Top Ten Sky-Themed Areas in Video Games

For this Tuesday, the sky is the limit for this special top ten list. I initially planned for this list around The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's release due to the sky islands that game possesses. Seeing as it's more than year since that time, I think I'm a bit late to the party. Instead, we're just going to talk about some of my favorite sky-themed areas, levels, tracks, places, etc. in video games for no real reason other than why the heck not! After you've checked out my choices for top tier sky areas in gaming, I'd love to read your thoughts on what places that you feel I should give proper props to!

10) Tengu Man's Stage - Mega Man 8 (PS1, SAT)

We begin this journey through the skies and levels adjacent with Tengu Man's Stage from Mega Man 8. Not only is the Robot Master cool in general in his design, but his stage is also rather enjoyable, taking place high up in the air among floating and hovering platforms--the latter of which bob and undulate under the Blue Bomber's weight. The level is so high up in the sky that at one point Mega Man must call upon Rush to stand on and ride via Rush Jet mode, turning Mega Man 8 into a light shoot-em-up as the pair slowly maneuvers through the hull of Tengu Man's aircraft. Pitting Mega Man against wind, an armada of enemies, and gravity itself, Tengu Man's stage is a wonderful one and highlight of Mega Man 8's first four Robot Master levels.

9) Pirate's Isle - Skies of Arcadia (DC)

The opening isle of the overlooked, underrated, and severely needing a modern remaster game, Skies of Arcadia, Pirate's Isle is a quaint and cozy place. However, underneath, buried under the surface in its core rests the home of the secret base and headquarters of the Blue Rogues. Heck, to the unbeknownst (i.e. pretty much everyone outside of the isle), it's known as Windmill Isle. This titular windmill actually powers the underground port where the Blue Rogues' Albatross airship lays. That said, the island's covert nature eventually gets alerted to by the evil Valuan Empire who proceeds to lay siege to it. Upon progression in the game, the protagonists of Skies of Arcadia not only vow revenge but also assist in rebuilding the town. Whether you know it as Pirate's Isle or Windmill Isle, the chill nature of the island at the start of the adventure and the subsequent rebuilding from the ashes later in the game makes it a memorable location to all who have had the privilege to play this underrated Dreamcast gem.

8) Floating Continent - Final Fantasy VI (SNES)

We move from an underrated RPG to one well loved for great reasons: Final Fantasy VI. An insanely cool concept for a dungeon as well as one that is incredibly important to Final Fantasy VI's story as well, the Floating Continent is the final dungeon played during the World of Balance portion of the game. To say that the story takes a notable pivot here would be an understatement. Non-story-related, though, the place is just an awesome dungeon in general, full of powerful enemies to defeat, quite unstable terrain that deforms, shifts, and collapses as Terra's party progresses through it, and mounds that create tunnels which transport players from one area of the island to another. It's not only a cleverly designed, brutal skill check for players, of course, but the Floating Continent serving as the moment where the proverbial sh-t hits the fan makes it one of most memorable in a game full of notable moments.

7) Cloudtop Cruise - Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

Take a cruise aboard the clouds in, coincidentally enough, Cloudtop Cruise debuting on the original vanilla Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U. As expected, though, with a course from Mario Kart, this won't be any Sunday drive. You have twists, turns, and multiple opponents ready to give you a cruisin' for a bruisin' in the sky. Set on a windy, snaky, fluffy white cloud road that eventually leads to the top of an airship's deck before launching players directly into a thunderstorm, Cloudtop Cruise serves as the starting track of Mario Kart 8's Special Cup. It certainly doesn't ease players into the action, offering quite an amount of turbulence, but also a highly entertaining track, too. In fact, it remains one of my favorites from the base game. For good reason, too, it's just a lot of sky high fun.

