3.5/5 ★ – Zimtiki's review of Super Mario 3D Land.

After the world was fed up with the “New” Super Mario Bros. series, Nintendo wanted to make a new unique handheld Mario title, one that wouldn’t reinvent the wheel, but would improve an age-old formula. Super Mario 3D Land turned out to be a fun burst of Mario platforming, but now, the levels are no longer purely 2D! While this isn’t a first for the Mario series, the gameplay of this title certainly is! These levels contain similar setups to the 2D levels that came before, but have been made 3D by adding depth to them, and allowing Mario to run in a 3D space rather than simply side to side. These levels aren’t large like in Mario 64, but are small, digestible little levels that give off the vibes of 2D Mario games. Each level contains 3 hidden green stars that are necessary to get as you must have a certain amount of them to get to new worlds. Getting these stars can be difficult though, since dying on a level resets them, and some of the levels are absolutely brutal. As you get closer and closer to the end, the levels become more and more about precision, which simply doesn’t work in a 3D space. And don’t even get me started on the post-game. The extra levels after the credits have rolled are FUCKING impossible. And you get NO pay off for beating them, HUGE troll move, Nintendo. Despite that BS though, this game is fun, especially the early levels, AND it led to the creation of 3D World which took this game’s concept and perfected it. It’s definitely worth a look.