Support NeoGAF

[Kai Dracon]

Can someone explain to me what exactly happens once you beat the main worlds?

From what I understand (or don't),

Spoiler

there are more worlds that are even more difficult? Or is it just the same worlds/levels remixed? Haven't really gotten a clear understanding of what exactly happens, so if anyone wants to clear that up for me, that would be awesome.

This game brings back the idea of

Spoiler

the Second Quest. You have another 8 full worlds, the "Special" versions of each world. They're wholly remixed - layouts changed, enemies changed, bosses, victory conditions, medal locations, and in some cases, totally different stages compared to that stage on the first playthrough. It effectively is a 16 world Mario game. The Special quest worlds are also far, far harder than the first 8 based on what people have said.

And besides that there's still MORE stuff to find, conditions to beat, and things to unlock...

 

[DarkChronic]

explanation

Sounds pretty damn good to me. This game has me seriously considering buying a 3DS. The flame red looks pretty sexy, but with that new Zelda themed 3DS being announced, I might wait for that to drop in the States, whenever that might be.

 

[Sinthetic]

I love Eurogamer reviews. Always insightful and articulate.

GameInformer gave it a 9.5:

GameInformer Super Mario 3D Land Review

Feast your eyes on...

GamesRadar 9

 

[Socreges]

I am officially hyped.

 

[rhino4evr]

Wow, I Pre ordered this a long time ago, but i haven't been thinking about it much with all the big titles, I am pleased to see so many great reviews.

 

[Downhome]

I still don't know what so many of you guys were thinking a few short months ago by doubting this game, and the 3DS as a system. Once this game comes out it's going to explode, and it'll just continue as the other games come out.

 

[maeda]

Wow, so few Power Ups . I was holding my breath for a frog or Penguin suits. Basically they are saving all the good stuff for 3D Land 2. Hopefully we'll get it in 2013.

 

[Socreges]

I still don't know what so many of you guys were thinking a few short months ago by doubting this game,

Doubt was the pragmatic way with this game. Based on the early impressions that we'd been getting, it didn't seem to match the same standard that the Galaxy games set. Fortunately people just needed more time with the game and needed to see the later worlds.

It's not like the Mario series isn't immune to disappointment.

and the 3DS as a system. Once this game comes out it's going to explode, and it'll just continue as the other games come out.

Jury's still out there.

 

[Teknoman]

So...outside the main theme being pretty catchy, how is the music overall?

 

[WillyFive]

So...outside the main theme being pretty catchy, how is the music overall?

Reminded me of Rareware games (especially the instrumentation).

 

[BorkBork]

Eurogamer review is up, 9/10

Ignoring the score, I like it when the writing doesn't actually make me cringe or roll my eyes.

 

[Fuzzy]

I can't believe this is next week already.

 

[Teknoman]

Reminded me of Rareware games (especially the instrumentation).

Banjo Kazooie Rare or DKC Rare?

 

[Agent Unknown]

Don't know if the importers have been asked this yet, but are there any SMB 3 tracks or other classic remixed tunes in the soundtrack?

 

[WillyFive]

Banjo Kazooie Rare or DKC Rare?

N64 Rare.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

N64 Rare.

So, worst Rare. Fantastic.

 

[Anth0ny]

So, worst Rare. Fantastic.

I'm assuming we aren't counting current Rare.

Spoiler

even still, N64 Rare>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SNES Rare

 

[Socreges]

So, worst Rare. Fantastic.

Seriously?

SNES had DKC and Killer Instinct.

N64 had Blast Corps, JFG, Conker, Banjo, Goldeneye, and DKR.

N64 Rare is Best Rare.

 

[Teknoman]

Well which Mario game is the music closest to? 64, Sunshine, New Mario style, Galaxy style, Mario 3, World, or the Land series? Or is it a style all its own?

Better be some Mario Land 1 or 2 remixes in there.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Well which Mario game is the music closest to? 64, Sunshine, New Mario style, Galaxy style, Mario 3, World, or the Land series? Or is it a style all its own?

Better be some Mario Land 1 or 2 remixes in there.

All the music I've heard has been liked, ripped from SMG1 with little variation, other than the main theme.

 

[@MUWANdo]

Yeah, a lot of the music is lifted wholesale from the Galaxy games, there's not a whole lot of new/original stuff in there.

 

[Fantastical]

So, worst Rare. Fantastic.

You crazy.

 

[Wolfe]

So I just finished up world 1 and man I am loving this game already, I can admit the speed of mario while not holding a run button down is kinda sluggish but you get used to it pretty quickly.

Really looking forward to the rest of the game.

 

[Teknoman]

All the music I've heard has been liked, ripped from SMG1 with little variation, other than the main theme.

