#8 - Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
http://www.gamefaqs.com/3ds/620831-super-mario-3d-land
First off, Super Mario 3D Land is kind of a dumb name.
That being said, the game is actually pretty good. And I bought a 3DS for this, so it’s a good thing! Mario 3D is basically a perfect portable game. The levels are nice and quick and for the most part, designed quite well. A lot of people riff on the game because the early portions are kind of easy, and there’s definitely some truth in that. Through the first 4 worlds or so, the game doesn’t do a whole lot to challenge you. As you progress things certainly do get a fair bit trickier, though its still never frustratingly difficult. It actually finds a nice middle ground that really makes the game a lot of fun, especially for someone like me who doesn’t necessarily like their games to be overly hard. There are times that you’ll fall prey to some cheap deaths due to the sometimes awkward camera angles (this is probably my biggest gripe with the game), but they generally don’t happen often enough to become an annoyance.
The amount of content in Mario 3D land is pretty surprising as well. Much like every 2D Mario game since NSMB, you have 3 star coins to collect which you’ll need to open up some levels are you progress, but the game basically has double the amount of levels it seems like it would on the outset. There’s a pretty nice variety in powerups too, though they definitely went overboard with the Tanooki suit. Everything in this game has a Tanooki suit. It was like they took 20 years of people asking for it back and said “Here, you’re going to have so much Tanooki you’ll never want to see it again”. Boomerang Bros. suit is pretty nifty, though. So is the invincibility Tanooki Suit you get if you fail at a level too many times. Not that I’ve ever used it or anything.
The 3D stuff in Mario 3D land is actually pretty minimal. They make pretty good use of in a few puzzle-y ways, though it’s not necessary to solve anything if you choose not to use it. I have the 3D turned off most of the time myself, as I didn’t think the effect looked all that great in the game and it strains my eyes. Maybe if I did play with it on I’d have less trouble with some of those jumps? Not sure.
Anyway, I’m not entirely convinced that Mario 3D Land is a system seller, but it certainly makes a good case for it. It’s one of those games that you kinda have to get when you do decide to take the plunge. And if you do have a 3DS already, there’s really no reason to not have Mario 3D Land. Also Pushmo, get that too because it’s great.
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