Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

It's no secret that the Wii U never really caught on with gamers like other Nintendo consoles, despite being home to a number of great games like this one. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury -- an exemplary entry in the Mario catalog -- on Switch is a welcome treat. Its 3D worlds are inspired, loaded with seemingly endless secrets and items to collect, from stamps to power-ups that you can store for later use if your hero already has one. And the cat suit makes for wonderfully memorable play scenarios as players try to make Mario scramble up walls to reveal hidden areas and attack enemies head-on. It looks and plays a little better, thanks to some of the tweaks Nintendo made for this port, but the reason it remains such a great game eight years after it originally launched is because of its timeless controls and classic design, which in many ways hearken back to previous Mario platformers and seem almost never to age. The ability to play with others -- locally or online -- and choose from a variety of characters just adds to the fun.

The original game alone should be enough to convince plenty of families to pick this one up, but the addition of what essentially feels like a second game in Bowser's Fury -- which you can choose to start playing right out of the box from the main menu -- is a terrific bonus. It's smaller than the adventure it's been bundled with but provides players with an open world to explore, which isn't something Mario fans have had before. The free-to-roam design means this game doesn't feel as tightly choreographed as other Mario adventures, and the constant threat of a raging Bowser showing up to make chaos rain from the skies for several minutes can be a little intimidating (though you'll have opportunity to make Mario grow to enormous size to combat him). But Bowser's Fury provides plenty of opportunity to further hone your Mario platforming skills. And the lovely feline-themed world in which it's set, where everything from the trees and shrubs Mario passes to the badges he collects are bestowed with cat-like cuteness, will be a treat for cat lovers. It's an excellent finish for what's already a terrific game, and just the sort of incentive that should prove alluring to anyone who loved the original but is sitting on the fence for this remaster. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury should find a warm welcome from players of all ages on Nintendo Switch.