Nintendo has ported or released sequels for nearly every major first-party Wii U game on the Switch, with titles likeDonkey Kong Country: Tropical FreezeandPikmin 3 Deluxeadding new content to the experiences.Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Furyis no exception, with major additions includingonline multiplayer for3D Worldand the titular, brand-newBowser’s Furyexpansion. Players got their first look atBowser’s Furyvia a two-minute trailer released Tuesday, and one of the most interesting things about the adventure is how much it departs from the original game it’s attached to.
That isn’t to sayBowser’s Furylooks nothing likeSuper Mario 3D World. Mario’s movement style and power-ups all appear to be exactly the same, and there are plenty of mechanics and environmental set pieces that carry over: Riding Plessie across the water, spinning grates that Cat Mario can latch onto, dash panels, motion-activated invisible flooring, and much more. However, what makes this new experience stand out is how it incorporates that content into an open world that appears to take many cues from the Switch blockbusterSuper Mario Odyssey.
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The originalSuper Mario 3D Worldhas been criticized for its linearity by some, as the epitome of the 2D obstacle course-turned-3D style also seen in its 3DS predecessorSuper Mario 3D Land. Meanwhile,Super Mario Odysseywas considered a return to the “sandbox” style of 3D design seen in games likeMario 64andSunshine- now together inSuper Mario 3D All-Stars.Bowser’s Furylooks to throw the obstacle course elements into an open sandbox with a controllable camera and collectible cat shines with a pose eerily familiar to when Mario gets a Moon inOdyssey.
Mario has been collecting celestial bodies in 3D platformers since the Power Stars around Peach’s Castle inSuper Mario 64. Yet the casual nature of picking up cat shines inBowser’s Furyevokes the idea of Moons so much so that the mode almost looks likeSuper Mario OdysseyDLC- or at the very least like it was designed by a team still interested in creating that sandbox style. Fans of the 3D sandbox Mario games should no doubt be excited by this, as it suggests there may not be as long a gap betweenOdysseyand the next game of its ilk as there was afterSunshine.
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In that regard, a good place to start might beSuper Mario Odyssey 2. Direct sequels are rare in the Mario canon, with only a few examples likeSuper Mario GalaxyandGalaxy 2popping up outside of spin-offs and theNew Super Mario Bros.series.
However, the same could be said aboutThe Legend of Zeldafranchise, and Nintendo surprised fans byannouncing a sequel toBreath of the Wildin 2019. Though that sequel has yet to come out, it shows the company’s willingness to use its pre-existing game engines to create new experiences, much likeOcarina of TimeandMajora’s Maskbefore it.
The world-travelling premise, creative lands, and capture mechanic seen inMario Odysseyeasily leave the door open for a sequel that takes its ideas and expands upon them, much likeGalaxy 2. Even if the developer does not want to go in that direction, the possibility of these elements bleeding into an entirely new style of game alaBowser’s Furyshows there are plenty of other possibilities to work with. AsNintendo continues to expand the Switch’s life cycle, new 3D Mario sandbox games would certainly help the system stand out.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Furywill release on February 12, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
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