It's possible people who like the style of humor in this game might be able to overlook the nonsensical plot, but it just felt like a wasted opportunity to me. Because, yeah, the idea of an adventure/puzzle game hybrid where you solve a mystery is attractive.
Well, with humble bundle, the important thing is that you get an amazing price on the games you're buying them for, and then get this weird stuff on the side. Like, when I got the Crash and Spyro collections for $15 (total, not each) a few years back, the bundle also came with a Call of Duty game, the Shenmue collection, and a couple of games I've never heard of. For $15. It certainly reduces the risk with trying stuff I've never heard of before.
Game: Astro's playroom (PS5)
When I got my PS5 the first game I was going to play was miles morales as it was the game I was most hyped for but then I saw an icon on my home screen with a little robot on it. I started the game and I was smiling the entire time I played! Here are my thoughts.
THE GRAPHICS
From what I saw, the original astro bot on ps4 had some really nice graphics. This game, however, takes the graphics to a whole new level! The textures on the playstation artefacts look so realistic, the shine on astro's face, it all looks lovely. This game is also a stunner in 4K with HDR on! Everything is so colourful and shiny and high quality! Astro has a nice roll in the Memory Meadow. THE DUALSENSE
The dualsense is an awesome controller but not many games have used it to it's full potential except this one. Every footstep astro takes is a little vibration in the controller. When he walks in the sand, the vibration feels crunchy and when he walks on metal, the vibrations feel clangy (not a word). When you use big robot hands to get toys out of a capsule machine, the triggers make you feel like you're popping the capsules or crushing the rubbish cans someone put in the machine. It truly feels like you are a part of the game world and you really need to try it for yourself to get what I'm saying. Astro definitely loves the dualsense.
THE MUSIC
Every song in this game is a bop! Ever since I first played GPU Jungle I've been hearing "GPUUUU! TELL ME WHAT TO DOOO! AND I'LL DO IT FOR YOOOU!" in my head (it really is a problem). The main theme is an earworm as well. I highly recommend you give the ost a listen. EDIT: THE OST IS STREAMING NOW! LISTEN TO IT NOW! GO! GO! GO! Dance Robot, Dance! THE GAMEPLAY
Astro is a joy to control. From the little hover he does to the spin and even just running and hopping around, it's all fun! I don't really have much to say about the gameplay. This game has really nice ice physics too! THE CONCLUSION
From the insanely fun gameplay to the adorable references to the amazing music and graphics, Astro's playroom is an amazing game that you need to play if you have a ps5. Definitely worth keeping on your console unless you're running out of space. It's also a little short for my liking. Astro walks the long and winding road. THE PROS
-Incredible graphics
-Incredible music
-Nice little easter eggs
-Astro is such a cute little boi
Game: Bugsnax (PS5)
This seemed like a joke game at first but as more info on it came out I started to become interested. I've put over 20 hours into the game so guess if I liked the game or not! THE PREMISE
You play as a journalist who is sent out to an island called Snaktooth to investigate a new species of bugs that look like foodstuff and discovers that the island has a lot of secrets. You find a grumpus called Filbo who is the mayor of a small ghost town called Snaxburg and your task is to get everyone back into the town. THE GRAPHICS
The graphics are pretty simple. The framerate chugs when you're in the town. That's all I have to say. THE MUSIC
The music is really fun and upbeat! From the slightly awkward sounding interview theme song to the catchy theme song, every song is great. THE GAMEPLAY
The bugsnax are fun and rewarding to catch as a nice little jingle plays every time you catch one. You have many tools at your disposal like a tripwire or a strawberry with eyes in a ball that you can use to lead bugsnax to where you want them to go. Some of the final bugsnax you have to find can be tedious to find if you don't have a guide and there's NO FAST TRAVEL IN AN OPEN WORLD GAME IN 2020 WHAT. OTHER INFO
The game is fully voice acted and aside from Beffica, every character is funny and charming. If you don't like a particular character you can turn them into a disgusting food monster and they won't even mention it so that's fun! THE CONCLUSION
Overall this game is great! There are a few technical hiccups and some flaws like * clears throat * NO FAST TRAVEL but aside from that, this is a really fun time!
