In 2013, Super Mario 3D World was released for the Nintendo Wii U, and I devoured it. It was an unbelievably entertaining entry to the long-running video game franchise, a perfect blend between its classic 2D and contemporary 3D modes of gameplay, a formula-scrambling emphasis on multiplayer chaos over single-player precision, an introduction to “the kitty cat suit” that we can and should never walk away from.

For those who missed this game in its original state on the low-selling Wii U, I have great news: You can now play it in all its glory on the Nintendo Switch, and boy howdy are you in for a treat. For those who have already played it, I have slightly less great news: It’s the same game, but now on Switch! It comes with a new side game, Bowser’s Fury, that’s a bit more “interesting experiment” than “instant classic." And the overall package is less Final Fantasy VII Remake and more Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World. Heck, it’s not even a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which boosted and balanced and tweaked the original Wii U version with plainly noticeable improvements. This version of Super Mario 3D World is, simply, a faithful port, for better and for worse.

As for the better, there’s plenty of it. In colorful, imaginative, and delightfully gimmick-oriented levels, a crew of up to four simultaneous characters — your choices being Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and eventually Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy (though why not include her from the jump, like other rereleases do?) — platforms their way around 3D spaces with the eventual end goal of jumping on that classic Mario flagpole, and optional goals of collecting hidden stars and stamps throughout. With these simultaneous goals, 3D World plays like such a pure, successful synthesis of a classic side-scrolling Mario title and a classic 3D Mario title; it’s Super Mario Bros. meets Super Mario 64. It gives every level dynamism, a purposeful choice between “speedrunning to the end” or “taking your time to explore,” with rewards in the form of extra unlockable levels and colorfully silly art for those who collect these hidden goodies. The power-ups in this sucker are so fun, from the blissfully bonkers cherries that cause your characters to multiply, from the game-changing kittycat suit that will have you crawling, scratching, and meowing your way to the finish flag. Plus, it introduces Captain Toad’s bonus levels, and getting to play those camera-driven puzzlers where an enterprising Toad wanders around collecting stars without the ability to jump remains a unique pleasure. Combine all of this with the franchise’s trademark focus on musical immersion and invention, and you will see just how easy it is to get sucked in like so many clear pipes.

There’s something for everybody in Super Mario 3D World, and when “everybody” gets involved, look out! The best way to play 3D World multiplayer will undoubtedly remain couch co-op; my Wii U playthrough back in the day was marked by such palpable joy, energy, unpredictability, and bonkersness thanks to our IRL friendship dynamic coming into play. This feeling of childlike joy is what Nintendo is best at, why we keep coming back to their games even when they’re repackaged at full price.

But right now, as you may have heard, we are in the middle of a pandemic where it’s dangerous to be in the same space as your friends. Nintendo addresses this, and of course the general temperature of contemporary multiplayer culture, by offering an online way to play. One host sets up a lobby for any other Switch friend to join, so long as they also have a Nintendo Switch Online membership and a copy of 3D World. From there, the crew of 2-4 can blast through these levels, though the progression only saves for the host player, which is a tad frustrating for those core foursomes who want to experience this game start to finish as the same unit. But small grievances for the convenience and accessibility of this online feature aside (a problem that plagues many Nintendo games), it’s a nice enough fix to get some of that 3D World multiplayer mayhem, particularly if you set up a video chat as you play, so you can scream at your friend as they decide to throw you off the edge for the 18th time in a row.

As for the worse, well, I can’t help but feel greedy for complaining about such a joyful game that was a blast to blast through yet again. But if you’re charging full price for a rerelease, a game that many of your consumers already played through once, I would expect a slew of noticeable improvements. And there are a few; in particular, I’m grateful that hidden green stars collected no longer vanish if you die. But overall, Super Mario 3D World seems to play the same, if not slightly worse on the Switch than I remember it playing on Wii U. This lack of “new hardware finesse” serves to exacerbate issues inherent to the gameplay that I would’ve loved to see more actively tweaked. Because of the game’s mixture between 3D and 2D level explorations, depth perception can be a death-causing issue; many times I thought I was about to land on one plane when it turned out I was less than an inch too far “back,” the Switch’s left control stick not giving me the accuracy I craved (I played this game switching between a Pro Controller in docked mode and the connected Joy-Cons in handheld mode). The camera doesn’t ever quite know whether to stay locked for a 2D space or free for a 3D space, sometimes lurching in the worst of both worlds.

