168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Super Mario Wonder is here, and judging from everyone waxing whimsical lyricism about its vibrant platforming, it’s pretty damn good. I said as much in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:my review, but still felt𒀰 it failed to push the boat out far enough when it came to ushering in a n♐ew era for 2D Mario.
Wonder Flowers transform stages into extravagant playgrounds of infinite possibilities, while the Flower Kingdom is a luscious new locale that could go anywhere and do everything. But the foundations holding all of this up are classic Mario in ways that inevitably hold it back. Its magic is fleeting no matter its majesty, and I couldn’t stop comparing it to Odyssey.
Super Mario Wonꦛder Needs A Sequel To Reach Its Full Potential
Wonder is no Odyssey, but it's so damn close.
Is it even fair to compare 2D and 3D Mario? For as long as I can remember they’ve always been different beasts. After Super Mario 64 came Sunshine, Galaxy and 3D World, while its 2D counterparts were quiet for a number of years except for portable entries. Then, in 2006, 2D made an extravagant comeback with New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS. All of a sudden, the Mario we were accust𒅌omed to seeing on home consoles was suddenly making his mark on handheld systems, with this visual style poised to endure for the better part of a decade. It became long in the tooth though, relying upon familiar ideas and mechanics for over a decade. It was obvious that the series needed to change. Now it has, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
But before Wonder 2 or whatever else comes next, I want to see Super Mario Odyssey 2. A new Switch is reportedly on the way, with recent rumours hinting that development kits are already in hand at major studios and partners ahead of a 2024 launch. Backward compatibility along with better hardware will likely improve performance of existing games while opening the floodgates for new ones. Mario needs to be among them, especially since the last major 3D entry outside of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury came out all the way back in 2017. It was part of the launch year’s one-two punch of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, helping to establish the Switch as a juggernaut despite its lacklustre specs compared to it✱s compet♋ition.
Wonder is great, but Odyssey is a masterpiece. It took everything magical about Galaxy and 3D World before throwing out the rules they established in pursuit of its own ambition. Levels which once welcomed you into a world to complete a specific task before yeeting you back to the hub world were now fully open spaces hiding goodness knows how many surprises. A single puzzle could evolve into a laundry list of different objectives all requiring us to think on our feet and run forward in se⛎arch of discovery. Secrets could be anywhere, whether it was a single collectible or an entire facet of the world that remained unseen. I never wanted to stop playing, mostly because I knew that throwing Cappy onto the majority of objects might reveal entirely new mechanics or ideas that left my jaw on the floor. It’s unlike any other platformer in recent years, so it’s time for a sequel to burst forth and iterate on its brilliance.
Cappy was an existential nightmar﷽e and a mechanical gamechanger. Mario was no longer a peppy plumber who could jump really high, he could be literally anything Cappy would attach i♛ts own sentience onto. A dinosaur, a lamppost, and even humans were possessed to do Mario’s bidding. It’s kinda messed up when you stop to think about it for more than a second, but fun enough that I could forgive the ethical concerns.
As well as being the most mechanically revolutionary Mario game since 64, Odyssey reinvents our views on established characters like Bowser and Peach. The iconic villain is almost bummed out at the ending when Peach decides to dump both him and Mario to embark on her travelꦗs, doing more for her character than decades of prior games ever did.
All of Odyssey’s additional costumes, mechanics, world design, dialogue, controls, and more are oozing with imagination. It makes such quality look easy as it dishes out moment after moment of showstopping splendour. I’m also reminded that I have failed to replay it since it came out six years ago, but still it comes flooding back. Few games are able to command thꦬat level of attention, and I know a sequel would have Nintendo firing on all cylinders not only to outdo its past efforts, but change how we perceive 3D Mario for the rest of our lives. Go on, make my decade and have it be a Switch 2 launch title.
