Nintendo will live and die by how well their top tier characters do. First up is their pride and joy, Super Mario
The Electronics and Entertainment Expo showed how Nintendo will live and die by the support of their top tier franchises. The likes of Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong will either save Nintendo or dig the desperate hole deeper than before. Luckily for the big N, the company should be in good hands with what they have coming out in the future. Let’s get right into it with one of my favorite plumbers from Brooklyn, Super Mario.
Mario was front and center at this years E3, with quite a few games on the show floor for everyone to once over. First up is Super Mario 3D World. The spiritual sequel to Super Mario 3D Land plays similarly to Super Mario Bros. 2. Multiplayer makes a come back in this game, as Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad are all playable characters. Each character has different abilities such as the Princess being able to float for a limited time or Luigi being able to jump higher.
The game has a new power-up, Cat Mario, that everyone probably knows about by now. The power-up allows the player to climb up walls as well as attack enemies with claws. During my play, it took a little time to get used to the controls but once I did, I was speeding through the different levels. An account from the other player I was playing with said Toad was slow but Toad is supposed to be faster than the other characters. The game introduces clear pipes and plays off the 3D gameplay such as tight controls and block formation.
The controls could have been a little tighter but demos have issues like that all the time. The water level needed everyone to ride on the dino monster. Everyone had to turn the controller the same direction to get the dino to go that direction. Things like that should be fixed in the final product but in a time where multiplayer is Nintendo’s forte, Super Mario 3D World will be a great addition to the genre.
