06-16-2020, 09:35 AM
I can't decide over one, so I'll go down the list.
Forest / Jungle: Mostly for visual aesthetic, Forest / Jungle is an enjoyable theme for me. I liked the new types of enemies I found in the forest world of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, as if they were designed to act in a forest environment. Bramball, specifically, felt the most forest-themed to me. I also enjoyed having the poison rivers become a re-occurring gimmick in the theme; it seems out of place, but fits in regardless. Even in Super Mario Maker 2 the poison has significance; if a Koopa Troopa gets sucked into the poison when it rises, once the poison lowers, it'll turn into a Dry Bones. That was a cool detail that made me wish other enemies could have that happen to them too.
Volcano: Volcano hooked me in when I heard its track in New Super Mario Bros.. The beat and the instruments gave me a mood of "It's a dangerous path ahead, but keep going!", and became stuck in my mind. As for level theme, I found it astounding how the volcanoes in the background would randomly shoot magma rocks to the foreground. Once I found out they could destroy blocks, I knew it came down to RNG / luck to get to the Goal Pole. It made it either harder or easier depending on where the rocks fell, as well as how large the rocks spawned in were. I love it.
Desert: The main reason I favor this is because of the music in Super Mario Maker 2. The Super Mario Bros. theme has the best music for the new themes, in my opinion, which can also be said for Forest / Jungle, Snow / Ice, etc. That aside, I think there's potential for having "better" Desert themes in possible future games. New Super Mario Bros. Wii's sand fountains in the bottomless pits proved to be a challenge, as if you missed the jump, you'd fall into the pit and lose an Extra Life. The difficulty spike rose for me, but it increased my liking for the Desert theme, too. Challenges are always fun for me. Good theme with hope for new gimmicks.
Snow / Ice: Another reason to love a theme over visuals. Snow themes are so calm and cheery, it makes me feel at ease whenever I stumble upon one. Once again, New Super Mario Bros. proves this. The snow that fell from the trees and stunned me was a troublesome thing to get by, but once I memorized the locations, the levels became easy. I also liked how Spikes changed their appearances in the snow levels; it'd be cool to see that in later games.
Other (Giant): This theme was a creative one. To me it felt like the entirety of World 4 in Super Mario Bros. 3 got a Super Mushroom. One of the levels even had a switching gimmick, where going into a door would swap the enemies back down to normal size, or if they were already normal, make them big again. It did make platforming harder, though, and not in the fun way. Having a 200%-sized map makes Mario and Luigi's jumps feel small, where a block could be too high up to reach. However, kicking around bigger Koopa Troopa shells and meeting Sledge Bros. for the first time really saved this theme for me; I want to see Giant Land return one day.
I should note that I've only played NSMBW and NSMB in terms of the "New" game series. I apologize if anything is in U or U Deluxe that I missed.
Forest / Jungle: Mostly for visual aesthetic, Forest / Jungle is an enjoyable theme for me. I liked the new types of enemies I found in the forest world of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, as if they were designed to act in a forest environment. Bramball, specifically, felt the most forest-themed to me. I also enjoyed having the poison rivers become a re-occurring gimmick in the theme; it seems out of place, but fits in regardless. Even in Super Mario Maker 2 the poison has significance; if a Koopa Troopa gets sucked into the poison when it rises, once the poison lowers, it'll turn into a Dry Bones. That was a cool detail that made me wish other enemies could have that happen to them too.
Volcano: Volcano hooked me in when I heard its track in New Super Mario Bros.. The beat and the instruments gave me a mood of "It's a dangerous path ahead, but keep going!", and became stuck in my mind. As for level theme, I found it astounding how the volcanoes in the background would randomly shoot magma rocks to the foreground. Once I found out they could destroy blocks, I knew it came down to RNG / luck to get to the Goal Pole. It made it either harder or easier depending on where the rocks fell, as well as how large the rocks spawned in were. I love it.
Desert: The main reason I favor this is because of the music in Super Mario Maker 2. The Super Mario Bros. theme has the best music for the new themes, in my opinion, which can also be said for Forest / Jungle, Snow / Ice, etc. That aside, I think there's potential for having "better" Desert themes in possible future games. New Super Mario Bros. Wii's sand fountains in the bottomless pits proved to be a challenge, as if you missed the jump, you'd fall into the pit and lose an Extra Life. The difficulty spike rose for me, but it increased my liking for the Desert theme, too. Challenges are always fun for me. Good theme with hope for new gimmicks.
Snow / Ice: Another reason to love a theme over visuals. Snow themes are so calm and cheery, it makes me feel at ease whenever I stumble upon one. Once again, New Super Mario Bros. proves this. The snow that fell from the trees and stunned me was a troublesome thing to get by, but once I memorized the locations, the levels became easy. I also liked how Spikes changed their appearances in the snow levels; it'd be cool to see that in later games.
Other (Giant): This theme was a creative one. To me it felt like the entirety of World 4 in Super Mario Bros. 3 got a Super Mushroom. One of the levels even had a switching gimmick, where going into a door would swap the enemies back down to normal size, or if they were already normal, make them big again. It did make platforming harder, though, and not in the fun way. Having a 200%-sized map makes Mario and Luigi's jumps feel small, where a block could be too high up to reach. However, kicking around bigger Koopa Troopa shells and meeting Sledge Bros. for the first time really saved this theme for me; I want to see Giant Land return one day.
I should note that I've only played NSMBW and NSMB in terms of the "New" game series. I apologize if anything is in U or U Deluxe that I missed.
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