Super Mario 3D Land review by Tyson
Overall
Rent
I found Super Mario 3D Land to be worth a rental. It's a game with some fun moments in it but they just needed to be longer.
Gameplay
The best way I can describe the gameplay in Super Mario 3D Land is comparing it to an amusement park ride.
You have a blast while on the ride but its always over to quick. The games quick level design is definitely
a double edge sword for the game. While its nice to finish a few levels during a bus or train ride but everything
is just over way to quick. One problem with this quick level design is that Nintendo tries to extend the games
length by locking away a portion of the game until you collect enough Star Coins. I have to say that I really
hated this locking away mechanic. I found it to be a terrible way to extend the gameplay time.
While levels were over quick, I did atleast enjoy the way many levels were designed. It was interesing to see
levels designed with platforms that change every time you jump or levels built around specific power ups. One
of my favorite levels was one built around this helicopter like box that you glide around in.
I found the power-ups in Super Mario 3D Land to be well designed. You had the classics like the super
mushroom, fire flower, and the raccoon suit along with a new boomerang suit. I really enjoyed the boomerang
suit and I wish it was used a lot more then it was.
If there was anything that I found disappointing with the game it was with the games camera. Super Mario
3D Land uses a static camera much like the New Super Mario Bros. game but you do have some options to tilt
the camera left or right. What was disappointing for me is that the camera angles sometimes cost me a jump
or caused me to get hit. I guess I would also find the games boss battles a bit disappointing as well. You
fought the same 3 bosses throughout the game. This just felt like some lazy design.
Control
This was another area of the game that I found disappointing. The issue here for me was the 3DS analog nub. It just never felt right as I was playing the game. I felt the game would of controlled better with a standard directional pad.
Graphics
Nintendo always seems to be good at designing the graphics in their games and Super Mario 3D Land is no exception. THe game is colorful, everything animates well, and I found everything to just plain look good.
Sound
Mario games seem to have a pretty decent sound track and this game is no different. Mario has his classic yahoo like yells when he jumps and the background music sounds fairly well put together.