If you own a 3DS you have no excuse to not own this game.
Uh oh, Peach has gone and got herself kidnapped again, can someone put that girl on a leash or something? Every time Mario turns around, Bowser’s snatching the princess up and needs to get herself saved. Why doesn’t Mario just give up and let her go? He should go find himself a nice homely girl who’s much less needy.
Anyway, Super Mario 3D Land is another Mario game, but this time it’s on the 3DS and stuff pops out of the screen at you every now and then. It’s good, I wouldn’t say it’s as good as the Mario Galaxy games, but it’s definitely the best Mario game on a handheld. There are 8 worlds full of 5 or 6 levels and each of them ends in a boss fight. It’s typical Mario fare, with a range of different suits making their comebacks, but it’s how this new game incorporates the 3D technology that sets it apart from the other Mario games, as well as the other (3) games on the 3DS.
Most levels in 3D Land are straight-forward platforming levels, but during these levels you’ll find certain sections where the 3D actually becomes a mechanic that helps gameplay. One example of this is when Mario goes into a pipe and ends up in a room with a bunch of blocks on the wall and a star medal at the top of them. With the 3D off it looks like reaching the medal would be as simple as jumping on each block to reach the top, but with the 3D on you realise that the block at the top is actually hovering in the centre of the room and you actually need to jump out to it. As someone who usually plays 3DS games with the 3D off — because it’s usually useless — I like that Nintendo found a way to put the 3D to good use, and these moments are littered throughout the game so you need to leave the 3D on for your entire run through the game.
All of this amazing 3D craziness comes at a price though. Unlike Mario Galaxy or Mario 64, the levels in Super Mario 3D Land are very short and contained, there are no wide open spaces like in those games. It’s not a terrible thing though, this is a handheld game so playing these short levels while on a commute to and from work results in a more appropriate experience.
The game also looks great, it’s the best looking game on the system thus far. It looks a lot like Mario Galaxy when it comes to the fluid animation and cartoony graphics, which makes sense seeing as the same team made both of those games. This game actually makes me wish they would port the Mario Galaxy games to the system, because it looks sharper than the Galaxy games due to the screens lower resolution and smaller size. I bet they’d look amazing in 3D too.
3D Land is a lengthy affair. Each level has 3 star medals to collect and once you’ve finished the main story of the game you’ll find 8 new special worlds unlocked for you to go collect more stars. I would go so far to say that these Special Stages are the meat and potatoes of the game. The main story levels are fun to play through, but they are mostly just platforming levels, whereas these special stages are closer to the crazy levels that were found in the Mario Galaxy games. They’re damn good fun.
Super Mario 3D Land is everything you’ve come to expect from a modern 3D Mario game. It controls well, it looks great and the levels are fun to play through. The 3D is well incorporated into the gameplay rather than just being a superfluous fad that’s been tacked on. If you own a 3DS you have no excuse to not own this game… cause what the hell else are you going to play on it? Highly Recommended.