And graphical issues are puzzlingly prevalent, from a generally “hard and pixelated” look that nullifies the cartoon friendliness of the design into something seeming unfinished, to some bad frame-rate slowdowns that can cause death especially in levels where platforming action needs to be timed to music. The Super Mario Galaxy port on recent Switch release Super Mario 3D All-Stars looks better than Super Mario 3D World, and that’s an older game from older hardware. Shouldn’t Nintendo’s next-gen console be able to handle an eight-year-old game from the previous console better, with purer graphics, smoother frame rate, and noticeable control improvements? Is it fair to ask for full price for this?

Bowser’s Fury helps answer that question with a brand-new, Switch-exclusive experience that is designedly experimental, often unintuitive, and boldly imaginative in a way I’ve never seen a Mario title before. It’s like Super Mario Sunshine and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask hung out with 2018’s God of War one crazy weekend. Its engine for existence: After getting murked in 3D World, Bowser has gone mad with oil-drenched, scarily monstrous fury. So Bowser Jr. and Mario join forces with an attempt to clean up King Koopa, clean up the oceanside worlds he’s drenched in oil, and find a bunch of “Cat Shines” (this game’s version of stars) to help the lighthouses retain their splendor. Instead of 3D World’s fusion between 2D and 3D vibes, Bowser’s Fury is an explicitly open-world 3D experience; Super Mario Odyssey dressed up in the aesthetics and items of Super Mario 3D World.

There’s no structure told to you; instead, like a God of War or similar “contemporary prestige game,” you jump into the action without context, learning how the game operates as you play the game. You discover that Bowser Jr. is joining you to help paint away villains and oil stains (you can play this in a two-player mode, though only couch co-op style); you discover that more cat shines collected means more worlds opening; most dramatically, you discover its Majora’s Mask-like structure of turning the world into a Zack Snyder-esque bombardment of Bowser’s fury, where suddenly the music becomes a self-conscious nü-metal banger, the levels are coated in lava and decay, and our particularly terrifying-looking Bowser blasts fire at you wherever you go.

Unfortunately, it’s not the best at presenting this kind of fluid, organic, and player-discovering game design with the necessary nuance of its peers, and its puzzles and mysteries can yield frustrations and unclarities rather than the usual joyful discoveries of a Mario game. Couple that with its repetitive nature (Bowser’s fury only jaw-drops the first few times before becoming a nuisance), truly aggravating camera system, and beyond-Switch-breaking graphical limitations… Bowser’s Fury can really get on your nerves if you let it.

But when its experiments pay off, and you discover something you’ve never discovered in a Mario game before, Bowser’s Fury feels bright, bold, and like it might have cracked open a door to something new for the franchise. In particular — and skip this paragraph if you want this particular surprise unspoiled — I unlocked something called a “Giga Bell” in the middle of the islands, unsure as to what it meant. When Bowser unleashed his requisite fury, I noticed the Giga Bell location became uncoated with oil, with coins nearby. I thought I’d investigate. I’m so glad I did. Because Mario turned into a giant Kaiju-sized cat and battled Fury Bowser in the middle of the ocean like a goddamn Godzilla vs. Kong set piece and I lived and laughed and loved every moment of it. This moment, and smaller-scale moments like it, feel wild, unchecked, and new. Bowser’s Fury might not work the best as a “game,” but as a showpiece for some new ideations going on in the Nintendo Lab, it’s quite intriguing to say the least.

Overall, if this Switch version is the first time you’ll be playing Super Mario 3D World, grab it and have an absolute blast, as the prickly concerns with its lack of experiential tweaking won’t necessarily land on you (and you won’t need the novelty of a new game like Bowser’s Fury to justify the price tag). But if you’re grabbing it to revisit your Wii U pleasures, you will find them, but you will find that some of them remain stubbornly stuck in a creaky, unintuitive past — even as Bowser’s Fury unintuitively creaks toward a new future. Meow!

Grade: B+ for newbies, B for folks who’ve played before.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is on Nintendo Switch now.