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3DS - Super Mario 3D Land review
Ricardo Trejo
Mario’s always been known for bringing something new to the table with every major release we’ve seen on a console. The handheld department however, has always sorta just stayed with the 2D formula. And with the exception of NSMB, Mario games in the sense of running and jumping, haven’t always been that prevalent on mobile systems like the GBA or DS. But with 3D Land, we’re now venturing into the third-dimension, in a game that is a mix between everything we’ve come to love from just about every major Mario game — from Super Mario Bros. to Super Mario Galaxy. But does it have an identity of its own, or is it just a culmination of old ideas slapped together for profit? — Our full review after the break!
Story
As with most Mario games, they don’t particularly need much story. 3D Land does it right in this department by repeating the same events as in prior titles; Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and it’s up to the Mustachio’d Plumber to save his gal. What that means is an active tour of duty through the ol’ Mushroom Kingdom, which seems to get wackier and wackier with every single journey. However, what does change up is the return of the Tanooki suit, or the Raccoon get-up, all due to an storm that may or may not have been caused by Bowser’s airships to scatter the leaves off a Raccoon tree. Hence, the wide-spread epidemic of nearly every type of baddie you face donning said tails.
Gameplay
Being a game on the 3DS you’d expect some sort of gimmick that forces objects or camera angles to make you think the world is coming at you. Well, that shockingly isn’t necessarily the case here. Nintendo didn’t force the issue, nor should it have. Rather, the game can be experienced fully with the 3D slider off or maxed out, depending on your preference.
The gameplay can be likened to a side-scroller, as you are forced to follow a linear stage until you reach it’s goal flag — the same kind found in Super Mario Bros. (And sorry folks, but you can’t jump over the flag… well, you could but I’ll explain later why you’re going to want to reach each flag’s peak each and every time.) Running to the right is essentially the name of the game, but since the game is set in a 3D world, you can freely control Mario just like first experienced in Mario 64. Most levels will change their orientation as you travel through them, first starting out left to right, then switching things up with you have now running into the background. This is the only time where the 3D from the 3DS comes into play; to give the player a better sense of depth between you and platforms, or enemies and projectiles.
There are 8 worlds total, each with about 7 stages to beat - including the airships and castles you’ll have to conquer. You’ll run into the usual variety of worlds; deserts, forests, ghost mansions, and underwater locales. The stages themselves however, are a mixed bag of everything you’ve seen from the NES days down to the more recent Wii titles. For instance, those challenge levels from Super Mario Sunshine with the rotating squares are back
Oh, and while Mario does appear to walk and run at a slow pace in some of the gameplay videos seen online, once you’ve played the game you’ll notice that while he has been slowed down a bit, you can still breeze through levels while holding down the run button.
Mario’s moves for the most part go unchanged, though his signature triple jump has been curiously removed. While he can still long jump and side jump, he’s learned a couple of new tricks for this new adventure, as well. While holding down either the L or R buttons for crouching you’ll see Mario flash for a second, after which you can press either X or Y to have him do a Roll attack. As big Mario you can use the roll to break blocks that are fixed within a wall, which can lead to a number of well hidden Star Coins or extra lives. You can also use this rolling attack and combine it with a jump to do front flips in the air that do damage.
As is the case with most Mario games, a couple new power-up’s have been introduced and re-introduced. The Tanooki suit, last seen in Super Mario Bros. 3, used to let Mario fly up in the air for as long as you could keep him up there. This time around, the Tanooki suit only lets you hover in the air, with the addition of being able to flick your tail around to hurt enemies. Hey, it’s still cool even if you can’t fly! It’s actually quite helpful since a ton of obstacles in the game need precise jumping and landing skills, so the ability to hover makes things a whole lot easier, especially for those not too well versed in Mario’s handling. And the second power-up seen in the game is the Boomerang Suit, which is a play off the Boomerang Bros. which you fight in the game from time to time. The boomerang ability is pretty sweet though quite basic; you throw a boomerang… and uhhh, yeah, that’s pretty much it. But it does come in handy since you can collect items by throwing your weapon at it — i.e. Star Coins that are hanging over nothing but air.
In terms of difficulty, it took us only a few days to complete the entire game. If I put an exact finger on it I’d say it was about 8 - 10 hours long, though I’m a Mario vet and hold down run the entire time, so your mileage may vary depending on your skill. Most stages aren’t very long, but rather cater to being short spurts of challenging level-design, made perfectly for the aged Mario fan who can’t spend hours upon hours trying to finish a single level. But while the worlds are fun-size, I should say that the game has a TON of replay value in it. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying that once you finish the main game you gain access to the Special worlds, which is a whole new 8 worlds of brand new stages made to challenge your skill. And once you’ve collected all 5 stars by your save file — how to do so can be found here — you’ll unlock the final stage which is a combination of everything seen in the game, all for those who want their Mario extra hard.
Audio / Visuals
It’s pretty safe to say that Mario’s games lately haven’t had the greatest soundtracks when compared to their old brethen. Catchy 1-1 themes are nowhere near as catchy or as good as they used to be but what is offered isn’t straight out horrible either. Some will complain the music is as generic as a game’s soundtrack could host, and I’m afraid that some of the themes in 3D land are unfortunately that boring. Though one plus for the game’s music comes from the usage of retro themes and motifs found for nostlagic areas or stages. Old-school fans will instantly remember motifs from games like Super Mario Bros. 3, or sound effects found in Super Mario World, some of which only appear once in the game — though it’s nice to see Nintendo’s nod to Mario’s past and the players who experienced them.
And when it comes down to the looks of the game it’s hard to argue that it’s one beautiful game. Colors are vibrant and animations of both Mario and the enemies are as smooth as butter. Whenever you play a first-party game on a Nintendo system you know you won’t be getting any hiccups at all when it comes to frame-rate or gamebreaking camera angles. 3D Land is an example of what the 3DS can do, and that is bring a console-like experience to the handhelds all while keeping it fun size.
Overall
The 3DS had a lackluster launch, so much so that after just a few short months after its release Nintendo had to give it a 30% price reduction. That sort of slash in price is unheard of in these modern gaming times, but so was the case with Nintendo’s latest handheld. One of the biggest reasons for no one picking it up was that there simply were no first-party games that got people excited. But if Nintendo had released the 3DS alongside Super Mario 3D Land, I have no doubt in my mind that things would’ve been completely different.
The game features gameplay elements from the entire Mario catalog, and shows it off in a beautiful crafted world full of colorful traps, delightful baddies, and nostalgic visuals and sound. Nintendo needs to learn that while they can get by with games like NintenDogs and Wii Sports, the big money makers are the ones that show that they’re actually trying. And while 3D Land doesn’t reinvent the wheel by any means, its this collection of great ideas throughout the ages all put into one travel-sized package that makes it a must-own for any 3DS owner.
Pro’s
- Everything great about Mario is in here
- Short but challenging levels are great for spurts of fun
- Offers a TON of unlockables and replay value
Con’s
- Doesn’t really bring a lot of ‘new’ to the table
- Game can be a bit easy for veteran Mario players
