Super Mario 3D Land Review Oh hey. What are you doing here... What's this? Oh, this is a review for Super Mario 3D Land. Oh, OK. Sources tell me that you're apparently supposed to be here. Well, then. Looks like we have a predicament here...
This is TheFadedWarrior with another review. Today I will be reviewing Super Mario 3D Land, the number 3 best selling 3DS game to date (the others being Mario Kart 7 and Pokemon X and Y). It was released as a retail item in 2011 and later ported to a downloadable game in the Nintendo eShop in 2012. You've most likely heard of this game, as it is often known as one of the best Mario games of all time. There was later a somewhat sequel to this game on the Wii U, known as Super Mario 3D World. Now then, onto the review. I hope you enjoy!
Super Mario 3D Land is one of my favorite 3DS games as well as one of my favorite Mario platformers. It was the second 3DS game I ever got and the first that I actually got separately (my first, Ocarina of Time 3D came with my 3DS). I could barely contain my excitement when it got to my house... Heck, I actually didn't contain my excitement. I immediately unwrapped it and stared at the cover art for about 2 minutes. I then proceeded to open it... What if the box was empty? What if the game was broken? I was so worried that my precious game wouldn't be played. Then I saw the cartridge itself. Pure beauty. Another 2 minutes of staring at it. Then I put it in my 3DS and started it up. I listened to Mario singing the little Super Mario 3D Land jingle. I listened to it again. And again. I listened to it at least 10 times when I started giggling nervously. I finally stopped when my cousin got annoyed at me. I started the game...
Graphics - 10
This game, Super Mario 3D Land, has some of the best graphics for the Nintendo 3DS. The visuals are truly amazing. Perfect animations, great performance, and (in my opinion) the best 3D on the entire handheld console. There are tons and tons of textures, sprites, and effects, each designed very well. Do you remember how in Super Mario Galaxy the camera kept glitching and being stupid, even in the sequel? Well Super Mario 3D Land as a perfect camera. Of my large amount of time spent playing this game, the camera has NEVER been annoying.
Something that, as far as I'm concerned, is exclusive to this game is the fact that there are TWO 3D modes. That's right, 2. The first mode is regular 3DS 3D -- It has depth and some things look like they're poking out of the screen, blah blah blah. The second mode increases depth so it looks like you're actually looking through a square tube into the real Mario universe. Does that make sense? You can switch between these 2 modes at any time during gameplay by pressing either up or down on the D-pad.
Since this game has such amazing graphics for the console, tons of textures, a perfect camera (if possible), and even two 3D modes, I give the graphics an astounding 10. Looks like this review is off to a great start! ...If you don't count my accident at the beginning.
Propeller Hat: NEW ITEM - This only appears in a few levels. Once you touch it, it will go onto your head and give you a special ability. If you hold the jump button it gives you an extra boost equal to about 4 or 5 jumps, and if you keep holding it slightly slows falling down.
Coin Box Mario: NEW ITEM - This appears in even less levels. Normally a secret, some coin boxes will get stuck on Mario's head. When Mario moves, coins come out. There are a total of 100 coins that you can get.
Poison Mushroom: BAD POWERUP - More like a powerdown. Sometimes when you hit an item block, a poison mushroom pops out. It will slowly chase you. If it touches you, you (obviously) get hurt. I remember the first time I encountered one of these. I saw it and I was all like, "OMG LOL IS THAT A NEW POWERUP?!" I touched it and I was pretty disappointed.
That's all of them. There's also a couple regular Mario items that have returned, such as the fire flower and the super mushroom. One thing that really bothers me is that there's no Yoshi in the game. There isn't just a lack of a rideable Yoshi, there's just nothing about Yoshi at all. No pictures. No mentioning of Yoshi. Anyhow, this game is really fun, even for a Mario game. I give the gameplay another astounding 9!
Addictiveness - 10
Now that we've gone through the gameplay, we know that that this game is pretty fun, which contributes to most of the addictiveness. This game is seriously long, though (we'll talk more about in in the 'depth' section). You think you've beaten it? Well, you haven't. You think you've gotten 100%? Well, you... actually, you might have. But probably not. This game has a LOT to offer. A huge variety of enemies, powerups, levels, blah blah blah. On the other hand, I sometimes do get tired of how easy the game is. But that doesn't affect my rating for how addictive this game is. I give the addictiveness another incredible 10.
