Remember when Nintendo announced there was going to be a new 3D Mario game at E3?
Remember the game you imagined when they said that?
Compare the game you had in your head to this one.
Notice how the one you imagined was a continuation of Mario 64/Sunshine/Galaxy with a great new Gamepad-centric twist and stunning HD graphics?
Notice how the one we're actually getting is Super Mario 3D Land HD?
AND THIS IS WHY.
This
is the game I imagined when they said there was going to be a new 3D Mario game. The one I've been waiting to see since I was a kid. The game I assume people used to imagine back in the day when they thought '3D Mario'. Man some of y'all are silly.
First off, it's obviously inspired by 3D Land but there looks to be a greater level of thematic liberties and mechanic variation and the levels appear much bigger or at least more expansive and less cramped... to the point where I believe levels will not play out exactly like they did in 3D Land, instead being reminiscent of 3D Land with levels that far exceed what Nintendo attempted on the 3DS as far as length and level layout. I think an apt comparison would be... well, Mario Land vs. Mario World, based on what I've seen so far from the trailer, the direct, and the gameplay vids.
Secondly, 3D Land was a proof of concept for something I feel like Nintendo has needed to do for a while - bridge their 2D and 3D Mario franchises in a meaningful way that won't alienate fans of either. 2D Mario sells obscenely well but it's grown stale. 3D Mario gets better every year, until it bests most games on the market, and still doesn't sell for shit comparatively because a fair portion of the potential Mario fanbase finds the controls and goals of these games incomprehensible compared to the easy to digest NSMB series. And they stated this in an interview or two, signaling that they were looking toward the future of the series with 3D Land's release. I felt like 3D Land excelled at bridging the formulas even if the execution was a little weak in some areas. And while I love me some 3D Mario collectathons it's not the end of the world that that's not what we're getting here. I mean seriously, and correct me if I'm wrong but you're whining because the game didn't live up to what GAF
imagined? Be real. That was never gonna happen. It's not like you guys can't wait a little while for the inevitable collectathon anyway considering you got an unprecedented double dose last generation.
It's not so bad that Nintendo is taking the freshest formula reinvention the series has seen since Galaxy or arguably Super Mario 64 and enhancing it plus adding multiplayer on a home console that can actually do this formula justice. It's not so bad that the people who made Galaxy 1 and 2 the fantastic games that they were are trying their hand at reinventing and redefining mainline Mario gameplay. Man, I remember when Mario didn't have to be some epic with sweeping orchestral tunes for the core to accept it or think it's a 'real 3D mario', whatever the fuck that means lmao. That shit looks like it could be very fun and I'm willing to wait and see more before I decide whether or not it's shit, just because its a console 3D Mario where you hit a damn flagpole instead of collecting stars.
