I don't really know what to do with myself now that I finally played the game I was dying to play for over three years.
In a lot of ways, this is the 3D Mario game I've been waiting for Nintendo to make since Sunshine. The level design here is some of the best in terms of the 64/Sunshine formula, and even incorporates what Galaxy was doing with its level design but a whole lot better IMO. It helps that the moveset here is back to being as robust as 64. Stuff like the dive is different but ends up being just as useful. The roll is also a great introduction, basically giving you a run button but more fun, and adds a lot of good flow to the movement.
There's also Cappy, who is an incredible addition to the moveset and game in general. The dive into the hat it so satisfying to pull off, and can really open up this game and the possible routes for earning moons. This game does such a good job at doing one of my favorite things a platformer can do, which is make you look at a far away or high-up platform and go "I don't think I'm supposed to go there yet but I think I can make it". The moveset is just capable of so much, and I think the developers realized this because it feels like there's no little bit of off-the-trail exploration or platforming that goes unrewarded. There are so many instances in other platformers where I see an interesting cliff or corner of the level, and spend way too long trying to jump my way there only to find nothing, or an invisible wall. Here, that kind of thinking is almost always rewarded, sometimes with moons or purple coins, but even if its just a couple of coins I'll still be satisfied because it means the people who made this game have the same kind of brain I do. It's the kind of thing that makes me go "Oh, this is exactly the kind of game I would make".
I brought up Cappy earlier and didn't even mention capturing, but it fucking rules. The best uses of it are when levels give you a character with an incredibly fun mode of transportation and then build a lot of really fun obstacles and moons around it. I love the Uproot, Pokio, and Wiggler captures for stuff like this. It also just allows for really good variety of objectives that also don't deviate too far from the gameplay of the rest of the game (except maybe the tanks, not the biggest fan of those). There's also just a genuine wish fulfillment aspect to it, as child me wanted nothing more than to play a platformer as a Goomba or Dry Bones, and you have no idea how genuinely excited I was to control Dry Bones. Between capturing enemies and serving as an extension of the moveset, Cappy feels totally natural and fun as hell, far beyond "oh this is a new Mario game and it needs a gimmick".
This review is kind of just going to be me going from topic to topic with no structure because I have too many thoughts, sorry. Anyway, the set of kingdoms here is really great, so much more consistent than previous entries in the series. There are some kingdoms a little more underwhelming than others, but none I would ever call outright bad or annoying. The closest something comes to that for me was Sand Kingdom, mostly because I'm not a fan of desert levels. I also appreciate how diverse they are in look and theming, it really feels great to have stages that go beyond the generic level themes of previous games, and even when they do hit those themes, they do it in a really cool way that keeps it from being stale. Like, yeah Lake Kingdom is a water level but it has a really interesting structure and look to it, and Seaside Kingdom has a lot going on both in and out of the water. And like I said before, there are so many little diversion and nooks and crannies in each level that they all become a lot of fun to explore and experiment with. My personal favorite kingdom was Wooded Kingdom, everything from the objectives to the look and structure of the level to the music hit so fucking hard, easily in my top 10 all time levels in this series.
The kingdoms all have the structure of "Bowser is stealing something from the kingdom, stop whatever bad thing is happening and then the level opens up more" and I actually really like this for the most part. On the way to the "main" objective are a lot of good diversions and optional moons to find, and it helps you become more familiar with the kingdom so that after the main objective exploring the whole thing for the rest of the moons is easier. The only kingdom I didn't like this structure in was New Donk City, since it basically locked out most of the level for the beginning section. It makes sense since its an incredibly dense level with a lot going on, but it was just annoying since there wasn't much to find on the path to the main objective, and most of it involved driving the tank down a linear path. Also, I did get tired of every kingdom having the cutscene of "We already took X, here's a boss fight!" Like at some point when I was in Bowser Kingdom I was expecting the Broodals to say "We already took Bowser!" even though it would make no sense.
Speaking of the Broodals, one thing I have to say about this game is that it might have the best boss fights in any of the 3D Mario games. Some of them are pretty simple, but they're presented really well and feel more involved, even if some still have the "expose the weakness and hit it three times" formula. I like how some boss fights even have different ways to take them down, like how some of the Broodals fights have opportunities to hit them earlier, but those opportunities are harder to reach. Not a fan of Mushroom Kingdom asking to refight the bosses though, they're not THAT good.