The pros
-Fun characters
-Great music
-Great voice acting
-Rewarding gameplay
-You can turn the annoying characters into pickle goblins!
The cons
-Some of the bugsnax are a bit tedious to get
-Some minor framerate issues
-* clears throat again * NO FAST TRAVEL
-Beffica
9/10 Excellent
A bit late to the party but nice impression pieces there @Timleon on the reboot Tomb Raider games.
I've only played the very first Tomb Raider game myself and then Legends on the PS2 but thanks to Sol, Rog and some of the other folks I've been tempted a number of times on trying the reboot trilogy and thanks to you I have a much clearer picture on what to expect with them!
I hope Shadow Of The Tomb Raider is more up your alley then Rise was!
Bit late @mookysam but I finally got to reading your Super Mario Sunshine and it was rather delightful indeed! I love this new mythos you're creating for the mushroom kingdom including Witches, Lakitu, the devil and Pat Butcher
Your sharp wit made for a really enjoyable read... It's unfortunate it seemed to recieve barely any effort from the sound of things into porting it onto the Switch as part of the the collection but it sounds like a much more enjoyable experience then 64.
I look forward to seeing what your Galaxy review looks like!
... Well at least you haven't gone off the deep end this time @RogerRoger with your latest bond review!
Good stuff and it really was a facinating time when all these different versions of games were made with differing gameplay styles to accommodate the less powerful hardware. Some very nice screenshots you managed to rustle up there and that tune you posted is a bit of a jam lol
Good stuff Rog and glad you got round to playing a nice and enjoyable Bond game, even if it was a bit brief!
Like the others have said @Ralizah I'll have to chime in and say the absurdist plot of Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent 1 does sound rather fun to me but it's a shame it seemed to have gone a bit off the deep end for you in the sequel!
I actually really quite like the look of the visuals myself from the screenshots you've posted and the mash of puzzles and the typical brand of TellTale episodic adventure game sounds rather neat.
It's a bit of a shame we never got to see some more unique genre mashups like Puzzle Agent but thanks for bringing it to my attention all the same!
And apologies for the late reply in regards to your comments on Bowser's Fury & Galaxy (Didn't seem to get a notification for that curiously) but I've taken a bit of a deeper look into Galaxy 1 & 2 since the and I can see what you mean with 2 and the difference in the design philiosphy with the levels and worlds.
Hopefully when Nintendo "terminates" the 3D Collection games in the next few weeks (Which I find rather disgusting practice to be honest) they upload Galaxy 2 for people to grab a hold of alongside the other games just seperately instead of in a package.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks! I would definitely recommend the reboot trilogy to any fan of the older titles, if only to find out whether you like the new approach or not.
I'm about 3-4 hours into Shadow now and it's looking good so far. Waiting to see how the whole thing unfolds though.
Game: Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5)
In the words of Caddicarus, "Are you feeling a bit sad? A bit down? WELL SHUT UP BECAUSE YOU'RE PLAYING SACKBOY SO YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO BE HAPPY!" He wasn't wrong! This game is so uncontrollably happy that you don't wanna kill the enemies because they're so god-damn cute! The gameplay
This is one of the only things I don't really like from this game! Sackboy runs so slow! He runs at the speed of an old age pensioner! The jump height is absolutely tiny and the flutter jump is pathetic. However, the weapons you get like the whirly tool and jetpack are really fun! The music
The music in this game is pretty great! From whimsical orchestral tunes to upbeat dubstep and even some licenced music from Mark Ronson, deadmau5 and much more! There is a surfer version of Take on me by A-Ha so yeah. The voice acting
This game's voice acting is also great! Dawn French (The Vicar of Dibley, French & Saunders) and Richard E. Grant (Withnail and I, Rise of Skywalker) steal the show as Sackboy's mentor Scarlet and villain Vex. The other characters like N.I.C.O.L.E and Gerald Strudleguff are great too! The conclusion
Overall, this game is fine but the boring gameplay holds it back from greatness.
Pros
Great voice acting
Lovely music
Overall peppy world
Some fun weapons
Cons
Slow movement speed
Painfully small jump
7.8 Good (almost great)
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, Galaxy 2 weirdly feels more like a predecessor to 3D World than it does a sequel to Galaxy.
I doubt Nintendo will remove the actual games. The collection itself will probably just be delisted with individual downloads replacing them. It'd be pretty dumb of Nintendo to not keep the games up for sale, and they could still say they weren't technically lying, because they did, indeed, take down the collection.
@Jackpaza0508 I hate when characters are slow in platformers. The best thing Nintendo did for the SM3DW Switch port was boost the speed of the characters dramatically compared to the Wii U version. Platformers are about movement and physicality. Slowness just works against that.
Game: Spider-Man Miles Morales
If I could describe the first spider-man in one word, I would use the word Free because of the small but dense open world where you're free to do whatever you want. The word I would use to describe Miles' game is Community. This is because instead of all the side missions being crimes, you help neighbours. From getting a man's cat back to helping someone who lost their car to even just having a selfie with someone. It makes the city feel alive in a way the first game didn't do for me. But that doesn't mean this is a better game.
Let's start with the gameplay. Instead of having the first game's focus meter, this game uses a venom gauge. If you fill it up you can use a venom punch which is basically a lightning powered punch. As the story goes on, you can store more venom in your gauge. If you fill it up all the way when It has been expanded, you can let out a devastating venom blast. You also have a camouflage meter which turns you invisible which is very useful in stealth missions. The normal combat is almost the same as the first game.
Next is the music. The ost in this game is pretty great. The first game used orchestral epic tunes to set the mood but this game goes a different direction by using orchestral music with some hip-hop mixed in there! It works really well for miles!
The graphics. MY GOD, the graphics. As soon as you turn the game on, you're greeted by a model of miles which looks so realistic! My first reaction was "OH MY GOD YOU CAN SEE EVERY INDIVIDUAL FINGERPRINT ON THE HEADPHONES OH MY-". The snowflakes even fall and melt individually on everyone's clothes!
While I've been positive about the game so far, that doesn't mean I can't bitch about it! This game is way too short! I got the game for christmas and no joke, I finished it on the 27th of december. THAT'S ONLY 2 DAYS!
Conclusion
This game is almost a 10/10 for me. Everything about it is great except the length. Please play it if you have a ps5!
Pros
-Nice music
-Fun and zippy combat
-Out of this world graphics
Cons
-Way too short
9.5 Excellent (Almost outstanding)
I have some other games on PS5 like The pathless and Immortals Fenyx Rising but I haven't finished them yet so I'm gonna review them as soon as I'm done with them. So far, Pathless gets an 9/10 and immortals gets a 8/10.
The year is 1999 and Resident Evil is dominating Capcom's development studios.
A title that was originally intended as a spinoff is upgraded to mainline series status and is released in Japan and the US (with Europe having to wait til the following year).
This... is Resident Evil 3.
A prototype is being worked on for the Nintendo 64 with a character swapping mechanic and the ability to drop and retrieve said items... Though the team is struggling thanks to hardware limitations it'll see the light of day on nintendo's next gen console a few years later.
This, eventually, is Resident Evil 0.
A game oft considered to be the "true" Resident Evil 3 is being toiled away on the dreamcast after an initial failed port of Resident Evil 2 to the Sega Saturn.
This... is Resident Evil: Code Veronica.
And finally Hideki Kamiya, after the success of Resident Evil 2, is starting to work on Resident Evil 4 for the upcoming Playstation 2.
Except... He isn't.
This game revolves a man named "Tony" with an indestrucable body & trying to unravel the mystery behind it, dealing with the occult. Kamiya describes it as instense "Cool Action" game... But Shinji Mikami considers it far too outlandish for the series and instead an entirely different game series is born.
This is not Resident Evil 4.
This is
Devil May Cry Version played: PS4 (Part of the HD Collection) Also available on: PS2 & Nintendo Switch (by itself) PC, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 (as part of the HD collection) Completion Time: 3:30 hours to beat the game on Normal and 3:04 for Hard (Though I reloaded stages a fair number of times and spent like a good extra 2/3 hours or so just getting through the latter half of the game at this difficulty).
Dante Must Die difficulty wasn't attempted.
Six secret missions were beat.
Yes, if you weren't already aware, Devil May Cry (DMC from here on in) actually started out it's life with the intentions of it being the next mainline Resident Evil game with a very unique and very different premise compared to what we got with Leon's escapades in remote Spanish villages.
So... what's the actual premise of DMC you might ask?
You play as Dante, son of the legendary Dark Knight Sparda (A demon who rebelled against the underworld, sealing it away whom then later married a human who gave birth to twin sons), who owns the shop "Devil May Cry" that takes on the more... peculiar odd jobs oft dealing with the occult.
A woman, Trish as we later find out, crashes through his store on a motorbike (Which Dante treats like this happens once a week with his rather blasé reaction), whom then talks for a bit before electrocuting him, stabbing him with his own sword and hurling the motorbike she was riding at him.
Let's Rock!
For a normal human (even in the DMC universe) this would be lights out for them. But whilst Dante isn't like his previous incarnation of Tony with a fully indestructable body. He IS part demon.
Getting up to deliver the final blow to this mystery woman Trish removes her sunglasses to reveal that she's a dead ringer for Dante's passed away mother and wants to hire him for a job which Dante readily agrees to.
Yeah...
If you were thinking Capcom had finally shed the absolutely dreadful translation/localisation phase they had with their previous masterpieces that were the PS1 Resident Evil games or MegaMan... Oh boy they really REALLY hadn't.
Hell (Pun intended) upon replaying this I found it so bad that instead of becoming kinda good (Like the aforementioned Resi titles) this kinda wrapped right around back to bad territory again.
There's only one scene I feel that's truly so bad it's good and DMC fans will already know what I'm talking about. No review would be complete without showing DMC's true splendor.
Annnnnnnywho thankfully we aren't really here for DMC's story or characters (At least for this one as there's barely anything here) we're here for that cool action Kamiya promised and DMC delivers rather well for a title well over 20 years old!
Despite the movement and attacks at times feeling a bit slow and clunky for today's standards, Dante is rather versatile thanks to the use of both directional inputs & delayed inputs for melee attacks. Plus there's a number of moves that are available for purchase to pump up/grant additional combos you can pull off.
Now Dante's melee weapons aren't called "Devil Arms" just because it sounds cool. The weapons Alastor and Ifrit allow Dante to activate a mode called "Devil Trigger". We've already established Dante IS only half human after all.
Devil Trigger awakens Dante's Devil form which enhances his physical strength, mobility and cause him to slowly regenerate health too. Very handy in a pinch and especially useful against the numerous bosses (or even some of the tougher mooks) in the game. On Hard difficulty Devil Trigger is required to be used in order to deal decent damage against the bosses!
My attempts at capturing an in game depiction of Devil Trigger came out rather poor... so take this, not that much better, CG shot instead!
Alastor's devil form is much more nimble then Ifrit and even gets the power to fly, shooting lightning bolts and double jump in the air (as long as you've purchased the recquired abilities) whilst Ifrit focuses on pure desctruction with much much harder hitting combo strings giving the two weapons very different feels.
Of course you can't just use Devil Trigger willy nilly though. You bulld up the Devil Trigger bar/DT gauge (Or symbols in this case) by attacking enemies, getting hit or by using a Devil Star item.
You start out with a limit of 3 symbols (And you NEED at least three banked to trigger the transformation) but can get a maximum of ten by buying a Devil Orb item at the shop which'll upgrade the bar by a single symbol each time.
... You're also no doubt aware of the stylish rank the DMC games have during combat, grading you on how well you're doing?
This game using Dull, Cool, Bravo, Absolute (Awesome In the US release) & Stylish to denote your battling prowess.
In the later games this is supposed to keep you on your toes & make combat encounters fresh by having you use dfferent weapons, combos etc ... But it's not very well implimented in this first game.
These Giant possessed marionettes are very easy to kill, so building your stylish rank with these is hard work
A single second and a half of you not attacking an enemy and your rank completely disappears regardless of how high it is and whilst there is an option to switch between Ifrit and Alastor without going into the menu... It takes like a good three seconds to switch weapons (And I had no idea it existed until going back in the game today to rustle up better screenshots!).
On the upside though compared to later titles you can just keep attacking an enemy with the same combos over and over and you'll increase your rank regardless. Seeing as the game only judges your mission rank by the number of orbs you have and the time it took to do the mission... it's not as important though compared to later games (Though your style ranking will make enemies drop more orbs).
