Nostalgia is a powerful thing and Nintendo knows it. Since 1985 the gaming world has been shaped by Nintendo's everlasting franchises that strike a balance between today's twenty-something childhood nostalgia and interesting new designs. Nintendo's biggest games consistently deliver fun challenges, occasionally innovate genres, and always impress the masses.
Chief among its franchises is Mario, the little plumber who could. Lightning struck twice in the 1980s with Super Mario Bros. defining the modern platform genre and Super Mario Bros. 3 perfecting it. Since then Mario has starred in countless games, but not since 1996's Super Mario 64 has the series offered a genre-defining, industry-shaping game.
Super Mario 3D Land might have just kicked Super Mario 64 to the curb. Here is a game so well done, so fun to play from start to finish, and so genuinely well-designed that it can barely stand among other games. While Nintendo has spent the last ten years designing solid, fun Mario games for Wii and DS, Super Mario 3D Land plays like the culmination of thirty years of the best of the genre. This is truly the best Mario game to date.
A year and a half ago I wrote a double-review of what I considered the best Mario games: Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii and the independent PC platformer Super Mario Bros. X. I loved the 3D Galaxy for its technical achievements and tight control, while I poured my love on the 2D SMBX for its incredible blend of Mario nostalgia and original level design. I think Nintendo may have read that article, because Super Mario Bros. 3D Land combines the best of both games.
3D Land is a 3D Mario game that plays like a 2D Mario game. There are distinct levels, power-ups, secrets, castles, bosses, and Bowser. Nintendo wisely avoided trying to tell a complex story here: Peach has been kidnapped and Mario is out to save her. Within a minute and a half of booting the game Mario is on the ground. Within an hour Mario will be well into World 2, if not World 3. The game starts out as cheerily and as easily as Super Mario Bros. 3 did, but eventually ramps up the difficulty to insane levels. One point worth mentioning: the game is much, much longer than it initially appears, so do not be discouraged by how fast you travel through the game at first.
Level variety is strong with 3D Land, easily the best of the traditional get-to-the-goal Mario designs. This is a platformer by all traditional definitions, with tricky jumps, fast-paced action, timed levels, and minor exploration. Difficulty pacing is top-notch, with early, easy levels introducing mechanics that come into play later in the game in big ways. Perhaps the best part about this progression: never will you notice you are learning a new mechanic, you will simply fall into it as the game progresses. This kind of seamless learning experience is one no other game as ever replicated so well.
Anyone and everyone will get immeasurable joy from playing through the first eight worlds of 3D Land, and those looking for an honest challenge will love everything that comes after World 8.
Nintendo, you have honestly made my favorite Mario game, finally surpassing the masterpiece that is Super Mario 64. Thanks to Super Mario 3D Land, I get to experience the joy of playing through a timeless Mario game as if I was 13 again and ripping open my SNES. For a hardcore Mario fan and dedicated gamer such as myself, this is like a second childhood.
Thank you.
B3 out.
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