4/5 ★ – DanteSnowcone's review of Super Mario 3D Land.

Great game. A bit hard to judge objectively since I’ve already played 3D World, which is pretty much an upgrade on everything this game established, but I’ll do my best. The game offers the top-quality platforming that you expect from any Mario game. It takes the basic structure of the 2D experience and adds a dimension to create something new and interesting, but I have no interest in the actual 3D effect produced by the 3DS. I’ve never cared for the gimmick—it hurts my eyes even at low levels—so I tried it, saw it, got it, then turned it off. The new propeller power up makes good use of verticality in the stages that feature it, and the boomerang power up is always fun. It’s a little disappointing that you can’t fly with the tanooki suit; I imagine they workshopped it and just decided it didn’t look or feel right in these types of levels, but I wish they had figured it out because it could have added a whole new element to the stages. As with most Mario games, 3D Land comes to life in the post-game, which features the best level design and the greatest challenge. I finished with 4 glimmering stars; apparently you can unlock the final challenge by beating every course with both Mario and Luigi, but that would mean playing the whole game twice. Maybe some day, but not today. Any platforming fan will enjoy this game. It’s a short and sweet Mario game that is best enjoyed before the games that follow it, so if you haven’t tried out 3D World or Odyssey yet, I recommend starting here to get the fullest enjoyment out of it.