6) Skyloft - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)

We talked a little bit about quaint and cozy spots and towns with Skies of Arcadia's Pirate's Isle. We move to a place that's even more so those with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword's Skyloft, the opening area of this early timeline series adventure. For me, Skyward Sword successfully made a stellar sense of space and place with Skyloft, bringing its inhabitants and series of islands set in the sky to life in a way that some previous Zelda games failed to do for me. Many notable locations rest in the rather expansive set of isles that make up Skyloft, including the Bazaar, the Knight Academy, Beedle's Shop, a Waterfall Cave, and the Statue of the Goddess. The people of Skyloft utilize winged bird-like creatures known as Loftwings to travel through the sky and surrounding islands, and they're a major part of the opening of the game. Skyloft is a common place to return to throughout Link's adventure, growing more and more like home with each and every visit.

5) Palace of Winds - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)

It's difficult to mention The Legend of Zelda series without making note of a major element in the games: its dungeons. With dozens upon dozens of dungeons in the series' history, no doubt there have been ones set in the sky. In fact, it was quite a challenge to choose between Twilight Princess' City in the Sky and this selection: the Palace of Winds from The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. In the end, what makes the Palace of Winds more memorable and enjoyable for me is multifold. For one, its dungeon item is one of my favorites in any 2D Zelda: the Roc's Cape. It allows Link to leap into the air and glide across gaps and chasms with ease. It makes Link's mobility and where he can go open up immensely. The dungeon itself is one of the final trials within The Minish Cap itself, making for potential brain-stumping puzzles, some of the most difficult enemies in the game, and a multiple tiered structure. It's essentially a two part dungeon with the climax of both being a super exciting boss battle aboard the backs of flying creatures in the sky. All of this makes for a gloriously unforgettable dungeon within this underrated Zelda game.

4) Sky Land - Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

Speaking of places in two parts, the fifth world--commemorating the back half of Super Mario Bros. 3--Sky Land is deceivingly small when Mario and/or Luigi first arrive. For one, where's the dang sky? As players find themselves on a map on the ground. It's only until players scale and complete the absolutely tall tower--a bridge between areas, essentially--that they're led into a land above the clouds and the massive amount of more levels to complete! What's even cooler is being on the map and seeing the land on the ground below that players had just finished. Having this latter portion of levels taking place in the sky, no doubt you can imagine myriad moments to fall via large swaths of bottomless pits, enemies like Lakitu and the nightmare-inducing Fire Chomps to contend with, and loads of challenging platforming trials to take on. 

3) Gusty Garden Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

 We're still not quite through with Mario's adventures yet. While his last entry on this list saw him taking to the skies, Super Mario Galaxy's Gusty Garden Galaxy takes him to the outer reaches of space and all the lovely gravity gimmick goodness that goes with it. Filled to the brim with bountiful flowers--some of which can be grabbed and used as a means to gain altitude--beautiful blue skies, and plenty of platforming potential in the form of garden mazes, thorns to evade, Piranha Plants and moles to take on, and one of the coolest challenges--using Ice Mario to wall jump up the faces of waterfalls. Gusty Garden Galaxy is one of my favorite levels in any Mario game. Between the boisterous orchestral, moving melody of the level, to the absolute enjoyable way Mario can move about the level's many planetoids, worms, Wigglers, and vines, Gusty Garden Galaxy never fails to make me smile when I enter into its atmosphere. It always is a level I eagerly anticipate returning to in any repeated Super Mario Galaxy playthrough.

2) Columbia - BioShock Infinite (PS3, 360, PC)

While time hasn't been kind to my thoughts on BioShock Infinite as a game (various reasons there), I cannot say that my opinion of the game's major locale, Columbia, has diminished in any way whatsoever. In fact, it's possibly only increased over time. This essential continent in the clouds contains many sights to see, lavish locales, and is a testament to incredible architecture, chiefly that of Neoclassical works (look at me knowing something small about architecture!). This massive city-state floats in the sky, creating some drop-dead stunning environments practically at every turn. One of the coolest parts of Columbia in a gameplay sense is the ability for the main character to grapple and attach to various overhead rail systems, grinding through the skies from island to island in this open and expansive locale. 

1) Sky Sanctuary Zone - Sonic & Knuckles (GEN)

One of the most memorable and entertaining sky-themed areas and levels in gaming to me is none other than Sky Sanctuary Zone from Sonic & Knuckles. An ancient series of ruins set in the sky, Sky Sanctuary is one of the final zones for Sonic within the game while the final destination for Knuckles during his story. Either way, players will discover riches in platforming goodness as they scale the scared sanctuary to reach the top. For Knuckles, it's to protect the Master Emerald. For Sonic, it's to reach Dr. Robotnik's Death Egg space station before it fully reaches into space. 

