| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch | 8.70 |
| Overall | 8.70 |
|
With Mario Odyssey Nintendo went full on exploration Mario, gone were the tight platforming centered levels and instead there were sprawling levels filled with small activities, the platforming was still there but you kind of had to look for it. I wanted a balance between the creativity and platforming challenge of Galaxy and that freedom to explore, in comes Bowser’s Fury with the answer. This is a short 5 hour Mario game that tests the water for what I hope is the next major Mario game. It’s an open world game, just one huge map that takes place on a huge lake that has islands with lighthouses and areas for platforming greatness. As you explore on your own a gigantic bowser will periodically attack the world and rain down fireballs all over, to counter him you have to get enough shines to unlock the mega cat suit which turns you into a Godzilla sized cat Mario and you have a massive Kaiju boss battle. This repeats until you get all shines and have a big finale battle. The boss battle is fun but plays out like most Mario bosses, avoid bowsers attacks, find the opening fo stun him then jump on him. It’s a tad bit repetitive but fun. Where this shines the most is the level design which is Galaxy tier genius. Big towers to climb with all kinds of enemies and rotating platforms, the blue and red jump switch challenges, fun races while riding various objects, and so much more. This is what 3D Mario should be, the focus on fantastic platforming goodness but with the freedom to tackle it any way you want. To travel around the world you get to hop on a big Dino and zoom around the water to the next island, he is always near you so no need to call or have some scripted transition, it’s all perfectly smooth. The Dino has plenty of challenges to gain shines as well adding to the variety of challenges. One of my favorite aspects is how all the suits from 3D world are used, in this game you can store 5 of every suit and instantly pick through them at any time. This means many of the challenges make use of these suits, it adds a slight puzzle quality where you can pick which power up best suits the situation. The whole structure of how the game plays is so well done, each island is like its own mini world as one is snow, one is lava, one has slides and so on. The only things holding this game back from all time mario status is of course that it’s short, it feels like a test run. Remember this is a game using 3D world as a basis so it has that games move set which is not as smooth as Galaxy or Odyssey. Controlling Mario is still response but he is missing some moves and mobility from the more open 3D games. A lot of the challenges feel like a Mario’s greatest hits and are repeats from past games like Galaxy. More originality with completely new concepts would really put this over the edge, but as it stands now it’s a great reminder that even though some of these ideas are repeated it’s still the best the genre has to offer. Bowser’s Fury is hopefully a glimpse into the future of Mario 3D games. It effortlessly combines the constant stream of platforming greatness of Galaxy with the wide open world and exploration that fans of the more exploration based Mario games love. It’s also a reminder that it’s been 4 years since we had a new full fledged Mario game, this is a great appetizer but I want to full course meal. |
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Posted by Dvader Fri, 22 Oct 2021 18:22:07
Fri, 22 Oct 2021 20:59:21
Great review. I love to see my a longer open world Super Mario game as well.
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