TITLE: Super Mario 3D Land
PLATFORM: 3DS
DEVELOPER: Nintendo EAD Tokyo
PUBLISHER: Nintendo
ESRB: E
RELEASED: November 13th, 2011

By Justin Polak
Co-founder, Ambassador to the Mushroom Kingdom

It’s been over a quarter century since the first Super Mario game has been released. If you asked most people if Mario would still be stomping on Goombas and thwarting Bowser’s plans for as long as he has, some might say that if the video game industry didn’t crash again, Mario wouldn’t be relevant anymore. While the industry certainly is in a different place now, Mario obviously remains as Nintendo’s go-to guy. There are countless times that the Italian plumber has saved Nintendo’s ass. And while Super Mario 3D Land won’t completely salvage the rough shape the 3DS is currently in, it certainly is a game that might convince some fans finally pick up the 3D handheld.

Many years ago, I read a post on a message board on a member’s opinion of the Mario games in general. Keep in mind, this was way back when Super Mario Sunshine was the newest game in the Mario series. While the member said that he liked the (then) newer Mario titles, he missed the days of 2D mechanics. The thread evolved from there as other users discussed how awesome it would be if Nintendo made a game that compromised between the 2D and 3D games. While some would say the New Super Mario Bros. games accomplished that to a degree, Super Mario 3D Land is the game I envisioned all those years ago, minus the 3D of course, and boy does it deliver.

First, I can honestly say that the 3D use in SM3DL is the best I have seen thus far. Levels are designed naturally around the 3D, and after only a minute or two of playing, I got used to viewing the game. I could almost hear Nintendo saying, “Hey, other developers, THIS is how you should take advantage of our system!”

As far as the gameplay goes, SM3DL plays by the rules of the 2D games. You have a couple of power ups, including the return of the Tanooki suit as well as the Boomerang Bros. suit, which makes Mario’s life easier. If you get hit, it’s back to Super Mario for you! Obviously, another hit transforms you into small Mario…and the next sends the plumber to an early grave. It’s just nice to see a 3D game that follows a more old school structure. Even the water physics are modeled after the older games! Levels themselves are also shorter, but not too short. Besides the game itself being three dimensional, the only other 3D elements that come into play is that Mario can do some of his more fancy jumps, but don’t expect him to grab any ledges! What’s taken from the NSMB series is the three collectable coins per level, though this time they are referred to as Star Coins. To put it simply, SM3DL is a perfect blend of various elements from all points in the plumber’s career cleverly built to feel like an older Mario title.

Veterans may feel that most of the game is too easy up until world 8, even if they track down all of the Star Coins per level, but rest assured — beating the main game is only half of the fun. A special world opens up that throws tougher challenges your way, like alternate versions of levels, all new levels, tougher enemies and many more surprises. After beating the first special world, you even unlock Luigi! Very few games these days cause me to play hours on end, no matter what’s going on in life. I literally played through most of the game on my first sitting until my hands cramped up seven hours later. If that’s not classic Mario inspired fun, I don’t know what is.

However, the game isn’t perfect. My only gripe is that sometimes Mario’s jump seems to run out of gas for no real reason. There were several jumps in the game that Mario either cleared with ease or completely failed at. I tried to experiment for quite some time to see if this was a problem on my part, but as far as I can tell, the game gets picky on how Mario jumps at times.

At the end of the day, Mario has knocked another one out of the park. Nintendo has crafted an excellent game for the 3DS, and I’m honestly left wondering how the handheld would have fared had Super Mario 3D Land arrived sooner. Casual players can enjoy the main portion of the game, and veterans will have fun taking on the special world. No matter what type of gamer you are, Mario invites all gamers to experience yet another exquisite and rewarding adventure. Don’t miss out!

RATING: 9/10

Front page image from nintendolife.com, screenshots from gamesradar.com.