BaD#17: Quick Unpopular Opinions on Super Mario 3D Land

On 02/24/2015 at 08:10 PM by Alex-C25

Linked to Article Series: Blog a Day (BaD) 2015

Been meaning to do a blog about this game since I have some things I wished to say since a year or so, and it's a good time as I completed the main story about a month ago.

Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I don't dislike this game and it's not a flawed one either. Super Mario 3D Land controls well, has tight gameplay, nice visuals and music, they did a job a spot-on job on putting the level structure of the New series in 3D and like most Mario games, it's fun.

However I do feel like for the standards of 3D Mario games, this game is a bit barebones. One of the first gripes has to do with linearity, both on the levels and world maps. Like I said, they did a good job translating the NSMB level design in 3D and it focuses more doing a level before time runs out, but the levels don't have a lot of exploration and they miss the secrets that made past 3D games a blast to explore. This also carries over the world map, where the levels and item houses are in straight order so after you pass a level you continue to the next and so on, until reaching a castle or battleship and then repeat the process on the next world. Now, both Super Mario Galaxy's had their fair share of linearity on the levels, but atleast they gave parts that encouraged exploration, there were secrets on most missions and different objectives on the galaxies. Besides, they allowed you which order you could do the galaxies and missions.

Another gripe has to do more with the difficulty. Now, on this site it is very subjective as many here prefer easy games. That fine and dandy and I even admit the first Super Mario Galaxy, save for some ocations, was mostly an easy game. The thing is, except much later in the game and the extra levels after beating this, SM3DL felt like it was pitifully easy and there wasn't many challenges that could keep you on your toes, not helping that this game likes to give 1ups like candy. Though I do think thanks to the difficulty this game is very apropiate for very young kids.

So yes, these are the gripes I have with this game. Though it may look like I consider this a dissapointment, I still very much enjoy this game and I don't think it was a bad aproach the design they made. It just feels like something is missing and this was made more to text waters for the next game. It does have high points like the last boss, which was pretty epic, the aftergame content satisfies my challenge need and at the end you can play as Luigi!

In any case, i'm actually pretty positive in starting 3D World one of these days. For me it looks like they improved this formula.

Aboboisdaman

02/24/2015 at 08:27 PM

I've only played a few levels, but I definitely noticed it seemed kinda bare bones. And really easy. I had just got done playing Mario 64 DS, and there was a ton of secret stuff and exploration in that game. Not to mention that I died a lot. Probably way more than I care to admit lol. I'm still looking forward to 3D Land, but my expectations are lower.

Alex-C25

02/25/2015 at 12:48 PM

Yeah, it's better to keep your expectations low. I think if you treat this game for what it is, you'll enjoy it just fine.

asrealasitgets

02/24/2015 at 09:11 PM

Actually, not everyone loved this game. It had its detractors and naysayors when it released. It's a pretty great acheivement to see a full 3D mario game on a handheld after Mario 64 on 3DS. It's pretty much a plate full of appetizers. That's the way I see it. Not a bad game, but it is what it is.

02/25/2015 at 12:51 PM

I know there are detractors of this game, but they aren't as prominent or vocal as say, GTA IV. I'll give that to this game for making a good looking 3D Mario on a handheld and make it run wihtout any bug, and yeah, it's better to see this as a testing game for what can be done in the future.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/24/2015 at 11:27 PM

I think it's meant more for party co-op, at least that's how I played it and have mostly seen it played. It looks great though. I could see myself liking it on single player. But it is pretty bare bones, which would likely keep me from "loving" it.

02/25/2015 at 12:54 PM

Joe, I think you are confusing 3D Land (3DS) with 3D World (Wii U). 3D Land does not have co-op.

02/25/2015 at 04:12 PM

Oh ...

Cary Woodham

02/25/2015 at 05:45 AM

I liked Super Mario 3-D Land because they kept things simple. Stages aren't overly complicated and feel like 3-D versions of stages from Mario 3. I also like the light difficulty because it means that kids and novice players can feel like they accomplished something. Best of all, when you finish the first 8 worlds, a new set of 8 worlds opens up that are way more challenging for expert players!

02/25/2015 at 12:58 PM

I already mentioned about the extra challenging 8 Worlds here. I also don't see this as 3D versions of the stages of Mario 3 but instead feel they had more inspiration from the New series than the classic games, what's with the 3 coins and checkpoints. But nothing wrong with keeping things simple and easy difficulty for kids. It just felt this was barebones in terms of content and was more for testing waters.

PixlBit