Castles Made Of Sand

Super Mario Land 3D
I'm not quite sure why Nintendo forgot or chose to ignore the simple alchemy formula for early console success: affordable price point + Mario launch game = gold. Instead Nintendo was backed into an embarrassing price cut along with a rushed addition to the Mario franchise to boost holiday sales. As such, Super Mario Land 3D serves as a belated apology letter to fans and a financial ballast to right the leaky Nintendo ship.

As long as portable consoles serve primarily as vehicles for cashing in on Millenial nostalgia, Super Mario Bros. 3 is certainly not a bad game to use as the ur-text. That game was the apotheosis of Nintendo's stranglehold on the gaming market, forever memorialized with the 100 minute informercial The Wizard. Unfortunately, beyond the appearance of the Tanooki suit, this game bears little resemblance to its best selling predecessor. It's simply a streamlined Mario 64 in furry costume drag. In Super Mario Bros. 3, the Tanooki suit was a brilliant addition because it allowed the levels to be stretched vertically, creating an entirely new dynamic in the Mario franchise. In Super Mario 3D, it just enables you to more easily navigate troubling platform sequences.

As for the console itself, the 3D effect is certainly eye-catching but at this stage it is a gimmick in that it doesn't serve the gameplay. In fact, at most times it hindered it. Any slight movement of the console can break that visual parallax which is not only a distraction but also produces considerable eye strain. It also caused me considerable trouble in judging the z-positioning of ledges which is certainly not what you want in a platformer.

All of the ridiculous completionists tasks that Nintendo shoehorned in to artificially extend the playtiming (now play every level as Luigi! now play every level but be sure to touch the top of the flagpole!) just highlights the difference between the two games: to this day people still argue about the best world in Super Mario Bros. 3 (it has to be this one, right?) because each one had its own distinct personality and game dynamic. In Super Mario Land 3D, every world is just a random bricolage of levels that I won't remember in a week let alone want to play ever again.

Grade: B-