Chaos has always been at the heart of Mario, and to see it pushed towards full-on four player slapstick is a thrill (and one that's made a mite more accessible this time around with online multiplayer that is, by Nintendo's admittedly fairly low standards, a breeze). and you can't help but feel an attempt to push the 3D Mario series towards those same levels of sales - that introduces an electrifying level of chaos to it all.Īnd so there are snowballs to pick up and toss, baseballs to hurl at each other's heads in a frantic game of catch, or maybe you might just want to pluck up a friend and throw them into the abyss as you race them to the flag and the tiny little crown that's awarded to the highest scoring player at the end of every level.

It's a lift from the New Super Mario Bros.

Like 3D Land before it, 3D World mashes together the traditions of 2D and 3D Mario - levels are a race to the flag, while Mario's movement is more digital, with moves like the triple jump excised entirely - but the big new trick here is four-player co-op that's supported throughout. It's a more kinetic brand of action, in short. 2, of all things, that seems to set the tone here. 3 seemed to inform the spirit of 3D World's predecessor Super Mario 3D Land, it's Super Mario Bros. This is the Mario game whose levels pull in from everywhere and anywhere, from full-on tributes to Mario Kart and The Legend of Zelda to the more obscure parts of Super Mario's own past. If an addendum to any entry in the series would be so bold it makes sense that it would be to Super Mario 3D World, the Wii U original that saw the Tokyo EAD team at its maximalist best in its desire to throw absolutely everything in.

Availability: Out February 12th on Switch.

Developer: Nintendo Software Technology/EPD 8.

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