Super Mario 3D World

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Our family was fortunate this week to receive Super Mario 3D World, a game that I totally fell in love with whilst recently attending a Nintendo Christmas event in London.  Not only did we receive the game but a fantastic goody bag from Nintendo containing headwear for Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Peach, and two Princess Peach T-shirts, albeit a little too big for the girls, which we will be using whilst doing some multiplayer action.  This Christmas for me is all about playing games with 2 or more people and Super Mario 3D World is definitely one of those games that’s going to be used a lot during the festive period.

You probably think that after numerous Mario games, the developers are running out of ideas to make the series fresh and exciting.  I can tell you that Super Mario 3D World quickly dismisses this theory after one quick play.  This game really shines best when enjoyed with more than one player.  Any old Wii remotes or classic controllers lying around the house will come in handy.  Working co-operatively is the key to tackling any level, so you’ll need to ensure that you have good communication with your fellow players but this may be in vein when you find that characters are awarded a crown for the best high score of each level.  Elizabeth had fallen out with me on many occasions because my character was always wearing the crown.  She was  much happier though once I died and she could steal it from me.

The game also supports off-TV play with use of the amazing Wii U gamepad (where would I be without you my precious!).  How cool is it nowadays that when someone else in your family wants to watch a program on TV, you can continue playing your game on the gamepad screen.
A fantastic new addition to the game is the cat suit.  There are probably Mario enthusiasts out there who ask how can a cat suit be better than say the racoon or frog suit, well let me first of all explain that with the cat suit you can let you scale walls, allows you to jump and pounce on enemies, and you can scale the flag pole at the end of each level so you can gain that all important extra life.  All you need to do is find the super bell power ups in order to acquire the cat suit.  Another new ability is being able to clone your character through the double cherry power up, which is great because depending on how many cherries you collect the more clones appear.
Super Mario 3D World is the best Mario game that I’ve played in a long while.  As I said before it’s best enjoyed with more than one player, so big families are well catered for here provided that you have enough controllers.  There aren’t many games at the moment that can create that fun experience with multiplayer.  If you’re buying a Wii U this Christmas then Super Mario 3D World is an obvious choice to have some memorable moments.