One memorable level is an homage to Mario Kart, where your character – propelled by dash panels on the ground – speeds along a racetrack. The Double Cherry, for example, is a lot of fun but only features in a small handful of levels and perhaps could have been taken advantage of more. The first is that with the plethora of ideas and gimmicks being presented, some are fairly underutilised. This wonderfully bold and confident approach does come with a couple of slight drawbacks. While the change may seem quite insignificant on paper, in practice it further ensures that 3D World hardly stops moving at a brisk pace, complementing the jam-packed and dense nature of the game. These stages are even more of a blast to play through on the Switch version, thanks to an increased running speed compared to on the Wii U.

The most notable new power-up is the Super Bell, which transforms the character into their cat form and allows them to climb up walls – and this too is used in creative ways to surprise the player, particularly when it comes to adding verticality to levels. Shop Now: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury In the following stage, you're faced with a barrage of Bullet Bills – but a Cannon Box item at your disposal lets you fire cannonballs back. The next level introduces the new Double Cherry power-up, creating multiple clones of your character which can be controlled to activate certain platforms. One level throws you into a series of challenge rooms where groups of enemies must be defeated within ten seconds. Each stage is always different from the last, and the unpredictability keeps the player on their toes. What stands out about 3D World is how the campaign is littered with inventive ideas from start to finish. ( 3D World also comes with 1-4 player local and online multiplayer co-op, but we were not able to give this a whirl.) Not only was it a welcome experience to have the perennially kidnapped princess be the hero for once, but her floaty jump also proved to be useful throughout the game. We played the vast majority of 3D World as Peach. Mario is the all-rounder, while Luigi and Toad excel at jump height and run speed respectively.

In the quest to save the Sprixie Princesses from Bowser, players can choose from one of four playable characters from the outset, each with their own quirks.

Nintendo switch super mario 3d world