{"id":6376,"date":"2011-12-18T12:53:10","date_gmt":"2011-12-18T02:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=6376"},"modified":"2014-05-13T12:50:13","modified_gmt":"2014-05-13T02:50:13","slug":"super-mario-3d-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=6376","title":{"rendered":"Super Mario 3D Land"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Super-Mario-3D-Land\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Platform:\u00a0 <\/strong>Nintendo 3DS<\/em>
\nDeveloper:\u00a0 <\/strong><\/strong>Nintendo EAD Tokyo<\/em>
\nPublisher:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong> Nintendo<\/em><\/p>\n

Cutting straight to the chase, Super Mario 3D Land<\/em> is the launch game Nintendo should have had when they released the 3DS earlier this year to a rather tepid public reception.\u00a0 For a company that typically launches hardware known for innovation, they usually lead the way with their own software to show the potential applications that these features have to offer.<\/p>\n

Super Mario 3D Land<\/em> is just that game.\u00a0 Obviously, the core of the game isn’t anything that veers to far away from the what the series is known for.\u00a0 It is the latest sidescrolling installment of a supremely polished franchise that tweaks and iterates rather than makes any sweeping changes.\u00a0 However, many of those iterations – the use of the 3D visual effects and the gyroscope – make it an effective showcase of what the Nintendo 3DS can do.<\/p>\n

I liked Super Mario 3D Land<\/em> and I liked it a lot.\u00a0 For the reasons why, let me provide some context around my favourite games in the series.<\/p>\n

The first two Super Mario Bros.<\/em> games I ever played were Super Mario Bros. 3<\/em> [NES] and Super Mario World<\/em> [SNES], both of which I still put on a pedastle over the rest of the franchise.\u00a0 There are several components of those games that I absolutely adore which are mostly absent in the rest of the franchise.\u00a0 Namely, the ability to fly using either the tanooki suit (SMB3<\/em>) or the cape (SMW<\/em>).\u00a0 For me, flying was as closely ingrained with the Mario formula as jumping.\u00a0 Nintendo crafted the levels in those two games so finely that flight was not a game-breaker.\u00a0 Sure it could be possible, particularly in the earlier stages, to fly over large portions of a level but why would you?\u00a0 You would only be missing out on the fun.\u00a0 Instead, flying meant another avenue to explore each stage, uncover secret areas and really expand on the scope of level design.\u00a0 SMB3<\/em> and SMW<\/em> are both just as much about vertical travel as they were going from left to right.<\/p>\n

The other aspect I liked about those two games is the unabashed creativity that Nintendo poured into them.\u00a0 A very clear template and visual style in the first two Super Mario Bros.<\/em> games:\u00a0 blue sky backdrops alternating with the occasional underground level, stages made from blocks and floating platforms that are punctuated by koopas, goombas and question mark boxes.\u00a0 You run from left to right and reach a flagpole to mark the end of the stage.\u00a0 Rinse and repeat.<\/p>\n

When it came to SMB3<\/em> and SMW<\/em>, Nintendo went for broke and completely changed up everything – the level design, the art style, the power ups, the enemies, the lot.\u00a0 We got raccoon and frog suits, levels made out of chocolate, giants, airships, pipes, rideable dinosaurs, gridiron players and more.\u00a0 One of my favourite non-sensical power ups was a giant shoe in SMB3<\/em> that Mario sits inside and hops around in.\u00a0 It’s not really helpful in the slightest.\u00a0 It’s just there as if the developers though What the hell?\u00a0 Why not?<\/em>\u00a0 They were so ambitious with Super Mario World<\/em> that not only did they include a hidden Star World with extra levels but they then introduced a hidden level within the hidden level that contained stages of an advanced difficulty.\u00a0 The rewards for players who invested the time were immense.<\/p>\n

Then they left it at that and after Super Mario World<\/em> in 1991, we didn’t really get another ‘proper’ 2D mainline Mario game until New Super Mario Bros<\/em> in 2006.\u00a0 The game reviewed well at the time and I certainly gave it a favourable write up myself but in hindsight, I don’t really have much inclination to ever revisit and play it again.\u00a0 It certainly feels very vanilla by Nintendo’s standards and more comparable to the structure and style of the original two Super Mario<\/em> games.\u00a0 Solid platforming but they don’t feature the full unfettered madness and imagination that SMB3<\/em> and SMW<\/em> have.<\/p>\n

I’m pleased to say however that Super Mario 3D Land<\/em> is much more in the creative mold of SMB3<\/em> and SMW<\/em>.\u00a0 Structurally, its sort of like Crash Bandicoot.\u00a0 <\/em>Although the game predominantly has Mario running a linear track, this can often push into and out of the screen, run vertically as well as from left to right.\u00a0 The art style is polygonal like the two recent New Super Mario Bros<\/em> games but they are more vibrant and better animated.\u00a0 The levels are a mixed bag.\u00a0 Some pay homage to designs from earlier games.\u00a0 Others are completely their own thing.\u00a0 The same goes for the enemy design.\u00a0 The classic cast are there – goombas, koopas and even tanooki powered variants – but there are also some new enemies as well.<\/p>\n

Nintendo have also really found a new lease of life in the boss battles.\u00a0 Typically, these aren’t really considered a strong point with the Super Mario Bros<\/em> franchise, beyond the character design.\u00a0 Yet the showdowns here against Bowser in his castle are amongst some of the most entertaing levels to play.\u00a0 Particularly the showdown in World Eight in which the battle goes for the better part of an entire level.\u00a0 The game also has a tip of the hat to fans of SMB3<\/em> and SMW<\/em> as both airship levels and Koopa kids make a welcome return as mini bosses.<\/p>\n

Probably the point that put this game over the top for me and had me completely singing its praises was that final battle against Bowser in World Eight.\u00a0 Up to that point, the game had been a tad easy but thoroughly enjoyable and that final boss battle was immensely entertaining.\u00a0 I beat Bowser, saved the Princess, the credits rolled and then…a revelation!\u00a0 The game put me back to the home screen and unlocked a whole new set of Special levels.\u00a0 These levels were also playable as Luigi who controlled differently to Mario (jumps higher, handles looser), and introduced some interesting new gameplay wrinkles like a Beat The Clock challenge where you start the level with just 30 seconds of time and the re-introduction of Metal Mario who tries to take you out while you race through the level.\u00a0 In effect, the game was twice as big as I originally thought it was.\u00a0 It felt good, man.<\/p>\n

If you are any kind of Super Mario<\/em> fan, and particularly a SMB3<\/em> and SMW<\/em> fan, then this is the game you’ve been waiting for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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