Super Mario 3D Land - Review

By now, anybody with even a passing interest in video games could tell you that any main title game in the Mario series (not counting the massive amount of time he spends playing sports; there's a joke in here somewhere about how he plays all kinds of sports and still manages to remain chubby) is going to be a solid game. Guess what, Super Mario 3D Land is no exception. Now you might be worried how well Mario would translate to the literal third dimension again, seeing as his outings on the Virtual Boy didn't fare too well.

To be honest, 3D is a pretty cheap gimmick. Nobody bought the 3DS because they wanted to play a bunch of 3D card minigames; those games have lasting power of less than a few minutes. The very few people that bought the 3DS bought it because there are or will be some good games coming out, with Super Mario 3D Land really being the only brand new stellar title so far. I mean sure, Starfox 64 3D and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D are guaranteed to be great, but those aren't new games. So how does this measure up to other Mario platformers? Well the best way I can describe it is, take the gameplay of Mario 64 and sprinkle in some Super Mario Bros. 3 and there you have it. If you like either of those Mario titles, I'm pretty confident in saying that you'll like this one as well.

The story is beyond standard; Bowser kidnaps Peach, Mario has to save her, yadda yadda yadda. We've seen it before, and this one does nothing differentiate itself. But that's never been the point of the platforming Mario games; they've always focused on...well, platforming, and it works great here. As I said earlier, the 3D IS a gimmick, it's shallow and just kind of hurts to look at. So turn that crap off, and enjoy the game.

The controls are great, the worlds are inventive yet familiar, and the music fits right in. The only downside is that the game is a bit short. There are 8 Worlds, but the worlds are pretty short; you could finish this in a day if you put your mind to it. The good news is that after the main quest, there are 8 Special Worlds to trek through as well, so you more than get your money's worth. But hey, you already know if you'll like this game or not, so why not just go out and buy it already?

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