This game is filled with incredibly fun ideas the whole way through, and combined with the amazing ost this game reminds very enjoyable the whole time through.

While I do miss the many movement options from games like Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Odyssey, the level design is more than fun enough on it’s own and gets full mileage out of what is there.

I have always considered this game as one of my favorite games of all time, though I’m not going to sit here and act like nostalgia has nothing to do with that. With the release of Super Mario 3D All Stars I was overly excited to play this game again, though I was preparing to find myself not enjoying the game like I did as a child. However, during this play through I found the game to be even more enjoyable than I remembered, to the point where I now consider the game to be my absolute favorite.

This was the first game I was ever excited for before it was released, and to this day it’s still one of my favorites, probably tied with the first game in the series for my favorite.

Many people complain that this feels like the first game but again which I completely understand, but I personally find the first one so enjoyable so why wouldn’t I want the first one again?

While I’d love to go on about how great the levels and soundtrack and ideas are I just finished writing multiple paragraphs on the first game and given that this is essentially the same game, I have the same thoughts on how incredible these things are.

Starship Mario is cool and all, I do miss the Comet Observatory. While the 2D style world map is very nice and should certainly always be available via a menu or something, being able to explore my way to the levels in the game was a really cool feeling that this game’s hub just doesn’t replicate. Obviously though this is not a deal breaker or even a legitimate problem with the game, just one small area where my personal preference doesn’t align with the game.

Basically I just really like Super Mario Galaxy and this game is Super Mario Galaxy with Yoshi.

This is decidedly not the greatest game ever released. Could not hold my attention, I feel like walking and running feel too slow to effectively move around in this ginormous world, but given my favorite games are Super Mario Galaxy and it's sequel- which are linear platformers- my personal taste could easily have something to do with that. The dungeons are also not that cool and inventory management is not a favorite game mechanic of mine. I do want to try and go back and beat this game though someday and would be more than happy to see my opinion change, but that day is not today.

I forgot how much fun this game is. I think the track selection is maybe the best in the series, and the physics are surprisingly fun. I personally think the roster is fucking hilarious, I love that honey queen of all people was chosen, and for some reason metal Mario feels kinda cool in this game. It sucks that it’s missing some characters that feel like mainstays but other than that the game is awesome. I personally hated gliding in Mario kart because it feels like an excuse to make you go straight for a long time and take control away, but I was shocked coming back to this game to find that’s really only a problem in Mario Kart 8. This game’s gliding gives you so much control and you can do insane shit like even going under the rings of Saturn to grab a hidden item box on Rainbow Road (which is one of the best in the series btw). While 8 is obviously more mechanically sound and has 3 times as many tracks making it honestly probably the better game, this game has a lot of weird magic that I can’t help but feel was lost in the transition to its sequel on the Wii U.