I guess I cant complain there, especially since they got the main theme to be so catchy.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

I guess I cant complain there, especially since they got the main theme to be so catchy.

I haven't played it though. Just watched the trailers over and over.

 

[watershed]

Has there been any word of the street date being broken or any chance some stores will start selling the game this friday? I have a really busy week next week so I'm not happy about getting this game on sunday But I need this game.

 

[ConradCervantes]

Ugh, I have to wait till Monday because I have it paid off at a mall Gamestop and they close at six, and I work till 6:30.

 

[weeaboo]

Eurogamer review is up, 9/10

Excelent review as always, I love Eurogamer <3

 

[marc^o^]

Another 9/10 on CVG

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

This game is scoring higher than I thought it would and I wasn't one that thought it'd be lackluster.

 

[Sinthetic]

3D Land is definitely going to end up in the 90-93% bracket.

Re-posting cause I'm psychic.

 

[fr4nz]

Edge review : http://www.next-gen.biz/reviews/super-mario-3d-land-review

Spoiler

8/10

 

[AceBandage]

Can't wait for Sunday.
Uncharted 3 and Super Mario 3D Land.

Gonna be a good day.

 

[mocoworm]

This Mario game looks really good. I would like to see how the 3D works though with it being said that it is 'groundbreaking'. The reviews mention some parts being almost impossible without the 3D being turned onto full as your judgement is so reliant on it.

I tried a 3DS and after only a minute it made me feel sick for about 20 mins

 

[marc^o^]

Edge review : http://www.next-gen.biz/reviews/super-mario-3d-land-review

Spoiler

8/10

there’s a joyousness here that wins out, a simple delight in the basics of running, jumping, collecting coins and bouncing into the air that leaves these mild disappointments behind, and a creative blending of Marios past and present that makes the unabashed retread that was New Super Mario Bros appear almost cynical. Super Mario 3D Land is a magpie of a game, but it fuses its 2D and 3D influences to make a Mario that feels fresher than any handheld Mario in years. It’s not a new Galaxy, but it’s an ideal companion piece to EAD Tokyo’s Wii games. Whereas they pushed up against the edge of the universe to show us what an unfettered Mario can do, Super Mario 3D Land does the opposite.

It homes in, with a clockmaker’s precision and a playful gleam in its eye, on what Mario does best.

Nice closing comment

 

[Stumpokapow]

By all accounts, the level design in this game is very good. By all accounts, the 3D is used well. Beautiful graphics (Parrish actually just describes them as "Mario Galaxy level", and I don't disagree from what I've seen), excellent music, pretty meaty amount of content.

I'm going to be a negative nancy for just two sentences: The consistent thing across all the reviews seems to be that the movement, even with the run button, is very reserved compared to how nimble and acrobatic Mario is in the other 3D games. As far as I can tell, this design decision along with the overall locked camera 2D/3D hybrid design of the game, are intended to compensate for the 3DS' relatively small screen and low resolution by basically limiting the game's scope deliberately.

I haven't played SM3DL so obviously I have no idea if the experience ends up feeling compromised as a result, but it will be interesting to see whether or not the platform's limitations end up limiting the kinds of games it gets in the future (either because developers including Nintendo choose not to explore certain avenues, or because they explore them and it doesn't work).

 

[qizah]

I'm glad that most reviewers are saying there's a lot of content in the game.

Anyone else going to try to go for 100% completion? It's going to be hard considering Skyward Sword is out a week after Super Mario 3D Land :/

 

[Peru]

I'm going to be a negative nancy for just two sentences: The consistent thing across all the reviews seems to be that the movement, even with the run button, is very reserved compared to how nimble and acrobatic Mario is in the other 3D games. As far as I can tell, this design decision along with the overall locked camera 2D/3D hybrid design of the game, are intended to compensate for the 3DS' relatively small screen and low resolution by basically limiting the game's scope deliberately.

I don't get that impression. I get the impression that the movement is reserved without the run button pressed, but with it (which some site as an annoyance, since 'you'll be holding it down all the time', like the 2d games) it's the same as running in any 3D mario.

 

[m.i.s.]

I'm going to be a negative nancy for just two sentences: The consistent thing across all the reviews seems to be that the movement, even with the run button, is very reserved compared to how nimble and acrobatic Mario is in the other 3D games. As far as I can tell, this design decision along with the overall locked camera 2D/3D hybrid design of the game, are intended to compensate for the 3DS' relatively small screen and low resolution by basically limiting the game's scope deliberately.

I don't think it's so much limiting the scope deliberately, more that you shouldn't expect a SMG level console style game on a handheld?

Perhaps one of the reasons Nintendo has enjoyed the success it has in the handheld space is that they've been fairly consistent over the years in having a clear demarcation between handheld and console and not having console style games on handheld.

