3D World, 6 years later

Farrah Goodfairy

Farrah Goodfairy

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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.