Note: I first played this game in 2022. I would have probably given it 8/10 ir higher if I had played it when it was first released compared with other games of that time.
I beat the game, so this is a complete review. Well, I got 120 stars, so technically I only halfway beat the game, but I don't plan on repeating the entire game as Luigi just to unlock the final level and get all 242 stars.
Pros:
* The gameplay is vastly improved over 64 and Sunshine. For 50-75% of the levels, solving puzzles felt like I was solving puzzles rather than 64 & Sunshine where 50-75% of the "puzzles" were simply struggling against game mechanics or unclear instructions of what to do next.
* The difficulty scaled really well between the early and endgame levels.
* The spin attack added new movement capabilities that I really liked. It's not as versatile as the hat in Odyssey, but a step up from 64 without feeling like I'm cheating (like the hover in Sunshine sometimes made me feel)
Cons:
* Like 64 and Sunshine, this game also has infuriatingly limited camera controls, and joystick movements flip nonsensically whenever you are walking on walls or the ceiling.
* A solid 25% of the missions still had me angry at the game mechanics. Specifically the later levels that inexplicably have fewer or zero checkpoints. It's a huge improvement over 64 & Sunshine, but far from perfect. I know finally achieving that flawless execution is the gratifying reward that a lot of people get from the Mario side-scrollers, but that has never been my preferred type of game.
* I needed to look up guides to complete 10ish% of the levels, which is *way* better than Sunshine's blue coin fiasco, but still annoying.
* Other movement mechanics, especially the backflip, were inexplicably made more difficult to execute.
* Star Bits seemed like collecting just for the sake of collecting. They were basically useless during a level and were only used to feed the hungry Lumas.
* The story had a bit too much Japanese wackiness for my taste. They went way too in-depth with the pseudo science that completely violated every law of physics. They could have worked harder to come up with a reasonable explanation, or they could have not tried to explain it and let the players ignore it as "cartoon physics." But the fact that they specifically call it out but completely fail to convincingly explain it broke my immersion every time. I still enjoyed playing the levels, but I didn't care at all for the overarching story.
Overall: 6/10. I probably won't replay it, but I'm glad I did play it, and I would recommend it to people who have not yet played the far superior Odyssey.
I beat the game, so this is a complete review. Well, I got 120 stars, so technically I only halfway beat the game, but I don't plan on repeating the entire game as Luigi just to unlock the final level and get all 242 stars.
Pros:
* The gameplay is vastly improved over 64 and Sunshine. For 50-75% of the levels, solving puzzles felt like I was solving puzzles rather than 64 & Sunshine where 50-75% of the "puzzles" were simply struggling against game mechanics or unclear instructions of what to do next.
* The difficulty scaled really well between the early and endgame levels.
* The spin attack added new movement capabilities that I really liked. It's not as versatile as the hat in Odyssey, but a step up from 64 without feeling like I'm cheating (like the hover in Sunshine sometimes made me feel)
Cons:
* Like 64 and Sunshine, this game also has infuriatingly limited camera controls, and joystick movements flip nonsensically whenever you are walking on walls or the ceiling.
* A solid 25% of the missions still had me angry at the game mechanics. Specifically the later levels that inexplicably have fewer or zero checkpoints. It's a huge improvement over 64 & Sunshine, but far from perfect. I know finally achieving that flawless execution is the gratifying reward that a lot of people get from the Mario side-scrollers, but that has never been my preferred type of game.
* I needed to look up guides to complete 10ish% of the levels, which is *way* better than Sunshine's blue coin fiasco, but still annoying.
* Other movement mechanics, especially the backflip, were inexplicably made more difficult to execute.
* Star Bits seemed like collecting just for the sake of collecting. They were basically useless during a level and were only used to feed the hungry Lumas.
* The story had a bit too much Japanese wackiness for my taste. They went way too in-depth with the pseudo science that completely violated every law of physics. They could have worked harder to come up with a reasonable explanation, or they could have not tried to explain it and let the players ignore it as "cartoon physics." But the fact that they specifically call it out but completely fail to convincingly explain it broke my immersion every time. I still enjoyed playing the levels, but I didn't care at all for the overarching story.
Overall: 6/10. I probably won't replay it, but I'm glad I did play it, and I would recommend it to people who have not yet played the far superior Odyssey.