IronGiant wrote:Any more comments from anyone who has played this? Does it improve as you 'dig deeper'?
How does it now compare to, say, SMB3 on the NES and Super Mario World on the SNES?
After playing more (3 worlds "completed" as in got through), its name is quite appropriate. It *is* a new Super Mario. There's enough new stuff to make it different, enough old stuff to make it familiar but generally lovely. The mad caterpillar from SMS makes an appearance, as do many of the other newish additions to the mario mythology.
I got to world 7 (alternative route for the 4th world) by 'simply' finishing the previous world's castle in mini-mode - not exactly my idea of "secret", and given that half the time you get the new powerups (shell, huge or mini) is random (there's a flying red block which moves between levels while you're on the world map, so you often only get the powerup when the red block happens to be over the level you want). There's quite a lot of hidden stuff, but nothing as nice as SMW's keys and keyholes - it tends to be a case of finding a pipe, a switch/leg-it/door, a mini-me route or a vine. No cape flying so far either.
There's a whole world of slippy-slidey ice levels, but there are only a few reworks really, and that may just be my interpretation. A level where you jump between platforms travelling along lines for example feels very SMW-esque, but may not be exactly the same level.
However, you'll be relieved to know that it *does* get harder. However the biggest annoyance is that the "spending coins to get a few 1ups" issue is bigger than first thought. You can only save either after finishing a castle or mini-castle, *or after opening a coin gateway*. So if you play little and often you really will need to seek out those coins just so you can save at a convenient point. Not because you want to open up a new path or to stock up on powerups or lives, but just because your journey is nearly over and you want to resume Real Life.
Edge will give it 8, but it deserves a 9.
