PETER HOSKIN reviews Little Nightmares 2 and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

Little Nightmares 2 (PlayStation, Xbox, SwitchPC, £24.99) 

Verdict: Big scares

Rating:

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Switch, £49.99)

Verdict: A masterpiece, again 

Rating:

For those who haven’t played the first Little Nightmares game, a warning about it and its new sequel. 

With their diminutive heroes, their animated style, even that name, you might assume they are a cutesy take on horror. More Scooby-Doo than, say, The Shining.

But you’d be wrong. Little Nightmares 2 is, like its predecessor, pretty darn terrifying — and that is what’s best about it.

It is set in the nightmares you may have had as a child, which were pretty unnerving at the time.

Little Nightmares 2 is, like its predecessor, pretty darn terrifying — and that is what's best about it

Little Nightmares 2 is, like its predecessor, pretty darn terrifying — and that is what’s best about it

The game is set in the nightmares you may have had as a child, which were pretty unnerving at the time

The game is set in the nightmares you may have had as a child, which were pretty unnerving at the time

You take Mono, a paper-bag-headed kid sometimes working in tandem with Six, the main character of the first game, through a dark city that appears to be in thrall to a sinister TV broadcast.

It is a world of sad, empty spaces and sudden, monstrous attacks. Few games are as atmospheric.

And the actual gameplay is good, too. At heart, Little Nightmares 2 is a Mario-style game that has you jumping around individual levels, but with more puzzle-solving stirred into its viscous mix.

Mono, a paper-bag-headed kid, is the protagonist of the game who walks through a dark city that appears to be in thrall to a sinister TV broadcast

Mono, a paper-bag-headed kid, is the protagonist of the game who walks through a dark city that appears to be in thrall to a sinister TV broadcast

It is a world of sad, empty spaces and sudden, monstrous attacks. Few games are as atmospheric

It is a world of sad, empty spaces and sudden, monstrous attacks. Few games are as atmospheric

The game has you jumping around individual levels, but with more puzzle-solving stirred into its mix

The game has you jumping around individual levels, but with more puzzle-solving stirred into its mix

In your hands, though, it feels heavier; more about holding buttons down than tapping them. It is a clenched-fisted method that suits the setting.

Sometimes — when you miss a jump for no good reason — that heaviness can seem more like clumsiness on the game’s part. 

But who are we to question the logic of nightmares? The omnipresence of death is surely part of the point.

Take our money all over again, Nintendo. 

Super Mario 3D World was first released in 2013 for the underrated Wii U, and now it is being released again for the Switch.

Being able to play it on the newer console is a tremendous boon because . . . this might just be the best Mario game ever made.

Super Mario 3D World is certainly a distillation of what makes Mario great.  

Super Mario 3D World, which was first released in 2013 for the Wii U, is being released again for the Switch

Super Mario 3D World, which was first released in 2013 for the Wii U, is being released again for the Switch

The main cast members, which include Luigi and Peach, are all playable characters

The main cast members, which include Luigi and Peach, are all playable characters

It has the freewheeling, playtime quality of his 3D adventures but also manages to feel a lot like the 2D classics. 

The main cast members, including Luigi and Peach, are all playable characters. And the designers add in wacky inventions, such as, erm, feline powers, that somehow all seem exactly right.

Besides, the Switch version comes with generous additions: Super Mario 3D World can now be played with three more players online, and there’s a side game called Bowser’s Fury that may just hint where the series will be heading in future. Let’s-a go! 

The game has the freewheeling, playtime quality of his 3D adventures but also manages to feel a lot like the 2D classics

The game has the freewheeling, playtime quality of his 3D adventures but also manages to feel a lot like the 2D classics

Super Mario 3D World can now be played with three more players online and there's a side game called Bowser's Fury

 Super Mario 3D World can now be played with three more players online and there’s a side game called Bowser’s Fury