sixteen-bit
Member
3DL is the Mario game I like the most.
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Am I crazy or is Mario 3D Land better than 3D World?
- Thread starter ScOULaris
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I prefer 3D Land too, but I think it may come from a state of different expectations. Namely, I compared 3D World to Galaxy 1 and 2 and it comes up lacking, and I compared 3D Land to New Super Mario Bros., which it obliterates.
Regardless, I want Nintendo to abandon the 3D-series setting and move onto a new hook. There's nothing distinctive about either of them, in the way that Sunshine has the beach/resort setting, and the Galaxy games have the space setting, and both are used in ways that shape the gameplay mechanics. The Galaxy games are constantly experimenting with gravity, whereas 3D World has...a catsuit and high walls. 3D World just left me cold by its indistinctiveness.
Regardless, I want Nintendo to abandon the 3D-series setting and move onto a new hook. There's nothing distinctive about either of them, in the way that Sunshine has the beach/resort setting, and the Galaxy games have the space setting, and both are used in ways that shape the gameplay mechanics. The Galaxy games are constantly experimenting with gravity, whereas 3D World has...a catsuit and high walls. 3D World just left me cold by its indistinctiveness.
3D Land did come off as the tighter game, but I really did enjoy 3D World's levels being so much larger in scope and fun to explore. It was about as close that the more traditional Mario formula got to having such expansive levels since World.
Will definitely agree that Land's Final Bowser definitely is better than Meowser, though.
Will definitely agree that Land's Final Bowser definitely is better than Meowser, though.
Tathanen
Get Inside Her!
Honestly I forget the exact details for Land, but World only locks on fixed-camera-angle levels. On free-roam stages you have full analog directional control. Lots of people seem to miss this.
Grinchy
Banned
I think I might have enjoyed 3D World more than Galaxy, too. I tired a few times to get into Mario Galaxy 2 and it just never clicked. I just think it controlled like shit and the levels seemed so small and lacked any fun. I should probably try emulating it with a real controller one of these days.
I got maybe 2 hours into Mario Galaxy and I played 3D World all the way through without ever hating the controls or the levels. I really hope that one day I can try out 3D Land if it's that good.
I got maybe 2 hours into Mario Galaxy and I played 3D World all the way through without ever hating the controls or the levels. I really hope that one day I can try out 3D Land if it's that good.
I think I'm going to immediately regret saying this but I don't care. If you're crazy for liking 3D Land to 3D World then I'll double down on crazy by saying that 3D Land is my least favorite Mario game that I blasted through in a week with 1 session per day doing literally everything possible (as in yes, I even played through the game all over again with Luigi just to get that final level). And I played NSMB2 immediately afterwards and enjoyed it more by a clear measure than 3D Land.
I think there's two things that kill 3D Land for me. The fact that, if you want to see everything the game has to offer you basically have to play it through four times, and the complete lack of theming between levels in a specific world. The latter point in particular surprised me with how much it bothered me.
Notes:
-The only difficult part of the game to me was the true final level. Even if I died a lot in some levels (which I did in a couple of airship levels) for some reason I didn't equate that as difficulty.
-I see all these comments saying the 3D feature was necessary to play the game. This baffles me since outside of the rooms where the icon explicitly tells you to use the 3D feature to see the true form of the room (an admittedly great little idea that suddenly vanished once you hit postgame, which is 3/4s of the game) the game was totally playable as a 2D platformer where shadows are paramount and you can accidentally walk off the side of 2D plane at times.
I think there's two things that kill 3D Land for me. The fact that, if you want to see everything the game has to offer you basically have to play it through four times, and the complete lack of theming between levels in a specific world. The latter point in particular surprised me with how much it bothered me.
Notes:
-The only difficult part of the game to me was the true final level. Even if I died a lot in some levels (which I did in a couple of airship levels) for some reason I didn't equate that as difficulty.
-I see all these comments saying the 3D feature was necessary to play the game. This baffles me since outside of the rooms where the icon explicitly tells you to use the 3D feature to see the true form of the room (an admittedly great little idea that suddenly vanished once you hit postgame, which is 3/4s of the game) the game was totally playable as a 2D platformer where shadows are paramount and you can accidentally walk off the side of 2D plane at times.
The OP may not be crazy, but you are.