I haven't played the PS2 version of DMC since 2005 (my last proper DMC game being the 4th back in 2009/2010?) so... I've been away from the series for a good while and it did take a bit of getting used to DMC but by the end of things I was back on, relative, form.
The game, and the series in fact, isn't a walk in the park and can be quite challenging...
... But the first few rooms of Mallet Island have no enemies whatsoever and one of the first things you have to do is go round a fairly open room and collect all 45 red orbs that lie within (to open a locked door) which wordlessly teaches you about the various traversal mechanics like wall jumping and your first combat encounter is against a rather small 2-3 enemies.
So whilst it can be difficult (Mission 3 and Phantom being the wake up call moment for a lot of new, or returning after a fairly long leave of absence, players) it does ease you into the game ok enough I feel?
Rather then a shot of lava spider/scorpion boss Phantom... Have this nice snap of a painting instead!
It helps that the game is divided into missions with each mission screen clearly telling you your next objective and a good half of the 23 missions can be completed in little under 5 minutes (One mission can be done in as little as 40 seconds) so even if you do end up dying and having to continue, or worse have to reload your save, you'll never have to take too long to get back to where you were.
Plus Mallet Island isn't all that big either. The game's Resident Evil roots are on show with the fixed camera angles (Though they do sometimes sweep and follow Dante), needing to get certain items to unlock certain doors or interact with to progress.
Unlike any other title in the series (I think?) you can even interact with most the objects around the castle and it's grounds to get a snippet of information or a comment from Dante.
Nothing ominous here at this castle at all!
There's... not all that much more to say really about the first adventure involving our red jacket wearing demon slayer to be honest.
There is only 5 unique bosses in the game so you do have to fight the same bosses over again at least 2/3 times over the course of the adventure.
They do get new moves each time and progressively get more challenging... But Nightmare in particular is a pain with his gimmick and Griffin (A giant electricity spewing eagle) flies. The final boss is... Ok. So only two of the bosses felt particularly good to fight to me.
The music of the game is also... fine? There's some nice ambient tracks walking round the island and the music that plays during combat encounters/bosses is more energetic to get the blood pumping.
It's nowhere near as memorable to me as the later games, though it suits the game and it's gothic stylings just fine.
One of the castle's themes that plays when out of combatOne of the few battle themesPhantom's boss battle music
I will say I found the audio mix is horrendous for the voice acting though with Phantom in particular being pretyy much impossible to understand at times thanks to the effects done to his voice (so you might wanna stick the subtitles on).
The character and enemy designs hold up fairly well I feel with a nice range from demonic bugs, giant eagles, lizard men and the likes. Especially for a game that's rather early on in the PS2's cycle.
The HD collection makes things look a fair bit clearer thanks to a resolution bump (Though the CG cutscenes are really quite grainy)... But other then a gallery added for each game and a number of music tracks for each title too there's not much has been done to the base game at all as far as I can tell?
To end off this review here's a nice illustration from the new art gallery added the HD collection (Which includes a number of references to Resident Evil and Dante's initial incarnation of Tony!).
When all's said and done Devil May Cry 1 is a solid foundation for future games in the series to build upon (Which they mostly do rather nicely) and thankfully the story and character elements introduced from this point on are much greater then the bit of a mess we have here.
At least... I recall they are... They're more fun at least. We'll see when I eventually get round to them
Devil May Cry 1 gets a "low"7/10 from me.
Objectively? I'd give it the exact same "low"7/10.
Thanks for reading my first review of 2021! It's been nearly four months since my last review with Genshin Impact (Which I think was much better written then this if I'm being completely honest). The start of the year just seems to be where I lose my reviewing mojo as the same happened to me last year but hopefully it'll come back to me sooner rather then later 😅
Going forward (and I've already updated my previous reviews a number of weeks ago) I'm changing how I score titles slightly so instead of .5's I'm going to have whole numbers and adhere to how Push Square handles it's review scores but add my own little high or low to give it a little extra bit of scaling and make my reviews a bit more unique alongside the "Objective" scores I already do.
I did take slight creative liberties with the opening, with it being pieced together from various sources as Capcom is fairly tight lipped with how they develop their games (As we'll find out when Devil May Cry 2 comes around).
