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Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on 23/10/2023 Written by deKay

There was no doubt that I was going to instabuy a new Mario game. It might not be a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey, but New Super Mario Bros U was one of the best Mario games, if not, actually, the best and this is the first 2D outing for Nintendo’s pipeman since that came out, so I was hyped.

All the new “wonder” effects shown in the trailer and Nintendo Direct, with crawling pipes and turning into a Goomba and bouncing on massive bubbles opened a trillion new possibilities to Nintendo’s already seemingly inexhaustible supply of one-off creative moments. Everything was so bright and slick and, well, Nintendo. The only slightly worrying thing were the talking flowers, who comment on your actions, which didn’t seem to fit, but early players confirmed you could turn them off, so it’d be fine. Right? Right?

Well, duh, obviously.

But, it isn’t quite as great as I was hoping for. Before I go on about why, I should say that a surprise delight was these talking flowers. I was sure they’d grate and annoy but no – they’re bloody genius. Turning them off removes a big ol’ chunk of personality from the game. Another thing that had been pre-levelled as a negative from folk is that veteran Mario and Chums voice artist Charles Martinet wouldn’t be voicing this game, I think the first Mario title since Mario 64 to not feature him. Thankfully, the replacement 1) isn’t Chris Pratt, and 2) isn’t very different at all so it’s fine.

So why isn’t it the Best Mario Ever? Well, mainly because it just isn’t quite there in a number of ways. It’s short, for a start, and it’s very, very easy. I know the Thing with Mario games is that the hidden levels and getting all the special coins/seeds/bonuses/exits/etc. is where the real challenge lies, but no – it’s really easy even to do that. I collected all the seeds (most levels have one for using the “Wonder” correctly, and one for completing the level) and finished all the levels without incident. Except for one of the secret levels (those levels being the Wonder equivalent to Star Road) where you have to do loads of wall jumps really quickly in time to music which constantly speeds up and one slight mistake and you die. Even that was simplified by having more lives than you can realistically lose and no penalty for losing any. Seriously, I spent the majority of the game with 90+ lives and never intentionally tried – or needed – to get more. One tricky level in the whole game? It’s for kids, mate.

There’s also a couple of new power-ups this time around. Most obvious is Elephant Mario, who can hold water in his trunk and water things, but can also smash certain blocks when needed. The other one is Bubble Mario, who, er, blows bubbles. Apart from being able to defeat baddies on the other side of walls (the bubbles pass through), and you can jump off a bubble you’ve blown, Bubble Mario offers nothing to the game and is completely unneeded for any of the levels. Elephant Mario, for all his cuteness and fatness, is a little wasted too. For the most part, both of these powers were used simply to survive an extra hit.

However! It is still a fantastic game. I bloody loved it from start to finish (even if that time was only about 8 hours) and it’s just so bouncy and damn happy and the physics of jumping is perfect in that way no other company besides Nintendo manage to get right. Even a “bad” Mario game is still better than 99.9% of other games. I still have a handful of big purple coins to get before it’ll be considered 100%d, but everything else is done, and I’ll be sad for it to end.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: completed, Diary, mario, switch

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on 05/03/2023 Written by deKay

Another Nintendo Online Service game. I have played this before, but maybe only once? I didn’t remember any of it apart from the bunny ears and the deformed Wario sprites.

It was so, so easy though! I didn’t die at all! Every boss was easy. Every level a cinch. I ended up with more lives than it’s possible to ever use.

But, it was enjoyable. A bit jerky, but very impressive when you consider this was a Game Boy game and so the same hardware as the good but obviously reduced-to-fit original Super Mario Land. Big, clear graphics, nice tunes and plenty of level variety.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: completed, Diary, game boy, mario, retro, switch

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on 16/02/2022 Written by deKay

Yes, I finally caved and bought Mario Kart 8 again. I have it for the Wii U so didn’t really need it on the Switch, but then they went and announced a load of new tracks will be coming to it and it was 33% off so here we are.

It’s the same as on the Wii U. Only you don’t get a screen each in two player and all the cups, tracks and characters are unlocked from the start. I’ve been through and come first in all the cups in 50, 100 and 150cc (so that’s more than enough to consider it “completed”), but haven’t played much of Mirror or 200cc yet.

Best character is Tanooki Mario with all his default kart options.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: completed, Diary, mario, mario kart, switch

Bowser’s Fury (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on 27/02/2021 Written by deKay

Included with the Switch port of Super Mario 3D World, Bowser’s Fury reuses all the power-ups, enemies and gimmicks from that game but adds cat ears to literally everything and gives you a fully controllable camera. It’s also one complete open world, a bit like an extra large Super Mario Odyssey level.

Bowser has gone out of control, and you need to collect Cat Shines to keep him in check. Every so often he rises from the black goo that covers the world, tried to kill you, and you send him back with the shines. As you collect more shines, you reveal more areas by getting rid of the goo.

Working in two player mode, with my daughter as Bowser Jr (who is concerned his dad is a bit too evil now), we collected all 100 Cat Shines in a few hours. It’s not a massive game, but it is excellent and something new in the Mario world.

The post Bowser’s Fury (Switch): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: completed, mario, Post, switch

Super Mario 3D World (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on 24/02/2021 Written by deKay

There was no way I was going to buy a copy of Super Mario 3D World for the Switch when I already owned it on the Wii U which is still connected to the TV the Switch is. So of course that’s what I did anyway. With my remaining Nintendo Online game voucher thing, so it only cost £21.50 and I’d bought the vouchers before HYRULE WARRIORS: Age of Calamity come out so that’s basically forgotten money now, right?

Anyway, it’s still really good. Because it’s the same game as before, and it was really good then. Touch controls (for prodding switches and baddies and things) are translated into gyro controls like they were in Super Mario Galaxy and don’t work as well as on the Wii U, but they’re barely used in the game so it doesn’t really matter.

Played through the story with my daughter as the whole game is co-op. That actually works both as a positive (when you die you don’t restart – you respawn providing the other player doesn’t die) and a negative (you get in each others’ way and push the camera on too fast). We’ve not got all the green stars yet (far from it), but have beaten the final boss. Before we go back and mop up, however, Bowser’s Fury awaits!

The post Super Mario 3D World (Switch): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: completed, mario, Post, switch

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