Released on November 21, 2013 on the WiiU
If you haven't played this game and don't want things to be spoiled (it's a Mario game...) don't read on.
As the newest entry in the Mario series of games, Super Mario 3D World hearkens back to when platforming was an art. The games introduces a few new suits and some cool level types and blah, blah, blah, blah. All of that typical Mario fare is great and all, but the real meat of the game comes after beating the Bowser's Castle in world eight. Beating the castle is when the game shifts from normal, kind of easy for a long time Mario player, to an awesome challenge that only gets better the more you play. You are thrown into Bowser Carnival with its' flashing lights and big top atmosphere. From the first level in the carnival, I knew that this is where the real game was hiding. There is even a cat Bowser as the boss of the carnival.
You are going to need all of the practice from beating the first eight worlds to get through the next stages. From a bog of ghosts to some of the levels you have played that are sped up, there are enough unique levels to keep you playing. There is even one stage that you need to fight 6 bosses within the time limit. Following the carnival you board a rocket to, guess where, space. In this galaxy (har har) you find some Mario Galaxy inspired levels that mimic the difficulty that you loved in Mario games past. After the galaxy map you keep moving up to more and more difficult levels until you get to a large sand dune with three markings. A stamp, a flag and a star. I will leave the next bit as a treat because with the work that you have to put in to make it past this point, you deserve a suprise.
Super Mario 3D World
4.5 out of 5 goombas
The only gripe I have is that there are some tricky jumps that the camera makes difficult.
