If you’ve played any Mario game in the history of gaming, you will immediately know how to play this game. The goal is to stomp, jump, and run your way through levels while collecting as many gold coins as possible. This time, just to mix it up, you also need to collect giant gold stars, which are the key to opening special routes on the world map.
There are three of these golden stars in each level, and they usually take a bit of thinking to get to. But we’re not talking brain science here, if you can solve simple puzzles, you win! Besides the ability to be large and on fire, Mario can now grow HUGE or very, very small with the aid of some different mushrooms.
Using these new types of mushrooms is handy for collecting those out-of-reach gold stars. Who knew mushrooms held such magnificent power? Also, Mario can jump into a blue koopa shell and go whizzing through enemies with ease! The shell isn’t effective for collecting stars, but is useful for disposing of enemies quickly.
However, I absolutely abhor the mega mushroom. Being large in size worked well for Super Mario 64, but here it’s a sure way to fall into a pit and die. Mario crushes everything he walks over, including the supporting blocks over large gaps. Don’t use this mushroom unless you’re sure it’s for a good cause. Kind of a stupid addition to the game, I think.
The shrinking mushroom works quite well, actually. Mario can run faster, jump higher, and squeeze through tiny gaps for hard to reach golden stars. Unfortunately, small Mario cannot kill any bad guys, he just launches himself off of them, so it is really easy to get killed in this form too. The blue koopa shell is really the only great addition to the selection of items, unfortunately. It is long lasting and doesn’t effect Mario’s form enough to make you want to switch immediately out of it.
The level designs are nothing new either. There are snow, pipe, desert, sky, and water levels. Let me be very clear, there is absolutely NOTHING new about the gameplay. In fact, this game bears a close resemblance to the SNES Super Mario World. The map ideas are the same, as are the castles. In the first “fortress”, you kill Bowser Jr., and then make your way to the large castle at the end where there is a different boss to kill off (usually jumping on him works well….).
In the meantime, Bowser Jr. is hiding in these castles and fortresses and then running off into different worlds once you’ve demolished the castle. So what does Mario do? Continue chasing him until he is cornered in World 8! The map does have some secret paths that you can open by using the gold stars you’ve collected. These paths are usually shortcuts or paths to Toad’s house, where you can win 1ups, mega mushrooms, or a reserve item (flowers, stars, mushrooms, etc.). Overall, these stars don’t do much but save time or give you the chance to earn as many spare lives as possible.
Unfortunately, there is no Yoshi in this game. Big disappointment. I live to watch huge, fat Italian plumbers ride around on baby dinosaur’s backs. Besides, who doesn’t want to watch Yoshi use that long tongue? Pay attention boys… you could learn something here….
