I'm not a fan of double dipping and buying the same game more than once. Even though me and my family loved Super Mario 3D World on the Nintendo Wii U, I had planned on skipping the Switch release initially. Then I saw the trailer for Bowser's Fury and I knew I needed this game in my life.
I had planned to do a "Initial Thoughts" type post once I had a little bit of the game underneath my belt, but I was having so much fun that it was hard to put down the controller to write a post. Yes, the game is that good.
Bowser's Fury is the first open world type Mario game. I've heard other gamers speculate that this may have been Nintendo testing the water to see how an open world exploration Mario game would perform and if this was the direction the Mario franchise would go. Now that I've beaten Bowser's Fury I can only hope Nintendo has more Mario games in this vein in our future.
This add on game is short. I'm still working on completing the game 100%, but had I not been so obsessed in finding and collecting all 100 Cat Shines in the game I could have probably finished the game in 5-6 hours. Don't let this figure however deter you from the game as the gameplay is so good.
Mario is approached by Bowser Jr. and asked for his help to essentially calm down his dad. Bowser has someone become so enraged that his size has increased and he's covered in some sort of black goop. The game can be played with a second player controlling Bowser Jr., otherwise the computer will take care of controlling him for you if you're playing solo. There is a setting of how much you want Bowser Jr. to help - you can have him collect coins and fight nearby enemies, or you can have him mind his own business. Bowser Jr. floats around in his hover clown vehicle, wielding a paint brush. Throughout the game there are hidden areas that you can command Jr. to paint. Painting these areas will yield some soft of power up for Mario.
The main world in the game comprised of different islands, each with their own lighthouse. Initially you are somewhat limited in your exploration of these islands by the same black goo that covers Bowser. Each island has 5 hidden Cat Shines to collect. As you collect these they'll add more and more light to the lighthouse, eventually clearing some of the surrounding black goop. You can however tackle most of the islands in any order that you wish.
While playing the game I couldn't help but think of previous Mario games like Mario 64, Sunshine Mario. You don't have Cappy from Mario Odyssey or even FLUDD from Mario Sunshine, but Bowser Jr. can surprisingly be helpful. I initially started my playthorugh on my own, but eventually turned Jr. over to my daughter to control. She seemed to love playing along and she ended up being a huge help in some of the later levels.
As you navigate this new watery world, Bowser will rear his ugly head from time to time and wreck havoc. The sky will turn dark, the music changes, rain starts to fall and the wind picks up. From the center of the map Bowser will spin up into the air and out of his shell. Large blocks will appear from the ground, some of which you can you to reach new coin blocks or just higher ground. Bowser will rain fire balls from the sky and even unleash his fiery breath at you from time to time. Be prepared to dodge his fire any way you can as it can easily cause you damage.
To aid you in your quest to defeat Bowser you can collect and store several different power ups to use at your will. This reminded me of the inventory management first shown in Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES.
The object of the game is to grab a Giga Cat Bell to fight Bowser, but before you can do that you have to collect pre-determined amount of Cat Shines. Once you have enough and Bowser appears, the bell will activate. This Giga Cat Bell will turn Mario in a large "Leo Mario" (that's what I call him), allowing you to go toe to toe against the titan Bowser. You'll essentially need to fight Bowser three times before he's done for good. You can aid yourself in these fights be grabbing a Cat Shine and activating one of the island's lighthouses. This light will prematurely end Bowser's attack sequence and run him off, taking a small sliver of his health in the process. Towards the end I was able to whittle away all of his health bar so by the time I grabbed the final Giga Cat Bell all I needed to was to land one single hit on Bowser to defeat him.
The game is so seamless and not having to worry about loading screens is so refreshing. I haven't enjoyed a Mario game this much in some time. Mario Odyssey was a blast, but Bowser's Fury was a nice change of pace. To be honest I was surprised at just how good this game was since it's essentially an add-on. I know a lot of fans may not have experienced Super Mario 3D World before on the Wii U so it's a no brainer for Nintendo to port the game over to the Switch. I'm sure they were hoping by including Bowser's Fury that it would entice people like myself to buy the game for a second time. Well, I'm proof that it worked! Both games in this package are excellent and well worth the $60 asking price. I hope the game sells well because I'd love to see a full length, open world exploration type Mario game in the near future.
