It's been nearly five years since the last 3D Mario game, Super Mario Odyssey, and fans are eager to see what's next for the most iconic figure in gaming. Many have called for a direct sequel to Odyssey that builds on its innovative and exciting capture mechanic -- but if any 3D Mario title deserves a follow-up, it's the modern Wii U classic Super Mario 3D World.
Super Mario 3D World is a sequel to the 3DS title Super Mario 3D Land, and it's the only 3D Mario game released for the Wii U. 3D World is a bit of a black sheep in the Mario lineage. Super Mario 64 established a template for its eponymous plumber's future 3D outings all the way back in 1996, including wide open zones with a number of different objectives, which allowed the player to shape their own experience. However, 3D World, nearly 20 years later, made the bizarre choice to ignore that foundation entirely, replacing massive, free areas with tight, linear levels. It wasn't the 3D Mario fans had come to expect, and since it was trapped on the Wii U, a console that sold notoriously poorly, it was quickly forgotten about for the most part.
In 2021, Super Mario 3D World saw a re-release for the Nintendo Switch, alongside the new Bowser's Fury expansion. The game turned out to be a surprisingly excellent fit for the pick-up-and-play nature of the portable console. And, unshackled from the expectations associated with a "new 3D Mario," the game earned a bit of a second wind.
Now that there's a whole new audience seeing and appreciating the magic of Super Mario 3D World, it's time for a new title to expand upon its format, preferably in a way that plays to its console's strengths. 3D World's design sensibilities are a good fit for the Switch, of course -- its brief, meticulously designed levels make for pleasant playing in either handheld or docked mode. However, it's painfully obvious that the game is built for the Wii U. Often, the Switch port is forced to implement clumsy alternatives to the Wii U's gamepad, both robbing certain levels of their original novelty and acting as a jarring reminder to players that they are not experiencing the game as intended. It's frustrating to see a game that seems so perfect for the Switch come up just short, and a new entry designed with the console in mind could fix this.
In a sense, that's what Bowser's Fury is for. The mini-campaign included with the Switch release of Super Mario 3D World was built from the ground up with the Switch in mind while retaining vital elements of 3D World. Brief, bite-sized levels are scattered around its larger map, and none of them feature distracting touchscreen sequences. The tight, responsive movement of 3D World is there, some of the game's most iconic power-ups make appearances, and the challenges are all fun. Still, it's not quite 3D World -- while the levels are small and brief, they aren't isolated, and the player travels between them in a large open world.
Also, instead of the fixed camera perspective of 3D World, the camera is dynamically controlled by the right thumbstick like a more traditional 3D Mario title. Bowser's Fury has 3D World's DNA, but it's caught in an identity crisis that prevents it from being a proper successor to the title.
The Switch deserves its own Super Mario 3D World. The game is already an excellent fit for the platform, and Nintendo could certainly make a collection of bite-sized 3D levels that are even better, especially now that it has half a decade of experience developing games with the console in mind. The novelty of exploring the massive zones of games like Odyssey and Bowser's Fury is nice, but it's no replacement for the breezy experience of blasting through a couple of meticulously designed, extremely brief levels.