Bowser’s Fury is more than just a fun little add-on to the Nintendo Switch port of 2013’s Super Mario 3D World. The entirely new experience brings a lot to love, and seems to be a test on Nintendo’s part. Perhaps it provides some hints about the future of its number one mascot’s games.

Nintendo is never afraid of shaking up the Mario formula and trying something new, and while Bowser’s Fury isn’t the large-scale franchise reset that The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was for its franchise, there are still a lot of things, big and small, that stand out in Bowser’s Fury. Many of them would be more than welcome in the next big release in the series.

10 Open-World Mario

First and foremost, the very concept of Mario running around a single unified open world is priceless. Visually, it is stunning to see each individual zone and area next to each other. Being able to spot a zone with spinning platforms from far away is both an exciting visual and a way of communicating what else is out there for players.

If the zone you’re nearest to looks too tough, then just scan the horizon and see what else there is to do. It’s smart world design and it makes the adventure feel much more exciting, especially with all the game’s tricks collected together (rather than spread out in multiple worlds as in the wonderfully creative kingdoms of Super Mario Odyssey).

9 Making Bowser Scary Again

After so many decades of battling Mario while also playing tennis, golf, board games, and kart racing with him, Bowser has become less of a threat and more of a supporting character. In Bowser’s Fury, however, the Koopa King’s new look gives him some dearly-needed gravitas.

The rippling fire constantly pouring from his mouth, the glowing eyes, and the overall red and blue/black color scheme all give Bowser an edge that he’s been missing. It’s a stretch too far to expect Super Mario to have a gritty reboot, but this kind of stylized presence for the main villain is a nice added dimension that the games haven’t had in a while.

8 A Real Sense of Danger

Bowser’s new form isn’t just a boost in aesthetics. When it starts to rain in Bowser’s Fury, players have to handle a new kind of obstacle for a Super Mario Game: being interrupted. When Bowser wakes up and starts bombarding the whole map, any Cat Shine you were currently chasing becomes a secondary objective behind just staying alive.

This added layer of challenge completely changes players’ moment-to-moment experiences. Do you hunker down and wait out the storm, or try to push through and hope you can get a Cat Shine and send Bowser away sooner rather than later?

7 Bowser Jr., Mario’s Unexpected Ally

The Super Mario franchise isn’t really known for its deep character arcs. Still, seeing Bowser Jr. ask Mario for help and tagging along on the adventure (19 years after spending his debut appearance terrorizing and impersonating the plumber in Super Mario Sunshine) is a nice example of characters growing and changing.

While they are by no means best friends by the time credits roll, Bowser Jr. being a sort of fairweather ally to Mario is still a novel character dynamic, which it would be fun to see carried over into other games.

6 Big Set Pieces

The game’s climactic showdowns between Fury Bowser and Giga Cat Mario are cinematic video game set pieces at their finest. These larger-than-life battles are more dramatic and operatic than the usual Super Mario boss fight. Such a level of spectacle and grandeur really elevates the experience beyond yet another 3d Mario platformer.

Nintendo has never had a shortage of exciting ideas for Mario games, but they rarely present them with this much dramatic flair. Hopefully this is a sign of more such over-the-top sequences in the franchise’s future.

5 Remixing Areas

Each of the areas in Bowser’s Fury is built around a specific platforming element, like platforms that flip when the player jumps or translucent pipes. However, what may seem simple at first can grow more complicated, as these areas change themselves up upon later visits, offering new challenges and Cat Shines with further exploration.

This design choice keeps the game feeling fresh and rewards players for looking around various places and making return trips. While plenty of 3D Mario game levels can add new elements, they don’t completely remix themselves like these do.

4 Mix-And-Match Power-Ups

While there aren’t any new power-ups in Bowser’s Fury beyond the plot-activated Giga Cat Bell (the absurd effects of which has sadly not been embraced by the meme-loving gaming community), players do have the new ability to store them up and access them on the fly. With the press of a button Bowser Jr. can throw Mario a Cat Suit, then a Tanooki Suit, then a Fire Flower, then back to a Tanooki Suit, all in a matter of seconds.

This ability to effectively perform ‘combos’ with Mario’s power-ups adds a tremendous amount of flexibility. Not to mention potential game-breaking power, provided the player is able to juggle these abilities effectively.

3 Expansive Post-Game

Mario’s 3D adventures have usually had a little something waiting after credits rolled to entice fans to keep playing and 100% the game. Nevertheless, Bowser’s Fury’s post-credits content feels uniquely enticing.

A new area and new means of traveling between the various zones all feel like encouragement to engage with what’s already there, now with new ideas and knowledge. The post-game in Bowser’s Fury feels like a continuation, rather than just a nice throwaway addition.

2 Plessie Always In Range

This is a great function that all open-world games should employ, not just future Mario games. No matter where you go in Bowser’s Fury, and no matter where you land if you fall off a ledge, Plessie always pops up in a convenient, close place.

This heat-seeking vehicle is never in the way, always there when you need it, and always a useful tool for players. By giving players consistent access, Bowser’s Fury again subtly encourages exploration. Feeling stuck? Why not just take Plessie around the block and see what else is around? It won’t take long at all.

1 Small, Convenient Scale

Compared to the single-use levels of Super Mario 3D World, Bowser’s Fury is indeed sprawling. However, compared to the massive sandboxes of Super Mario Odyssey or true marathon open-world games like Skyrim or Red Dead Redemption 2, Bowser’s Fury is downright bite-sized.

This focus on a digestible, achievable scale is actually a really nice change of pace for a Mario collectathon. Bowser’s Fury gives gamers the thrill of open-world exploration at a fraction of the time commitment. Given the bloat of a lot of major game releases (such as Odyssey’s staggering number of moons), this is definitely something for the Mario series to retain moving forward.

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