Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury provides two varying styles of Mario games. On the one hand, 3D World is very linear and is closer to a traditional 2D Mario game. Make your way to Bowser’s Fury, though, and you find an open world sandbox mode closer to the likes of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Odyssey. In this open world, you find Cat Shines that will help bring Bowser back to his usual size and less scary state. Along the way, you will need to find and rescue the brave and adventurous Toad Brigade. Finding each one will reward you with a Cat Shine. Here is where to find the Toad Brigade in Bowser’s Fury.
Some of Nintendo s best efforts released during the Wii U generation and many people missed out on those games, because there were a lot of people who didn t own the ill-fated console. It s been great to see some of that system s best games release on the Nintendo Switch and now Switch owners have received arguably the Wii U s best title: Super Mario 3D World.
There s a lot to say about Super Mario 3D World. A lot of it will sound familiar to anybody who read Shacknews at the end of 2013. That s because this was our 2013 Game of the Year and everything that was said then still applies today. The more interesting conversation surrounds Bowser s Fury, the new side story. It s one of the most interesting Mario experiences in a long time, just because it feels both familiar and refreshingly different.
How do Cat Shines work and how many Shines are there in Bowser s Fury?
Hidden throughout the lake and the many islets of Bowser s Fury, there are 100 Cat Shines in total to collect. You don t need that many to complete the game, but if you want them all you ll have to search high and low to find them all.
Each island has its own lighthouse, and each lighthouse has five Cat Shines. Of those Shines one is always Bowser Block, and another is always collecting five collectibles hidden across the island. Two Shines on each lighthouse need players to leave and return to the island before they can be found. Once a lighthouse has all its Cat Shines, you will see a Mario flag hoisted at the top.
GPU: GTX 1070ti
Video recorded using Shadowplay
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser s Fury includes the original Wii U game as well as a new expansion that plays slightly differently from the main campaign, but without losing any familiarity with the rest of the experience, as highlighted by Rosh in his review.
The rest of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser s Fury plays much like the main installment. You explore the series of islands each one more or less self-contained, hunting for Cat Shines that can allow you to unlock the Giga Bells that serve as the hub areas of the game, and the means to defeat Fury Bowser. There are loads of Cat Shines to find, but the world isn’t so large as to become overwhelming or bloated, there is a reason this watery land is a lake, not an ocean. Instead, everything is tightly packed together, overflowing with nooks and crannies to explore.