Super Mario 3D Land — A Hybrid Heaven

For a while, I felt that I was starting to grow out of Mario games, along with some of Nintendo’s titles as a whole.

I’m well aware that the notion of growing out of specific genres in the vast gaming spectrum is a cliché and often ridiculous notion, and that anyone who feels they should only be playing games aimed at their age group is a very silly person. Regardless, I felt the love affair was over between Nintendo and I. The Mario games no longer held that special sense of appeal and excitement they had with me when I was younger.

But that changed when I got the opportunity to play Super Mario 3D Land. Despite the plethora of New Super Mario Bros. games that seem to release these days, Nintendo still develops a 3D games to fill in the gaps of a different genre. They’re aimed at two different audiences, the wider audience finding the 2D games far more palatable for their tastes than the ostensibly more complicated 3D titles — though they’re also qualify as simple games that others can easily pick up and play. They’re just tougher to master, since they tend to introduce new mechanics.

But does 3D Land actually qualify as a 3D Mario game? Despite its name, it kind of doesn’t. But it also doesn’t count as a 2D iteration. The purpose of 3D Land is to combine the mechanics and design of both the 2D and 3D games, for a title that embraces the franchise’s past and future. It’s a title that would have made for the prefect anniversary game, had it (and the system) been ready for the occasion in 2010. It was as if the development team had a checklist to make sure they included elements from all Mario platformers fans like, and finely design the game to incorporate them cohesively. Expect nothing less from the talented team responsible for the Super Mario Galaxy games.

This is all too familiar. Though Goombas are just as threatening as ever.

Upon playing it a little more, though, it feels like part of the game’s overall design philosophies were guided by the need to get Nintendo’s 2D audience interested in one of the 3D games. In comparing it to Nintendo’s older library, it’s easily the least innovative 3D game in the series. Previous games always made sure to introduce something new, even if some of those decisions weren’t well liked — the incorporation of F.L.U.D.D. in Super Mario Sunshine being the most dubious among them, among the game’s other design decisions. Aside from 3D Land’s use of the 3DS’s 3D capabilities (though it’s thankfully not too heavy), this game brings nothing new to the table. But that’s OK when the overall package delivers, which thankfully is the case.

Speaking of Sunshine, its influence is strong in 3D Land, much more so than the Galaxy games. The vocal audience that played it said their favorite parts were when F.L.U.D.D. was stripped away from them, forcing them to go platforming with minimal guidance. Those levels presented tough-but-fair challenges, reminiscent of the older games in 3D. For 3D Land, Nintendo took that concept and built an entire game around it. The result is easily one of the better Mario games in recent years.

Someone has a new technique.

The aesthetics for the game’s various levels borrow handily from both the original Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, and gives them a 3D twist. Backdrops inspired by the former are applied more to the underground levels, while the airship levels are straight out of the latter — which sadly don’t culminate with a battle against one of the Koopalings. The field levels are a combination of the two, but end up being more like SMB in terms of design because of their more linear nature, despite the presence of the Raccoon Tail. Though that’s here, it only lets the player glide.

Anyone well versed in Mario platforming won’t have a problem with most levels in the first half of the game, though they’re still more difficult than anything in the original New Super Mario Bros. The second half progressively gets harder with much trickier platforming and enemy placement, and the number of available power-ups are reduced. But it’s carefully balanced prevent the game from becoming unfair.

The game is also made a little easier than the old games because of some modern Mario staples. The game is very 1UP happy, and any experienced player will effortlessly have over 100 lives by the end. If you fail certain parts too much, the game will offer you a special white feather that gives you a raccoon tail and invulnerability — though it doesn’t prevent you from failing to your death. There’s an internal battle within you whenever one appears. Do you take it to make things easier, or decide that you’ll want to venture through with minimal assistance? I took the latter (I always had plenty of lives to spare), but no one will blame you for taking the former.

This is incredibly familiar.

Despite the assistance, I can’t help but think part of my admiration for the game is because it doesn’t feel the need to wrestle with the player for control of the l game — something increasingly becoming an issue with “AAA” blockbusters that try their best to mimic Hollywood epics. But here you have a game that gives you minimal guidance while jumping across platforms. It’s also a semi-breath of fresh air because we don’t receive anywhere near as many platformers these days, especially ones that actually challenge the player.

Since this game is called 3D Land, and it’s on 3DS, it follows that it uses the glasses-less 3D pretty well. If you’ve been reading this blog for a little while, you might know that I can’t see 3D very well due to a visual impairment. Some sections early on took some adjusting, but it’s still perfectly playable. It’s nice that Nintendo is keeping to their rule that no game can require 3D. It’s actually tougher to get used to how Mario himself controls; he’s noticeably slippier here than in previous 3D Mario installments. This was done to mimic his movement in SMB3. Since the game was designed around that limitation, it’s not an issue.

This is…both familiar and unfamiliar.

The music was composed to match the levels and tone of the game, meaning many tracks are remixes of older themes. But it also has quite a few new tracks, all of which are very well done. It’s a breath of fresh air if you’re used to the annoying “Bah Bah” music that’s far too prevalent in all the NSMB games. The soundtrack isn’t quite as “epic” as the SMG soundtracks (which matches the tone of those games), but it doesn’t need to be.

Super Mario 3D Land, along with some other Mario games, prove that the platforming genre is still relevant; that not having a game hold your hand the entire time gives games an excellent sense of reward. It also shows that there’s nothing wrong with a little comfort food to give the player a welcome sense of nostalgia, especially if it’s provided intentionally by the game’s developers. The main game may be a little tough by the end, but the post-game content will make you tremble in fear — though it’s not Lost Levels bad. It’s precisely the kind of game anyone who remembers Mario fondly from their childhood needed, serving as a better homage to the old 8-bit games than even the NSMB titles. If you’re like me and fit into that mantra, you owe it to yourself to pick it up…provided you already haven’t.