DKC is the peak. Several times while playing Wonder I thought "this was fun, but imagine how amazing the DKC version of this level would be." If they had a level theme they would do absolutely everything with it. I'm reminded of the tornado level. That level has you travelling with the tornado in the background, it has a section where the tornado is destroying the stage, a section where the tornado is throwing things at you, and it culminates in platforming while inside the tornado using the stuff blowing through it as platforms. My big Wonder comparison is Beware of the Rifts, which was a 10/10 concept that felt like it just got started before the level ended.
JackHandy said:
The last time I played a 2D game and felt a true sense of wow and awe on a basic, mechanical level was SMB 3 back in the day, which is why I consider it to be the peak of the genre. DKC would go on to wow me too, but looking back, it wasn't because it did anything mechanically better than Mario (it was a great game, though). It's because it looked and sounded amazing, and that's how I feel about all modern 2D games. They're prettier, more gimmicky, have better sound and save points etc. But at a basic, core design? No. Not even close. SMB 3 still (unfortunately) hasn't been topped, and I don't see how it ever will. |
Honestly, level design wise I enjoy both SMW and NSMB more than SMB3 personally. Also I'd say that SMB3 can be gimmicky, it was arguably doing the one level gimmick before the modern DKC games were a thing with stuff like having only one or two levels that use the boot power up. A big thing for me is that the mario games after 3 adding the hidden exits and Star Coins/Yoshi Coins opened up their exploration so the levels felt a bit more fun to just explore and find secrets in. That's a big reason Wonder kind of disappointed for me, the Purple Coins were generally a lot less out of the way and the secret exists were mainly just extra Wonder Seed exits and that makes the levels a lot more straightforward. Still great game, but it did leave me wanting more.
