Retro|Spective 075R: Super Mario

[Neon Ignition]

Game 109 - Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon
Having worked with Nintendo on Mario Strikers and Punch Out!!, Next Level Games was brought onboard to work on revamping and reviving the IP after a decade in the grave. Taking it to handheld, breaking it down into missions and adding in several themed houses addressed the risk involved and the need for variety in the gameplay. NLG tried to get the most that they could from the 3DS with the 3D effect planned for the original Gamecube game realised by the hardware. Adding co-op as well, the studio went all out in effort for their first non-sport Nintendo related effort and the result was a game that was broke the franchise out of its prior underdog position, going on to become the 12th highest selling 3DS game.




A Light in the Dark or the Dark side of the Moon experience?

[Neon Ignition]

For me, LM2 was an utter joy. Pretty much where the franchise cemented itself as top tier amongst all Mario related sub-franchises. It nails so much character, visual appeal and ideas in such a small form that it utterly shames the majority of what Nintendo funnels out via its partner studios and developers.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 110 - Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move
The fifth game in the series launched as an eShop only title with players placing tiles on a grid to create a path for the mini-Mario on the top screen to follow. Players have to make sure the mini-figure avoids obstacles on its way to the goal. The game was well received in reviews, its sales success unknown due to the release platform.




Did this entry Move you?

[Neon Ignition]

Game 111 - Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Continuing the era of Nintendo handhelds being spoiled for RPG choice, the next game in the M+L series arrived and saw players traverse the usual turn based world as well as the one within Luigi's dreams that took on more of a side scrolling view. It scored well as is typical of the series but saw sales fail to meet expectations despite clocking over 2.5m in units sold.



Was the Dream over with this entry?

[Neon Ignition]

Game 112 - Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
Amazingly, the third and latest of the full fledged arcade games is already a decade old itself. Once again Namco took on the duties and with this entry they redesigned ten of the courses to include glider and underwater sections inspired from the seventh entry. A multiplayer mode also allows karts to combine in a spin on Double Dash with one player as the driver and one as the gunner. Though it originally cut three characters from MKAGP2, six were later added via updates.





King of Arcade Racers?

[Asura]

I can't get along with the Mario Kart arcade games for one fundamental reason: when you win, it asks for more money to let you continue.

It may seem daft but I've never spent any money on it after the first time, as there's a deep-seated part of my soul which needs that not to catch on

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, it's the dirtiest of tactics from a machine. If I play an arcade game and it tries to bill me for doing well it cements I'm going to walk away. It literally has the opposite effect of what is intended.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 113 - Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
The sub-series just keeps on going with this fourth effort that adds online support. The game received mixed reviews by once again being overly conservative in the changes from prior entries, to date it remains the final entry based on the Winter Olympics.




All tired out?

[Neon Ignition]

Game 114 - Super Mario 3D World
Here's one I'm sure people will have opinions on, the next mainline Mario game arrived and controversially-almost pivoted away from being a grand 3D adventure and took inspiration from the handheld entry before it. With multiplayer incorporated the game merged more of the classic design of the 2D era games with that of the 3D era and reviewers adored it. The game became the second highest selling title on the Wii U and its ranking within the franchise often comes down to which style of 3D Mario adventure you prefer.



Did this game mean all the 3D World to you?

[Asura]

I think I've said enough for now about the Olympics games.

I'll be back for an absolute RAGE when we get to the 2020 Tokyo entry.

[Atticus]

I love 3D World. There are better 3D Mario games but this one ... there's magic in those level designs.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I resented Super Mario 3D World at the time it dropped on WiiU. I wanted Super Mario Galaxy 3 instead and saw SM3DW, wrongly, as little more than an HD version of Super Mario 3D Land.

Time has obviously proven me to be wrong on that. The hybrid 2D/3D multiplayer action really works and power-ups like the Double Cherry and Super Bell are inspired, as is the use of a swing big band for the soundtrack (a must if you haven't got your hands on a copy already).

Comparisions to the 3D Mario games are futile here because it is nothing like them. I almost feel like, in another time/era, SM3DW would've been a brilliant coin-op game.

[wakka]

Yeah, 3D World is a brilliant game. Like the man above I was initially underwhelmed by the reveal. Galaxy had been so earth shatteringly fresh and brilliant that this seemed like a lacklustre follow up.

Initial instincts weren't totally off - this doesn't scale the heights of Galaxy - but it is a superb game in its own right. The fixed eight way movement and isometric perspective were a new (ish) approach for Mario, and the game plays absolutely superlatively. As Atticus points out, the level design is also first class.

[Neon Ignition]

I started stronger on this than I ended. It launching against the XBO and PS4 launches led to me enjoying it quite a lot as I'd picked up a lot of games across the systems at once and it was the best one. As the years and familiarity have gone on I rank it lower, it's definitely good but for me the other obvious 3D entries easily scale heights 3D World can't challenge and (though we'll get to it) even the expansion they added on Switch felt more my tune

[Neon Ignition]

Game 115 - Mario Party: Island Tour
At least these things aren't annual anymore! Mixing in AR, this has 10 playable characters and offers the usual mix of board games and mini-games. Reviews were mixed stating it wasn't bad but it wasn't memorable either.



Fun or a Bullet Bill to the head?