In Sonic Generations, Sky Sanctuary is one of the returning zones in the game, featuring multiple paths to take, platforms that wind up and move with Sonic's dash, plenty of perilous opportunities to fall into the bottomless depths below, and bridges that collapse one panel after another upon receiving a step from Sonic. Sky Sanctuary is popular throughout the Sonic series and even some spin-offs as well where it's appeared in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Bring them on, I say, as it's definitely a remarkably cool area to explore, platform, and sometimes race in, whether in 2D or 3D.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars (NSW) Review

We move from a game that was scary and good to games in a collection that are scary good with Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Not only is the collection reviewed, but I also briefly talk about my experiences with each game that is a part of the collection as well. Here is the hefty SPC review of Super Mario 3D All-Stars.

Jump Up, Superstars. 

Mario is synonymous with video games. Heck, he IS Mr. Video Game, as far as the industry is concerned. Hence, that is why it's a little disappointing that Nintendo hasn't provided a package worthy of his name. While the three 3D Mario games in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection are without question iconic and excellent games all to themselves--and the retouched remasters seen here are executed well enough--it's a shame that so little effort has been placed into this collection, a celebration of Mario's 35th anniversary. 

Still, Super Mario 3D All-Stars does feature three iconic and historic games, and I happily played through all of them to completion. It only makes sense to go through each one-by-one before ultimately reviewing the entire collection as a whole. For starters, let's go back in time to 1996.

~Super Mario 64~

We begin with the 3D Mario that started it at all and created a revolution in gaming. There's no question that in 1996 Super Mario 64 delivered and dominated imaginations and inspired countless of developers and designers for decades--and still does. The Nintendo 64 controller was custom built specifically for the game, so using a different controller in either the Switch Joy-Cons or the Pro Controller makes for an understandably different experience.

If one were to judge Super Mario 64 on historic value alone, it would be one of the greatest games of all time, up there with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Mario World. But, as a game in 2020--and on the Nintendo Switch--it's one not without its own problems.

For one, Mario doesn't quite turn on a dime like he does in future Mario outings. He makes wide turns, which makes trying to change directions on narrow or small platforms an absolute nightmare. This is particularly true in courses with huge falls or worse yet, courses with bottomless pits. You can find yourself turning Mario off of a platform and to his doom quite easily.

Further, the camera, though a pioneer at the time of release, is obviously quite antiquated in 2020. It's prone to getting caught on geometry, moving on its own mid-jump or mid-run by Mario, and absolutely hates working well when in indoor areas. It results in multiple occurrences where you're actively fighting the camera, among all of the other enemies like Goombas and Piranha Plants that Mario already has to deal with. 

That said, while the negatives do make Super Mario 64 a less enjoyable experience, and a quite challenging game--and sometimes for all the wrong reasons--the game still holds up remarkably well. It's a cinch to see why many designers and developers took and still take lessons from the design philosophy of Super Mario 64. 

Super Mario 64 sees Mario arriving to Princess Peach Toadstool's castle after receiving an invitation. Prepared for celebration, Mario leaps out of the opening pipe to a hauntingly quiet outside courtyard with nary a welcome in sight. This opening courtyard serves as a nice playground for players to get accustomed to some of the tricks in Mario's wide repertoire of moves. Signposts along the hilly, tree-covered courtyard reveal all manners of moves and how to perform them. Upon arriving at the moat near the castle's entrance, Mario meets Lakitu, who the designers cleverly assign a cameraman role to, contextualizing things brilliantly. Plus, it also assigns some blame when those unwanted and distractingly bad camera angles rear their ugly head in. 

Upon entering the castle, Bowser's voice bellows and taunts Mario, revealing that he has trapped the castle's denizens including Princess Peach within the walls and paintings inside. It's up to Mario to enter into each world within the walls and paintings to collect enough Power Stars to open up new sections of the castle, battle Bowser, and save the day once more.

