Is multiplayer crippling Mario 3D World's level design?

[gumby_trucker]

I think 4 player multiplayer in 3D (without splitscreen) is a much bigger evolution than most people are realizing. It's barely been done before and introduces a host of new problems that require reinventing a lot of fundamental game design concepts.

For that reason alone, people should be excited about this game, because we know the team behind it is capable of delivering a genre-defining product.

I don't know for sure why an art style most would call conservative was chosen, but it may be in order to remove any unnecessary distractions or layers of complexity between the players and the gameplay itself, focusing instead on the mental and mechanical complexity that four players operating together in the same 3D space can allow.

If that is indeed the case, I think there is potential for the game to be as mindblowing as Mario 64 was at its time.