Super Mario 3D World for Wii U

Of all the video games we have played, one of the series which is most likely to provide hours of fun has been the Super Mario games, at least since the days of the Nintendo GameCube.  So, when "Super Mario Bros U" came out for the Wii U, we got it and tried it right away.  Sadly, it was a side-scrolling, 2D game, and it was clearly meant more as a multi-player game than as something I could play while Sherry watched and advised.  I guess I never reviewed it, but then again, I never even came close to finishing it, which is typically one criterion for my reviews.

Well, along came Super Mario 3D World.  I don't know why, but I had never really heard of it.  My friend Eric mentioned it to me (I'm told) but I must have blocked it out, having been disappointed with SMB-U.  Anyway, eventually, we bought it and tried it.

And finished it.  (Mostly.)

As the name suggests, the worlds in which Mario plays are 3D worlds, which is basically a must for me these days.  Oh, I got some enjoyment out of the Paper Mario games, but they were not merely 2D games -- they were cleverly designed to take advantage of being 2D when played by a 3D mind.  Anyway, I want 3D, and SM3DW gave that to me.

Each world is timed, which is not quite what I enjoy most, but this aspect of the game did not hinder most of the worlds, and it truly improved many of them.  My preference is to be allowed to explore a 3D world at my leisure, but the size of most of these worlds allowed a decent exploration in five minutes, which was the typical time allotted. 

There were new features in the game -- being able to don a cat costume is one of the best -- which allowed several new puzzles to be created.  Other changes from previous games were also welcome -- such as carrying "lives" from one gaming session to the next.

In most worlds, the goal is to collect three green stars, with an added goal of collecting a "stamp" which can be used to fill a "stamp book."  I considered the game complete when I had collected all of the green stars, so there are still a few stamps I could someday try to grab.  That I am willing to leave those mini-goals unattained is an indication that, yes, this game is not quite as good as the Super Mario Galaxy games -- which simply must be completely completed when I play them.  Still, this was a nice entry into my library of games, and I am likely to play it again once or twice in the future.  It's no Pikmin 3, and it's no Super Mario Galaxy, but it's definitely fun.