Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Wii-U/Switch) - It's the cat's meow!

[Gregzilla]

Man, this game is fantastic!  The first Mario game since Galaxy 2 that I truly love.  I just got to World 8.  World 7 is where the difficulty really started to ramp up, as I lost a huge number of lives on several levels.  

 

I guess I'll mention what I don't like first.  The Bowser fight led me to believe that more bosses would take more than 3 hits, which isn't the case except for Bowser himself.  That's disappointing.  And some of the levels still feel a LITTLE trope-y.  At least, more than the Galaxy games.  But these aren't huge issues, as the game is super creative outside of that, ridiculously polished, and just flat-out fun.  I love the controls, I love the level design, I LOVE the cat suit, I love the music, it's just wonderful through and through.

 

Also, what's everyone's favorite character?  I tried to switch off at first, but now I mainly stick with Toad.  

[canderson]

The Bowser fight led me to believe that more bosses would take more than 3 hits, which isn't the case except for Bowser himself. 

Actually the Bowser fight in the first World took me three hits, unless you're referring to latter battles. I'm currently not too far in the game.

Edited November 23, 2013 by canderson

[Gregzilla]

Actually the Bowser fight in the first World took me three hits, unless you're referring to latter battles. I'm currently not too far in the game.

 

I think if you hit him directly then it's three hits, but it takes more if you hit his car.  I only managed to hit him directly a couple times.

[canderson]

I think if you hit him directly then it's three hits, but it takes more if you hit his car.  I only managed to hit him directly a couple times.

Okay. Just played it again, a couple of minutes ago. It is three hits directly and nine hits if striking his car.

My first playthrough, I actually landed all three direct hits.

Edited November 23, 2013 by canderson

[YoshiUnity]

 

Also, what's everyone's favorite character?  I tried to switch off at first, but now I mainly stick with Toad.  

 

I like using Toad the most as well. He's da best.

 

Anyway, I've beaten the final boss. That was without a doubt the BEST final boss in a main Mario title. It did a lot right with providing some challenge and making it even MORE clear that this is an HD Mario title. And still, I need this game's soundtrack in my veins.

 

I would give my final opinion on here, but I'm not done yet. Still have to unlock Rosalina and play the extra levels. Will give my full opinion afterwards.

Edited November 23, 2013 by Red-Nosed ReindeerUnity

[jords]

That final boss was pretty epic I must say. Time to 100% it

[Chaos Warp]

Of course everyone likes using Toad, he is the fastest and we are on a Sonic forum after all................

[Dejimon11]

Of course everyone likes using Toad, he is the fastest and we are on a Sonic forum after all................

He's also the hard mode of the game

[Chaos Warp]

He's also the hard mode of the game

Okay.

So if Toad is Hard Mode, which character would be Easy mode?

[Dejimon11]

Okay.

So if Toad is Hard Mode, which character would be Easy mode?

Peach since she can hover. I haven't played the game yet but from what I've seen Luigi doesn't look like he's slippery if that's true he's up there with peach

[canderson]

Because I have nothing better to do in my time, I made Peach say hello to SSMB in the image shown below.(had to do it in cursive,  since the marks disappear in like one second or even less)

[MegasonicZX]

I still wish toadette was in this game, for some reason playing a mario game with multiple characters without her is saddening to me (even though shes never been in one before besides the mario parties).

[WhoWhatMan]

Final Boss spoiler

 

 

OK, that is extremely odd looking

[Komodin]

Final Boss spoiler

 

Hmm... I was expecting him to look more like a lion (King of the Jungle/Savannah -> King of the Koopas), but this works quite well, too, I suppose.

[Nintendoga]

Hmm... I was expecting him to look more like a lion (King of the Jungle/Savannah -> King of the Koopas), but this works quite well, too, I suppose.

You know I'm really glad you said that because now

I can't look at that form of Bowser without thinking of Mufasa. Someone seriously needs to photoshop his and Bower Jr.'s faces onto Mufasa and Simba. I'm crying just thinking about it.

"Long live the Koopa King"

[Conando]

After playing as Toad some more, he's my go to bro for multiplayer. I tend to be better at platformers than my friends, so I might as well play as him because of that amazing speed.