DownGrader
Member
In that case, entire NSMB series does not worth to belong to the same line as Yoshi's Island. Only NSMBU plays like a worthy successor of Super Mario 3 and both Worlds.
And, yes, I still consider NSMB series as a spin-off one. The games just aren't or weren't made with as much effort as 3D Marios and pre-NSMB 2D ones.
No it isn't. How this myth still exists is beyond me.
The problem is now even Mario games without the "New" moniker are using those same uninspired aesthetics. I think that the distinction between "New" Mario games and the mainline series has almost completely blurred at this point.
Since I didn't play with analog, and only on dpad, it'd be very easy to miss.
Still, I don't think you're right. 3DL and 3DW control very differently.
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
now this guy is crazy.
Tathanen
Get Inside Her!
This I'll agree with, but it actually bothered me more in 3D World, because you basically just got one themed level, the first one in a world, then the rest had nothing to do with the world's theme whatsoever. If you're going to create world themes, use them. They felt like a huge waste in World.
I appreciate that non-adherence to world themes allows for greater creativity, but without them the games feel like they lack a sense of progression, and are instead just an enormous bucket of random challenges with no logical thread. It's a tricky line to walk.
Livingskeletons
If I pulled that off, would you die?
If your enjoying it this much now OP, just wait until the bonus levels where the game really shines.
Yes, this was the same point I made. If you actually compare them side by side with no preconceptions, World is a better game: bigger and more varied levels, better music, co-op, etc. World never ceased to impress me with the way every level had something clever that wasn't in any of the others. But the limited camera movement and the timer make it feel more limited to some people (not me) than a game like Galaxy.
3D Land just felt more impressive because it was on a handheld and carried handheld expectations.
I'm not sure where you get this. 3D World had some stand-alone levels for surethe dojo for example, or the shadow levelbut otherwise the world theming was consistent. It's certainly not true that the cloud world had only one cloud level, or the ice world had only one ice level, or the final world had only one lava level, and so on.
Tathanen
Get Inside Her!
The world that immediately jumps to mind is world 3:
http://www.mariowiki.com/World_3_(Super_Mario_3D_World)
But to me the bigger levels were less enjoyable than the more tightly designed ones in 3D Land. They were designed to accommodate up to four players, and it shows in every level. There's just so much open space but in these bland, blocky environments. It's not like in the Galaxy games where the medium-to-large levels actually had some visual diversity to make them interesting to explore.
Yeah, that's just egregiously bad.
Orbis Tabula
Member
I haven't played 3D Land yet, but given my love for 3D World, this is only making me more hyped.
Yep. Its a tighter experience. 3D World is more spectacular though.
Their not even bonus levels! Its just "oh btw heres the actual game".
Solid Samus
Banned
No, the games controls function exactly like I described in my last post. Both are 16 way, 3D World just has much more rigid soft locks on the cardinal directions, whereas 3D Lands locks only become noticible on certain maps.
3D Land is not 'analog', its digital directional.
SoraanTribal
Member
I thought 3D Land was okay, but for some reason, felt very by-the-numbers and way too easy. 3D World was also easy for the most part, but I enjoyed it a lot more. Maybe it's because I played the entire game with my best friend and it was a blast that way. So much laughing. I don't think playing 3D World would be nearly as fun solo.
Junahu
Member
I know this is a pathetic reason to not like a game, but screw it. Even though 3D Land is the tighter experience, I can't put it above 3D World because...
3D Land has the absolute worst level select in the entire series, and that includes games like SMB1 (where there is no level select at all).
Spoilered because ranting:
3D Land has the absolute worst level select in the entire series, and that includes games like SMB1 (where there is no level select at all).
Spoilered because ranting:
Not being a hub world is understandable, it's a handheld game.
Not being a map screen is baffling, because that's the go-to method of dressing up the level select in a fun way.
Being a horizontal list with no deviation allowed is absolutely disgusting, we should have at least a modicum of freedom to choose what we engage with.
Not even having a coherant theme between levels in each world is just abhorrent. I know Mario isn't famous for having a narrative structure, but 3D land reduces his adventure to a linear series of unrelated toyboxes that abruptly climax with a boss fight.
Not being a map screen is baffling, because that's the go-to method of dressing up the level select in a fun way.
