LogFAQs > #961729279

1. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021) - Switch

Bowser's Fury is fucking great. I may be being a bit overly generous with it, but it's the most fun I've had with a game this year. It's crazy how Nintendo keeps releasing Mario games that are among the best Mario games ever made (I'd put every 3D console Mario in this category other than Sunshine). The game has everything you'd want from a Mario game with a ton of innovative new ideas. The levels are full of fun designs and one-off tricks. I'm not sure if putting all the levels in a big overworld necessarily makes the game better, but they executed it so well here that I think it does in this case. If you're not familiar with the game, it takes place in an ocean full of islands (mostly connected islands) and you travel from island to island collecting Cat Shines (everything in this game is cat and it's great). You can basically look out over the whole map, and it's beautiful. Plessie is the transportation method, and she's a joy to ride, moving fast on water and also quite entertaining on land. There are a bunch of Cat Shines in the ocean to collect as well, so you get fun little surprises as you travel between islands. There's basically no point where you're not having fun.

The other central conceit of the game is the titular Bowser and his fury. He's become gigantic, and every few minutes, he goes on a rampage and tries to kill you. He goes away if you die or get a Cat Shine or if time passes. This can be moderately annoying, but I almost always found it to be a fun mechanic. It's cool when you're doing a challenging Shine and it gets even more challenging because you have to dodge Bowser's attacks. One neat mechanic they add for this game is that you have power-ups saved which you can use at any time, so if you're close to dying you can just give yourself some extra defense so he won't kill you. He'll also destroy some obstacles for you and some Shines or only grabbable when he's around, so I usually felt like I was happy to see him. His arrival kept the game having lots of variety. I was a bit annoyed by him once or twice, but it generally wasn't a big deal.

Some people complain that the game's too short (it's maybe 5 hours if you 100% it), but I found that to be a perfect length to have lots of fun with it. The only real complaint I had is the game's implementation of running: you hold the y/x button to run, which sucks because you often want to run but you also want to use the right stick for the camera, since this game requires a lot more camera control than 3DW or the Galaxy games. I really wish you could map it to one of the R buttons instead so that I wouldn't have to use a claw grip. It mostly wasn't that big a deal, but it stood out as a flaw when Mario games generally control extremely well. Overall, it's an awesome game that every Mario fan should play.

I actually think the single player for 3D World is a bit worse than Bowser's Fury. A lot of things about it are better, particularly how the camera and running work. It used fixed/limited camera angles for most levels, so you almost never have camera issues, and having to use your thumb for the run button isn't a big deal. The design is extremely consistent, so the game has basically no lows. I'd rank it lower than most 3D Mario games, but the worst levels here are better than the worst levels in the Odyssey and Galaxy games by a long shot. The highs aren't quite as high is all. There are awesome parts like the final battle, and the space world is cool, and there are a lot of highly fun levels in general. Cat suit is awesome (way better than Bee Mario), and being able to play as 5 different characters is wonderful. Every Mario game should let you play as Peach and Rosalina! There's a ton of care and attention put into every detail of the game, and it results in a great package.

The multiplayer is where it really shines through though. The co-op isn't perfect, and there are some levels that are very difficult to play multiplayer, but I played the whole game with a friend a few years ago when it came out and we had a blast together. It actually feels like the game was made for co-op, unlike NSMBW and NSMBU. There's plenty of room for two players to move around in, and playing co-op can make some of the challenges more fun or easier rather than merely being a complication. We beat everything other than Champion's Road together (which we came close on, but ended up doing single player since it's a bit easier that way) and had fun the whole way through. It's amazing that Nintendo managed to make a game that's really fun to play both singleplayer and co-op like this, and combined with Bowser's Fury, it makes for an incredible package.

Next game hint: it's over!