Spoiler Super Mario 3D Land Review

[A Link In Time]

Does Mario's latest adventure leap to victory or get stomped?

As far as I'm concerned, Super Mario 3D Land is the best game of all time. With exceptional use of 3D, a stellar mix between old and new, and arguably the greatest stages in Mario history there is absolutely nothing to complain about.



Presentation 10/10

Nintendo went all out with making Super Mario 3D Land the best it could possibly be. Never did I think Nintendo could outdo the spectacular cinematics of the original Super Mario Galaxy but here we are 4 year later and that has been done. 3D Land opens with a moving five second animation of Tanooki leaves being swept away into the darkness and then opens into a traditional scene of Toads informing Mario of Princess Peach's kidnapping. Spoilers: Bowser is the final boss. Some will criticize 3D Land's basic world map but it's simple and effective. Navigating from level to level has never been easier. Nintendo also put the time into masterfully bringing the Tanooki suit back. Mario's descent slows as he leaps and tail wagging is as fun as ever. It's strange to see the statue variation of the Tanooki suit being separate from the regular but it's no big deal. The Boomerang Suit is also a fun toy but feels underutilized. Some may argue that the game takes a long time to get things moving but that group will be eating its words by the time the best World 8 in Mario history rolls along.




Gameplay 10/10

Super Mario 3D Land is the most "Mario" Mario game in years. Leave it to the Super Mario Galaxy team to create something special. Mario may be chubbier than usual but that does nothing to hamper him from rescuing his beloved Princess. 3D Land gracefully combines the best of 2D and 3D Mario to create a fast-paced edge of your seat adventure. Many unique designs from Super Mario Galaxy 2 including flipping platforms when you jump return and are funner to cross than ever before thanks to the added 3D. Speaking of 3D-here it's a game changer. Have fun with those eye deceiving platforms later in the game.



Graphics 10/10

Mario has never looked better. Enemy and boss designs and animations are top notch. Just compare the Bowser and Boom Boom boss battles from 1990's Super Mario Bros. 3 to those of the present day-you'll be stunned! Critics bark at Nintendo for having weaker hardware than that of its competitors but Super Mario 3D Land provers those naysayers wrong. Nintendo injected 3D Land with immense attention to detail. This is best seen in the Bowser boss battles with falling and crumbling objects as well as fireballs flanking you on all sides.



Sound 10/10

3D Land's music is absolutely alluring. Although the famous trailer music is predominant throughout the game there is a wide variety of tunes to listen to here. Nintendo even put the time into making a nice song for when you reach the flagpole at the end of each level. 3D Land's music is downright emotional from music that makes players tear up to sounds that will put a smile on anyone's face. The music of World 8 especially clings to you as you carefully navigate platforms in order to press that final switch leading to the King of Koopa's demise.



Lasting Appeal 10/10

Super Mario 3D Land is a long and sprawling adventure. Once you're done with your main quest, an additional eight special worlds will open and you'll stand amazed at the prospect of the additional challenges that await. Collecting star coins will also boost the game's longetivity. The stages here are so fun that you'll be playing them time and time again.


Overall Score (not an average) 10/10

 

[goomboo]

I very much agree with your reveiw =D. Picked it up on launch (UK, 18th) and have just beaten Bowser in World 8 and am getting ready to take on the Special Worlds. Great Game!

 

[A Link In Time]

I very much agree with your reveiw =D. Picked it up on launch (UK, 18th) and have just beaten Bowser in World 8 and am getting ready to take on the Special Worlds. Great Game!

The final Bowser boss battle was the best the franchise has ever seen! The use of 3D was spectacular! The Special Worlds are a challenge but you'll feel highly rewarded if you manage to complete them.

 

[LolGames4U]

I love this game! I personally wouldn't give it a 10/10 (it's pretty easy; beat it in 5 days even with intense dance and school); maybe 9 or 9.5, but good review!

 

[A Link In Time]

I love this game! I personally wouldn't give it a 10/10 (it's pretty easy; beat it in 5 days even with intense dance and school); maybe 9 or 9.5, but good review!