The 15 worlds of Super Mario 64 feature an abundance of locales and themes to them, all open and expansive, bringing forth the sandbox-style of 3D Mario and 3D platformers in general that continues to this day, specifically with the latest in the series, Super Mario Odyssey. The worlds take place in all sorts of settings, such as a mountain and surrounding valley dominated by Bob-Ombs and their king, an underwater world home to secret caverns and a sunken pirate ship, and even a rainbow ride in the sky, complete with death-defying jumps that Mario must make to survive. 

Each world possesses six base Power Stars to collect, and many of these can be nabbed out of sequence. For instance, it's entirely possible to acquire the Power Star for breaking the Chain Chomp free in Bob-Omb's Battlefield when it's actually the sixth star on the mission list, even when you're doing the first mission of the world, which is to run up the mountain and face King Bob-Omb for his Power Star. The opening mission list doesn't just list what Power Star you should go after: the name of each Power Star mission is also a clue as to how to get it. For example, Hazy Maze Cave's "A-maze-ing Emergency Exit" hints at which section in the expansive, labyrinthine world you can find the Star, notably the hazy cave itself. Though, sometimes specific Power Star clues offer little guidance, such as Whomp's Fortress' "Break Away the Wall", which obviously hints to break a wall, but it doesn't say how to do so, or even which wall to specifically smash through to get your prize.

Alongside the 15 themed worlds, there are myriad hidden Power Stars within the castle to find. Some are in special levels of their own, such as three levels that unlock unique cap power-ups for Mario to utilize. These are the Wing Cap, Metal Cap, and Vanish Cap, all giving Mario special, temporary abilities like the power of flight, the power of invincibility, and the power of invisibility. However, I must add that the Wing Cap is especially unwieldy to control on the Switch, as any modicum of movement can result in Mario moving out of control. 

Super Mario 64 sees a fantastic visual improvement in this collection. While the game does not stretch to full screen, instead leaving black bars to the sides, the game does reportedly upscale to 720p. This is a huge boost compared to the original game. Super Mario 64 has never officially looked better than it does now, with its crisp, colorful, and clean graphics. 

Obviously dated by virtue of being a nearly 25-year-old game, Super Mario 64 still manages to impress with its marvelously designed worlds, creative missions and objectives, overall solid platforming and tools provided to Mario to do said platforming, and clever secrets. The game's camera makes for a bothersome time occasionally, particularly in later levels, but overall, Super Mario 64 stands the test of time. 

[SPC Says: A-]

~Super Mario Sunshine~

We move from one of Mario's most loved and revolutionary outings to one of Mario's most muddied and maligned outings. Super Mario Sunshine might have needed more time outside to get a serviceable tan (my way of trying to be clever and say the game needed more time in the oven, development-wise), but there's no denying on my end that the game is charming and features one of Mario's most sophisticated and enjoyable move sets in his history.

That notion has to do with FLUDD, the water nozzle accessory that Mario gets equipped with in order to clean up Isle Delfino after being wrongfully accused and charged of defacing the island with graffiti. Not quite the vacation that Mario was expecting, that's for sure. That said, what is Mario's punishment is the player's joy with cleaning up Isle Delfino and navigating its wide open spaces being an absolute pleasure to do... on most occasions.

FLUDD isn't just used to spray enemies, graffiti, and goop away. (Though this is performed with the R and ZR buttons respectively for a weak spray and a stronger spray in the Switch version of Sunshine, as opposed to the GameCube version's pressure-sensitive spraying with one shoulder button.) Mario can use FLUDD in conjunction with and to complement his platforming, using it to hover and reach higher places, even skipping sections of levels. This makes it so there's a high level of freedom in how players take on and approach the various missions and episodes within the game's seven main worlds. 

Unlike Super Mario 64, episodes to earn Shine Sprites in Super Mario Sunshine must be played in order, as episodes essentially change the scenarios and levels themselves up considerably from episode to episode. Also unlike Super Mario 64, where you could collect any Power Stars to reach the requisite amount needed to beat the game, in Super Mario Sunshine you have to at least complete the first seven episodes of each world to reach the final area of the game. This makes for a much more difficult experience and one that's a bit more linear structure-wise.

