Please explain your answer because it's more fun and interesting to read that way.
I'd also like to hear about your favorite memories of playing Mario games.
I know very little about Super Mario Odyssey since I've been on media blackout for the game since January, though some drips and drabs have popped up in my field of vision here and there. But, what I do know is that it is the first 3D Mario in nearly four years, and the first mainline Mario series title (2D or 3D) in just as long), which per Wikipedia is the longest we've gone without a mainline Mario title since the 6 year wait between SM64 and SMS.
So, in the run up to what I hope to be an epic and incredible Mario adventure, I'd love to hear about your favorite Mario game. Preferably your favorite mainline (2D or 3D) Mario game, though I'd welcome mentions of spin-offs as well. The Wiki link above has a complete list of Super Mario (mainline) games, BTW.
For me, my favorite Super Mario game is probably Super Mario Galaxy. I was super apprehensive at first because Mario was upside down and stuff and why were we playing in these linear courses in a 3D space? I was desperate to find any open world areas, the game felt almost claustrophobic to me in comparison to 3D Marios past. We did get to Beach Bowl Galaxy and I enjoyed it, but it was around that time I started to realize how fun and special the burstingly creative levels in the game are, with exciting use of power-ups and gimmicks.
In terms of favorite levels, I can't pick just one level from this game.
Bee Mario is the first transformation you're introduced to in the game and it is a significant departure from any other 3D Mario power-up -- IIRC, it is the first anthropomorphic power-up in a 3D Mario game. In the vein of the SMB3 Tanooki and Frog power-ups, this transformation allows you a set of bee-like abilities, including adherence to all things honey and limited flight. (It's also adorable.) Taking flight for the first time as Bee Mario is very memorable to me in this game.
I also like the Boo Mario power-up a lot. (I know there was a level where you outrun some Boos in a Crash Bandicoot-style level but maybe that is in SMG2. I don't recall if you even use the Boo power-up in that one, though.) I remember the Luigi and the Haunted Mansion level being very fun and them highlight being Boo Mario's introduction.
I previously featured Gearmo in my thread Great video game composters that went missing in action. This minigame was very difficult and all too satisfying to complete. There is a hint in the level design but I think I missed it when we originally played the game.
If you are naturally adept at upside-down 2D platforming this level may have been a cakewalk for you, but for myself (and some others from what I've read online) Dreadnought Galaxy's Battlestation's Purple Coins level is obscenely difficult, the most difficult in the game in fact. I have fond memories of playing this level into the late hours of the night with my wife (then girlfriend) in our college dorm room, bleary eyed and practically delirious from dozens and dozens (and more dozens) of retries. It was super satisfying to complete, though.
Some of the more gimmick-heavy levels in SMG are oft-maligned, and while I am absolutely awful at the Manta Ray levels I really like the rolling ball levels a lot, and Rolling Gizmo was the second and more difficult of these in the first game.
Luigi's Purple Coins in Toy Time Galaxy is one of the last stars, if not the last star, that we obtained in SMG. The platforming I just found to be especially tricky and put pure platforming skills to the test as much as anything else in the game. Very fun level.
A couple favorite memories of mine involving Mario games:
Our Cat Eli playing SMG2. We were playing the Bee race level and he came and joined it. It was amazing.
I'm also going to repost a story I've posted before for the second memory. I posted this in the Super Mario 3D Land is five years old thread last November.
Related threads:
Mario Community Thread: Anything and everything Super Mario
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1397484
Hardest Mario Level? [explain your answer, ModBot is watching...]
I'd also like to hear about your favorite memories of playing Mario games.
I know very little about Super Mario Odyssey since I've been on media blackout for the game since January, though some drips and drabs have popped up in my field of vision here and there. But, what I do know is that it is the first 3D Mario in nearly four years, and the first mainline Mario series title (2D or 3D) in just as long), which per Wikipedia is the longest we've gone without a mainline Mario title since the 6 year wait between SM64 and SMS.
So, in the run up to what I hope to be an epic and incredible Mario adventure, I'd love to hear about your favorite Mario game. Preferably your favorite mainline (2D or 3D) Mario game, though I'd welcome mentions of spin-offs as well. The Wiki link above has a complete list of Super Mario (mainline) games, BTW.
For me, my favorite Super Mario game is probably Super Mario Galaxy. I was super apprehensive at first because Mario was upside down and stuff and why were we playing in these linear courses in a 3D space? I was desperate to find any open world areas, the game felt almost claustrophobic to me in comparison to 3D Marios past. We did get to Beach Bowl Galaxy and I enjoyed it, but it was around that time I started to realize how fun and special the burstingly creative levels in the game are, with exciting use of power-ups and gimmicks.