Yeah it made me feel quite old upon the realisation of how old the game is as well... Especially with me turning 40 39 again next month 😂
I'm a little surprised to hear it reminds you of my Soul Reaver review Rog but I quite liked that one and again I'm pleased to hear you think it flows alright. Yours and Ral's latest efforts gave me the kick up the backside I needed to finish this one off as I've had it lingering in my notepad app for weeks!
And you're welcome! Phantom's quite... chunky I think is the best word and rather fantastical with the whole lava coursing through him so he doesn't quite bother me as much but I knew you'd be giving it a read Rog so I swapped him out.
Plus when will I get the chance to show such a nice gothic painting ever again? 😄
As for your question... I did give DMC 2 a little go not long after I'd beaten DMC 1 a couple of weeks ago but I'll wait a bit longer before playing it in earnest.
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy, spot on review of DMC. I played it for the first time ever (on Switch for me), and I'd say my experience was similar to yours. A bit rough in spots today, but still pretty fun with nice atmosphere. I hated that dark blob boss too, which I assume is the "Nightmare" you spoke of.
@Jackpaza0508, nice series of reviews! I honestly don't get the appeal of Bugsnax at all (seems like it's only getting hype as one of the few true PS5 exclusives currently out), but Astro's Playroom, Sackboy, & Miles are all games I'm looking forward to when I get a PS5!
@Ralizah, I think I remember hearing about Puzzle Agent back in the day (probably in Nintendo Power or Game Informer, as I didn't frequent forums back then), but that's the extent of my knowledge. Sorry to hear it didn't live up to your expectations (the gum thing sounds like it'd absolutely gross me out, lol).
@RogerRoger, cool review of Everything or Nothing. Don't think I played too many licensed games on GBA, but it looks pretty cool.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I actually learned quite a bit from your review, it’s been a while since I played the first DMC! Griffon, Shadow and Nightmare actually come back as playable characters in 5 which makes a lot of sense once the main twists roll around! Really great review and fair, the game is great but also pretty hokey in places due to its age.
Super Mario 3D World (Switch)
Another past gen port to Nintendo's hybrid hit, and my first experience with it. This also comes with the new Bowser's Fury game, which I'll be reviewing seperately.
Gameplay:
It takes the classic 2D style Mario platforming of running and jumping through mostly linear obstacle courses under a time limit and adapts it to 3D space. In addition to Mario (who's an all 'rounder), you can play as Luigi (slippery but can jump high), a Blue Toad (Runs super fast but has a low jump), and even Princess Peach herself (slow movement but has long floaty jumps). There's also an unlockable secret character.
As extra objectives each level holds 3 collectable Green Stars as well as one Stamp in hidden/hard to reach locations, as well as the incentive to hit the top of the end level Flag Pole. There are some levels along the way that are locked until you have a certain number of Green Stars, the Stamps can be used to decorate photos (it has a photo mode), and collecting all Green Stars, Stamps, & Flag Pole tops is necessary to access some of the penultimate post game challenges.
Powerups come in two flavors. First you have the "transforming" types (of which you can only have one active at a time, and can be taken from level to level) such as the Super Mushroom (makes small Mario big), Fire Flower (throw fireballs), Tanooki Suit (float & tail swipe attack), Boomerang Suit (throw boomerangs that can grab items), and the all new Cat Suit (climb walls & claw attack). Then you have the "wearable" types (these can stack on top of whatever "transforming" powerup you have, and even on top of each other in some instances, though can only be used within the level found) such as the Starman (brief invincibility), Propeller Box (massive jumps with slow descent), Coin Box (coins with every step), Boom Box (fires cannon balls), and the all new Goomba Mask (enemies won't attack), Goomba's Skate (better control on ice & can cross spikes), and Double Cherry (multiplies your character up to five at once). In a class of it's own you also have the Mega Mushroom (temporarily become an invincible terrain smashing giant, though this overrides and erases any other powerups you have). Needless to say, there are lots of options at play.
Just like the 2D games the levels are accessed via a world map, though you're not locked to the yellow path and can run around the little environments. Nothing near the scope of the hub worlds of traditional 3D Mario games, but these do hold the occasional small secret here & there.