I think the Broodals look neat, I think they're a fun design for a group of villains, although I am glad that Nintendo seemingly decided to leave them in this game and not have them in any spin-offs, they're kind of nothing outside of they're design. In fact, they just disappear during most of the ending, which I also appreciate. You know what, maybe I didn't like them actually, I don't know, I just think their boss fights were neat. But I wanted to talk about the art and design in this game in general. I think a lot of the new enemy and NPC design is really great for the most part. The new creatures introduced here all fit really well while also being new in a way that helps this game feel unique from previous entries, and I feel the same about the look of a lot of the levels. The main thing I'm not really sure about is New Donk City. I go back and forth on whether the NPCs there are ugly and uncomfortable, or hilarious and obviously Nintendo having a bit of fun juxtaposing them with Mario. Like, I remember concept art showing New Donkers as resembling Mario more, and I think part of me would like that more, but I also like the idea of New Donk City just having a different breed of human that Mushroom Kingdom has. That's kind of how I feel about a lot of the weirdly detailed aspects like the T-Rex as well. But for the most part I think this is a very pretty game, some parts of the levels felt so genuinely comforting and lovely to just exist in, or were honestly breathtaking.
The camera mode is very much appreciated for capturing a lot of the most pretty locations in this game, and also for capturing one of my favorite aspects of this game, the costumes. This is another thing that made me go "Oh yeah, this is exactly what I wanted from a Mario game". The costumes are so good, every Kingdom I was incredibly excited to see what the new outfit was, and being able to mix and match them made it even better. Part of me wishes I didn't have to wait until beating the game to unlock some of the post-game costumes, though, but I get that they're a fun reward. Seriously though, being able to put a cowboy hat on any Mario costume, it's too powerful.
I don't know, I'm running out of things to talk about. Music is mostly good, Wooded Kingdom's theme is the big standout. I heard people complaining about the vocal theme at the end of the game, and specifically heard someone complain about that and some of the weird photorealistic NPCs and captures with "That stuff feels a little too close to a Sonic game." My response to that is, yes, please, God. That ending was incredible and the music just made it so much better, I want vocal themes for every fucking character, I want a dumbass story that gets way more convoluted than necessary, I would love Mario to have the audacity and earnestness of something like the Sonic Adventure games but instead it controls like Mario so it's way better!
When it comes to 100%, the fact that there are 999 possible moons here says to me that Nintendo doesn't actually expect most people to do that, so I won't. I'll play a lot of the post-game, and collect a good amount of the moons because it's fun to do that, but the farthest I've gotten in the jump rope game is 50 so I don't think I'm getting all the moons. It's like when Super Mario 3D World gives you a star on your file for beating every level with every character, it's not because you were supposed to do that, it's because Nintendo thought "I guess we should give something to the madmen who do something like that". IDK, I don't get holding something like how hard it is to get 100% against this game, considering there's no actual percentage in the game and the rewards for it don't seem all that crazy. Maybe someday I'll try and get every moon, but not anytime soon. Does that mean I can't say I truly love this game, since I don't feel that strongly about 100%. I don't know, it's complicated.
I think for now I'll leave this at a 4.5, since I don't just want to give this game a 5 simply for being a good 3D Mario game, but it's one of the best 3D Mario games, and one of the best 3D platformers I ever played. I'm feeling very complicated about the whole thing, but it's truly the exact kind of 3D platformer I've been hoping for. For every kind of middling section in this game there was another that made me go "Holy shit that's so good! That's exactly what I wanted!" This could be a 5 in a couple days, I'm still not done with the post-game.
OK one last thing, the 2D section in Mushroom Kingdom is the worst moon in the game, absolutely miserable time, and the controls in 2D when you change orientations are bafflingly horrible. I was already not a big fan of the 2D sections in this game, but that was something else. I'm sorry for ending on a negative note, I just did that moon before going to bed last night and I needed to vent. Sorry if they're typos in this review, I don't read.