[Gregzilla]

Final boss spoilers:

...am I the only one kinda disappointed?  I mean, visually it's fantastic, and Cat Bowser is pretty funny, but the fight itself....eh, it was just some more hardcore platforming.  I really liked the car fights, because they were actually FIGHTS.  Hitting Bowser with soccer balls was really satisfying, as were a few other bosses.  I was hoping for something other than "avoid Bowser until you get to the end" like we got in 3D Land.

 

But that's just me.  I'm very, very critical when it comes to finales.  

[Toby]

I feel the exact opposite. I love love love the final boss battle, there's so much going on! Bowser using the Super Bell, and halfway through, Double Cherries in a final attempt to take you down!

Bowsers everywhere, climbing, smashing, stalking, until you finally reach the top and you're absolutely surrounded by Bowser Cats!

It was frantic, and fun, and way better than the Pimpmobile boss segments.

[Diogenes]

Final boss spoilers:

...am I the only one kinda disappointed?  I mean, visually it's fantastic, and Cat Bowser is pretty funny, but the fight itself....eh, it was just some more hardcore platforming.  I really liked the car fights, because they were actually FIGHTS.  Hitting Bowser with soccer balls was really satisfying, as were a few other bosses.  I was hoping for something other than "avoid Bowser until you get to the end" like we got in 3D Land.

 

But that's just me.  I'm very, very critical when it comes to finales.  

But,

isn't a platforming section the most natural sort of final "boss" for a platforming series?

I can get that it might be more viscerally satisfying to have an actual fight, but in terms of the game's mechanics, and how it's taught you to use them throughout the game, I think a platforming challenge is a much better capstone than trying to build a combat experience out of a game that's not really designed for it. And, at least from watching it, 3DW's final boss didn't seem any less intense or fun than, say, Galaxy's final boss.

[Gregzilla]

I get that, but I just personally prefer getting to lay the smack down.  I'd probably use something like Bowser Jr's Boomsday Machine from Galaxy 2 as an example of a big, fun battle.  There wasn't a lot of 

platforming, per se, but there was still plenty of jumping and avoiding stuff, and it put one of the game's new items, the Cloud Suit, to the test.  It was very intense and tested your skills as Mario, but it still felt like an actual battle, and it was super satisfying to make it up to the top and smash the machine's head in.

 

I think a reason I'm not too much of a fan of the platforming challenge style is that it feels just like another level, only with more intense visuals.  Yeah, the visuals in the final battle of 3D World are kick-ass - in fact, the part where you finally reach Bowser at the top is pretty epic in terms of visuals - but I prefer fights to feel more organic.  Though admittedly, outside of the Galaxy games, and maybe Yoshi's Island, the Mario series has never been particularly good in that regard.  

 

I think my ideal Mario finale would be a combination of the two.  Either a big battle followed by a platforming challenge to escape, or the other way around, with a big platforming challenge to reach the battle arena for the final showdown.  

[WarioBone]

I've done everything but beat the stages with everyone and complete the very very very super hard final level.  I can't even get halfway in the final level.  It's like everything I've ever done wrong and been scared of put into a single level.

 

This is honestly one of my favorite games ever.  It's so great.  My favorite character (to play as) is Rosy.  While she doesn't have the special stats of the other characters (and she's stuck with Peach's shitty speed), she has a perma-raccoon tail that gives her a little boost (although I hate that the actual tail removes the boost) and allows her to attack even when small or without a power.

[canderson]

^Is the final stage really THAT hard? I'm looking forward to it, if that's the case.

 

As for the final boss:

If no one has mentioned already, I predict that Cat Bowser will be Bowser's new Final Smash in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. game. Or do you guys not think so?

[WarioBone]

^Is the final stage really THAT hard? I'm looking forward to it, if that's the case.

 

Dude, you don't even know.  I can get to the second Green Star (they're just given to you, basically instead of checkpoints, of which the stage has none) if I'm doing REALLY well, but usually die immediately after that.

[Dr. Mechano]

World Bowser has to be my favorite final world in any Mario game ever. It's nice to see Bowser taking a page from Eggman's playbook, and the egocentric amusement park angle works really well for him.

 

I love the map theme too, and how it utilizes Bowser's leitmotif from this game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUVQ7BUO8do

 

The levels themselves are great, but the final world (and final boss fight in particular) get so many points just for the atmosphere. Bravo.

[Dejimon11]

is it as hard as the last level of super mario galaxy 2?