"Super Mario 3D Land is the essential reason to own the Nintendo 3DS."
After seventeen years, Super Mario 3D Land is the latest instalment in the Super Mario Land series, the original portable before the remakes and New Super Mario Bros. series took over. While being a part of the Land series, it doesn't specifically inherent any of its style, rather combining the old Mario style that we love and the new Mario style that we love. You could basically say it's like playing the original, 2D Mario in a three-dimensional environment and the thing is, it works really well. You can't really explore like in the recent games, but rather go from point A to point B, just like in the older titles, but in typical Mario fashion, getting to point B is always a blast and an experience that you will never forget.
The story of Super Mario 3D Land isn't anything new, and honestly, you can't expect anything less from a Mario title, but it's so overdone that you can't help but enjoy it. Princess Peach has been taken once again by Bowser and it's up to Mario to save her. As with previous 2D titles, Mario must venture through eight worlds to save her, each one having a different set of levels and different themes. As you finish each world, the story progresses through cutscenes and images that show what exactly Peach is doing at Bowser's Castle. The pictures are actually a nice touch, as the art style is similar to Super Mario Bros. 3's art style and they range from Peach getting chased by some minions to her fighting back, adding a comedic effect to the scenes.
The first level seems obviously prepared for you to start off your new adventure to save the Princess. Instead of Mario just appearing at the beginning of the level, the camera rather starts outwards and then zooms on in the red plumber to add the effect of someone starting a great adventure and it certainly plays that way, too. The first level is crafted beautifully and it truly feels like you've just stepped into a Mario game for the first time. Something that 3D Mario fans may realise is that there's a timer for the level, meaning you're limited to exploring the level, but actually, you have plenty of time to walk around and explore. Many may argue that a time limit is quite unnecessary for a 3D Mario title, however, this time around it's good that they don't give gamers all the time in the world to finish levels.
The power-ups aren't immune to change either. For starters, when you acquire a Fire Flower and use it, the fireballs will now bounce off walls, giving you more of an offensive advantage over the enemies that you will most definitely face in your path. Mario's health is like that of the 2D titles, meaning he does not have a health bar, so if you're Little Mario, getting a Mushroom or another power-up for that matter, becomes a top priority. The extremely brilliant Tanooki suit returns after being absent for over twenty years and rather than using it to soar in the air, it now acts as some similar to Yoshi's flutter jump. A new power-up, the Boomerang suit is also a great power-up. An enemy jumping over the boomerang? No problem! It'll just come just come back and take out the rascal that jumped over your boomerang.
The game plays like a dream, as any Mario game would. It feels like that a 3D Mario game can truly be on a portable system. Perhaps it's the new control stick that the system has, but whatever it may be, the controls are amazing and they don't feel stiff whatsoever. Controlling Mario while hovering in the air doesn't feel like you should just be in one spot, rather floating around while descending, giving the player complete control over his movement. Underwater controls are also fluent and, again, you have complete control. There is nothing limiting the player from controlling Mario the way he/she wants to and the game justifies that.
Each world has some extra activities for the player to do. For example, there are these levels called Mystery Boxes that the player is able to do where you are given a power-up to defeat a certain amount of enemies in a certain amount of time. The game has the courtesy to allow the player to keep the power-up and will even reward the character with coins and a Star Medal. Additional levels include a Red Toad House, where in Mario fashion, a Toad will give you a power-up, while sporting one of his own and there is only laughter when you see Toad in a Tanooki suit. There is also a Blue Toad House where you can look over the pictures you've collected over the course of the story, not having them go to waste.
Star Medal's return from the previous Mario games to once again serve as collectables to unlock levels in worlds that require a certain amount of Star Medals. They are placed in, of course, usually difficult places or unexpected places, so acquiring them all becomes quite the task. There are over two hundred Star Medal's in the game, which is an amazing amount and it's the most amount in any Mario game to date. Additionally, the StreetPass feature allows the player to get more Mystery Boxes, which evidently leads to more Star Medal's over the course of the game. In some levels, there will be a secret Toad that you have to find with binoculars – using the system's Gyroscope – that are, again, in certain levels and they will give you a Star Medal for finding them. If you're replaying a level, acquiring a Star Medal you already have will give the player ten coins instead.
The game, amazingly, looks better than most Mario titles on Nintendo's home consoles, but given that the 3DS is more powerful than a Wii, it was expected from the beginning. The three-dimensional capabilities enhance the graphics phenomenally, having the game look beautiful all throughout the game. There are no colours that conflict with each other and everything pops out, even without the 3D effects. Snow levels look graceful and harmonic while Ghost Houses look devious, but rather glorious in its own perspective. Throughout the entire game, you may be enjoying yourself too much to notice, the game just looks marvellous and it's a great treat for the eyes.
The three-dimensional capabilities are also brilliant, perhaps the best on the system currently. It's difficult to resist turning on the 3D for this game because, simply put, 3D possibly makes the game. It is seemingly designed around the concept of the three-dimensional aspect that the system is capable of and in exchange, it improves the lasting influence that the game will have. Special mention has to go to the underwater levels of the game, in which the 3D effect is brilliantly used to the levels advantage – it just looks amazing. The level just stands out, especially the water and when the level is over, you'd want to play the same level over and over again to embrace the 3D effect of the water.
It just wouldn't be a great Mario without great music, wouldn't it? Super Mario 3D Land's music is, like the game, great, however it's not really the highlight of the game. For starters, since there's a set range of level types, that means there's also a set range of music, such as music that plays during the snow stages and music that plays through the underground levels. They're great tunes, but compared to every other Mario tune, they aren't essentially memorable. A piece of memorable music is actually a remix of the Boo Waltz theme from Super Mario Galaxy that plays throughout the Ghost Houses. The music is great, but they're not spectacular compared to previous tracks in the franchise.
Boss Battles are great fun, usually having to go through a Castle or Airship to fight the boss at the end. The designs for these stages are great and they make you feel like something big is going to happen when you finally get up to the boss. Unfortunately, this isn't the case, at least with the airship boss. The bosses are always set for the Castle, but the Airship will usually alternate between two bosses, yet it seems it's a complete palette swap and a different move to use. Fighting Bowser at the end of each Castle is great, as it's actually one of those sections that show that the game is getting more difficult as you progress. The Bowser fights are great fun, especially the last one, but the Airship battles leave no lasting impact on the player, which is a shame, as a Mario player would be expecting more.
The game is, also, unfortunately quite short for a Mario game. The game is similar to those of the classic Mario games, giving the player a linear experience. A linear experience is by no means a bad thing, but coming from a modern Mario game just seems rather disappointing. Some levels seem to actually force the belief that you need the Tanooki suit to complete the level, which in reality, you don't. However, if you die too much, the game will begin to pity you and give you power-ups that allow you to finish the level instantly or while invincible, similar to the Super Guide implanted to the past couple of Mario games. While you can ignore the power-ups, having them just shove them in your face makes you feel that you're terrible at the game. It also lacks a two-player mode, which has been in the past couple of Mario games, and it's a shame, because if there was a two-player option, it could've played like the multiplayer of Super Mario Bros. 3 and that would've been superb.
On the whole, Super Mario 3D Land is a great Mario game, especially for handhelds. If it were to be on a modern console system, gamers wouldn't feel satisfied for a game that would last five hours for the main game, so it's a great thing that it's on the 3DS system, as the game conveniently goes for as long as the system's battery life. The game, while following the past traditions of the Mario titles, reminds us why we like the red Italian plumber in the first place and his world of Mushrooms. Super Mario 3D Land is the essential reason to own the Nintendo 3DS and it's a great example of what the system can do with its capabilities.