In a lot of ways, this is the 3D Mario game I've been waiting for Nintendo to make since Sunshine. The level design here is some of the best in terms of the 64/Sunshine formula, and even incorporates what Galaxy was doing with its level design but a whole lot better IMO. It helps that the moveset here is back to being as robust as 64. Stuff like the dive is different but ends up being just as useful. The roll is also a great introduction, basically giving you a run button but more fun, and adds a lot of good flow to the movement.
There's also Cappy, who is an incredible addition to the moveset and game in general. The dive into the hat it so satisfying to pull off, and can really open up this game and the possible routes for earning moons. This game does such a good job at doing one of my favorite things a platformer can do, which is make you look at a far away or high-up platform and go "I don't think I'm supposed to go there yet but I think I can make it". The moveset is just capable of so much, and I think the developers realized this because it feels like there's no little bit of off-the-trail exploration or platforming that goes unrewarded. There are so many instances in other platformers where I see an interesting cliff or corner of the level, and spend way too long trying to jump my way there only to find nothing, or an invisible wall. Here, that kind of thinking is almost always rewarded, sometimes with moons or purple coins, but even if its just a couple of coins I'll still be satisfied because it means the people who made this game have the same kind of brain I do. It's the kind of thing that makes me go "Oh, this is exactly the kind of game I would make".
I brought up Cappy earlier and didn't even mention capturing, but it fucking rules. The best uses of it are when levels give you a character with an incredibly fun mode of transportation and then build a lot of really fun obstacles and moons around it. I love the Uproot, Pokio, and Wiggler captures for stuff like this. It also just allows for really good variety of objectives that also don't deviate too far from the gameplay of the rest of the game (except maybe the tanks, not the biggest fan of those). There's also just a genuine wish fulfillment aspect to it, as child me wanted nothing more than to play a platformer as a Goomba or Dry Bones, and you have no idea how genuinely excited I was to control Dry Bones. Between capturing enemies and serving as an extension of the moveset, Cappy feels totally natural and fun as hell, far beyond "oh this is a new Mario game and it needs a gimmick".
This review is kind of just going to be me going from topic to topic with no structure because I have too many thoughts, sorry. Anyway, the set of kingdoms here is really great, so much more consistent than previous entries in the series. There are some kingdoms a little more underwhelming than others, but none I would ever call outright bad or annoying. The closest something comes to that for me was Sand Kingdom, mostly because I'm not a fan of desert levels. I also appreciate how diverse they are in look and theming, it really feels great to have stages that go beyond the generic level themes of previous games, and even when they do hit those themes, they do it in a really cool way that keeps it from being stale. Like, yeah Lake Kingdom is a water level but it has a really interesting structure and look to it, and Seaside Kingdom has a lot going on both in and out of the water. And like I said before, there are so many little diversion and nooks and crannies in each level that they all become a lot of fun to explore and experiment with. My personal favorite kingdom was Wooded Kingdom, everything from the objectives to the look and structure of the level to the music hit so fucking hard, easily in my top 10 all time levels in this series.
The kingdoms all have the structure of "Bowser is stealing something from the kingdom, stop whatever bad thing is happening and then the level opens up more" and I actually really like this for the most part. On the way to the "main" objective are a lot of good diversions and optional moons to find, and it helps you become more familiar with the kingdom so that after the main objective exploring the whole thing for the rest of the moons is easier. The only kingdom I didn't like this structure in was New Donk City, since it basically locked out most of the level for the beginning section. It makes sense since its an incredibly dense level with a lot going on, but it was just annoying since there wasn't much to find on the path to the main objective, and most of it involved driving the tank down a linear path. Also, I did get tired of every kingdom having the cutscene of "We already took X, here's a boss fight!" Like at some point when I was in Bowser Kingdom I was expecting the Broodals to say "We already took Bowser!" even though it would make no sense.
Speaking of the Broodals, one thing I have to say about this game is that it might have the best boss fights in any of the 3D Mario games. Some of them are pretty simple, but they're presented really well and feel more involved, even if some still have the "expose the weakness and hit it three times" formula. I like how some boss fights even have different ways to take them down, like how some of the Broodals fights have opportunities to hit them earlier, but those opportunities are harder to reach. Not a fan of Mushroom Kingdom asking to refight the bosses though, they're not THAT good.
