This review contains spoilers
This game is currently arguably my favourite game from the original classic 2d mario games, I especially love the design of tiny mario here, it's wonderful and looks so goofy, it's my personal favourite mini mario, and i love being able to start levels with the tons of upgrades that i collected over time
Visually this game is also really damn great and almost impressive, considering it's in the same console as the first mario bros, the music is some of my favourite, and the levels themselves for the most part feel really great and enjoyable
I loved the addition of the map mechanics, the little card game with toad, picking up free items, being able to use them as you please before the stages begin and some exploration by using some of the items in the map, it feels fresh and like actually a lot of care went into it
All the additional powerups were great, frog, tanuki/raccoon whatever it is, and the P speed to go as fast as you can and jump really high, they all played really well with the core gameplay of the Mario itself
And lastly the art direction and creative ideas of the game is what i loved the most, the whole game being a huge play, from the curtains in the intro, to the hanging prompt blocks and leaving the stage at the end of every level
The first time i played the game i wasn't so sure of it, so the ending struck to me as odd, Peach just telling mario:
''Thank you, but our princess is in another castle!... Just kidding! Ha ha ha! Bye bye."
Had me dying from laughter, i thought it was a mistranslation because no way she was that rude to Mario if he just damn saved her, but now i also realize, that it was intended for exactly that, for the audience watching the play, for everyone to laugh at the reference and be surprised by the end of it
The entire game feels so full of a certain charm to me that is so unique of only this game in particular
The sad thing is that the bosses are almost all the same, though with some more variations in comparison to mario 2 at least, and some other levels feel unfairly difficult and feel like the game is completely against the player, some having the same kind of difficulty of figuring out what you even have to do that i felt in Super Mario Bros World 7-4
Overall this game is amazing and holds up incredibly well, it's a significant improvement over the first few games, and is definitely worthy of all the praise it received
Visually this game is also really damn great and almost impressive, considering it's in the same console as the first mario bros, the music is some of my favourite, and the levels themselves for the most part feel really great and enjoyable
I loved the addition of the map mechanics, the little card game with toad, picking up free items, being able to use them as you please before the stages begin and some exploration by using some of the items in the map, it feels fresh and like actually a lot of care went into it
All the additional powerups were great, frog, tanuki/raccoon whatever it is, and the P speed to go as fast as you can and jump really high, they all played really well with the core gameplay of the Mario itself
And lastly the art direction and creative ideas of the game is what i loved the most, the whole game being a huge play, from the curtains in the intro, to the hanging prompt blocks and leaving the stage at the end of every level
The first time i played the game i wasn't so sure of it, so the ending struck to me as odd, Peach just telling mario:
''Thank you, but our princess is in another castle!... Just kidding! Ha ha ha! Bye bye."
Had me dying from laughter, i thought it was a mistranslation because no way she was that rude to Mario if he just damn saved her, but now i also realize, that it was intended for exactly that, for the audience watching the play, for everyone to laugh at the reference and be surprised by the end of it
The entire game feels so full of a certain charm to me that is so unique of only this game in particular
The sad thing is that the bosses are almost all the same, though with some more variations in comparison to mario 2 at least, and some other levels feel unfairly difficult and feel like the game is completely against the player, some having the same kind of difficulty of figuring out what you even have to do that i felt in Super Mario Bros World 7-4
Overall this game is amazing and holds up incredibly well, it's a significant improvement over the first few games, and is definitely worthy of all the praise it received