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Super Mario 3D Land is SO good

Real Hero said:
Just got a 3DS XL with this installed so it is my first 3ds game and I'm surprised at how good it is, from about the third level this game sold me on the idea of 3D being a good idea for games, how come this game isn't recommended as much as galaxy etc?
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It's not as innovative or as good as Galaxy in my humble opinion. It has a significantly more limited scope and gameplay options. With that said however, within its medium: portable consoles, it is without rival the best 3D platforming game you can play on the go.

The only thing that slightly diminished my appreciation for the title was how short it was. It's a bit obvious that the title was cut a bit shorter than the usual Mario games in order for that development team to start working on 3D World and getting it out as soon as possible. That doesn't make it a bad game by any short, Portal was great and it's also a very short experience, but in Mario's case I wish it had just a bit more content.
 
Mario 3D Land was a really great combination of 2D and 3D Mario. I'm looking forward to seeing what we get with the sequel on the Wii U, usually the console games are superior to the handheld games.
 
In terms of design it is excellent, beautifully crafted for the hardware; short levels, excellent controls and gorgeous graphics. It fails, however, in its difficulty; it is just too easy.
I breezed through the game in a few hours on the weekend it was released. The tanooki suit makes jumps far too easy, I no longer us it in order to artificially increase the difficulty, otherwise it is excellent. (As a side note I thought it would be better if the tanooki suit acted more like the spin move in Mario Galaxy, used for gaining a bit more air time, but can't be abused on precise jumps).

The Mario Galaxy games will remain superior simply due to the fact they offer more challenge.
 
Gonna be my second game after Pokémon Y. Really looking forward to playing it! Haven't seen any videos of it or anything. Just a few screenshots of a 'plain' level. Want most things to be new when I play it.
 
I liked it but was ultimately a bit disappointed in the small worlds. I understand they have hardware restrictions but the N64 pulled of some relatively large open levels.

I guess maybe I just like the SM64 structure better.

Still a great game though.
 
Axass said:
Quick someone sell me on the game! Why should I buy SM3DL instead of Kid Icarus as my next 3DS purchase?
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Yeah... no.. I cant. While 3d land is a amazing platformer and worthy of a 3ds purchase, I enjoyed KI too much to recomend it over 3dland
 
It was pretty great. Not as good as Galaxy 1 or 2, but far better than NSMB. And I was really surprised by the graphics, they really do almost look Galaxy-level sometimes.

One thing though is I *can't stand* the Shadow Mario levels from the Special Worlds. I hate them so much.
 
Raven77 said:
I liked it but was ultimately a bit disappointed in the small worlds. I understand they have hardware restrictions but the N64 pulled of some relatively large open levels.

I guess maybe I just like the SM64 structure better.

Still a great game though.
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I think that this restriction was mostly due to the 3DS' lack of a built-in second analogue nub and the lack of precision that the existing nub has compared to a real analogue stick. Having a camera more or less fixated on the main character makes more sense design-wise for the 3DS.

But as for the level structures, I kind of share your sentiment. I very much enjoyed the larger open worlds of Super Mario 64, but Mario Galaxy was significantly more linear in terms of level progression, yet I still enjoyed that game immensely as well, perhaps even more than Mario 64.
 
Mass Effect said:
It was pretty great. Not as good as Galaxy 1 or 2, but far better than NSMB. And I was really surprised by the graphics, they really do almost look Galaxy-level sometimes.

One thing though is I *can't stand* the Shadow Mario levels from the Special Worlds. I hate them so much.
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You know what's better than Shadow Mario? Huge Shadow Mario. Twice the size twice the fun!! And lets add a 30 sec timer for good measure.
 
Not ashamed to say that this is my favorite Mario game and the only one I've ever gotten 100% on. (Apart from the five sparkling stars, which is more like 110%.)
 
Anth0ny said:
wait til you get to the last 8 worlds, that's when it really picks up.
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This. It cemented it as one of my favourite 3D Mario games once this happened.

I'm still actually trying to beat the rest of it, on [spoiler for last 8 worlds ->]
S8-5 now... so close!
I've just been playing it here and there for 15 minutes at a time, getting all 3 challenge coins, going for record times, etc.

Cannot wait until 3D World comes out.
 
thewhitehawk said:
I think that this restriction was mostly due to the 3DS' lack of a built-in analogue nub and the lack of precision that the existing nub has compared to a real analogue stick. Having a camera more or less fixated on the main character makes more sense design-wise for the 3DS.

But as for the level structures, I kind of share your sentiment. I very much enjoyed the larger open worlds of Super Mario 64, but Mario Galaxy was significantly more linear in terms of level progression, yet I still enjoyed that game immensely as well, perhaps even more than Mario 64.
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Interesting, I never thought about the restrictions of the analog stick(s). I agree with you as well that Galaxy, although linear at times, was nearly as good (in my opinion) as SM 64.
 
Orayn said:
(Apart from the five sparkling stars, which is more like 110%.)
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What is this about? I only remember the secret level you need to get all flagpole marks ect.

3DLand for me is the most mediocre and forgettable Mario game I have played (outside Sunshine). I can't really remember anything outside of a few levels while Galaxy was the opposite for me.
 
Just started playing this and I'm loving it. The small level design actually helps and the 3d is well executed. Only complaint is I'm already on world 6 after only a few hours, but from reading the comments the 8 worlds visible isn't the end of the game.

Also is it just me or are the new Mario games extremely lenient on 1ups? I have over 120 lives and I'm only halfway through the game.
 
Napalm_Frank said:
What is this about? I only remember the secret level you need to get all flagpole marks ect.

