Trivia / Super Mario 3D World

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• Dueling Games
  • With the first Knack game, which was released a week or two later, depending on territory. Knack got worse reviews than this game, but actually sold a fair bit better between its launch and around Christmas 2013. Though this game would ultimately outsell Knack quite handily, many agree in retrospect that this was the point when it became obvious that the Wii U was going to lose its console generation, badly. The Mario franchise would subsequently get payback in 2017, when Super Mario Odyssey handily demolished Knack II in sales.
  • Also with Rayman Legends. While that game also launched on the Wii U, it was originally supposed to be exclusive to the console until Ubisoft delayed it from its original February 2013 release date in order to make it Multi-Platform, thanks to poor sales of ZombiU. Both games also feature similar gameplay, being four-player co-op platformers with unique and creative level design, with the main difference being that Rayman is 2D while 3D World is, well, 3D.
• Milestone Celebration:
  • In commemoration of The Year of Luigi (which celebrated Luigi’s 30th anniversary), The Wii U original contains a special version of Mario Bros. called Luigi Bros., as well as numerous Luigi Easter Eggs throughout the game. These were actually retained in the Switch port, despite lacking the context for their addition at the time.
  • The Switch port was one of the three major titles released during the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. (the other two being Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. 35) and like the other two, was announced in a special anniversary direct.
• Newbie Boom: The original Wii U release sold about 5.88 million copies by the end of the console's lifespan. The Switch port sold close to 11 million copies by the end of 2022, around twice as well as the original version. This was chalked up to both the larger install base of the Switch console and the added Bowser's Fury mode bringing in a lot of interest when it was revealed.
• The Other Darrin: Rosalina is voiced by Laura Faye Smith rather than her previous voice actresses Mercedes Rose and Kerri Kane. According to Mario Wiki, Kane and her family moved.
• Promoted Fangirl: Laura Faye Smith herself is a fan of the Mario series, as well as seeing Rosalina's personality much like her own after knowing her backstory.
• Throw It In!: The Double Cherry powerup was created by accident when a developer spawned two Marios instead of one when testing a level. The team loved the concept so much they decided to make it an actual feature via a power-up.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Peach was not always intended to be playable. At some point, she would still be the Damsel in Distress, and the Sprixie Princesses wouldn't have existed if that decision was made. But then Yoshiaki Koizumi suggested to have her within the playable roster.
  • The team originally considered having Yoshi as a playable character at one point, however this idea was scrapped due to much of his moves being too similar to other functions of characters and items already featured in the game, such as Peach's floating, the Piranha Plant's chomping, and Plessie's riding abilities.
  • Like its predecessor, the game was originally going to support stereoscopic 3D, but it was dropped because it wouldn't have worked well with the multiplayer mode, since each player would need their own set of 3D glasses. This would've made it the reason the game is called Super Mario 3D World than just because it's the sequel to Super Mario 3D Land.
  • Within the files of the Switch port, there are Dummied Out animation files for Toadette, as well as a voice clip for when she's selected, which suggests she was considered to be a new playable character at one point.

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