games’ thoughtful design, gently elevating you from nervous Goomba-stomper into a careening blur of jumps, ground pounds, and sprints over the course of its ever-changing levels.

Where Odyssey was a riff on Mario 64’s freedom, 3D World is a modern take on the original Mario Bros. Its fixed camera means it can more regularly play with perspective, point of view, and good old secrets hidden just off of screen, with only an unusually placed block to point the way.Īfter playing so much of Super Mario Odyssey, it's fascinating to re-experience quite how different a game 3D World is by comparison. 3D World is a more machine-tooled experience, with its mostly one-way courses forcing players down gauntlets of increasing challenge, rather than Odyssey’s more freeform improvisation. And Captain Toad levels - which were invented for this game before becoming their own excellent spin-off - now accommodate multiplayer parties, rather than forcing three people to watch the host have fun for a bit.īut, in my time with the first four worlds of the game, those have been the only key changes – and with little new to focus on, it’s more interesting to realise what 3D World did that other Mario games haven’t.Īfter playing so much of Super Mario Odyssey, it’s fascinating to re-experience quite how different a game 3D World is by comparison. Online multiplayer is a nice addition, and smoothly integrated, with players simply choosing to create or join a room from the World Map (although, it needs to be pointed out that unfortunately only the host will make game progress in a multiplayer session). For the Switch port, Nintendo explains that movement is slightly faster, and that each of its four playable characters’ abilities have been ever-so-slightly tweaked, but the effects are barely noticeable without direct comparison.

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