The spin was one of Mario Galaxy’s central mechanics, so every level was designed with it in mind. One of the crucial differences, however, lies in how the spin is incorporated. Much like in that game, it can quickly dispatch enemies and provide a small midair boost, allowing her to gain some extra height and distance as well as to course-correct otherwise-inaccurate jumps. On the surface, Rosalina’s spin is little more than a carry-over from Super Mario Galaxy. Image capture via Nintendo Switch A Unique Spin Peach’s brief hover is arguably similar in this respect, but Rosalina’s spin goes a step beyond, changing the gameplay in some surprisingly drastic ways. Rather than sticking to subtle mechanical changes, the developers gave Rosalina a unique ability in the form of the spin move from Mario Galaxy, which really sets her apart from the rest of the playable cast.

But what made her addition even better was that she marked a shift in approach for bonus playable characters.

Rosalina was easily the most interesting character in Super Mario Galaxy, as well as one of the more popular characters in the series as a whole, so getting to play as her in a mainline installment was already an incredible novelty. Considering that most of the 3D installments mostly stuck with only letting players control the tried-and-true Mario Bros., including a much more recent character as part of the playable roster in 3D World was a pleasant surprise. This effectively meant that the developers had to get creative if they wanted to include a bonus, fifth playable character as a reward for reaching the postgame.Įnter Rosalina, a character that players can unlock if they finish the second level of the postgame. In Super Mario 3D World, this tradition was broken the title included Luigi, Peach, and Toad as playable characters in the base game, much like the U.S. Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario 3D Land continued to incorporate Luigi as a postgame playable character (although opportunities to play as him before the postgame did occur in Galaxy 2), establishing a sort of tradition within the 3D Mario entries. These traits were enough to distinguish him from Mario mechanically without fundamentally altering how the game is played. In that game, Luigi retained his trademark attributes from Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels he could jump exceptionally high at the cost of low traction. Discounting Super Mario 64 DS, this practice began in Super Mario Galaxy, which allowed players to control Luigi if they obtained all 120 stars. The history of extra playable characters in the 3D Mario installments is actually fairly limited. Image capture via Nintendo Switch The Progression of Extra Characters

Super mario 3d world unlockables