Super Mario 3D Land (2011)
Super Mario 3D Land blends elements of 2D and 3D Mario platformers, making it distinct from both parts of the franchise.
First released
Nov 3, 2011
Aliases
Super Mario 3DS, SM3DL
Franchises
Super Mario, Mario, Super Mario 3D, Super Mario Land
Developed by
Brownie Brown Co. Ltd., Nintendo EAD Tokyo Group No.2, Imagica Digitalscape Co., Ltd.
Published by
Nintendo
Platforms
Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS eShop
Genres
Platformer
Themes
Fantasy
Rating
PEGI: 3+, ESRB: E, CERO: A, OFLC: G
Releases
- 3DS - Super Mario 3D Land United Kingdom
- 3DS - Super Mario 3D Land United States
- 3DS - Super Mario 3D Land Japan
- 3DS - Super Mario 3D Land Australia
- 3DS - Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo Selects) United States
- 3DSE - Super Mario 3D Land Japan
- 3DSE - Super Mario 3D Land United States
Community reviews
3D Land can be fun and a bit frustrating.
Sometimes the 3D depth perception can be very frustrating to miss platforms, but there is a butt-load of diverse content. Some of the bosses were alright, but the worlds were the most fun. Also, I played on emulation so that was probably a factor.
Great, but missing some magic
Super Mario 3D Land is a great Mario game with a few things holding it back from standing out.
The gameplay is as you'd expect, the controls feel tight and responsive and stomping on goombas is as satisfying as ever. The level design is great and levels are short to suit the handheld style. The new power ups are great, with both the tanooki and boomerang suits being a blast to play with. Complaints that the game is short are in my opinion unfounded. Yes the 8 worlds are over pretty quickly but you then unlock a whole 8 new 'special worlds' meaning the game will easily take 16 odd hours to finish and that's before you even collect the star coins (which in general is fun rather than it being a chore). My issue is not the length but that the special worlds are a little repetitive. They're essentially levels you've already played with extra enemies or new elements thrown in such as shadow Mario or a decreased time limit. While this makes a fun challenge it gets repetitive when certain levels are used 3 or 4 times and occasionally feels like things have been made difficult for the sake of it, rather than challenging in a fun way.
Visually the game makes great use of the 3D (the birds eye view levels where Mario looks as if he's jumping out the screen were a highlight) and is a good showcase of the 3DS' capabilities. Levels are generally full of colour and vibrant but occasionally feel a bit sterile, I couldn't put my finger on why but I think it might be the lack of detail in the background on some levels. The sound is as strong as ever with cool tunes and sound effects throughout.
In conclusion this is a great first handheld 3D outing for the plumber but the repetitive special worlds and lack of that intangible magic that Mario titles often bring holds it back from standing out from the rest of Mario's catalogue. If you own a 3DS then you should own this, it's one of the best games on the system. If you don't, it's probably not quite special enough to warrant the purchase of one just for this game.
The gameplay is as you'd expect, the controls feel tight and responsive and stomping on goombas is as satisfying as ever. The level design is great and levels are short to suit the handheld style. The new power ups are great, with both the tanooki and boomerang suits being a blast to play with. Complaints that the game is short are in my opinion unfounded. Yes the 8 worlds are over pretty quickly but you then unlock a whole 8 new 'special worlds' meaning the game will easily take 16 odd hours to finish and that's before you even collect the star coins (which in general is fun rather than it being a chore). My issue is not the length but that the special worlds are a little repetitive. They're essentially levels you've already played with extra enemies or new elements thrown in such as shadow Mario or a decreased time limit. While this makes a fun challenge it gets repetitive when certain levels are used 3 or 4 times and occasionally feels like things have been made difficult for the sake of it, rather than challenging in a fun way.
Visually the game makes great use of the 3D (the birds eye view levels where Mario looks as if he's jumping out the screen were a highlight) and is a good showcase of the 3DS' capabilities. Levels are generally full of colour and vibrant but occasionally feel a bit sterile, I couldn't put my finger on why but I think it might be the lack of detail in the background on some levels. The sound is as strong as ever with cool tunes and sound effects throughout.
In conclusion this is a great first handheld 3D outing for the plumber but the repetitive special worlds and lack of that intangible magic that Mario titles often bring holds it back from standing out from the rest of Mario's catalogue. If you own a 3DS then you should own this, it's one of the best games on the system. If you don't, it's probably not quite special enough to warrant the purchase of one just for this game.