Some of the mandatory episodes and missions that Mario faces aren't exactly the easiest to overcome, either. For instance, rolling watermelons in Gelato Beach up a narrow pier or entering the deadly and dangerous underside of Pianta Village still haunt my dreams. However, for every overly difficult (and usually for the wrong reason) episode in Super Mario Sunshine, there's multiple that offer a great deal of fun. Many of these are episodes dubbed "secrets" where Mario enters a bonus stage where the true culprit of Isle Delfino's graffiti takes FLUDD from him, forcing Mario to engage in a platforming level by his own skills with no safety net in FLUDD to use. 

Super Mario Sunshine does have a sharp decline in worlds compared to Super Mario 64, and while there are but seven worlds to explore in the game, each possesses eight episodes to play through, each earning Mario a Shine Sprite for completing them--the Power Star equivalent in Sunshine. Still, even with eight episodes or missions to complete for each world, that still leaves dozens of the 120 Shine Sprites left unaccounted for. 

Some Shine Sprites are earned in each world from collecting 100 coins, a much more challenging proposition than in Super Mario 64, as some episodes don't even feature enough coins at all to reach 100 for the Shine Sprite, making for a frustrating and time-consuming fool's errand. But, by far the most troublesome aspect of going for 120 Shine Sprites is that of Blue Coins. There are 30 in each main world. Many of these only appear in specific episodes, and there is no way to track which are in which. The only thing the game does track is how many overall you've collected in a world. Additionally, several Blue Coins are in such ridiculously obtuse locations that it makes trying to track them all down without the assistance of a guide rather foolhardy and frustrating to do. 

Super Mario Sunshine suffered from an initial shortened/rushed development cycle. It certainly shows. Some levels such as the Pachinko board, that darned lily pad ride over a poison river, and that Chuckster bonus stage are but some of the poorly designed, poorly executed sections in the game. Thankfully, most of these are optional unless you wish to collect all 120 Shine Sprites. Couple these problematic sections with several bugs and glitches that are uncharacteristic of the Mario series, and a sometimes poor camera, and you have a Mario game that can greatly annoy. 

Yet, even with all of these issues, I still found myself adoring the game. Isle Delfino, more than any other 3D Mario location, feels like a living, breathing place. It's charming, it's enjoyable to run, jump, and play through, and its sense of place--particularly being able to stand in Ricco Harbor and see Pinna Park and Gelato Beach in the far distance as if you were in an interconnected place--is phenomenal. The hub world, Delfino Plaza, also remains one of my favorites to explore and run around in. The overall tropical setting of Super Mario Sunshine is so warm, so welcoming, even if the game itself can often frustrate. All in all, Super Mario Sunshine does have many problems, but somehow I was still able to find a lot of fun within the sun-drenched shores of Isle Delfino.

[SPC Says: B+]

~Super Mario Galaxy~

Going in to Super Mario 3D All-Stars, I knew which game of the three I considered my favorite. It was this one: Super Mario Galaxy. Now, after playing through all three games with 100% completion achieved, I am pleased to stand by that opinion. However, that's not to say that Super Mario Galaxy completely sticks its landing, at least in this collection.

Super Mario Galaxy sees Mario enter into an adventure in outer space to take on Bowser, who has sealed himself, Princess Peach, and her castle into the center of the universe. With the help of Rosalina, her Luma helpers, her Comet Observatory, and the Power Stars, Mario aims to dig deeper into the universe, ultimately to reach Bowser, save Peach, and stop whatever plan the King of the Koopas is brewing this time around. 

Right away, when you start playing Super Mario Galaxy, you'll see that this isn't your traditional 3D Mario. You're not running in typical Mario environments, but instead completely fantastical ones on multiple axes. You're running around myriad individual planets, both big and small, with their own gravities, and instead of the sandbox worlds of Super Mario 64 and Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy employs more linear levels. It's more akin to Super Mario Bros. where you go from the start of the level to the goal, rather than being dropped into an open world playground where the world is your oyster to explore. Though, that isn't to say there isn't some of the latter in Galaxy, such as in the Honeyhive Galaxy, for instance.

