This is a really great game. Despite being an early 3DS game, it still looks great visually, and is one of the best games on the system to take advantage of being on a 3D-focused platform. The levels are designed to all look enhanced by having the 3D turned on.

It's a shame that there aren't more games similar to it on the 3DS, because it's a great testament to the capabilities for the 3DS to have the style of 3D platforming that Super Mario 3D World would later expand upon. And speaking of 3D World, while World's levels did feel more individually extensive and the game itself longer in length (due to being on a platform with more powerful hardware), Land still has plenty of enough content to be worth a considerable amount of time.
And it also does something that I loved in 3D World, in that at first you feel like the game flew by too quickly, but then it opens up a whole bunch more levels you can do. While the first finale was somewhat rewarding, having all these new Special Worlds to visit felt like they brought the game's length up from what would feel too short to just right. And it also helps that the difficulty increases and you need to start making considerable Star Coin requirements. So the individual levels require you to sink more time in them, and you're also forced to do some backtracking if you didn't take your time before, if you want to beat the rest of the levels. It's a great way of "padding out" the game's length in a way that doesn't feel tiresome, in a way of prolonging the fun so you don't zip through it too fast. Though I do have to say, compared to how long some of the Special World 8 Levels took me, the "true finale" didn't impress me quite so much. It would've been nice to have made the last level a bit harder because it felt like I had done worse to get to that point.

While Super Mario 3D World I feel expanded upon what was established in this game, with more content and length (and IMO difficulty, at least towards the end and because you often have to deal with other players), and the ability to play with friends, Super Mario 3D Land is still a great title, especially as a 3DS showcase. It's not quite as great as other main series Mario games, but it's still really quite good. And you won't get the same hours or nearly as much replay value out of it compared to other 3DS games like Animal Crossing: New Leaf or the various Pokémon games available on the system, as it's not too hard of a game to speed through until you get to the Special Worlds, and aside from getting Star Coins, I didn't have too much of a desire to revisit old levels, but I still definitely recommend playing it.

Reviewed on Aug 11, 2020


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