GAME REVIEW: Super Mario U Deluxe (Switch)
(Daughter Of Hallownest - Christopher Larkin)
Mario.
There may be no more iconic representation of video games than this chubby, lovable, Italian plumber. From his early roots in games like Donkey Kong to the now legendary Super Mario Bros. on the NES, Mario stands proudly at the top of the pantheon of video gaming gods.
One of the reasons for this is the fact that Nintendo has always made sure that Mario games were as polished and enjoyable as possible before they were released. Mario games were always a flagship title on any console they came out on. Seriously, let's look at this for a second:
- NES: Super Mario Bros, SMB3
- SNES: Super Mario World
- N64: Super Mario 64
- Wii: New Super Mario Bros Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
- Wii U: Super Mario Bros U
- Switch: Super Mario Odyssey
These games were all amazing because they all contained incredible maps, incredible power-ups, amazing visuals for their era, excellent gameplay, and off-the-chain replayability.
I never owned a Wii U, so when I heard they were releasing Super Mario Bros U for the Nintendo Switch -and- that it came with a bunch of new levels, I never hesitated to buy it.
I wish I had.
This is the first Mario game I've ever wanted to return. It's the first Mario game I've ever regretted purchasing. Here's why:
CONTROLS: The controls in Mario games have customarily been sharp-ish, even for a relative newcomer to the game. That's just not the case here. SMBU's controls are sluggish and imprecise. Platforming games like this should be all about razor-sharp controls that allow for minute movement. This game simply doesn't offer that, and because of that, it's repeatedly frustrating to play. "But Steve," you cry, "some of the other Mario titles you mentioned above have less than stellar controls as well!" Too right you are. I was fortunate enough to grab an SNES Classic when they were on sale, and I really struggled with how imprecise the controls felt. Was it me? Was I just really that crap at the game, or were the controls really that bad? I stopped asking the question though, because the game was just too much fun to play through again. And that brings me to...
POWER-UPS: There's nothing in this game that makes you want to play it. Everything in the game feels second-rate, like Nintendo had to start recycling ideas rather than coming up with new ones. Nothing feels original or exciting. This game's new power-up is the Acorn, an item that turns your character into a flying squirrel. Except you can't fly, you can just float. Sure, on a trigger-pull, you can quickly zoom upwards, but that's not enough to keep this item from feeling like a recycled Raccoon Leaf, Cape Feather, or Propeller Cap. Using this item feels clumsy and imprecise. It's undeniably useful, you just...don't want to use it because it's too damn hard to control.
MAPS: My gripe here is the same gripe that I have with the gameplay. Nothing about this game feels new. It all feels recycled, old, and uncompelling. I found myself dreading each gameplay session because I -had- to play through enough of the game to reach a major save point. Each time I would pick the game up, I thought, "Great, I've started this, now I HAVE to keep suffering so that my effort was worth it." You just shouldn't feel that way playing a Mario game. Ever.
ART STYLE: Do you know what the sharpest Mario game I've played recently is? Super Mario Run for mobile. The art style is incredible in the game. Things are easy to see, backgrounds don't look washed out or feel like they've been recycled from a bad child's cartoons, and because of that, the game was just so much more appealing to play. Unfortunately, none of that excellent art style was brought over to Super Mario U. Everything is too bright, too smooth, and too blended. There's not nearly enough contrast in foreground vs. background elements or player vs. map.
Any one of these things would have been bad for a Mario game, but not a killer. Super Mario World, what many people believe to be the pinnacle of Mario game evolution, suffered from slightly sluggish controls, but every other aspect of the game was so perfect that you didn't care. No Mario game has ever been perfect, but almost all of them have been so dang good that it just doesn't matter.
This is a $60 AAA game title. I shouldn't want to put this down and go back to playing a $5 mobile app because of how much better in EVERY RESPECT it is. But I do. If you want a good Mario game for way less money, go buy Super Mario Run. In spite of the fact that it's relatively short and somewhat restricted in terms of control, it is a superior title in every sense of the genre. I absolutely get that I could be in the minority here; I've read a lot of reviews online about this game, and most of them have nothing but glowing things to say about this game. You may enjoy it. That said, I can't encourage you enough to TRY THIS before you put money down. For my money, there are a host of other games I'd rather be playing.