Super Mario Galaxy is a masterclass of level design. The amazing abundance of amount of creativity in ideas and concepts presented is truly outstanding. This is the type of game that even more than a decade later, the ideas on display still astound me, and I pretty much kept a goofy smile of wonder and happiness on my face the entire time through. The more streamlined approach in level design brings with it a more finely tuned experience, and one that I think works remarkably well. Whether it's hitching a ride on a dandelion puff through Gusty Garden Galaxy as the incredible orchestral soundtrack backs the action or exploring the hot and cold expanses of Freezeflame Galaxy, there wasn't any time I wasn't having fun with Super Mario Galaxy.

One of my biggest concerns with this particular 3D entry coming in to the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection was how the motion control segments would work. This concern wasn't totally well-founded, but there are some drawbacks. First, onto the good: in order to perform Mario's signature spin move in Super Mario Galaxy, you just need to hit the Y button as opposed to shaking the controller. The spin move is used as not only a means to gain height and control over Mario mid-air, but also allows the player to more easily attack foes without the need for the same level in precision as jumping on them would require. 

When it comes to the actual segments that require motion controls, however, these are contextual in the very sense of the word. For things that utilized the Wii Remote's pointer functionality like collecting Star Bits, interacting with Pull Stars, and pushing Mario in a bubble, these things work well enough--though it was quite normal to have to hit the R button to reset the cursor to its default position, as the game and controller would routinely lose its tracking. But when it concerns more complicated sections like manta ray surfing or marble rolling, these sections definitely irritated. In handheld mode, however, all of the motion control isn't welcomed at all. That's because you're expected to touch the screen to perform all pointer-related actions, which isn't practical when you're often having to move Mario at the same time, and somehow moving the entire Switch in your hands to control a manta ray or marble just doesn't feel that natural... Call me crazy, though.

Still, Super Mario Galaxy mostly remained a pleasure to play from beginning to end. The occasional frustrating bout with the motion control segments did displease me at times, but the overall experience was a net positive. From the stunningly updated and enhanced graphics that make the game look better than ever before, to the stellar soundtrack and smartly crafted levels, Super Mario Galaxy oozes with charm, overflows with quality, and just makes for one of my favorite Mario games ever made. 

[SPC Says: A]

~The Collection~

Bare-bones is what I would call this collection at best. When we're so used to seeing collections of old titles, such as Sega Genesis Classics or even collections from individual series like this year's Mega Man Zero / ZX Collection with their bonus content, border customizations, and in Genesis's case, a rewind feature, it makes the total package of Super Mario 3D All-Stars sting.

But, perhaps instead of complaining about what's not in this collection, let's go over what IS in this collection. Starting up the game, you get greeted by quick intro, followed by the splash screen. You then receive the main menu, which has three games on individual pages that you cycle through the D-Pad or analog stick. Each decidedly classy page features the game name, release date, and short description on the left side, and a video showcase on the right side. 

You can also opt to listen to each game's full soundtrack, even turning off the Nintendo Switch's screen in the process to save battery life while you do so. Though, while it's nice to have all three soundtracks available in the game to listen to on one's Switch, it'd be better to have the soundtracks available in places that aren't as stuck in the past as Nintendo apparently is, such as iTunes or Spotify, for instance.

The most egregious part of Super Mario 3D All-Stars isn't the bare-bones presentation, but the complete lack of control options. As an example, Super Mario Sunshine might be borderline unplayable for some players because there is no way to invert the aiming controls of FLUDD. It's Nintendo's way or the highway, and Nintendo apparently knows better than you do on how you prefer to play their games. 

All of this notwithstanding, it says a lot about how excellent the games included in this otherwise ho-hum package are in that I still recommend Super Mario 3D All-Stars. The games are just as good as, or in some cases, better than they've always been. The lack of Super Mario Galaxy 2 is certainly a bummer and very much missed, but ultimately, Super Mario 3D All-Stars' trio of games is some of the best games in this industry. That alone puts it as an easy recommendation for me, not because of Nintendo's decidedly lazy approach to packaging these games--but despite it.

