You haven’t played a Mario game until you’re controlling a quartet of Cat Marios (or Luigis, Toads or Peaches, given that you can also play as them from the off) in unison.Īnd about that catsuit. Shadow-Play Alley (World 2-3), for example, begins by letting you chase hapless enemies while holding a peckish Piranha Plant, before switching to a 2D perspective where you can only see Mario’s shadow on the wall, while Beep Block Skyway (4-3) tasks you with jumping between platforms that disappear with the beat of the music, throwing in power-ups that clone Mario each time he consumes one. 3D World sees Nintendo at its most relentlessly creative, constantly introducing new mechanics and ideas before chucking them out in place of new ones. This allows for some really precision platforming and a sense of focus in each course that really works.īut don’t mistake the more traditional structure for a lack of imagination. Even Mario’s acrobatic trademark triple jump is absent here. There’s a timer, and a flagpole to jump on at the end. You’re running, hopping and stomping your way through abundantly colourful, mostly linear courses, rather than sprawling levels, as you cheerfully pursue Bowser and his royal prisoner. Unlike the more freeform, explorative approach taken by Super Mario 64 and its spiritual sequel (sorry, Sunshine), Super Mario Odyssey, 3D World is more in the mould of the 2D platformers in which Nintendo’s multiskilled mascot made his name.

Super mario 3d world odyssey