3DLand for me is the most mediocre and forgettable Mario game I have played (outside Sunshine). I can't really remember anything outside of a few levels while Galaxy was the opposite for me.
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Beat the game without ever seeing a Help Box and the stars on your savefile will shine.

Caleb187 said:
Just started playing this and I'm loving it. The small level design actually helps and the 3d is well executed. Only complaint is I'm already on world 6 after only a few hours, but from reading the comments the 8 worlds visible isn't the end of the game.

Also is it just me or are the new Mario games extremely lenient on 1ups? I have over 120 lives and I'm only halfway through the game.
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Ehh, is more like a
master quest. Though there are some new levels here and there
 
titusandronicus said:
Gonna be my second game after Pokémon Y. Really looking forward to playing it! Haven't seen any videos of it or anything. Just a few screenshots of a 'plain' level. Want most things to be new when I play it.
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3D Land is by far my favorite 3DS title and really does the 3D effect well.
 
I 100%'d the game a while ago and I still go back every now and again but I'm not going to lie, the framerate bothered me then and still does now. There's just something that feels wrong about a sub 60fps Mario game.

The actual design and mechanics were second to none however so I can't wait for 3D World.
 
ShockingAlberto said:
I actually didn't really dig it at first. When I got it the winter it came out, I limped over the finish line of the first eight worlds and then put it away until earlier this year.

Then whatever clicked clicked hard and I fell totally in love with the game, got every coin, every flag, and accessed the hidden level and burned 200 lives doing it while refusing to use a suit power-up.
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I felt much the same way until I realised just how ingenious some of the levels are, it's most obvious in 2-3 where once you get the propeller block you can clear the bulk of the level without ever touching the floor providing you can stomp the 25ish enemies along the way.
 
Not including presentation, it was far superior to the galaxy games. I actually died plenty of times in the last world.
 
Oh, about the Circle Pad in this game: It's not 8-way. It snaps you to the main 8 directions to varying degrees depending on the level you're playing. Pure platform levels do it pretty aggressively, but the more open levels don't.

Video evidence, courtesy of me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQIg2gEMTgI

Napalm_Frank said:
What is this about? I only remember the secret level you need to get all flagpole marks ect.

3DLand for me is the most mediocre and forgettable Mario game I have played (outside Sunshine). I can't really remember anything outside of a few levels while Galaxy was the opposite for me.
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Five stars is competing all levels
as both brothers
, getting all star coins, and raising all flags. The stars sparkle if you do it without ever losing enough lives to have the game give you the sparkling powerup leaf.
 
The 1st half of this game shouldn't have existed. I consider it a waste of time.

The 2nd half should have been the 1st half and the new 2nd half should have been something like the old 2nd half but even harder.
 
I don't know, I was pretty bored by it. It's just way too easy and the levels are not very interesting. *

*
I didn't yet play much of the special levels you get after beating the game. Maybe they are much better.
 
It's my favourite mario game ever, it's so tight.. the game is pretty easy but it's just a warm up. The extra levels are so challenging and amazing.
 
Its a very good game but its definitely not Galaxy levels of greatness (and, really, nothing else is).

3D Land's biggest problem is that it lacks an identity. And that the 2D Mario controls don't translate as well to 3D as the the standard controls they've been using since Mario 64.
 
thewhitehawk said:
The only thing that slightly diminished my appreciation for the title was how short it was. It's a bit obvious that the title was cut a bit shorter than the usual Mario games in order for that development team to start working on 3D World and getting it out as soon as possible. That doesn't make it a bad game by any short, Portal was great and it's also a very short experience, but in Mario's case I wish it had just a bit more content.
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Are you trying to give me a heart attack? This game is huge, enormous by handheld standards, and compared to most Mario games. Did you not finish it?
 
Game is solid but it wasnt anything mindblowing like Galaxy was. I think I'm at the end though...just got to get 100 star coin things to finish it.

Also game looks like ass on a 3DS XL but the 3D is quite good.

Cant wait for SM3DW though.
 
Jucksalbe said:
I don't know, I was pretty bored by it. It's just way too easy and the levels are not very interesting. *

*
I didn't yet play much of the special levels you get after beating the game. Maybe they are much better.
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They are dramatically better and will probably change your opinion of the game when you've played them all.
 
I love this game. It is my favorite game on the 3DS not counting Animal Crossing. It's a good time. I am looking forward to the Wii U version, and will in fact be buying the console mostly just to play it.
 
Yeah, 3D Land is great, and GAF was shitting on it all the way up to release as though the team behind Mario Galaxy was going to magically make a bad Mario game.

Axass said:
Quick someone sell me on the game! Why should I buy SM3DL instead of Kid Icarus as my next 3DS purchase?
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You probably shouldn't. They're both pretty amazing games.
 
It awesome , the later levels are some of the best.

Axass said:
Quick someone sell me on the game! Why should I buy SM3DL instead of Kid Icarus as my next 3DS purchase?
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Buy both, Kid Icarus is just one of the best for the 3ds, the voice acting in the game is just gold.
 
3D Land is my favorite 3D mario. I like the 2d mario level design in 3d, which I don't think the major 3D marios captured well.
 
kris. said:
Die a certain amount of times and get a feather that basically makes you invincible?
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That's in Mario 3DLand?

How many times do you have to die? Is it in the endgame worlds?

You could always...not use it?
It's too easy! When I die 10 times they give me an item I can ignore to beat the level that I've died on so many times! Because the game is easy. That's why I'm dying a lot. Easy.

I never had that pop up and I've died a lot on some of the endgame levels.
 
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