My first thoughts of this game couldn't have been lower. When it was revealed at E3 all I could think was, this looks terrible. Gone was the large scope of a 3D world we were used to ever since Mario 64, replaced with an isometric view similar to a common Mario Party game. That's what I thought of it too, it looked like Mario Party. Heck, even 4 players at once gave that Mario Party vibe and I was decidedly turned off.
But game sites began writing previews and first thoughts of the game. They wrote nothing but praise and love for what they saw and my heart lifted. I am the last person that wants a bad Mario game after all. It was shaping up to be another great Mario game, but I remained skeptical assuming Mario gets praise simply because he's Mario.
But then the game dropped on my doorstep, and I played it. A good indicator of a great Mario game for me can be simply looking at my massive grin and mouth agape. Giddy laughter soon follows from clever game mechanics and tricky moments that only Mario offers. All of this happened while playing this new Mario game and I'm not ashamed to admit I giggled like a little school girl for the first 2 hours of the game. That's not to say the rest of it is boring, I just got a bit tired. On to the review!
Graphics:
Mario for me has never been about graphics but I must say, this is the very best he has ever looked in 3D. The game runs at a buttery smooth 60fps in 1080p and it never ever dips below that. After playing through launch titles on PS4 and seeing Xbox One games streamed on Twitch, it is difficult to describe in mere words just how talented the Nintendo team is when they are always able to get their games running technically flawlessly where the competition with all their horsepower continues to make games with framerate issues, like they don't understand the tools they are using. Nintendo in this regard makes them appear as cavemen still tinkering with the wheel while Nintendo is riding around in go-carts.
But really, everything looks stunning. The levels with the rain truly impress me. Mario doesn't just have a sheen to him as you romp about, but you can really see where water was hitting him and places he is drier. There is a fluidity they managed here rather than take a lazy approach of here's a wet Mario.
Story:
It's Mario dammit....
Sound:
Ah, now here is an area I never thought Nintendo would top itself on after Galaxy, come up with a better score than that. Well...they absolutely did. Not only did they bring back a lot of those amazing tunes from Galaxy and rework them, but they added all new songs too that rival or are even better than the Galaxy score. My personal favorite is the new Haunted mansion music. Those strings....I could listen to that all freaking day. I hum the main theme from this game often while driving to work as well. It is without a doubt the best collection of songs to ever grace a Mario game.
Gameplay:
The all important gameplay section. This is where a Mario game lives or dies.....although I have yet to ever play a main line Mario game where the gameplay was bad. So needless to say, Mario controls perfectly, as does his other 4 cohorts you can play as, Peach, Toad, Luigi, and Rosalina (unlockable).
This hearkens back to Super Mario 2, or Doki Doki Panic Mario edition as I call it. Each character plays somewhat different and offers their own unique challenges and skills using them. It's not as obvious as SM2 was though, or rather doesn't affect your play as much. In SM2 Peach gliding MEANT something, it gave a very specific dynamic to the character that the others couldn't touch. But in this game, everyone can float with a tanooki suit. Toad's ability is he speeds up faster when running. There's never really a moment in the game where that becomes apparently useful, unlike his SM2 ability where he picked stuff out of the ground lightning fast which was very useful.
But what really matters in this new game is the newest suit, the cat suit. Nearly every level is designed with this suit in mind, usually hiding away secrets where you have to be a cat to uncover. Luckily, the cat suit is very fun. It offers a new dimension with which to explore the large blocky levels of this game. I often found myself limited on time exploring every nook and cranny of each level with the cat suit. If I had one gripe about it though, it would be that it feels a bit overpowered. You can physically attack anything (much like Mario 64's punch), the cat has very high stamina when climbing so you can go pretty far and avoid a lot of pitfalls, and the cat has a dive mechanic that gives your jump a diagonal burst of speed along with being invulnerable to anything but spikes. Still though, it's still not quite as strong as the tanooki suit which lets you float and makes platforming a breeze so it's not a game-breaker.
The level design is some of the best I've ever seen in Mario as well. Much like Galaxy 2, Nintendo made each level feel different and special and it's almost overwhelming. You never really get a chance to get familiarized with an area, or an idea they've thrown at you. Each one is different and unique and you have to roll with the punches rather than get settled in. It's great for a Mario enthusiast like me though, but newcomers may have preferred the approach of Mario 64, Sunshine, and the first Galaxy where they reuse levels a lot allowing the player to get used to it.
My only real complaint about the game though stems from the Fire Flower. I was thanking the gods of gaming for finally allowing us to have 3D Mario with an unlimited use of Fire Flower. Finally, no more timer, no more restrictions, fire fire everywhere and not a drop to drink...? Nevermind. But my GRIPE is...the isometric view ruins it. It is VERY hard to use the fireballs in this game with any sort of accuracy, and no experience describes this better than the level where you have to light a bunch of torches to release the second green star. The level was a one hit kill poison swamp with piranha's and fire piranhas everywhere, with flying unkillable drybones in the mix. You had to cross the swamp avoiding all of that on moving platforms whilst lighting all the torches, something around 8 of them and not get hit losing your fire power. It goes without saying this was hard, but really highlighted just how difficult it was to aim Mario's fire shots. I had to leap at the torches just so I could gauge Mario's direction then release the fireball. In a level where death is all around leaping at torches that are surrounded by a death swamp is not advisable and was not easy. I feel like it didn't have to be this way if the Fire Flower was done better, or the view changeable somewhat, but alas...it was hard for the wrong reasons.
I was very happy that the game was challenging though, and LONG. You get the standard 8 worlds and can unlock 3 more fully blown worlds that are quite difficult. Then you get a 4th world you can unlock that contains 3 remaining uber-hard levels. One is a standard level, one is a Captain Toad level, and one is a green star marathon level. Captain Toad levels are very clever old school levels where you play as Captain Toad who cannot jump. You have to navigate him through a maze-cube collecting 5 green stars while avoiding danger and figuring out how to get him through. They are amazing levels and many have said in the in-game messages that he needs his OWN game and I couldn't agree more.
Final Thoughts:
I beat this game in around 13 hours completing every level, collecting every goodie, and massaging my face from hurting due to all the smiling I did. Even though we have had 2 brand new systems the highlight of this holiday season for me is clearly this game. That's what gaming is about right? The games. Nintendo, and Mario have shown once again who is still the best at making a damn fine game. No lengthy cut-scenes, no knee high walls, no lame fetch quests to pad gameplay, just pure gaming bliss is all Nintendo brought to the table and all they ever bring when Mario comes to town and I can't believe I ever doubted them.
*Meow muthaf#%$a! - Sam Jackson*
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