Super Mario 3D World

It's another peaceful night in the Mushroom Kingdom, and Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and a random blue Toad are enjoying a nice stroll. That is, until they stumble upon a clear warp pipe that's been haphazardly stuck in the ground. Putting their plumbing skills to work, Mario and Luigi fix it up, allowing an adorable green fairy and a host of strange power ups to pop out! Said adorable fairy is a Sprixie Princess, and she comes from a strange and distant land that's being terrorized by a certain familiar flame-spitting turtle who has kidnapped her fellow princesses... And right when she's explaining this, said flame-spitting turtle, the ever-persistent Bowser pops out of the pipe and swipes her in a glass jar for his own nefarious ends! Unwilling to just watch another princess be kidnapped, Peach dives in after him, and when Mario and friends follow, they all end up in the Sprixie Kingdom. Can they traverse this strange world and save all seven princesses from Bowser?

Super Mario 3D World is a Wii U platformer released on November 23, 2013. Much like the preceding Super Mario 3D Land, it's a level-based 3D Mario game that plays like one of his 2D adventures, only this time it's packing New Super Mario Bros-style multiplayer for four different players at once. It also takes a page out of Super Mario Bros. 2s book by letting you play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, or Toad, all of whom have different physics with some characters being more appropriate for certain levels than others. There are also certain levels where you can play as Captain Toad from Super Mario Galaxy, which are focused more on puzzle-platforming and carefully navigating a 3D space. Said levels would be followed up by Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, a spinoff themed around the captain himself!

Super Mario 3D World was re-released for the Nintendo Switch on February 12, 2021, where along with certain quality of life improvements it was bundled with a new game: Bowser's Fury, which sees Mario teaming up with Bowser Jr after Bowser himself has been transformed into a gigantic, terrifying monster.


 * Action Girl: Since she hasn't been kidnapped for a change, Peach gets to kick bad guy butt alongside the Mario Bros (and Toad)! Once you beat the game,
 * Adorable Evil Minions: Cat Goombas are so cute! Goombas already have a bit of Ugly Cute appeal going for them, but when they're fuzzy, scamper around, and meow when they dive from high places, you'll find yourself wishing you could cuddle with them instead of squish them.
 * Ant Troopers are also pretty cute, since they're round and chubby ants with adorably big yellow eyes. Ditto for Blocksteppers, which are tiny cubical Octorok-looking things with big hats that constantly march while chanting in high-pitched voices. When you kill one, the way the rest of them flip out and run around in a panic makes them even cuter.
 * Autobots Rock Out: All of Bowser's boss fights are set to blaring electric guitars.
 * Badass Adorable: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and make all kinds of cute cat sounds when they're wearing the Cat Suit, and they're still undeniable ass-kickers. Even  gets in on this
 * Big Bad: Who else but Bowser?
 * Big Band: This is the theme of the game's OST: most songs are very swanky and upbeat, often accompanied by tons of brass.
 * Big Boo's Haunt: Shifty Boo Mansion, Spooky Seasick Wreck, and A Beam In The Dark are all haunted levels that are crawling with Boos and Peepas.
 * The Bus Came Back: Several Mario enemies finally return after long absences: Chargin' Chucks and Galoombas from Super Mario World, and Bullies from Super Mario 64.
 * Cat Girl: Princess Peach become this with the Cat Suit power up. Not fanservicey, but still adorable.
 * Cool Car: The Pimpmobile, Bowser's badass and stylish looking car that he uses for his first two boss fights.
 * Cute Giant: Plessie's a downplayed example: he isn't enormous, but he's still big enough for all four characters to comfortably ride on. And as far as cuteness goes? He's basically a big Yoshi mixed with a Plesiosaur, and you can make him giggle by petting him like a puppy. Aww...
 * Cute Monster Girl: Pom Pom returns from 3D Land, and is still incredibly adorable. She's even packing some new ninja skills to boot!
 * Damsel in Distress: Since Peach hasn't been kidnapped for once, you're tasked with saving seven adorable Sprixie Princesses who Bowser has locked away in giant bottles.
 * Difficult but Awesome: Toad's not as good at jumping as everyone else and his high speed can lead to him zooming off of platforms and cliffs to his death, but once you've gotten a hang for how his physics work, he can clear levels in no time flat and is even officially considered by Nintendo to be the perfect speed-runner character.
 * Dual Boss: King and Queen Hisstocrat will fight you together during the game's Boss Rush.
 * Egopolis:
 * Fake Longevity: If you want every single stamp in order to beat the game 100%, then buckle up: You need to beat every stage with every character. Oh, and
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: When Mario and friends jump in the clear pipe that takes them to the Sprixie Kingdom, Peach is in the lead which leaves Mario staring right up her dress.
 * Jiggle Physics: Peach and . No, not in THAT way, but their dresses have a very visible bounciness to them.
 * King Mook: A lot of the bosses are this: you've got Boss Brolder, King Ka-Thunk, Prince Bully, and the Hisstocrats. Though in the case of the Hisstocrats, their smaller snake henchmen are only fought alongside them, and King Ka-Thunk is weird for being the King Mook to faceless obstacles as opposed to proper enemies.
 * Laser-Guided Karma: During the credits, a miserable Bowser can be seen stuffed into the same jars he had trapped the Sprixie Princesses in.
 * Lethal Lava Land: The world map for World Castle as a whole is this, and as far as specific levels go, you've got Fort Fire Bros, Grumblump Inferno, and Boss Brolder's Castle among others.
 * Level Ate: There are several levels made entirely out of delicious desserts, such as Cookie Cogworks and Cakewalk Flip.
 * Light Is Not Good:
 * Me's a Crowd: The Double Cherry power up, which will create clones of whoever you're playing as that will mimic your behavior. Pom Pom and Boom Boom will also create fake copies of themselves during their boss fights, but it's easy to see right through them and attack the genuine article.
 * Monster Clown: Motley Bossblob, who looks like a Koopaling that took up a life as a jester. He's fairly adorable, at least until he surrounds himself in liquid metal shaped like a fat, malevolent clown. Once he starts trying to squish you flat, he becomes a lot less adorable.
 * One-Winged Angel:
 * Paper-Thin Disguise: The Goomba Head power up simply has the character you're playing as wear a (admittedly, convincing) Goomba head that does nothing to disguise their legs. Goombas however are always fooled by it, even with Peach 's obvious dress poking out from beneath it.
 * Promoted to Playable: Captain Toad goes from NPC to playable character in this game, though only in special levels that are more puzzle-oriented than the ones in the main game.
 * Shout-Out: When Bowser kidnaps the Green Sprixie Princess, he stuffs her in a bottle the way Link does with fairies in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He even does the same pose when he's showing her off! And like the fairies in Wind Waker, she looks miserable.
 * Tennis Boss: Or rather, Soccer Boss: during his first two boss fights, Bowser tosses exploding soccer balls at you that you'll have to kick back at him.
 * Took a Level In Badass:
 * Took a Level In Badass: