Super Mario 3D Land (Hands-On) (Nintendo 3DS) Preview

Many people have pointed to the fact that there was no Mario adventure at the launch of the GameCube as being one of the main reasons why it failed to amass strong sales early in its lifetime. The Nintendo 3DS has faced hardship so far and a lot of it is being attributed to a lack of big First Party hitters from Day One. However, now Nintendo is busy trying to release as many big names in time for Christmas as possible, one of which is a game previously known simply as Super Mario, but now has been renamed to Super Mario 3D Land.

The demo version that Cubed3 was able to try recently was split into four separate stages, all of which showed how the Kyoto team that worked on both Super Mario Galaxy games, as well as Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, is trying hard to marry up the fantastic 3D world that critics have been praising since Super Mario 64, with the retro appeal that has made both New Super Mario Bros. efforts so immensely popular, harking back to the 2D side-scrolling levels and even dipping into Super Mario Bros. 3's heritage with the re-introduction of the Racoon Suit.

Right from the start it was obvious that there are influences from both styles, which definitely acts as a major positive point, although some may take general issue with how the pace certainly seemed a little slower than normal and the camera was at such an angle that the field of view was quite limited in certain instances. Starting things off, each stage selection screen has three dashed coin outlines, giving an indication of special coins to be collected throughout a level. First up was World 1-2, which has a remixed version of the music from the original Super Mario Bros. NES game’s second stage of the first world, and even takes place in a similar underground setting. This particular level saw Mario navigate 2D-style levels with added depth, meaning that to grab a Fire Flower from a nearby block, players had to use the Circle Pad to direct Mario into the screen. To begin with, the idea of controlling Mario in a 3D plane, yet in a 2D type of environment took some getting used to, especially judging where the Nintendo mascot was running when going deeper into the background. However, in no time at all it became quite natural in this instance.

World 1-2 was littered with classic elements, such as green Koopa shells to knock at bumbling Goombas, green pipes to drop down into for accessing isometric bonus levels filled with regular golden coins, and Piranha Plants that now come in a black variety, shooting tar or oil at the screen to obscure the player’s view temporarily. A tight bridge with large spiked balls swinging from the back to the front of the playing field was a key highlight in this area, with oil being spat in Mario’s direction from the background, making it trickier than ever to slink past the treacherous moving obstacles. The finale of the course showed off an open 3D area, except modelled in the fashion of the old Super Mario Bros., with a staircase that allowed for Mario to clamber up and launch himself towards the top of a flag pole, gaining an extra life if the very peak was reached.

World 2-1 moved more into the realms of modern day 3D Mario escapades, and gave players chance to really try out Mario’s move set, which revealed two key points were missing. Whilst ground pounding, slide-jumps, wall-jumps and forward rolls are included, first of all the Tanooki Suit does permit flying, only a gentle flutter back down to the land beneath Mario’s feet, and then secondly the hop, skip and triple-jump manoeuvre seems to have been shelved. Thankfully, though, World 2-1 offered enough variety to help overlook these two omissions. Running around the large grassy expanse definitely had a Super Mario 64 feel to it, and random green pipes again took Mario to isometric rooms with coins and items within, and a fixed camera angle that brings back fond memories of Super Mario RPG. Musical note blocks from Super Mario Bros. 3 also make a return, allowing Mario to find hidden items, plus launch much higher with a perfectly timed jump on the spring-filled squares.

Oddly enough, whilst Mario can grab a feather and don the Racoon Suit, flicking his newfound tail at enemies or question-mark blocks / bricks, it does not grant him the ability to fly, only hover back down to earth after jumping. This, as with the overall slow nature of play, will be yet another negative point to add to the list of why Super Mario 3D Land is currently not looking as good as Super Mario Galaxy 2 from the initial play-test. This particular level also highlighted how the 3D effect can actually be detrimental to gameplay, with lots of jumping over gaps into the screen being quite tough to judge properly due to the low camera angle. Whilst the camera can be manually moved around, there is no free-moving option, and the preset positions used are not always conducive to making awkward jumping scenarios easier, resulting more often than not in plummeting down into the abyss. There were some interesting platform situations to deal with, thus making players test their timing skills, but sadly this particular level ended up being very slow and not overly engaging.

World 2-5 was extremely reminiscent of the final world in Super Mario Bros. 3, with the stage constantly moving from right-to-left, meaning players had to keep Mario on the move from left-to-right, dodging cannons shooting scorching fire outwards at him, as well as launching Bullet Bills towards Mario as he balanced across a tight-rope connecting two sections of the airborne galleon he was traversing. Along the way, there was a special box that could be hit to transport Mario elsewhere in the stage to collect more coins as quickly as possible before hitting another block to return to the thick of the action, all the while keeping a close eye on how quickly the screen was catching up. Eventually, delving into the pits of the ship, Mario had to face-off against Boom-Boom!, the mid-level boss from Super Mario Bros. 3, with him spinning around a small enclosure, trying to knock Mario down, whilst the portly plumber’s objective was to bounce on the Koopa’s head three times when caught in a moment of dizziness to gain victory, moving swiftly out of the foe’s way when it retracted into its red shell and began zooming around the arena.

Finally, and easily the most thrilling of the four levels on offer, it was time to tackle World 3-3, which took the form of the type of puzzle platform stages that graced Super Mario Sunshine and both Super Mario Galaxy outings. These tests of timing and skill were always a personal favourite, so as soon as the level started I was in heaven. Basically, Mario is faced with a great expanse full of nothing, just an empty void waiting for him to drop into. As the memorable tune from Super Mario Bros. 3 kicks in, there before him lies a green button with an exclamation mark emblazoned upon it. When ran over, this triggered a series of green panels to appear consecutively, forming a temporary pathway to the next trigger or platform. These tiles did not simply form a straight road ahead, though, sometimes flipping in all sorts of directions, even upwards to create steps or walls to jump off to reach other sections.

Along the way there ware several enemies to contend with, such as large bumble bees floating around, as well as plenty of coins to collect en-route, some hidden rooms, and even spiked blocks hindering progress. Speed was off the essence as well, since the green panels did disappear after a few seconds, meaning that constant movement down the path was essential, which became quite nerve-wracking when having to wait for a floating platform to slowly come within jumping distance, all the while being able to see tiles disappearing in the distance, edging ever closer to your current position. With more stages like this inventive one, Super Mario 3D Land could indeed be a classic in the making, and if the speed is sorted for other levels, it could prove to be on par with at least Super Mario Sunshine, if not the first [i]Super Mario Galaxy.