Is Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury REALLY Worth The Price? (Review)

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury Review

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Mario’s 35th birthday has been a somewhat tumultuous event, at least in my eyes. “Super Mario 3D All-Stars” didn’t live up to my expectations (or most people’s, from what I saw). “Super Mario Bros. 35” quickly proved to be pointless to play given how it’ll be shut down by the end of March. And so, I struggle to see what really was the point in celebrating the plumber’s birthday at the awkward number 35. “Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury” is, more or less, the last attempt to make this birthday a bash instead of a bust. Was this Wii U game worth bringing back? Does “Bowser’s Fury” do enough to justify the sixty-dollar price tag? Or is this yet another arbitrary Wii U port? Greetings, ladies and gentlemen of the internet! My name is Ty with MojoPlays, and this is my review of “Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury” for the Nintendo Switch! Before we begin, we publish new videos every day, so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos! And if you’re curious about what else I’m playing or want to hear how this PlayStation fanboy is enjoying his Xbox Series S, follow me on Twitter - @GhostRyderTyler! Prior to Nintendo giving us a code for the game, I had never really played “Super Mario 3D World” when it had launched in 2013. Then again, how many of us actually owned a Wii U? I had played a couple of levels with friends in college, but we switched over to “Smash Bros” after about five minutes of playing. Finally, I’ve been given the chance to sit down and experience what many call one of the best Mario games in the last ten years. Now, I get the chance to rescue all the Sprixies captured by Bowser and experience the fun I had been missing out on, and I got to do so with the option of playing as Mario, Luigi, Peach, or Toad! The way I could describe “Mario 3D World’s” gameplay is that it’s similar to “Super Mario Bros. 2” - with the selection of playable characters, your experience and difficulty is all going to depend on who you choose to play as. Mario is the most balanced, Luigi has the highest jump with a bit of slip in his step, Peach can float, and Toad is the fastest character between the four. Some levels will require you to play as a specific character, but that’s only if you’re trying to find all the stamps and Green Stars. We’ll get to that in a little bit, though. One comment I would often stumble upon is that “Super Mario 3D World” boasts some of the best level design in the franchise’s history, and I can certainly see why one would think that. Each level features its own unique setting, theme, and mechanics. One level may focus on scaling a big mountain while another lets you play around in open areas. Adding to the challenge are Green Stars and Stamps that are hidden in each level. The difficulty of grabbing these can range from painfully obvious to tricky and clever, from simply defeating a specific enemy to pulling off crazy jumps to reach high places. As much as I enjoyed the levels and finding collectibles, I grew frustrated by how scatterbrained the game ends up feeling. What others may deem as “refreshing” I often called “chaotically forsaken”. Sure, “3D World” incorporates some creative levels, but they are few and far between. A lot of the stuff you’ll see here you’ve most likely already experienced in previous Mario games. Rolling hills? Saw that in “New Super Mario Bros. Wii”. Platforms that change when you jump? “Super Mario 3D Land”. Beeping blocks that change on specific beats? Those were in “Super Mario 3D Land” as well. I’ll admit these kinds of levels were still fun to play, but it didn’t make sense why we were revisiting these concepts, especially given how quickly the game abandons the many ideas it presents. Past Mario games at least explore and toy with its concepts for a few levels before moving on. In the end, “3D World” becomes a jack of all trades and a master of none. It doesn’t help that boss battles are a joke. There is one change that Nintendo has implemented to give veteran players a new experience - Mario and the gang now move faster. A little too fast, if you ask me. Even when I wasn’t playing as Toad, there were times where my character was moving a little too fast and I would end up bouncing off the walls. So, don’t be surprised if you need some time to grasp the controls. And yes, motion controls are still required for some of the levels, making platforming annoying whenever they pop up. Of course, if you’re looking to buy this game, you’re probably not as curious about “3D World” as you are about the heavily advertised “Bowser’s Fury” portion of the game. It's all anyone could talk about in the month leading up to release, and understandably so. I mean, Mario turns into a Super Saiyan Cat! How could you NOT freak out over it? “Bowser’s Fury” sees Mario falling into a mysterious (and kind of small) world where Bowser has transformed into a Godzilla version of himself. Worried about his pops, Bowser Jr. regrettably asks Mario for help, thus sending them on a quest to save the world...by beating Bowser senseless and occasionally blinding him with lighthouses. Part of what makes “Bowser’s Fury” so appealing is how it plays like a “Super Mario Odyssey .5” - you know, a miniature version of a bigger game. As you visit each gimmicky island, you’ll solve puzzles and fight enemies to collect Cat Shines. Once you’ve accrued enough, the Giga Bell will awaken the next time Bowser throws a tantrum. Speaking of which, Bowser only rages at fixed intervals, and you can use this as a means to progress at your own pace. Sure, you can collect the Giga Bell as soon as you’ve got the power to do so, but if you want to spend more time collecting Cat Shines, you can either wait for the tantrum to end or collect a Cat Shine to immediately end it and inflict a little bit of damage on Bowser. Kind of a cool way to kill two birds with one stone! Making things more convenient for the player is Plessy, the goofy, adorable dinosaur from “Super Mario 3D World”. Whereas most open world games require you to manually call your horse or vehicle, “Bowser’s Fury” will always spawn Plessy close to your location, whether that be by a dock or a few feet away in the water. Needless to say, getting around is far from a hassle! There are tons of other things “Bowser’s Fury” does really well, too! Mario handles about as well as he does in “Super Mario Odyssey”, and you can adjust Bowser Jr.’s AI to either help you a lot, seldom, or never. It does so many things right that it’s upsetting how short the entire experience is. “Bowser’s Fury” is short. Like, REALLY short. So short that when I looked at the time, I struggled thinking about what else to do with my day. I had a good chunk of my day blocked out for “Bowser’s Fury” and had nabbed most of the Cat Shines already. It was only noon. Was this the reason why a decade-old game cost sixty bucks? It wasn’t bad for a two-hour game, but something tells me this would have succeeded as a standalone game. If this two-game pack was forty bucks, I’d be just fine with the length of “Bowser’s Fury”. But sixty? Are we just tacking that on because all the other big companies are doing it? It’s really hard for me to decide if the sixty bucks is worth this. On one hand, you have two games that do things somewhat well. On the other hand, one game lasts a couple of hours while the other is from 2013 with not many new elements. If you’re someone looking for a new game to play with friends, “3D World” will definitely suffice, and given the state of the world, the inclusion of online play was a smart move. “Bowser’s Fury” is just as enjoyable solo as it can be with a friend. I suppose it all boils down to what kind of a Mario fan you are. Are you like me, someone who expects more consistency in level design, challenging gameplay, and the free-roam nature of 3D Mario games? Or are you the classic platformer fanatic who likes the thrill of the speedrun, the chaotic multiplayer, and enjoys the simple nature of 2D Mario games? Those that fall into the latter will definitely want this game. As for me, I’ll be moving onto other things.