I'll admit, the initial announcement of Super Mario 3D World had disappointed me. I was expecting maybe a Super Mario Galaxy 3 announcement, but instead got a follow-up to 2011's Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS. In hindsight, it was silly to complain though.

Can Nintendo continue the Wii U's overdue hot-streak with Super Mario 3D World? It's-a Toby Hills with the verdict.

Classic Mario gameplay; Exceptional pacing and level design; A perfect middle ground between cooperative and competitive multiplayer

Experienced alone; it can't hold a candle to Mario Galaxy 1 or 2

Years ago when we were told they were pulling their plumber into a 3D world, few believed the essence of the series would be preserved. Yet Super Mario 64 became one of the most acclaimed games ever. The story was the same on Wii with Super Mario Galaxy.

Super Mario 3D World is vibrant, fun and reaches a new level of excellence for the franchise, creating the right kind of cat-astrophe.

Super Mario 3D World is the missing link between 2D and 3D Mario games and is chock full of more fresh ideas than we've seen from Nintendo in some time. If you own a Wii U, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up.

Simplified take on 3D Mario; Enough challenge for veteran players; Cat Mario; Double Mario; and tons of other power ups; Multiplayer is addictive and competitive

Sometimes difficult to correctly jump; Four-player camera isn't always user-friendly; Storyline is as simple as ever

After so many years and so many classics, it shouldn't be a surprise that the latest Mario game is an absolute blinder, yet somehow it is. Back in June, with the headlines dominated by a new generation of consoles, Nintendo's choice of flagship Christmas Wii U title seemed quixotic, if not outright...

Lustrous HD graphics; Imaginative level design; Awesome multiplayer; Instantly accessible but deep

Zoomed-out camera can cause multiplayer trauma

Super Mario 3D World is a game of exceptional craft, of painstaking focus on the minute details that are integral to making it feel special. The pace at which you're thrown from one ingenious concept to the next as perspectives, tempos, and mechanics change would choke a lesser game, but here it's...

Wildly imaginative level design; Effortless controls; Loads of challenging extra content to discover; Gorgeous; colourful visuals and a catchy soundtrack; It's Mario in a cat suit

Mario fans will rejoice at the Super Mario 3D World building sets available from K'NEX. If you're trying to think of ways to get your kid off the game console for a while to do something different, try these fun building sets that mimic the various levels of Super Mario 3D World .

Easily the best game on the Wii U and one that can proudly stand alongside Nintendo's greatest, even if it doesn't quite top the Super Mario Galaxy games.

Endlessly inventive, with a gleeful disregard for regular structure or formula; The best range of power-ups in any Mario game; Excellent co-op action and superb graphics

Poor use of the GamePad, that actually gets in the way of playing the game if you're on your own; Those annoying save messages

The key is how well the old and the new marry together and which aspects are streamlined to make way for some playful tinkering.

Chock full of ideas; Multiplayer fun; Huge variety; Uses online connectivity

Not a great workout for the GamePad