E3 2013: Super Mario 3D World Impressions

If you ask someone what the best Mario game in recent times has been, you’ll either get the answer Super Mario Galaxy or Super Mario 3D Land. So Nintendo using the inspiration and styles of 3D Land on the Wii U is a no brainer.

Super Mario 3D World does look a lot like the 3DS game, but it’s got a ton of new features, new ways to play, a new suit and four player multiplayer as well. It also feels notably different, when compared to the 3DS game that came before it, anyway.

The games multiplayer plays much the same as it has previously in the ‘New’ series. Up to four players take the field at the same time, die and you turn into a bubble to get re-spawned from, all of you die and the level is over. Channeling Super Mario Bros 2. each of the playable characters control and have their different abilities. Luigi has his wobble jump and is a little harder to control, Peach uses her levitating skirt to hover for a short period and Toad screams like a 5 year old.

New to the games world are clear warp pipes, now you can actually see how Mario and co travel through them and even in some locations change directions to avoid enemies in the pipes. The new power touted at the expo is the cat transformation. Nintendo says it isn’t a suit.

With it you walk and run along like a cat on all fours, climb up walls (or your new couch, thanks cats) for a short time before sliding back down with your claws. The cat power can make the characters roll and pounce to take out enemies but Luigi, Peach, Toad and Mario retain all the moves that make them different such as Peace’s hover.

For the first time ever the flag pole at the end of the game can be climbed up, but only with the cat power.

The game can be played with GamePad or Wii Remotes, the GamePad works perfect as you would expect and the touch screen is used just at this stage to mirror what’s on the TV. You can tap some world elements and/or enemies to pause them, just like in New Super Mario Bros U.

There were several levels I played on the E3 showroom floor and each of them were unique, its one part of Mario games that are never bad. The level design is fantastic. We’ll have to see how it extends to the rest of the game when its released in December 2013.