The Switch 2 has an excellent launch lineup, with titles like Mario Kart World, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, and more showcasing what this system can do. Fans can’t wait to see what else Nintendo has in store, with Donkey Kong: Bananza and Kirby Air Riders offering plenty of variety.
Donkey Kong’s newest 3D entry looks like a Super Mario Odyssey sequel on steroids, but fans also want to see what Nintendo has cooking with their next 3D Mario game. Gamers will have to wait longer for that follow-up, with everyone wondering how they will top Odyssey.
With nowhere to go but up, we think the Bowser’s Fury mode from the Switch’s Super Mario 3D World re-release will be the blueprint for what’s coming next.
click to enlargeBowser’s Fury shocked everyone when it was first revealed, giving fans a quick taste of Mario in an open-world environment. Previous 3D games of the Italian plumber gave him big open areas he could explore, but an actual open world hadn’t been attempted until Bowser’s Fury. Exploring a large hub with interconnected areas was a bold move for 3D Mario, which many gamers appreciated.
Since this was part of a Super Mario 3D World re-release, this open-world feature ended up short. Fans locked in could probably beat this in three to five hours. There were some post-game collectibles to get, but they only added a few hours and didn’t make this mode feel any longer. Mario 3D World was still the selling point, so they couldn’t go too crazy with this.
Despite being a short romp, there was so much to enjoy about Bowser’s Fury, and there’s plenty of basis here to make it the blueprint for Switch 2’s next 3D Mario. Unlike the open-ended 3D entries in this franchise, Bowser’s Fury included the power-ups often associated with 2D Mario. There were fireballs, boomerangs, tanuki suits, and more, making Mario feel more versatile than ever.
Super Mario 3D World and its predecessor, Super Mario 3D Land, also had these power-ups, but they were in different games. These entries were more like 2.5D platformers. Despite having full 3D movement, these platformers are more like the 2D games, complete with flagpoles to try and reach the top of. A section of fans criticized them for not doing anything new with the Mario formula, but they were different games and deserve a place in this series. Having them influence a proper 3D game would hit differently, now that we've had Odyssey to play with.
Not everything from Bowser's Fury has to be brought to this new game. Many fans will remember that annoying mechanic where a gigantic Bowser would wake up and ruin your exploration by shooting fireballs all over the area. Fans had to stop this by finding a Shine Sprite and defeating Bowser, which could sometimes interfere with objectives or challenges players were completing.
It’s also worth noting that Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is getting a free update on Switch 2, so that should give us another big preview of what’s to come.
Let’s hope that some of the blueprints in Bowser’s Fury end up in the next 3D Mario game on Switch 2. Having classic power-ups with a ton of freedom sounds incredibly appealing. Just don't include those annoying Bowser segments, they're just bad.
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