Being a horizontal list with no deviation allowed is absolutely disgusting, we should have at least a modicum of freedom to choose what we engage with.
Not even having a coherant theme between levels in each world is just abhorrent. I know Mario isn't famous for having a narrative structure, but 3D land reduces his adventure to a linear series of unrelated toyboxes that abruptly climax with a boss fight.
Solid Samus
Banned
That's basically how I'm rationalizing the preference myself in some cases. I personally really don't think 3D Land holds up under direct comparison, although its got a few levels that deserve mention for being really memorable and fun to play and which do demonstrate tighter design than most of 3D Worlds levels (like the level which has you platforming downhill 'into the screen', enabled by 3D screens, or the snowy one with the tightropes in world 3 I think)
DownGrader
Member
I agree with you about aesthetics, but I was talking about level design. Level design of NSMB series is uninspired, with NSMB2 one being really bad. Can't say that about 3D Land/World.
papercan55
Member
no he isn't, 3dworld is probably the only main entry on wii u i simply cannot defend.
I adore pikmin3,dktf,mario kart,w101 and smash but 3d world was a poor effort that was catered 100% to multiplayer and forgot that people also like to play mario games solo.
Absolute pinnacle of nintendo's lazy assed 'new' series.
I'm sure you're right, but since I play on dpad, I didn't notice.
This debate will echo through the ages of gaming forums for the next few decades.
I enjoyed both 3D Land and 3D World, but I'd pick 3D World in a heartbeat. More diversity, more challenge, longer and more satisfying end-game, better music/graphics.
I'd go as far as saying 3D World, although less impactful than Galaxy 1/2, is overall the better game and more replayable. Try replaying Galaxy 1/2....have fun with the padding and tutorials. 3D World is the most purified 3D Mario gaming experience to date.
I enjoyed both 3D Land and 3D World, but I'd pick 3D World in a heartbeat. More diversity, more challenge, longer and more satisfying end-game, better music/graphics.
I'd go as far as saying 3D World, although less impactful than Galaxy 1/2, is overall the better game and more replayable. Try replaying Galaxy 1/2....have fun with the padding and tutorials. 3D World is the most purified 3D Mario gaming experience to date.
Solid Samus
Banned
Its as competent solo as it is multiplayer, I don't buy this 'catered 100 percent' business one bit. (Nor do I understand the frankly bullshit way you framed that statement... You might as well have said "After 25 years of Mario games better played solo, one comes out that's MP oriented... HOW DARE THEY FORGET ABOUT US, THE PEOPLE WHO GAME ALONE AND DONT PLAY WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS, SUCH BETRAYAL) I will never understand the multiplayer complaints. The maps are a little wider but the way people talk about it you'd assume there's no meaningful platforming AT ALL to accommodate for 4 players.
Edit: Man I can't get over how god damn rediculous it is, your notion that Nintendo "forgot about the single player" because their latest 3d Mario, out of the five they've made in the last ten years, includes, not even requires, multiplayer. This is the right time to use the phrase 'entitled gamer', right?
Sure, but most of the worlds weren't like that. And anyway, I find it mind-boggling that people are actually arguing the game's degree of level variation is a weakness.
"Bland and blocky"? Come on. There is nothing bland about the levels in 3D World. There's barely a one that doesn't show you something none of the others do.
Never played it multiplayer, so, nope.
Ridiculous post. 3D World has its flaws, but laziness is not one of them. There's not a single cookie-cutter level in the bunch. And I have never played a minute of it in multiplayer.
Dark_castle
Junior Member
I thought 3D World was designed with co-op in mind whereas 3D Land was with single-player? That might explain why 3D Land level design feels tighter.
Solid Samus
Banned
Galaxy is the only Mario game with cookie cutter levels :3
alexbull_uk
Member
I'd put SM3DW over SM3DL personally, but there's not much between them.
I intend to replay SM3DL soon, but I'd like to buy a new XL first.
I intend to replay SM3DL soon, but I'd like to buy a new XL first.
I just mean that the levels are designed with "building blocks" of terrain kind of like SMB3 rather than being organically designed playgrounds like some of the larger areas in the Galaxy series or even SM64.
Seriously, look back at some screenshots. The levels look like little miniature play sets rather than real places.
I'm suspicious whether the Land camp have even played 3D World.
Tathanen
Get Inside Her!
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