If you endeavor to get all of the game's star coins, the challenge ramps up significantly.

 

[Deleted member 6224]

Yea i was like "holy crap!" when i found out there were 8 special worlds, usually there was only one

 

[blackice_cc]

Mario 3D Land is a pretty awesome game; however, I wouldn't give it a perfect 10. There were a couple issues I had (which I'm still having, as I'm still working on the special worlds) which would make it a little lower.

First of all, I've had a few difficulties with the control. Maybe I'm just really bad at them, but a few times I felt like I should have been able to jump far enough to get to a certain platform, and I find that I just missed, and end up plunging to my death instead. The slide pad also throws me off sometimes; often you need to move in a straight line sideways across the screen, exactly like in 2D Marios, and I find that I'll occasionally move the slide pad up just a little bit, not notice it, and then die when I try and make some jump or other. I would also blame some of my problems on the fact that Mario feels a bit clunkier in control: he doesn't jump as far as I would expect, either when running or walking, and sometimes I have small issues pulling off special jumps. Maybe I'm too used to the Galaxy game's controls.

Another issue I have with it is the difficulty. The first normal 8 worlds are 95% cake, even including collecting all of the star coins. I beat them all completely in about 4-5 hours. While the special worlds definitely are harder so far, getting through just the main levels hasn't been hard at all, and I've only missed a few star coins. Even if the difficulty ramps up a lot towards the end of the special worlds (and I sure hope it does), being so easy this far in takes away from the memorability of the levels, the satisfaction of completing them, and the replay value of them.

My final negative is a small one: I wish they'd done something different with the world map. It does it's job fine, but that's all it does. Since the game takes so much from Mario Bros. 3, I would really have liked to see a similar level map setup. In that game, the map really gave character to each world, and made what could have been a typical, flat linear go-between (like in Mario 3D Land) into something cool and enjoyable to traverse. New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii did that pretty well, so why couldn't Mario 3D Land too?

Anyways, other than those problems, I agree that Mario 3D Land really is an awesome game. The gameplay is, for the most part, crisp and smooth, just like in 2D Marios. The music is very fitting, has some good new tunes, and remixes many old tunes very well. The graphics are great-the best I've seen on the 3DS-and the 3D affect is very cool, giving some amazing depth to the levels. I'm not so sure about the replay value; I don't think I'm going to be able to play it again for a while once I've beaten the special worlds and gotten all of the star coins.

Lastly, the level design is great. There's a whole range of different settings, and each one has inventive mechanics to it. While I wouldn't say it's the best in the Mario series (that goes to both Mario Galaxy 2 and Mario World), it is very, very good, and very unique.

Overall, I guess I'd give it an even 9.

 

[A Link In Time]

Mario 3D Land is a pretty awesome game; however, I wouldn't give it a perfect 10. There were a couple issues I had (which I'm still having, as I'm still working on the special worlds) which would make it a little lower.

First of all, I've had a few difficulties with the control. Maybe I'm just really bad at them, but a few times I felt like I should have been able to jump far enough to get to a certain platform, and I find that I just missed, and end up plunging to my death instead. The slide pad also throws me off sometimes; often you need to move in a straight line sideways across the screen, exactly like in 2D Marios, and I find that I'll occasionally move the slide pad up just a little bit, not notice it, and then die when I try and make some jump or other. I would also blame some of my problems on the fact that Mario feels a bit clunkier in control: he doesn't jump as far as I would expect, either when running or walking, and sometimes I have small issues pulling off special jumps. Maybe I'm too used to the Galaxy game's controls.

Another issue I have with it is the difficulty. The first normal 8 worlds are 95% cake, even including collecting all of the star coins. I beat them all completely in about 4-5 hours. While the special worlds definitely are harder so far, getting through just the main levels hasn't been hard at all, and I've only missed a few star coins. Even if the difficulty ramps up a lot towards the end of the special worlds (and I sure hope it does), being so easy this far in takes away from the memorability of the levels, the satisfaction of completing them, and the replay value of them.

