Nintendo is a developer that follows its own rules, but it isn't immune to trends. AAA Games aren't just one genre anymore, they are everything and anything, a big over-stuffed pile of possibility. It's all about the freedom for you to go where you want, do what you want, and play how you want.
The standard today is for gigantic games with huge worlds and just as huge menus full of choices. If you're gonna pick up something like Assassin's Creed Origins, you're looking at like 100 hours of content if you go for full completion. Their developers are not making games you finish in a week or a month, they're creating addictions that eat huge chunks of your life. Most AAA titles today offer sheer ridiculous vastness. Grandma knows what she's talking about sometimes.
Odyssey is a decent collectathon, however 3D World is a near-perfect platformer. That title knows exactly what it wants to do and does it brilliantly. Meanwhile Super Mario 3D World bleeds every drop of imagination and possibility from its small slice of gameplay. Yet it tries to be everything at once with nearly 1000 Moons and doesn't accomplish any one thing particularly well. I'll never not love the idea of Mario wearing a sombrero so Odyssey is still a very good game. Mario Odyssey has the most potential between the two games but the worse execution. Twist ending: I was Grandma the whole time!
Yet between the two games, I prefer Super Mario 3D World.
In comparison, 2013's Super Mario 3D World should be conservative, retro, and dull.Ĭlearly then, Odyssey is the bright future for this series and 3D World is your grandmother's Mario. Odyssey should be everything I could ask for from a new Mario game. The various locales are brimming with unique textures and personality at a scale never before attempted. Only that scavenger hunt is now on the Switch, so Mario's environment looks more beautiful than ever. It's a return to that now-classic Super Mario 64 and Sunshine structure, where the entire game is one big scavenger hunt full of things to discover. Mario is traveling the world, interacting with weird new art styles, and he can wear a sombrero. It's a big, exciting new direction for this series. On paper at least, last year's Super Mario Odyssey seems like the superior game. Nintendo shifted gears completely in design philosophy for Mario in just four years. One is about restricted pre-designed experiences, the other is all about the freedom to make your own adventure. Odyssey takes Mario to new places with vast open worlds built around hunting for Moons. 3D World is a level-based platformer with a deep love for nostalgia. Of all the 3D Mario games, the two that seem the most different are Super Mario 3D World and its successor, Super Mario Odyssey.