I love the vibe this game has going for it. It's nice to see Mario in a tropical resort setting for a change. The music, level and character design all create a really relaxing atmosphere in comparison to some of the more chaotic levels of Super Mario 64. The levels aren't as ominous. Instead of falling into a bottomless pit, more often than not you will fall into a body of calm water instead.
It's nice that the world feels more forgiving and relaxing, because the gameplay certainly feels a bit more frustrating than other Mario 3D games. Mario's move set feels a bit stripped in comparison to SM64 and future Mario titles. Walking and camera movement take a bit getting used to. Mario feels a lot more slippery in this game, and I found myself missing a lot of jumps because of how sensitive the controls are (which unfortunately can't be adjusted).
And getting the hang of flood is quite a challenge in itself. It takes some time to learn how to fire water accurately at enemies, which often requires you locking Mario's movement Resident Evil 4 style. I feel like the shooting mechanic of flood breaks a lot of Mario's movement and makes the game feel clumsy. I also think that water shouldn't be a limited resource for flood. I never found rationing flood's water supply to ever be a fun mechanic, even if it's technically more realistic to have a constant need to replenish the water it has.
The charming music and atmosphere make up for this though. It's nice bit of escapism, especially in colder winter months. And in between the frustrating moments are fun platformer levels in a well realized island environment. It's the only Mario game I felt had a consistent world design and I hope they revisit this kind of world building in a future Mario title.
It's nice that the world feels more forgiving and relaxing, because the gameplay certainly feels a bit more frustrating than other Mario 3D games. Mario's move set feels a bit stripped in comparison to SM64 and future Mario titles. Walking and camera movement take a bit getting used to. Mario feels a lot more slippery in this game, and I found myself missing a lot of jumps because of how sensitive the controls are (which unfortunately can't be adjusted).
And getting the hang of flood is quite a challenge in itself. It takes some time to learn how to fire water accurately at enemies, which often requires you locking Mario's movement Resident Evil 4 style. I feel like the shooting mechanic of flood breaks a lot of Mario's movement and makes the game feel clumsy. I also think that water shouldn't be a limited resource for flood. I never found rationing flood's water supply to ever be a fun mechanic, even if it's technically more realistic to have a constant need to replenish the water it has.
The charming music and atmosphere make up for this though. It's nice bit of escapism, especially in colder winter months. And in between the frustrating moments are fun platformer levels in a well realized island environment. It's the only Mario game I felt had a consistent world design and I hope they revisit this kind of world building in a future Mario title.