Super Mario 3D World

⭐ 7.5/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

I really think this isn't a great game, but I still had a ton of fun playing it co-op with Jess. In general I think Mario is a garbage franchise (I'm not afraid to say it) and 3D platforming is almost never fun, and in this game you can't even move the camera. Countless times either one of us were just falling off edges or jumping into the abyss because it's near impossible to measure distance or angles in this game. The power-ups basically break this game because when you have them you can basically fly over a level, and without them these levels can get incredibly frustrating. Nintendo really needs to rethink power-ups in this style of game because they are just so antiquated at this point.

But there are a few positives. This game certainly wasn't made for co-op, and in fact having 2 players can often make it more difficult as it is really difficult to not get in each other's way and we were constantly picking up and throwing each other (why can't this be a seperate button?? Why would I ever want to pick-up and throw my partner??), and also you share lives which is kinda lame... Come to think of it, what were the positives...?

But actually i still somehow had a lot of fun playing this two player. It's hard to find good couch co-op games, so I was thrilled to play with Jess, high-fiving and pumping fists after beating levels, and yelling and threatening divorce when we accidentally sabotaged each other. Like seriously, there is no better bonding experience than playing a frustrating game with a partner. It was some of my favorite gaming experience, I just wish the game was better.

So overall, still a fun time. Mario continues to be a crappy franchise that I still give 7s to every time because there is still something special about these games. I wish they would just focus on the 2 player a bit more to where you actually have to play cooperatively to win rather than fend for yourself and try to stay out of the way. So yeah, if you want to play a great co-op game, skip this one and get Unravelled 2 for 1/4 of the price and twice the fun.