Story - 3
This is getting really, really old. Guess what happens? Just like every other Mario game, Luigi kidnaps King Boo and Yoshi has to come save King Boo... wait, that's not it... Oh I remember! Bowser kidnaps Peach and Mario comes to save her! Why, Nintendo, why do you always have to use the same frickin' storyline? Just make something up, like Wario kidnaps Daisy and Peach requests for you to go save Daisy or something. Never mind, that would be stupid because Peach doesn't like Daisy... But whatever. Just do something more original, please? Sheesh... Story gets a 3 for extreme lack of originality. kthxbye
Depth - 10
This game is
Sound - 9
The sound in this game is pretty awesome as well. There's over an hour of separate game tracks (no loops), each being pretty catchy. Most of them are actually remixes of songs in the original Super Mario Bros. and, if possible, they are even better than the original tracks. And guess what? Lots of the tracks are imported from Super Mario Bros. 3! Yeah, the Mario game with those really awesome tracks. Here is the full OST (Official Sound Track) of Super Mario 3D Land (link). So since the tunes are all catchy and stuff and most of the tunes are really good remixes of the original tracks from SMB, I give the sound an impressive 9.
Gameplay - 9
Super Mario 3D Land is, of course a 3D Mario platformer. Not just 3D graphics, but one where you get to walk in all directions (so you can turn 360 degrees). This is the first game to do so since Super Mario Galaxy 2, which came out in 2010 (now that I think about it, that's only 1 year). There are many, many levels that Mario has to go through before truly beating the game and finishing Bowser. There is one new powerup, two returning powerups that have returned from a long time ago that has also significantly changed, 2 "losing" powerups, and 2 new items that I guess you could consider as powerups. There's also a "bad" powerup. Here they are:
Boomerang Mario: NEW POWERUP - Comes from a boomerang... flower? Boomerang Mario has the ability to, you guessed it, throw boomerangs. I don't recall how many you can throw at a time, but it's really useful if you're not too good at jumping on enemies. You can defeat opponents from far away with this thing!
Tanooki (Raccoon) Mario: RETURNING POWERUP - Comes from a leaf. Remember this from Super Mario Bros. 3? Yeah, this is it but with a couple changes. You can't fly, but you can hold the jump button and it lets you fall much more slowly. You can also spin around and hit enemies with your tail.
Statue (Stone Raccoon) Mario: RETURNING POWERUP - Comes from a statue leaf. This one is also from Super Mario Bros. 3. This powerup grants Mario the same power as Tanooki Mario, but you can turn into an invincible statue. You're immobile while a statue, but it's still pretty good if you're trying to dodge a projectile (e.g. boomerangs).
White Tanooki (Invincible Raccoon) Mario: LOSING POWERUP - Comes from an invincibility leaf, which only appears after you've died 5 times in a level. If you get this, it's a bad thing. It either means the current level is ridiculously hard, you're horrible at the game (sorry), or that you're purposely dying to get this thing (which is cheating). Mario becomes a white and gold Tanooki Mario and becomes invincible for the rest of the level. However, you can still fall down pits, so be careful.
P-Wing (Level Skip): LOSING POWER - After you die a whopping 10 times in a level, this will appear. When you pick it up, it will go into your inventory. When you use it, it teleports you to the end of the level. Yeah, you really don't want to get this...
really, really long. I remember back when I reviewed Super Mario Galaxy 2. I went on and on about how long it was. I even mentioned other games for comparison. But how did I forget this game? Super Mario 3D Land is incredibly long. There are... wait a second. There's only 5 levels per world. But that's OK, because each level is actually pretty long. Some levels can even take 15+ minutes to beat. At first sight, there are 8 worlds. That's 40 levels. But actually, once you get to the end of World 8, there's 2 extra levels! Whoa!
Guess what, though? Oh, and beware of spoilers: After you beat Bowser and he falls into the lava, he comes back as Dry Bowser. There are then 8 completely new worlds known as Special 1, Special 2, etc. So that makes, what, 82 total levels? But there's also 3 star coins per level, bonuses with getting to the top of the end-of-level flagpole, and bonuses for beating the level with both Mario and Luigi. The game is perfectly repeatable without getting boring. After you get all the star coins and beat every level with both characters as well as getting golden flags (for getting to the top of the flagpoles), there is one final super-level. That's 83 large-ish levels altogether! Nice! I give the depth another great 10.
Difficulty - 6-8
As with all Mario games, the difficulty totally varies with each level. However, I would consider most levels to be pretty easy. Yeah, I've died a lot, but those are from the really tough levels. So I would give the difficulty a 6, but the levels that actually are difficult are usually
really difficult. So maybe I'll give the difficulty a 7?
Overall - 8.5
Overall, Super Mario 3D Land is one of the greatest Mario games there is, not just in platformers. It has amazing graphics and great 3D features that really show what the Nintendo 3DS is capable of, and a great soundtrack mostly composed of (get it?
composed of?) great remixes to original Super Mario Bros. songs. It's incredible fun to play and very addictive so it keeps bringing you back for more, though the story is crappy and unoriginal. It's also really long so you never get bored of it. It's a pretty easy game, so it's great for beginners. Overall, Super Mario 3D Land deserves an 8.5.
Thank you for reading my review (if you actually did read it instead of skimming through it, you little cheater). I hope you enjoyed it (again, if you really did read it)! Feel free to criticize and comment on my review. Only feedback can help me improve. Thanks!
~TFW~
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