My final negative is a small one: I wish they'd done something different with the world map. It does it's job fine, but that's all it does. Since the game takes so much from Mario Bros. 3, I would really have liked to see a similar level map setup. In that game, the map really gave character to each world, and made what could have been a typical, flat linear go-between (like in Mario 3D Land) into something cool and enjoyable to traverse. New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii did that pretty well, so why couldn't Mario 3D Land too?

Anyways, other than those problems, I agree that Mario 3D Land really is an awesome game. The gameplay is, for the most part, crisp and smooth, just like in 2D Marios. The music is very fitting, has some good new tunes, and remixes many old tunes very well. The graphics are great-the best I've seen on the 3DS-and the 3D affect is very cool, giving some amazing depth to the levels. I'm not so sure about the replay value; I don't think I'm going to be able to play it again for a while once I've beaten the special worlds and gotten all of the star coins.

Lastly, the level design is great. There's a whole range of different settings, and each one has inventive mechanics to it. While I wouldn't say it's the best in the Mario series (that goes to both Mario Galaxy 2 and Mario World), it is very, very good, and very unique.

Overall, I guess I'd give it an even 9.

Personally, I had a very hard time getting into the Galaxy games. This game boasted the same excellent animation but on a handheld! Yes, blame Mario's chubbiness and the game's physics for narrowly missing platforms, I had the same nightmares especially on those stages with those blue pendulums. Super Mario World had a stunning map and I would love for Nintendo to return to that ideal. 3D Land, however, has the best boss battles ever seen in Mario games especially the Bowser battles. And yes, the last few Special World are absolutely brutal. The second World 8 Castle, however, is the pinnacle of the game and a similar level is not repeated in special. Seeing those beautiful animations throughout the battle and the last stand on that bridge (perfectly made for 3D for it's oriented towards the player) was unmatched!

 

[Ventus]

I don't know anything about the 3D effect (my eyes are incompatible with it? I don't see a difference between not having 3D on and having it on), so I can't comment on that.

Besides that, pretty much everything else about SM3DLand is just amazing. The level design, Mario's clunkiness (yes, even that), the ability to use a certain someone after getting past a certain ordeal, music and graphics...those cutscenes after beating a world...I love it all. I had a couple of problems, namely the ones blackice_cc mentioned and including the fact that since the 3DS' screen is so small, what appears to me to be a fair distance between Mario and a platform really is a fair distance between Mario and his death. I can't count the number of times where I judged a jump incorrectly and died; I even got the Super Tanooki suit in 5-3 (I think it was 5-3) because of that, and 5-3 (?) is a very easy stage!

In all, I'd give the game a 9.3/10. Those .7 points aren't deducted because of my whiny complaints, but the game just didn't have the Super Mario 64 feel to it. I felt restricted in a way that isn't the time limit nor the linear elements of every level. I think it was the 3DS screen more likely than not. 9.3/10

 

[A Link In Time]

I don't know anything about the 3D effect (my eyes are incompatible with it? I don't see a difference between not having 3D on and having it on), so I can't comment on that.

Besides that, pretty much everything else about SM3DLand is just amazing. The level design, Mario's clunkiness (yes, even that), the ability to use a certain someone after getting past a certain ordeal, music and graphics...those cutscenes after beating a world...I love it all. I had a couple of problems, namely the ones blackice_cc mentioned and including the fact that since the 3DS' screen is so small, what appears to me to be a fair distance between Mario and a platform really is a fair distance between Mario and his death. I can't count the number of times where I judged a jump incorrectly and died; I even got the Super Tanooki suit in 5-3 (I think it was 5-3) because of that, and 5-3 (?) is a very easy stage!

In all, I'd give the game a 9.3/10. Those .7 points aren't deducted because of my whiny complaints, but the game just didn't have the Super Mario 64 feel to it. I felt restricted in a way that isn't the time limit nor the linear elements of every level. I think it was the 3DS screen more likely than not. 9.3/10

The game is meant to have a more linear feel seeing as how levels combine 2D and 3D Mario elements. There are some more open levels like 3-1, however. Also, how are you so far in the game, Vanitas? I thought you didn't own a 3DS unless you recently bought one.