I know, I know – I’m sort of late with the full written review. I’ve begun writing it, but other blog updates (including my recent Spirit Tracks Gaming Log entries) are eating up my time. In the meantime, let me talk about World 9 a bit. IT IS FREAKIN’ HARD! “Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels” kind of hard. No joke. What’s cool about this world is that you can freely roam in between levels as long as you’ve gathered sufficient Star Coins to unlock them (gathering all Star Coins in World 1 unlocks level 9-1, etc). The only ones we were able to beat with all Star Coins are level 9-1 and level 9-8. Yes, the final level of the game is more of a bonus and not that difficult. We aren’t able to cleanly beat the rest of the levels let alone gather Star Coins. Quite frankly I’m extremely surprised of the huge difficulty gap between Worlds 8 and 9…and I’m glad the developers are upping the challenge like that. Feels sort of like a parting gift to hardcore fans.

One thing’s for sure; most of World 9 is clearly designed with one player in mind, which makes playing them with friends even harder. Level 9-7 is by far the hardest one in the entire game and one of the hardest Mario levels I’ve played in recent memory. The concept is extremely creative but really hard to beat…reminds me of Mega Man 2′s disappearing blocks, only a bit easier and more dynamic. Also, some “clammy” friends from Super Mario Bros. 3 make a welcome return in this level. I’d like to pat the back of the sadistic nutcase who designed this level, then choke the life out of him/her slowly.

Expect the written review before the end of the year. Here are my previous log entries to tide you over:

Part 1: Initial Impressions

Part 2: Coin Battle

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5: Criticism

Part 6: Endgame