mario and the Double Cherry don't do it for me as much as Rock Mario or having Yoshi in a mainline 3D game for the first time.

Edit: Forgot that Yoshi was in Sunshine lol but it was still cool to see him back and doing more Yoshi-Like things.
 
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3D World is underappreciated for its time mostly because it wasn't what people wanted on the Wii U, that is a Super Mario Sunshine HD remaster or sequel or a Super Mario Galaxy 3. It is an alright game on it's own but it's no Galaxy 3 or Sunshine 2. Nintendo really did backstabbed Wii U owners by giving the Switch the 3D Mario game that they wanted on the Wii U when they should have made the 3D Mario game that they wanted from the get go. Giving the Wii U a Galaxy 3 or a Sunshine 2 would have made the Wii U do a lot better than it did with 3D World. It just wasn't a strong and groundbreaking 3D Mario title like Mario 64, the Galaxy games, and even Odyssey. It is kinda in the category of Sunshine, where it is a solid game but not nearly as groundbreaking as it's predecessor.
 
Nintendo backstabbed Wii U owners by making the Wii U :P

But yeah it was definitely not the Mario game of the generation that anyone was hoping for. A very fun and polished game, but not enough of a "main event." Odyssey is fantastic and really the sequel people have wanted since Sunshine. The Galaxy games are excellent-two of my all time favorites, but a lot of people understandably had been craving a collectathon with large, open levels for a long time.

It really is a bit surprising to think back at 3D World. The number one request for a new Mario game was open worlds and less linear levels. Then again, Nintendo probably looked at the sales of the NSMB series along with 3D Land and just decided to go all out on linearity.
 
10000 Needles said:
Galaxy 2 had many new power ups and Yoshi. The level design, music, and art direction were also very different.
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All of those new power-ups and Yoshi were barely utilized, and everything else about the game applies to virtually every new Mario game in the series.

And as far as I know, it's the only Mario game that straight up rehashes levels from the first game.
 
Stone Cyclone Galaxy and Mario Squared Galaxy, which were just singular planetoids ripped from the first game.
 
Ah, I forgot about those ones. I don't see it as that much of an issue, but I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the quality of SMG2.
 
I don't think it's a bad game per se, it was just extremely disappointing for a mainline Mario title. Like, main 3D Mario titles are supposed to be The Big Things, like how Galaxy 1 was presented as a fresh concept, and I really felt like they didn't put enough effort and inspiration in Galaxy 2, which felt like a worse, more forgettable Galaxy experience because it was more of the same game with a lot of, I feel, weaker ideas. At least 3D Land and 3D World had fun little new ideas that I would liked to see in future titles, especially 3D World's incorporation of multiplayer.

I do think that Galaxy 2's soundtrack is around par with Galaxy 1 though.
 
I would like to point out that aside from gameplay mechanics and power-ups and things like that, most if not all the content reused from the first Super Mario Galaxy was relegated to postgame content.
 
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