 

[marc^o^]

I think the run button was primarly used to have Mario's basic movement kinda slow, so that most people (the 2D audience) can feel more familiar with the game.

 

[Sinthetic]

I'm glad that most reviewers are saying there's a lot of content in the game.

Anyone else going to try to go for 100% completion? It's going to be hard considering Skyward Sword is out a week after Super Mario 3D Land :/

I've got Zelda, 3D Land, MK7 and Assassin's Creed Revelations to play until Resident Evil Revelations comes out at the end of January. So I'm going to alternate between Mario and Zelda till about mid December, you can guarantee I'll be getting full completion.

 

[m.i.s.]

Anyone in the UK received their copy of the game yet?

 

[Sinthetic]

Anyone in the UK received their copy of the game yet?

Can't imagine anyone in the UK getting it before Thursday 17th.

 

[Mpl90]

Very pleasant read, the Eurogamer review.

 

[zigg]

As far as I can tell, this design decision along with the overall locked camera 2D/3D hybrid design of the game, are intended to compensate for the 3DS' relatively small screen and low resolution by basically limiting the game's scope deliberately.

This has been on my mind since the E3 demo. The scale of the world must necessarily be limited because there's only 240 lines of resolution to work with, because it's physically tiny, etc. I figured this was also why Mario's default speed was slower than people were used to.

I don't consider them problems, though. I enjoyed what I played, so I simply considered it a design decision due to the platform—not a bother; it just was what it was.

The lack of creativity exhibited at E3 was far more concerning. I'm pleased now to hear that is less of an issue than I originally thought.

 

[Wolfe]

I've finished world 2 now and in my opinion the design decisions they made work out for the best.

Although I do feel for anyone that can't play with the 3D on, for this game in particular it feels like it shouldn't be played any other way.

 

[twentytwo22]

My own impressions after full-clearing the game (about 20 hours):

First ~6 worlds are WAY too easy. Originally put me off quite a bit. By about world 7, I realized I was having a lot of fun. When I realized how much content was actually in the game, I was pleasantly surprised and quite happy. The difficulty ramps up to where it needs to be for a bulk of the extra content. There are certain times where you will die due to the camera or the controls (nothing new for 3D games). The game feels strangely (not in a bad way, if that is even possible) like Sonic 3D Blast done right.

Mario moves really slowly even when running, but you get used to it after a while. But, there are times when you are trying to run-and-jump where Mario will do a standing jump (even holding the run button the entire time). I've had some seriously annoying control moments with this.

There are a LOT of things thrown in here for nostalgia's sake (I won't mention them, but there are more than you've heard, I'm sure), some of which were hits and some of which were misses to me. But, this will come down to personal experience.

I wasn't really dying for this game and bought it because I wanted SOMETHING for 3DS (and c'mon, it's Mario), but I'd give it a 9/10 for sure. It certainly fits right in with other Mario games.

EDIT: Also should add that I play with the 3D completely off; it annoys me and gives me a headache.

 

[:Motorbass]

My own impressions after full-clearing the game (about 20 hours):

First ~6 worlds are WAY too easy. Originally put me off quite a bit. By about world 7, I realized I was having a lot of fun. When I realized how much content was actually in the game, I was pleasantly surprised and quite happy. The difficulty ramps up to where it needs to be for a bulk of the extra content. There are certain times where you will die due to the camera or the controls (nothing new for 3D games). The game feels strangely (not in a bad way, if that is even possible) like Sonic 3D Blast done right.

Mario moves really slowly even when running, but you get used to it after a while. But, there are times when you are trying to run-and-jump where Mario will do a standing jump (even holding the run button the entire time). I've had some seriously annoying control moments with this.

There are a LOT of things thrown in here for nostalgia's sake (I won't mention them, but there are more than you've heard, I'm sure), some of which were hits and some of which were misses to me. But, this will come down to personal experience.

I wasn't really dying for this game and bought it because I wanted SOMETHING for 3DS (and c'mon, it's Mario), but I'd give it a 9/10 for sure. It certainly fits right in with other Mario games.

EDIT: Also should add that I play with the 3D completely off; it annoys me and gives me a headache.

Thanks for the impressions. I think the 3D helps the game a lot when it comes to timing jumps etc. I play everything with 3D to full and never turn it off :] So I really can't wait.

 

[Maikrobi]

Super Mario 3D Land (Review) - Videogameszone - 90/ 100

Super Mario 3D Land (Review - translated version)

 

[marc^o^]

The same Gamekult reviewer that gave PES 2012 Wii a 6/10 without trying playmaker controls (too difficult), found early stages of Mario Land too easy this time, and thus gave it its worst note so far, a 7/10.