[SPC Says: A-]

Top Ten Mario Power-Ups from the 3D Games

It's an exciting day for gaming today with three huge releases all coming out at once. Along with a new Assassin's Creed and Wolfenstein, a huge gaming event in the form of a new 3D Mario releases today! In celebration of Super Mario Odyssey's launch, SuperPhillip Central looks back at past 3D Mario games to pick out the best power-ups featured inside. Speaking of Odyssey, SuperPhillip Central will have its own in-depth review in the coming week or so. Until then, check out SPC's top ten 3D Mario power-up picks and let me know which ones you agree with!

10) Boo Mushroom 

It's a great power-up to begin with as Halloween's approaching! Debuting in Super Mario Galaxy and then making a quick appearance in the sequel, the Boo Mushroom turns Mario into Boo Mario, having our hero take on the appearance of his ghastly foe from Super Mario Bros. 3 and on. With it, Mario can hover over the ground, pass through fences, and read signs posted in the Boo language. The first mission in Super Mario Galaxy featuring Boo Mario requires the red plumber to nab a Boo Mushroom to sneak into a prison where Luigi has been captured. While Boo Mario has very few elaborate uses in the context of the Galaxy games, you can't deny that Mario is just adorable in Boo form as he wears his hallmark red cap, sports his bushy mustache, and has his tongue wagging as he explores.

9) Bee Mushroom

Another Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 power-up, the Bee Mushroom first appears in the Honeyhive Galaxy, one of the few nonlinear areas in the first Galaxy game. As you might expect, this mushroom turns Mario into Bee Mario, granting him the power to fly around in the air for a limited amount of time, cling onto honeycombs, and gives him a light weight for crossing over clouds and flowers. Taking a dip into any body of water will instantly end Mario's time in bee form, and seeing as there are plenty of galaxies in both games featuring water, it takes some careful flying to remain as Bee Mario. One of my favorite Power Stars in Super Mario Galaxy is the Honeyclimb Galaxy, a miniature galaxy that is essentially an obstacle course. It requires Bee Mario to climb across honeycombs while avoiding various hazards.

8) Propeller Box

Going from the Galaxy games (but don't worry, we're not done with those just yet on this list) to the Super Mario 3D Land and World games, the Propeller Box is an orange box with two long white eyes sporting a yellow propeller on its top. When worn, the player's jumps are heightened greatly allowing them to reach platforms otherwise inaccessible or to assist in creating some second-saving shortcuts. As the player falls downward, they do so slowly while wearing the box over their head. There's a particular level in the first world of Super Mario 3D Land that takes place over multiple waterfalls where the goal is to descend downward on multiple platforms with the Propeller Box in mind. It's not only a terrific way of introducing the power-up to the player, but it's also an insanely impressive use of the Nintendo 3DS's built-in 3D effect as well.

7) Ice Flower

The Ice Flower has been seen in numerous 2D Mario games, notably the New Super Mario Bros. series. In Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, it serves a different function. For one, the Ice Flower (like the Fire Flower) is a timed use power-up, only giving the player a limited amount of time before its powers go away (the faster the jingle plays, the sooner one's time is growing close to being over with the power-up). However, while that can feel limiting, what the Ice Flower in both Galaxy games makes up for is granting Mario the power to freeze both water and lava, allowing our portly plumber to skate across the newly formed ice like Scott Hamilton in his prime. One of the coolest ah-ha moments featuring Ice Mario was when a Power Star could be seen high in the air over two waterfalls. When the solution presented itself in players' minds, Ice Mario could perform wall jumps up both waterfall faces, freezing the spots where Mario leaped off of. Very cool. Literally!

6) Metal Cap

Our first of two Super Mario 64 power-ups, the Metal Cap is found in green exclamation point boxes found in various courses of the game. Of course, Mario has to discover the location of the green switch to make these boxes solid so he could open them instead of as they were, transparent. The Metal Cap turns Mario into Metal Mario, sporting heavy movements, able to sink and march underwater, become unaffected by bursts of wind or water, and finally, brave the harsh toxic terrain of the Hazy Maze Cave. Plus, when you have this rockin' remix of the Starman theme playing as you smash your way through enemies while exploring, how can you not like Metal Mario and the cap that transformed him into a metallic tank?

