Mario 3D World: Bowser's Fury Mod Turns Ground To Lava

Bowser's Fury, the open-world portion of the recent Super Mario 3D World Switch port, is a lot more dangerous thanks to a clever mod. The mod turns most of the ground into lava for a much more treacherous gaming experience.

Modder Amethyst-szs (via Polygon) produced the mod and created a video of it in action. The mod turns most of the sand and other ground into lava, with only some narrow pathways and fencing remaining safe to stand on. That makes getting around a lot tougher, especially when Fury Bowser pops up to add his own fireballs to the mix. You can download the mod and try it for yourself at GameBanana.

While most of the game is able to be completed this way, Amethyst-szs says only 86 of the 100 Cat Shines appear to be possible. That leaves 14 unclaimed, so you can't get the 100% ending. That said, Amethyst says it may be possible to get more and would like to see how if anyone manages it.

Bowser's Fury is an entirely separate game packaged together with Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. While Super Mario 3D World is a port of a Wii U game, Bowser's Fury is an entirely new, open-world Mario game. It takes place on an island setting, and a massive kaiju-style Bowser pops up regularly to breathe fire at you while you solve its platforming challenges.

"Put together, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is a spectacular package," concluded GameSpot's review. "Super Mario 3D World is an absolute joy of classic platforming excellence, and this is the best version of it thanks to some well-calibrated improvements. Bowser's Fury is peculiar and less polished, but it dares to poke fun at its own oddities and it has a wild creative streak. The two share thematic similarities, but more importantly, they work hand-in-hand to show the full extent of versatility in what a Mario game can be."