Super Mario 3D Land: First 8 Worlds

I wrote this a week ago.  My grandmother recently died and I didn't have time to finish the article with all of the goings ons.  Enjoy.

So I know I'm late to the party that is Super Mario 3D Land.  I didn't have a 3DS when it came out and then I was hooked on Ocarina 3D until recently (review pending).  I finally picked a copy up with birthday money and now I've beaten the first 8 worlds.

Those of you that have not played SM3DL are more than likely saying, "What do you mean the first 8 worlds?"  Well if you've played New Super Mario Bros. Wii, then you may be familiar with that fact that once you beat the main game, several stages open up after you take on the final boss.  This is the case in 3D Land, except that it's 8 brand new worlds that open up.  Your first mission is rescuing Luigi and then you can play as him.  That's another post for a later time.

What is 3D Land all about then?  Well like every other Mario game with a few exceptions, you have to rescue Princess Peach from King Bower's clutches.  The narrative rarely matters in Mario games, but the main difference in this game is that Bowser has stolen a ton of Tanooki/Raccon leaves from the Mushroom Kingdom.  There are a ton of enemies with racoon tails that will smack you with them if you get too close.

The game plays like a melding of the 3D and 2D Mario platformers.  In the typical 3D Mario game (64, Sunshine, Galaxy 1 & 2) you have a health bar that depletes when you get hit.  In these instances, coins will resupply your health.  This game's damage system plays like SMB 3, World, and the New SMB games, where you have mushrooms, fire flowers, etc, and will lose these abilities if you are hit, until you a little Mario and die.  The controls feel a lot tighter like the 2D games. 

I frankly, have been waiting for the 3D Mario games to adapt this system for a while.  A world map, power ups you lose when you are hit, until you are a teeny tiny Mario, and I wasn't aware of this going in. I thought it would play a bit like Galaxy, but it feels more like a 2D Mario with 3D simply dropped into it.  A simple idea, but an ingenius one. 

Speaking of 3D, the glasses-less 3D is normally just something fun that's added in, but in this game, there are several sections where you need the 3D to play.  In one instance, there's a block with sections missing, but it looks like a whole block in 2D, but in 3D, several of the sections are missing, and you have to navigate it to collect coins of some kind.  This is only one example, but the more you play, the more you'll see what I mean.

Thus far, the difficulty was pretty mild, but the 8 special worlds are harder thus far.  If you are okay at platformers, the main game will be a challenge and a lot of fun.  If you have a lot of experience with them, you'll be picking up the star coins and exploring hidden sections until you make it into the special world.

One of the things I found a little interesting was that the bosses in the castles from Mario 3 were back inside of the airships.  I called them dinosaurs when I was a kid, but they're really buff Koopas that swing their fists around.  In this one you're introduced to a new version that's a girl that hurdles boomarangs at you. I looked up the enemy's name, which turned out to be Boom Boom (which is what the female version says before the start of the battle).  I also found out that the female version's name is Pom Pom. I hadn't seen this enemy in a while and I thought it was a nice touch.

Another nice touch is when you defeat the first Bowser, which involves a switch and a bridge, Bowser turns out to be a Goomba and a leaf.  This harkens back to when you defeat Bowser with fireballs in Super Mario 1, if it isn't the final boss, he turns into one of the various enemies.

This might be the best 3D Mario ever.  If you doubt it, then try it out.  I'll be able to say for sure after beating the last 8 special stages.  I'll include a rating after I complete the whole game.

 

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