Like the rest of the game, the world map is very aesthetically pleasing.
In addition to traditional levels, each world also houses either a Mystery House or Captain Toad level. Mystery Houses string together (usually 10) small timed challenges back to back to back (earning you a Green Star for each challenge completed), while Captain Toad levels are the real standout (as you can guess getting it's own spinoff, also on Switch). In Captain Toad levels you have to guide the little guy around little dioramic levels trying to grab 5 Green Stars. You can move the levels around to get a better look at all their secrets, but the Captain himself lacks the ability to jump.
A different perspective on gameplay.
I also wanted to give a shout-out to the boss lineup, which came as a nice surprise. I wasn't sure what to expect going in as 3D Land (the preceding 3DS title) had a pretty lackluster slate of bosses, but the roster has been expanded & what's here is pretty good.
If there's such a thing as a good clown, I haven't found it.
All in all, there isn't a whole lot to complain about, gameplay is quick, fluid, instantly fun, and while Mario's moveset isn't quite as diverse as it is in other 3D titles, there's so much diversity thanks to all the power ups, other playable characters, and other level gimmicks (like levels/sections where you ride Plessie, the aquatic equivalent of Yoshi, through obstacle courses) it never gets boring. Some may complain that the semi-fixed/isometric camera angles can interfere with the platforming, but that's honestly a nitpick from my experience. Sure I've had a death or two I blame on it, but if you just pick one of the more janky scenarios in 64 or Sunshine (and let's be honest, each game has at least a few), that in itself will lead to more grief than 3D World's camera will during an entire playthrough.
It also features both local & online multiplayer, though I didn't get a chance to check this out. Another common complaint related to this is that "the environments are too large to really enjoy in single player", but I honestly don't see it. The Savannah level is the only one that came close enough for me to wonder if I'd be able to fully explore it within the time limit, while on the other hand there are multiple levels I can think of that I'd imagine would be very cramped with multiple players, particularly the later ones.
Visual/Audio:
It's a very colorful game, in some places I'd even say impressive (I liked the rain effects), and it's a super, super smooth experience. There are tons of different environments, from themes that repeat a few times like grasslands, Bowser's castle levels, & snowy areas, to largely one off treats such as a Japanese castle, Mario Kart themed level, or a haunted shipwreck.
There are varied locales, including a pretty suggestive looking bridge (seriously, look at that last shot again, lol).
Something else that has proved somewhat divisive is the lack of coherent theming. At first glance it would seem that each world has a specific theme going for it (look at the cloudy theme of the World 6 map I posted earlier), however in practice only one or two levels within the world actually match up with said theme (usually just the first level in a world), and it's much more content to experiment & jump around with theme level by level. It's largely neither here nor there for me (and if levels did stick thematically closer to their associated world, we'd probably get calls of "cliche!"), but I generally like the surprise. I would have liked World 8 to have more coherent level theming though, as the theme given off by the world map itself here is anything but generic for the series. Oddly enough World 7 stands out as the only one where it's levels largely did stick to theme, which was a nice change of pace.
the Mario series has always been one with a lot of catchy music to bop along to, and 3D World is no exception. Things get really good in post game where a larger share of tunes from past games comes into play, and I particularly liked the return of some great Galaxy music.
Story:
There's nothing much to say here other than the fact that it drops the "damsel in distress" bit and Peach joins the Bros. on their adventure. This time Bowser has invaded the Sprixie Kingdom (which looks a lot like the Mushroom Kingdom, but with the appearance of clear pipes & purple crystalline block bricks), and kidnapped the Sprixies, but other than that things play out as you'd expect.
I hope this nice walk isn't interrupted by anything.
I do like the tiny bit of worldbuilding connecting it to a past game in the series. Particularly the appearance of a past hub world appearing at the end of the credits, forshadowing the theme the post game will adopt (at least for it's world map, if not most of the levels themselves, as has been the case for this game).
Conclusion:
It may not be as grand in scope & theming as past 3D titles (though a nice step up from the similarly structured 3D Land in this regard), but it's an absolute masterclass in platforming mechanics that makes it an absolute joy to play around in. Definitely don't sleep on it if you have a Switch & haven't played it on Wii U.
"It's Meow, Mario!"
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
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