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Unlike my significant other, I’m not a massive Mario fan. I can appreciate the games and can enjoy them but don’t normally go out of my way to play one. I did however pre-order a copy of Super Mario 3D World in the hopes me and the SO could play a game together. We made it our mission to collect everything and we got so close that we only needed one more star on the very last optional challenge before the secret world. The challenge was too great and we ended up shelving it for a time.
We have been playing Mario Party and Mario Party 2 lately on the N64 app on the switch and I wanted something else to play once we finished the other night. We had originally thought of playing Super Mario 3D World again but changed our minds at the last minute to play Mario Party, I had already put the cartridge for 3D World in my Switch so it was there staring at me. Now my SO doesn’t enjoy games where you have to move the camera (she can’t get the hang of it), so I decided to play Bowsers Fury alone.
I start playing and immediately I’m thrust into a situation where I have to run away from this enormous Bowser. It’s a little different from what I’m used to in a Mario game, but I welcome it. Bowser Jr wants your help saving his dad. Bowser Jr ends up being your sidekick throughout your time and can be handy, sometimes not. He mostly just floats around bopping a few enemies and collects some coins.
Bowser’s Fury gave me a somewhat nostalgic feeling, multiple islands, each with its own theme; ice, lava etc… but with a cat theme overlayed on top. Each enemy is wearing cat ears and there are several kittens roaming around. I assume that was due to Cat Mario being introduced into 3D World and being a gimmick in that game. Mario’s cat ability is pretty handy, but at the same time, it was almost required to complete most of the game and I felt it lacked a little variety with regards to puzzle solving. Most of the collectible “Cat Shines” can be obtained with just the use of Cat Mario and feels like a chore. It is possible to earn and switch to different Mario forms, like Tanuki Mario, Flower Power Mario and so on, which gives you some choices, but ultimately, you end up being Cat Mario.
I grinded through and managed to complete it 100%, not too difficult, just time-consuming. Right at the end was me just waiting for Bowser to do his thing ( he periodically appears to attack you), just so I could collect the last few shines. I just ignored him for most of my play-through and only fought him when necessary to progress. He isn’t that difficult and once you complete the main part and return for the final stretch to collect the last 20 shines, it’s boring, nothing special was added to get me excited about finishing it, sure I got a picture (see gallery below) and that was it. Bowser’s accent colour and health bar changed to white/blue instead of red/orange, cool I guess? The two final fights are exactly the same, but the second time is just slightly longer and barely harder.
After all this, it was fun for the most part just felt effortless at the end. Would I recommend it? To someone who enjoys Mario games, of course, but you’ve probably already played it. To someone like myself that likes a variety of games from a plethora of genres? Sure, just give it a go and play till you get bored. Though it’s not worth grinding for an unsatisfying reward.
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GamerVerse 