Super Mario 3D World Review

Nintendo EAD Tokyo solved the problem that had haunted 3D Mario since the Nintendo 64, which was how to put four people on screen without the camera falling apart. The answer is a fixed, semi isometric view that reads depth cleanly, and once that is settled the studio spends the rest of the game being absurdly generous. Almost every level introduces one mechanic, exhausts it, and then throws it away: the double cherry, the transparent pipes, the Mario Kart tribute, the shadow play world.

Very little is reused, which is a brutal amount of work for the return, and it is exactly why the pacing never sags. The cat suit is a stroke of design economy, handing you climbing, pouncing and a panic move in a game that could otherwise punish the fixed camera. Multiplayer is chaotic and slightly competitive by design, since crown stealing turns cooperation into needling. Wii U hardware limited its audience, never its ambition. Vibrant, inexhaustible, and the best argument that console ever made for itself.