Mario 3D world is still golden Mario
I’ve been revisiting a lot of Mario after really liking Mario galaxy movie(long story).
I tried finding the purest distillation of Mario - and while I love odyssey, love galaxy, liked sunshine, adored new super Mario at the time, and pretend like wonder is not canon. Mario 3D world - like Mario world before it - feels like a game aiming to distill the formula into a pure representation of what Mario IS.
It’s not just the level design or the mechanics or the fact it feels so easy to read or the fact speedrunning it is a delight. It’s about the way it feels confident in what Mario is. It’s a plumber who jumps and wears a cat suit. Sure, the game gets inventive and does a lot of unique things. But that confidence on who Mario is as a character, what Mario is as a game, is something I genuinely miss.
Donkey kong country returns HD is another Goldilocks game for me - it’s what I pick out to remember who donkey Kong actually IS. What he feels like. Mario is in dire need of another new Mario game that’s just Mario, but I’m happy replaying 3D world in the meantime.