I think the Broodals look neat, I think they're a fun design for a group of villains, although I am glad that Nintendo seemingly decided to leave them in this game and not have them in any spin-offs, they're kind of nothing outside of they're design. In fact, they just disappear during most of the ending, which I also appreciate. You know what, maybe I didn't like them actually, I don't know, I just think their boss fights were neat. But I wanted to talk about the art and design in this game in general. I think a lot of the new enemy and NPC design is really great for the most part. The new creatures introduced here all fit really well while also being new in a way that helps this game feel unique from previous entries, and I feel the same about the look of a lot of the levels. The main thing I'm not really sure about is New Donk City. I go back and forth on whether the NPCs there are ugly and uncomfortable, or hilarious and obviously Nintendo having a bit of fun juxtaposing them with Mario. Like, I remember concept art showing New Donkers as resembling Mario more, and I think part of me would like that more, but I also like the idea of New Donk City just having a different breed of human that Mushroom Kingdom has. That's kind of how I feel about a lot of the weirdly detailed aspects like the T-Rex as well. But for the most part I think this is a very pretty game, some parts of the levels felt so genuinely comforting and lovely to just exist in, or were honestly breathtaking.
The camera mode is very much appreciated for capturing a lot of the most pretty locations in this game, and also for capturing one of my favorite aspects of this game, the costumes. This is another thing that made me go "Oh yeah, this is exactly what I wanted from a Mario game". The costumes are so good, every Kingdom I was incredibly excited to see what the new outfit was, and being able to mix and match them made it even better. Part of me wishes I didn't have to wait until beating the game to unlock some of the post-game costumes, though, but I get that they're a fun reward. Seriously though, being able to put a cowboy hat on any Mario costume, it's too powerful.
I don't know, I'm running out of things to talk about. Music is mostly good, Wooded Kingdom's theme is the big standout. I heard people complaining about the vocal theme at the end of the game, and specifically heard someone complain about that and some of the weird photorealistic NPCs and captures with "That stuff feels a little too close to a Sonic game." My response to that is, yes, please, God. That ending was incredible and the music just made it so much better, I want vocal themes for every fucking character, I want a dumbass story that gets way more convoluted than necessary, I would love Mario to have the audacity and earnestness of something like the Sonic Adventure games but instead it controls like Mario so it's way better!
When it comes to 100%, the fact that there are 999 possible moons here says to me that Nintendo doesn't actually expect most people to do that, so I won't. I'll play a lot of the post-game, and collect a good amount of the moons because it's fun to do that, but the farthest I've gotten in the jump rope game is 50 so I don't think I'm getting all the moons. It's like when Super Mario 3D World gives you a star on your file for beating every level with every character, it's not because you were supposed to do that, it's because Nintendo thought "I guess we should give something to the madmen who do something like that". IDK, I don't get holding something like how hard it is to get 100% against this game, considering there's no actual percentage in the game and the rewards for it don't seem all that crazy. Maybe someday I'll try and get every moon, but not anytime soon. Does that mean I can't say I truly love this game, since I don't feel that strongly about 100%. I don't know, it's complicated.
I think for now I'll leave this at a 4.5, since I don't just want to give this game a 5 simply for being a good 3D Mario game, but it's one of the best 3D Mario games, and one of the best 3D platformers I ever played. I'm feeling very complicated about the whole thing, but it's truly the exact kind of 3D platformer I've been hoping for. For every kind of middling section in this game there was another that made me go "Holy shit that's so good! That's exactly what I wanted!" This could be a 5 in a couple days, I'm still not done with the post-game.
OK one last thing, the 2D section in Mushroom Kingdom is the worst moon in the game, absolutely miserable time, and the controls in 2D when you change orientations are bafflingly horrible. I was already not a big fan of the 2D sections in this game, but that was something else. I'm sorry for ending on a negative note, I just did that moon before going to bed last night and I needed to vent. Sorry if they're typos in this review, I don't read.
2 Comments
Oh I didn't actually know that about crouching in 2D. Granted, there are other aspects of that moon I really don't like alongside that problem, but I bet that would help.
mellorine
3 years ago
This is a really interesting review that honestly feels like how I'd felt about Super Mario Odyssey before I decided to overdose on the game and get all cynical about it. I'm glad to see someone experience its magic for the first time.