In terms of favorite levels, I can't pick just one level from this game.
Bee Mario is the first transformation you're introduced to in the game and it is a significant departure from any other 3D Mario power-up -- IIRC, it is the first anthropomorphic power-up in a 3D Mario game. In the vein of the SMB3 Tanooki and Frog power-ups, this transformation allows you a set of bee-like abilities, including adherence to all things honey and limited flight. (It's also adorable.) Taking flight for the first time as Bee Mario is very memorable to me in this game.
I also like the Boo Mario power-up a lot. (I know there was a level where you outrun some Boos in a Crash Bandicoot-style level but maybe that is in SMG2. I don't recall if you even use the Boo power-up in that one, though.) I remember the Luigi and the Haunted Mansion level being very fun and them highlight being Boo Mario's introduction.
I previously featured Gearmo in my thread Great video game composters that went missing in action. This minigame was very difficult and all too satisfying to complete. There is a hint in the level design but I think I missed it when we originally played the game.
If you are naturally adept at upside-down 2D platforming this level may have been a cakewalk for you, but for myself (and some others from what I've read online) Dreadnought Galaxy's Battlestation's Purple Coins level is obscenely difficult, the most difficult in the game in fact. I have fond memories of playing this level into the late hours of the night with my wife (then girlfriend) in our college dorm room, bleary eyed and practically delirious from dozens and dozens (and more dozens) of retries. It was super satisfying to complete, though.
Some of the more gimmick-heavy levels in SMG are oft-maligned, and while I am absolutely awful at the Manta Ray levels I really like the rolling ball levels a lot, and Rolling Gizmo was the second and more difficult of these in the first game.
Luigi's Purple Coins in Toy Time Galaxy is one of the last stars, if not the last star, that we obtained in SMG. The platforming I just found to be especially tricky and put pure platforming skills to the test as much as anything else in the game. Very fun level.
A couple favorite memories of mine involving Mario games:
Our Cat Eli playing SMG2. We were playing the Bee race level and he came and joined it. It was amazing.
I'm also going to repost a story I've posted before for the second memory. I posted this in the Super Mario 3D Land is five years old thread last November.
Wow, time flies. I remember surprising my wife with a Flame Red 3DS/3DL bundle on her birthday in December 2012. We were living in Vermont and we got up super early to drive down to a surprise location - our old neighborhood in Astoria, Queens. We spent the day going around NYC. Had amazing pizza at Motorino in the East Village, went to Times Square, Chinatown and Little Italy... came back to Astoria for a delicious dinner at a Mexican restaurant with some terrific cactus leaf tostadas. When we left the restaurant we forgot the leftovers so I ran back while my wife waited for me in front of the bakery whose cakes were featured in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. We got back to the car -- we'd parked under the Broadway St. Station -- and I put the leftovers in the trunk. I came back to the front seat and handed my wife a gift-wrapped box. I pretended to be confused and was like, "I found this in the trunk?" She's a huge Nintendo fan and was super elated. That little 3DS has gotten so many hours of play. Including many on that game, on DKCR 3D, and so many others.
I recently revisited 3DL. Earlier this year, or maybe last year, I replayed W1-8 and enjoyed it quite a bit. Then when I had to go to my hometown of Buffalo for a wedding in September, I played through much of the Special Worlds. A couple of those levels in particular are brutally difficult to me, especially getting all 3 coins in each. And that's even with 3D on. I played some (most? all?) of the game with it on this time. I don't usually do so with 3DS (prone to migraines) but it didn't effect me negatively (migraine-wise) much if at all here, and the added depth was really useful. Anyway, I'd played these harder levels before and got stuck on some of the same ones. A couple weeks or so ago I beat S8, which I'd forgotten unlocks a final level in W8. I beat that as well, both of those were pretty tough for me. I know there's a super secret final level (that I never unlocked when originally playing it, either) but I haven't gotten every gold flagpole yet (most of them, though) or beaten any levels with Luigi... I want to wait to go back and do that till the game is a bit less fresh in my mind. I'll probably do W1-8 then take a break then S1-8, again. It's a good incentive for an eventual replay.
I really enjoy the game quite a bit. It's an incredible, tight distillation of 2D Mario in the 3D space. The Christmas Mario Theme on 3DS has been on our home screen for nearly two years now, and uses the delightful music from this game.
Related threads:
Mario Community Thread: Anything and everything Super Mario
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1397484
Hardest Mario Level? [explain your answer, ModBot is watching...]
