Played via the Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury eShop release on a Nintendo Switch.
3D Land was one of the earliest titles I played on my 3DS back in the day - it was a solid little platformer for the handheld with its bright, simple colour scheme and solid art direction landing it in the top games for the console.
3D World is much more of the same, with some added screen real estate and complexity to the level design but something feels...broken in the transition. Maybe it's nostalgia talking and sitting a few meters away from the TV, but where Land's simplistic lighting made you confident in your platforming, World's more complex system leads to uncertainty and hesitance. I never was absolutely certain where I was going to land when playing this game which resulted in every jump being accompanied by a full rectal clench.
The crux of my issues ultimately fall on the camera though - it's similar to 3D Land's but due to the wider shots movement can be finnicky, and when combined with a lot of late-game chaos on the screen I often had no idea where I was when desperately trying to hit a block or jump on an enemy.
I used to get pretty angry with games, and while I've managed to chill out a lot lately there was just something about this game that would result in occasional primal yells whenever my co-op partner and I would lose a life or hit a game over. It wasn't helped by the sprint button also being the "grab other player" button or simultaneous platforming always risking unwanted boosted jumps from landing on your partner and sending you flying further than intended. Maybe we had a skill issue, maybe I was needlessly losing my shit over a game designed to be played by literal children, but goddamn the rage I had at points in this game due to co-op interactions...
This is absolutely still a solid game though, and to the standard I'd expect from a first-party Nintendo release. The music is fun and always suitably tuned to the scenario you're playing whilst power ups and level designs are truly fun to traverse and satisfying to get right. The issues I had with the game might be due to my proximity to the TV and could possibly have been entirely eliminated if I were to play in portable mode (or if I were to simply git gud), but I believe the points I've raised here are valid to hold in mind for any visits to this 10 year old game that's still being sold for $60 on modern hardware.
3D Land was one of the earliest titles I played on my 3DS back in the day - it was a solid little platformer for the handheld with its bright, simple colour scheme and solid art direction landing it in the top games for the console.
3D World is much more of the same, with some added screen real estate and complexity to the level design but something feels...broken in the transition. Maybe it's nostalgia talking and sitting a few meters away from the TV, but where Land's simplistic lighting made you confident in your platforming, World's more complex system leads to uncertainty and hesitance. I never was absolutely certain where I was going to land when playing this game which resulted in every jump being accompanied by a full rectal clench.
The crux of my issues ultimately fall on the camera though - it's similar to 3D Land's but due to the wider shots movement can be finnicky, and when combined with a lot of late-game chaos on the screen I often had no idea where I was when desperately trying to hit a block or jump on an enemy.
I used to get pretty angry with games, and while I've managed to chill out a lot lately there was just something about this game that would result in occasional primal yells whenever my co-op partner and I would lose a life or hit a game over. It wasn't helped by the sprint button also being the "grab other player" button or simultaneous platforming always risking unwanted boosted jumps from landing on your partner and sending you flying further than intended. Maybe we had a skill issue, maybe I was needlessly losing my shit over a game designed to be played by literal children, but goddamn the rage I had at points in this game due to co-op interactions...
This is absolutely still a solid game though, and to the standard I'd expect from a first-party Nintendo release. The music is fun and always suitably tuned to the scenario you're playing whilst power ups and level designs are truly fun to traverse and satisfying to get right. The issues I had with the game might be due to my proximity to the TV and could possibly have been entirely eliminated if I were to play in portable mode (or if I were to simply git gud), but I believe the points I've raised here are valid to hold in mind for any visits to this 10 year old game that's still being sold for $60 on modern hardware.