I’m so glad Bowser’s Fury has two-player co-op

Even as someone who owns 3D World on Wii U, *I’m in*

Yesterday’s trailer for Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury looked fantastic – you almost could’ve fooled me into thinking the new cat-filled zone was a DLC world for Super Mario Odyssey – but the glimpse we got left us with plenty of room for hopeful speculation. (Partially by design, I’m sure.)

Today, Nintendo posted a much better overview of the two-in-one Switch title.

Super Mario 3D World is about what you’d expect for a Wii U-to-Switch upgrade, but I’m far more interested in the latter half of this video – jump to the four-minute mark to learn about Bowser’s Fury.

The all-new side-adventure imagines Mario and Bowser Jr. as “reluctant allies,” whisking them away to the islands of Lake Lapcat to collect Cat Shines together and fend off Bowser at his most fearsome. It initially wasn’t clear if Bowser’s Fury had two-player co-op, but this video confirms it. That’s a big deal.

As for the hulking Fury Bowser (he’ll always be “God Slayer Bowser” to me), there’s an ebb and flow to his rage. According to Nintendo, he’ll emerge “after a certain amount of time,” changing the world state with falling spikes and attacking the duo with fiery breath. There’s apparently “nowhere to hide.” But as the narrator says, “no one can stay mad forever.” Bowser will eventually take a Godzilla-sized chill pill.

The ultimate goal of Bowser’s Fury, as the prior trailer pretty much implied, is to fetch enough of those collectibles to unlock the Giga Bell, power up into Giga Cat Mario form, and let them fight.

I’m stoked to play this self-contained game – far more than I ever would’ve thought based on its pack-in nature. Without Bowser’s Fury, I probably would’ve relented eventually and double-dipped with Super Mario 3D World on Switch, but everything I’ve seen so far is pushing me to prioritize it in February.

Not to be an ungrateful jerk, but… Super Mario Odyssey 2 when?