Super Mario 3D Land turns 10: was it the best ‘3D’ game on 3DS? – Talking point

Ten years ago, on November 3, 2011, Super Mario Land 3D made its debut on 3DS in Japan. It’s not typically delayed or remembered as a glorious Mario series entry, in fact, at the time of writing. inexplicably It is not on our dynamic reader-rated list of the 50 Best 3DS Games, but several of us at NL Towers have fond memories of this title and believe it deserves to be highlighted to highlight what it did for the series and, indeed, its host system.

First of all, be sure to check out the video at the top of our own Jon Cartwright, who makes a lot of good points that we’ll gladly reiterate here. Give him a watch, too, as a reminder of what this fun 3DS game was all about.

As Jon mentions, it’s worth noting that Super Mario 3D Land was a major contributor to a rescue project for the 3DS. The launch of the system in March 2011 had been particularly flawed, especially considering its status as the successor to the wildly popular DS. Its initial sales were disappointing to such an extent that Nintendo took multiple steps to stabilize the ship that, in hindsight, are quite impressive: Satoru Iwata and other top executives suffered sizable pay cuts; the company publicly apologized for its struggles; The 3DS received a substantial price cut after just six months on the market, with early adopters receiving 20 free games, 10 NES, and 10 GBA, as compensation, and the GBA selection was never available outside of what was dubbed the ‘Ambassador Program’. In this current era of Nintendo enjoying the success of the Switch, these kinds of actions feel very distant.

The company (possibly) successfully rescued the 3DS and reversed that poor momentum, with the system finally enjoying solid sales from that generation, though it is not yet close to replicating the success of DS. There was a price cut, of course, and then some major game launches in late 2011 and early 2012 that boosted sales globally.

Monster Hunter 3G It was huge in Japan, although in the West we had to wait a while to Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate; It was very different times for that particular Capcom franchise. Worldwide, at the end of 2011 Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land, and the system went from being an expensive laptop with no must-have games to a new, more affordable console and a festive treat.

Of that trio of games (and just the two ‘Mario’ titles in the West), arguably only Super Mario 3D Land really emphasized the main feature of the system: stereoscopic 3D without glasses. As the 3DS era progressed, 2DS models appeared and games used the feature less and less, but Super Mario 3D Land was an early example of Nintendo actively developing games to showcase the concept. It’s a game that’s just better with that slider turned on.

That combination of unpredictability, creativity, and the alluring 3D effect got this writer hooked, and it was a bestseller alongside MK7 that helped elevate the system.

The stages actively produced ‘woah’ moments, with camera angles and platforming tasks designed to utilize the visible depth and control possibilities they gave the player. Puzzle rooms would suddenly make more sense in 3D, you would plunge into the depths and point to distant platforms, and the sensation of moving Mario through real space has arguably never felt so literal.

As our video from earlier in the year also highlights, he combined different elements of Mario in what were, certainly at the time, unique ways. Adopting the trademark of Game Boy Mario titles, it was packed with hybrid 2D / 3D Mario design ideas. The stages had 3D tricks and challenges that brought Super mario galaxy to mind, but it ended up with flagpoles and had upgrades that would be permanent until you get hit. The selection of the stage coincided with the New Super Mario Bros. approach, but abandoned the thematic worlds convention to allow the development team to effectively do what they wanted.

That combination of unpredictability, creativity, and the alluring 3D effect got this writer hooked, and it was a bestseller alongside MK7 that helped elevate the system. However, when we talk about Mario games and the best entries, it is rarely mentioned. We don’t have the instinct that it’s in any Nintendo planning document for a revival.

There are undoubtedly multiple reasons for this. One is that it was pretty easy, so those looking for a challenge may have been disappointed; even the unlockable extras didn’t necessarily put pressure on experienced players. One defense of this, however, is that Nintendo was trying to introduce Mario 3D to a 3DS audience that was perhaps younger or less experienced. Furthermore, making heavy use of the 3D effect likely led to decisions that would minimize motion sickness and any other reactions to the autostereoscopic effect. Then there’s the hardware it was running on – the 3DS wasn’t a technological powerhouse and to generate that 3D effect, this game’s frame rate was 30fps.

3D Land was very much of its time. While some of us were committed to the 3D effect, putting it to the max at every opportunity, for others it was an unwanted and unused trick. As a game essentially designed with effect in mind, it will naturally not be appreciated by those who didn’t have time for the charms of stereoscopic images.

However, we will happily argue that it is a game that deserves to be highly remembered and considered. In this scribe’s opinion, there is a fun little entry in the series that really showed what that 3DS display could do. His hybrid approach would become the excellent Super Mario 3D World on Wii U, which has had its rebirth on Switch alongside Bowser’s Fury in recent times. Perhaps Super Mario 3D Land will never be relaunched in that regard, as the concept does not fit in with these clearly HD / 4K obsessed times. Still, it’s a memorable game in its own right and deserves to be, if not alongside 3D World, perhaps peeking out from behind its cape.

It’s only a decade old, how time flies! – but in its own way, Super Mario 3D Land reminds us of a bygone era. A time when Nintendo’s creativity was inextricably linked to the characteristics of its hardware, and when Mario was the most 3D ever.

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Ten years later and we still love it, but what do you think of the game’s use of the system’s 3D function? Let us know in the survey below:

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