Like Hollow Knight. ;)
Mario.
There may be no more iconic representation of video games than this chubby, lovable, Italian plumber. From his early roots in games like Donkey Kong to the now legendary Super Mario Bros. on the NES, Mario stands proudly at the top of the pantheon of video gaming gods.
One of the reasons for this is the fact that Nintendo has always made sure that Mario games were as polished and enjoyable as possible before they were released. Mario games were always a flagship title on any console they came out on. Seriously, let's look at this for a second:
- NES: Super Mario Bros, SMB3
- SNES: Super Mario World
- N64: Super Mario 64
- Wii: New Super Mario Bros Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
- Wii U: Super Mario Bros U
- Switch: Super Mario Odyssey
These games were all amazing because they all contained incredible maps, incredible power-ups, amazing visuals for their era, excellent gameplay, and off-the-chain replayability.
I never owned a Wii U, so when I heard they were releasing Super Mario Bros U for the Nintendo Switch -and- that it came with a bunch of new levels, I never hesitated to buy it.
I wish I had.
This is the first Mario game I've ever wanted to return. It's the first Mario game I've ever regretted purchasing. Here's why:
CONTROLS: The controls in Mario games have customarily been sharp-ish, even for a relative newcomer to the game. That's just not the case here. SMBU's controls are sluggish and imprecise. Platforming games like this should be all about razor-sharp controls that allow for minute movement. This game simply doesn't offer that, and because of that, it's repeatedly frustrating to play. "But Steve," you cry, "some of the other Mario titles you mentioned above have less than stellar controls as well!" Too right you are. I was fortunate enough to grab an SNES Classic when they were on sale, and I really struggled with how imprecise the controls felt. Was it me? Was I just really that crap at the game, or were the controls really that bad? I stopped asking the question though, because the game was just too much fun to play through again. And that brings me to...
POWER-UPS: There's nothing in this game that makes you want to play it. Everything in the game feels second-rate, like Nintendo had to start recycling ideas rather than coming up with new ones. Nothing feels original or exciting. This game's new power-up is the Acorn, an item that turns your character into a flying squirrel. Except you can't fly, you can just float. Sure, on a trigger-pull, you can quickly zoom upwards, but that's not enough to keep this item from feeling like a recycled Raccoon Leaf, Cape Feather, or Propeller Cap. Using this item feels clumsy and imprecise. It's undeniably useful, you just...don't want to use it because it's too damn hard to control.
MAPS: My gripe here is the same gripe that I have with the gameplay. Nothing about this game feels new. It all feels recycled, old, and uncompelling. I found myself dreading each gameplay session because I -had- to play through enough of the game to reach a major save point. Each time I would pick the game up, I thought, "Great, I've started this, now I HAVE to keep suffering so that my effort was worth it." You just shouldn't feel that way playing a Mario game. Ever.
ART STYLE: Do you know what the sharpest Mario game I've played recently is? Super Mario Run for mobile. The art style is incredible in the game. Things are easy to see, backgrounds don't look washed out or feel like they've been recycled from a bad child's cartoons, and because of that, the game was just so much more appealing to play. Unfortunately, none of that excellent art style was brought over to Super Mario U. Everything is too bright, too smooth, and too blended. There's not nearly enough contrast in foreground vs. background elements or player vs. map.
Any one of these things would have been bad for a Mario game, but not a killer. Super Mario World, what many people believe to be the pinnacle of Mario game evolution, suffered from slightly sluggish controls, but every other aspect of the game was so perfect that you didn't care. No Mario game has ever been perfect, but almost all of them have been so dang good that it just doesn't matter.
This is a $60 AAA game title. I shouldn't want to put this down and go back to playing a $5 mobile app because of how much better in EVERY RESPECT it is. But I do. If you want a good Mario game for way less money, go buy Super Mario Run. In spite of the fact that it's relatively short and somewhat restricted in terms of control, it is a superior title in every sense of the genre. I absolutely get that I could be in the minority here; I've read a lot of reviews online about this game, and most of them have nothing but glowing things to say about this game. You may enjoy it. That said, I can't encourage you enough to TRY THIS before you put money down. For my money, there are a host of other games I'd rather be playing.
Like Hollow Knight. ;)
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