Super Mario 3D Land

(Nintendo for 3DS)
By Mike Delano

One thing that Mario’s recent history has reminded us of is that the designers creating levels for him are the best in the business. Even with the resurgence of 2D and 3D platforming games in the downloadable space and beyond (Super Meat Boy, de Blob 2, even the Uncharted series) stiffening the competition, Mario games are at the top of the heap. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the purest expression of this: Its boundlessly creative levels are expertly crafted, veering neither into the realm of senseless difficulty or can’t-lose fluff just to show off the environments. Super Mario 3D Land grabs the torch from Galaxy 2 and runs with it to great effect. The wild planet-hopping in previous games hasn’t been axed in order to water things down – that experience has simply been refined into a streamlined experience that fits better with handheld gaming and allows 3D Land to incorporate lots of disparate elements from Mario’s history, just for the fun of it. You’ll be hopping on end-of-level flagpoles and collapsing bridges under Bowser’s feet just like in the NES original, and donning the iconic Tanooki suit from SMB3, all while traversing incredible 3D levels just as memorable as anything from Mario’s recent Wii games. Rarely is the creativity and enthusiasm of a development team this apparent to the player, but it definitely shines through here, and that’s why Mario continues to be the greatest platforming series around.
(www.nintendo.com)