Never in our lifetimes did we expect Mario and friends to ever utter the sounds of our purring feline friends and yet here on November 22nd, we all will get that chance. Luckily from what many reports say, Super Mario 3D World is an incredible platforming experience that not only looks great in HD but it plays great with the gamepad.
This game is a first in another way as well, with it being the first 3D Mario title to feature simultaneous multiplayer. Now you and your family or friends can run and stomp and pounce together while fighting all sorts of enemies, new and old. Many power-ups make a return but plenty of new ones are featured as well.
There is no doubt about it; the music and graphics look great and this holiday season it's going to be a system-moving release.
Who out there is buying? How many spoilers have you allowed? (I accidentally saw some big ones just researching images for this thread!) What are you most excited for? Soon enough, share your thoughts and tips and tricks!
Please be conscientious to big spoilers once the game releases. Discuss the game openly but spoiler tag any unlockables or be sure to denote when you're talking about late-game content with perhaps a World 7-5 type bold note ahead of a level-based discussion.
Don't forget to update your Negative World catalog for this game! Do so right here!!
Yeah, World Crown was disappointing. Champion's Road felt like it was designed for a game with more precise controls, and the surprise box one is just trial-and-error and then it's doable. Neither are fun. The Captain Toad stage was okay though, I think. Don't really remember it for some reason, but I know it wasn't a pain. It doesn't bring down the game as a whole, but yeah, I was hoping for something better to finish out on.
To beat all the stages with all characters, I just used the "cheat" of having three other characters join at the end. Then it was just a matter of completing every stage one more time instead of four more times. And to keep things interesting, I would usually have one other character join at the start of the level and try to carry them to the goal without harm. Fun!
I don't know if I found anything wrong with the controls. In fact the sections where you're basically navigating a series of narrow pathways with numerous sharp 90degree turns at speed pretty much hammered home how incredibly precise the controls could be. I was basically turning on a dime and nailing those turns perfectly with ease.
That doesn't make the final levels any more easier mind. I've gotten about 20 or so stars from the Mystery Box, Champion's Road is still kicking my butt, and I hope you like fried mushrooms, because that's all I got from the last Captain Toad stage so far.
@Shadowlink Yeah, I think the controls are great, and that Champion's Road is a testament to both how good they actually are, and how the differences between the characters change the feel of the platforming in a fun way. I thought I would feel really fed up with Champion's Road after having beaten it the first time, but once I got back in there with a new character it all started turning into lots of fun to me. Maybe it's Stockholm Syndrome, but I don't think I've appreciated the game as much as I do right now.
I'd suggest playing Super Mario World again. That game has super sharp control and physics, and it's a shame it didn't set the standard for Mario games. Heck, make that all platformers.
The final part with the speeders is the easiest part, I beat that part first try. The jumping and the swimming parts were the only hurdles, mostly due to the wonky jump and swimming physics.
@Mop it up There's nothing wrong with the swimming physics! The swimming part is the place I'm the least likely to find myself harmed or dead in. When I die in Champion's Road it's always my own fault, and most often it's a result of hesitation during the beep blocks segment.
This. I tried it with Rosalina and made it as far as the swimming section, then died (because I was already small when I got there). Had I made it to the speeding section, I would have easily won. Like @Mop it up said, that's the easiest section of the level by far.
@Zero @ludist210 I had a much harder time with Peach than with Rosalina. I think the quasi double jump Rosalina does helped me do some quick compensating manouvers when I found myself off track, wheras I tended to screw up Peach's fluttering when I needed it the most.
I really didn't use Rosalina much in that game at all. Well, I sort of did once I unlocked her because I usually chose "random", but I rarely ever specifically chose her for anything.
@Zero I tend to go with the random selection too, or at least I did before I started trying to finish every level with every character. Now there's a crapload of levels in need of some Rosalina action. Not sure why I decided to try her on Champion's Road -- desperation, I guess -- but I'm glad I did.
I thought Peach was the toughest to use due to her slowness. I first beat it with Toad because he's nice and zippy.
@r_hjort I wouldn't say there's anything "wrong" with the swimming, it's just a lot less precise than other Mario games. This game basically ignores 30 years of swimming control evolution and goes back to SMB1 swimming in 3D, which I think is just plain stupid.
The next game will probably have Donkey Kong physics where Mario can't fall five feet without dying.
The float doesn't last that long, hee hee. For me, platformers are all about rhythm. Peach is too slow to have rhythm, she falls so slowly and her float is a variable that makes each of her jumps different. It really throws off my timing when it takes her so dang long to reach the ground. Toad's snappy jump is a lot easier to get into a rhythm and time the jumps.
Well, different strokes. I mean, I'm actually glad to hear this, because sometimes I think "what is the point of so many characters if Peach is obviously the best one?" but I guess it's not so obvious. Depends on the person's play style.
There were a few of those uber short collectathon stages that I preferred Toad for because they gave you such little time, but mostly I found Peach to be superior. I didn't always use her (usually used random) because I don't necessarily LIKE taking away challenge by floating over it, but for that last stage... she was my go to.
Has there ever been a game with so many false endings? I keep thinking I must be just about through the game and then another world opens up. I started this game months ago and I've been playing a level every night for the past couple of weeks (I make sure to get every star, stamp and gold flag on every level before moving on). Even with everything I've read about the game, I thought this was it when I was playing through the Star Levels that open up after going back to the game post-credits. Nope. Apparently not.
Ok, so I've finally unlocked the final world. Champion's Road is delightfully difficult. I've lost over 100 lives to this thing. I've gotten as far as the area where you can't stop running at top speed with all the shockwaves coming at you and you have to collect the five question marks. I'm assuming that it is near the end because I have all three stars at that point, but I haven't beaten it yet. Sunk over 2 hours into this one level so far. Love it.
