Today at PAX Australia, the members of Pwnage team was given an opportunity to play a demo of the upcoming Wii U game Super Mario 3D World. The game follows the same style as Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS – combining free-roaming mechanics with the linear side-scroller that Mario is renounced for.
The game will feature four iconic playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach and a blue Toad; and a new gaming item – a cat suit. The game is slated for a December 2013 release. The following paragraphs will be recounts by the Pwnage team.
Gabriel Huynh: Playing Super Mario 3D World was terrifying at first, never used a Wii U before and did not play any recent Mario games. The last Mario game I played was Mario Kart 7 on the Wii. Luckily I was paired up with the Wii Remote, something I was comfortable with. Playing the first level, I was memorised by the playful colours and the free-roamed mechanics – highlighting how far Nintendo has come. Playing throughout the first level, I first encountered the new Cat suit. Being able to scale walls while running on all four legs was funny and entertaining. Fighting for coins and inadvertently stomping on fellow teammates, we were successful in finishing the level without any issues.
Following the completion of the first level, we played a different level, World 1-5. This level focuses on teamwork as the players all control one sea-serpent while avoiding hazards. Teamwork is not my strongest skill, and relying how sharp your teammates were turning was worrying. Nevertheless, we finished the level and all agreed it was a great game to play.
Adrian Cajili: So I’ve played enough Super Mario Bros. U to know how difficult it is to co-operate with friends to finish levels (especially with the darn gamepad), but Super Mario 3D World was quite different. Being able to walk around in a 3D world meant the group was able to branch out, defeat enemies and collect coins and power-ups, without it being too frustrating.
Yes, there’s always that guy who is a little too eager to finish the stage, but we managed to complete the first demo level without wanting to violently hurt each other. Another thing to note was the “cat suit” – that is probably one of the most useful (and adorable) power-ups in the game, letting you scale walls and do a ground slash attack, which is pretty nifty against large enemies.
We were then recommended to play World 1-5 where co-operation was definitely needed to pass the stage. Players ride a dinosaur-like creature that swims down rapids, and it is up to the players to work together and control the dinosaurs actions, in terms of direction and jumping. It was really stressful, but we managed to beat the level in one go.
How’s THAT for co-operation?