5) Boomerang Flower

Mario has been able to out-hammer Hammer Bros. and out-fire Fire Bros. with the Hammer Suit and Fire Flower respectively, but he hadn't yet discover a power-up that let him face Boomerang Bros. on equal footing. That changed with the introduction of the Boomerang Flower in Super Mario 3D Land. True to its name the Boomerang Flower allows Mario to unleash boomerangs at enemies of all types, having them come shooting forth before swooping back into Mario's glove. This feature is also important as various collectibles like coins, power-ups, and Star Medals can be nabbed with Mario's boomerangs. In a sense, the boomerangs used by Mario could be seen as a precursor to Cappy in Super Mario Odyssey in how Cappy can be thrown forward and comes back to Mario while being able to collect items out of his reach. Okay, it's a stretch, but that's why I love the Boomerang Suit. Who needs to stretch when you can just throw out a boomerang?

4) Cloud Flower

Here comes my favorite power-up from Super Mario Galaxy 2, the Cloud Flower. With this power-up, Mario turns into Cloud Mario, able to be light on his feet as he spins to create platforms crafted from clouds underneath him. Up to three of these cloud platforms can appear at once before Mario has to pick up another Cloud Flower. The power-up allows players to show off their platforming creativity, performing dazzling maneuvers, shortcuts, ways to bypass areas of level, and much more with how they smartly summon their clouds. Clouds can also be affected by wind, resulting in them blowing along with the breeze to create moving platforms to increase Mario's movement distance. With the Cloud Flower equipped, Mario is also able to leap higher and fall more slowly to the ground, making for a mobile and enjoyable form of Mario which is used in some of my most loved challenges within Super Mario Galaxy 2.

3) Super Leaf

Super Mario Bros. 3 saw the debut of a lot of power-ups and suits that have since been cast to the wayside. Heck, even the ones premiering in Super Mario Bros. 3 didn't get much chance to shine within the game itself. The Tanooki Suit was one of those, a rare find in World 4 and 5 of Super Mario Bros. 3, but Nintendo more than made up for its absence in that game and ever since with Super Mario 3D Land. The entire game was built with the Tanooki Suit in mind, hence all of the enemies with Tanooki tails and even that same tail in 3D Land's logo. While changing into the Tanooki Suit made many platforming parts of Super Mario 3D Land less challenging -- since you could flap you tail to mitigate danger from falling into a pit or completely bypass portions of level -- it didn't stop 3D Land from being a ton of fun. Once the second half of the game rolled in, the ability to transform into a stone statue revealed itself, a tip of the hat to Super Mario Bros. 3's original version of the Tanooki Suit.

2) Super Bell

Moving on from Super Mario 3D Land on Nintendo 3DS to Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U, the primary power-up featured this game was the Super Bell, turning any one of its collectors into a cat. The cat versions of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and the unlockable character could prowl around on all fours, pounce, crawl up walls, and perform some seriously cool platforming moves. In a professional's hands, the Cat Suit could result in some astounding level shortcuts and insane displays of speedrunning. Climbing up a wall and going into a dive meant the opportunities were potentially limitless. Outside of speedrun fare, the Super Bell is just the cat's meow in general, making for a modern Mario game power-up that felt truly worthwhile, genuinely creative, and fun to play as after some lackluster attempts in the past. (Seriously... Turning into a rock or worse yet, a spring?)

1) Wing Cap

Super Mario 64 meant the arrival of a lot of things, but most importantly it was successfully taking gaming into a brave new world with infinite possibilities. The general reaction by anyone who played Super Mario 64 at the time of its release was being overwhelmed by a feeling of utter awe. Never before had there been such freedom in a Mario game before, and one part of Super Mario 64 that hammered that point home considerably was the Wing Cap found within red boxes within the game. That first time you take to the air and soar through the skies for red coins, and then the next when you take flight over the entirety of Bob-Omb Battlefield, it's just unbelievable. Games now have copious amounts of freedom now as open-world games are common, but back in the day, Super Mario 64 was mind-blowing, and Mario wearing the Wing Cap to explore the bright blue yonder in a full open 3D space will never leave my mind as one of my most cherished gaming memories.