SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD

Super Mario 3D World (2013) brought multiplayer chaos of New Super Mario Bros to 3D platforming. Cat Mario became instant icon - wall climbing, dive attacks, paw swipes. Wii U struggled commercially, but hosted incredible first-party games like this. Blend of 3D Land's portable-focused design with console power.

At 32 years old, senior architect watching Nintendo prove 4-player 3D works. Linear levels with clear goals, but hidden depth. Green Stars, stamps, Captain Toad puzzles. 5+ million copies on Wii U. Switch port (2021) added Bowser's Fury open-world section.

4 playable characters - Mario (balanced), Luigi (high jump), Peach (float), Toad (speed). Cat Suit wall climbing changed traversal. Captain Toad levels - puzzle sections without jumping. Linear focused levels, but packed with hidden Green Stars and stamps collectibles.

Couch co-op perfection. 4-player chaos where coordination optional but rewarding. Throw players, steal power-ups, help or hinder. Double Cherry power-up clones you. Camera adapted brilliantly. Controls tight even with four simultaneous Marios.

Switch port Bowser's Fury (2021) added open-world section proving concept works. Sold 10+ million more copies on Switch. Cat Suit appears in future games. Influenced Mario multiplayer design - Wonder (2023) refined 4-player chaos further.

"At 32, senior architect learning about designing for collaboration. 4-player chaos teaches about async communication and shared state management in distributed systems. Each character has unique capabilities - like microservices with specialized functions. Balancing individual capability with team coordination. That's distributed architecture."