An awesome fun time given I haven't really played a 3D Mario in almost a decade, at least since I did SMG2. I'm extremely slow on the uptake here, but as a result this game is a blast that I almost refer to as a Galaxy Remix due to its similarities.
Levels in Super Mario 3D land are perfectly bite-sized but very fun and creative, enough that I've vocally expressed my enjoyment a few times. They go through all sorts of concepts that may not be exactly innovative or never-before-seen but they sure do feel refreshing. For the most part, level designs are very unique and varied, with little downtime or sleepy moments. As a game should be, 3DL is plain fun and easy to pick up and go. There's not much for me to overanalyze, because I'm not a chef who's staring down a plain vanilla cake — I've dug in, and I got more than what I expected at first.
But of course, I do have a few complaints. Movement is rather different and stiff overall, which is unfortunate because you have a few unexpected movement options like rolling and the classic longjumps. However, all jumps including LJs don't contribute any speed (I feel like they decrease your speed), and so a lot of points you really feel like you need a proper running start just to jump towards certain spots, especially for the flagpoles. It gets a bit annoying in some segments where you could've sworn you got the jump but the stiffness of air movement didn't want your way. Sometimes you might jump away from a platform and turn back towards it just to avoid a threat, but you tragically hit the side and just keep falling instead. You don't have real double or triple jumping to circumvent this, but at least walljumps are somewhat beneficial when coupled with the Tanuki suit.
The issue with the Tanuki suit though, while incredibly satisfying to use, is that it's just too good for the game. It offers flight that lets you invalidate and skip over many segments in level to the point that it may be a crutch, and the ease of use and strength causes enemies to not be threats. The gameplay of having no suit is entirely different than when you get or hoard the leaf, and just playing any same level twice will really show this, especially on the last one. Perhaps this is to make the game easier for wider audiences and allows people to not use the suit, though that's all up to honour and not as a proper reason not to use the suit. Though, none of this implies that levels end up being pushovers, because there's enough challenges in 3DL. The suit just often ignores many platforming segments.
On that note, there are a few times that the perspective of the game's camera can be odd. It isn't free like in other Mario 3D games, instead facing the same direction most of the time and being slightly tiltable to the left or right. There's no problem with this and it's rather fitting for the pocket experience and how streamlined levels are, but this projection sometimes leads to strange depth perception at times, at least for me. There have been a few frustrating instances where it would appear a platform is beside another (from left to right) when the latter's actually further away from the camera, making you fall to your death. The same can sometimes be said for enemy distances, though maybe these are just issues with me. I have no comments on the 3D projection since I have a 2DS.
At the very least, the special world is very nice as a way to double the content and features a satisfactory amount of new stages though with a handful of others that are repeated. They're nice and challenging and S8's theme is comfy.
While I wrote more complaints, that's on course for reviews. 3DL is still very fun and when I started off I got plenty of kicks from it, even laughing when I died at times. Definitely a must-play for 3DS players.
Levels in Super Mario 3D land are perfectly bite-sized but very fun and creative, enough that I've vocally expressed my enjoyment a few times. They go through all sorts of concepts that may not be exactly innovative or never-before-seen but they sure do feel refreshing. For the most part, level designs are very unique and varied, with little downtime or sleepy moments. As a game should be, 3DL is plain fun and easy to pick up and go. There's not much for me to overanalyze, because I'm not a chef who's staring down a plain vanilla cake — I've dug in, and I got more than what I expected at first.
But of course, I do have a few complaints. Movement is rather different and stiff overall, which is unfortunate because you have a few unexpected movement options like rolling and the classic longjumps. However, all jumps including LJs don't contribute any speed (I feel like they decrease your speed), and so a lot of points you really feel like you need a proper running start just to jump towards certain spots, especially for the flagpoles. It gets a bit annoying in some segments where you could've sworn you got the jump but the stiffness of air movement didn't want your way. Sometimes you might jump away from a platform and turn back towards it just to avoid a threat, but you tragically hit the side and just keep falling instead. You don't have real double or triple jumping to circumvent this, but at least walljumps are somewhat beneficial when coupled with the Tanuki suit.
The issue with the Tanuki suit though, while incredibly satisfying to use, is that it's just too good for the game. It offers flight that lets you invalidate and skip over many segments in level to the point that it may be a crutch, and the ease of use and strength causes enemies to not be threats. The gameplay of having no suit is entirely different than when you get or hoard the leaf, and just playing any same level twice will really show this, especially on the last one. Perhaps this is to make the game easier for wider audiences and allows people to not use the suit, though that's all up to honour and not as a proper reason not to use the suit. Though, none of this implies that levels end up being pushovers, because there's enough challenges in 3DL. The suit just often ignores many platforming segments.
On that note, there are a few times that the perspective of the game's camera can be odd. It isn't free like in other Mario 3D games, instead facing the same direction most of the time and being slightly tiltable to the left or right. There's no problem with this and it's rather fitting for the pocket experience and how streamlined levels are, but this projection sometimes leads to strange depth perception at times, at least for me. There have been a few frustrating instances where it would appear a platform is beside another (from left to right) when the latter's actually further away from the camera, making you fall to your death. The same can sometimes be said for enemy distances, though maybe these are just issues with me. I have no comments on the 3D projection since I have a 2DS.
At the very least, the special world is very nice as a way to double the content and features a satisfactory amount of new stages though with a handful of others that are repeated. They're nice and challenging and S8's theme is comfy.
While I wrote more complaints, that's on course for reviews. 3DL is still very fun and when I started off I got plenty of kicks from it, even laughing when I died at times. Definitely a must-play for 3DS players.