© NintendoYou don’t have to tell me 2020 was a challenging year, but for dedicated Super Mario fans there were little conveniences to be found. After months of rumors, Nintendo dramatically celebrated the series’ 35th anniversary, bringing with it endless content. Before that even, Super Mario Maker 2 got a massive update with a World Maker in April, and 3D All-Stars brought us 64, Sunshine and universe on the Switch in a single package. Heck, we even have a Battle Royale game in Super Mario Bros. 35 for some reason, and not even the spin-off games.
Even if the last two are games supposedly only available until March 31 – a fact that caused a lot of controversy – the festivities aren’t over yet. While fans kept thinking Galaxy 2’s exclusion of 3D All-Stars (something we have a few theories about), Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury hits Switch next month, joining that ever-expanding array of Wii U ports. Amidst these anniversary plans, most of the 3D submissions are getting some renewed love from Nintendo, but 3D World’s predecessor has been left a bit in the dark, and scored relatively low in our poll of which remasters you’d like to see on Switch in June. last year. For many players it seems hardly registered.
For those who may not keep up each episode in the plumber’s canon, that was game Super Mario 3D Land, a curious entry in the history of Super Mario that launched on 3DS in 2011. The name takes its name from the Super Mario Land sub-series, 3D Land became the first original 3D Super Mario game for a handheld console (excluding 64’s DS remake), retaining the basic gameplay with a classic twist.
Besides Galaxy 2, it is also one of the last 3D submissions that have not made it to the Switch so far. Sure, 3D Land got a mention during the 35th Anniversary montage, which is more than our space sequel got, but this lockout got far less attention from dedicated fans. We would argue that this is a game worth revisiting on Switch simply because it is unique.
Like many platform mascots in the 90s, Mario made the transition from 2D to 3D gameplay and Super Mario 64 remains an iconic game to this day, laying the groundwork for future entries. The series launched in 1996 and only returned to its 2D roots for a decade New Super Mario Bros released on DS. Since then we’ve witnessed a variety of 2D / 3D submissions running in parallel with each other. 3D Land is somewhere in between, and Shigeru Miyamoto summed it up best: it’s a “3D Mario that plays like a 2D Mario game” and it becomes apparent once you dive in.
Shigeru Miyamoto summed it up best: it’s a “3D Mario that plays like a 2D Mario game” and it becomes clear once you dive in.
3D Land’s base lot isn’t too far off the beaten track. Literally starting on a dark and stormy night, we find a storm raging near Peach’s Castle, one that blows all the Super Leaves of the nearby Tail Tree into the distance. When Mario discovers this the next morning, he soon receives a flying letter revealing that Princess Peach has been kidnapped by Bowser again, adding that he has also stolen the Super Leaves. By delivering them to his followers to give them Tanooki powers, it was up to us to stop him once again.
With eight new worlds, 3D Land in particular has taken over numerous clues from the 8-bit entries Super Mario Bros. 3, and that went beyond the return of Tanooki Mario. Boss fights covered every world, some of which took us to Bowser’s Castle and similarly Super Mario Bros., requires hitting a switch that threw it into the lava below. Others took us back to the old airship environment and while you won’t find any Koopalings here, these were occupied by Bowser’s trusty minion Boom Boom, in addition to his new female equivalent Pom Pom.
It wasn’t overly challenging and can be completed fairly quickly, but beating the game unlocked bonus worlds with increased difficulty. Timed stages were also brought back, something 3D entries were discarded and the iconic flagpole once again awaited us. While 3D Land leaned significantly into those early entries, it represented elements from every Super Mario game and came across as a “Best of Mario” game in some ways.
Despite this, it still felt fresh and we thought it was an excellent game, albeit one that plays things a bit safe. With a name like ‘3D Land’, it won’t surprise you that it also took advantage of the console’s 3D effect, although it made some puzzles feel rather gimmicky, an issue that many critics have been looking for. Having recently replayed it, we’d say the criticism still holds up, but there’s still a lot to enjoy about 3D Land.
It contained a formula that Super Mario 3D world Successfully built on the Wii U in 2013. It worked as a direct, comprehensive sequel, trying to further unite fans of both 2D and 3D titles, offering more than an HD paint job. With countless elements of 3D Land such as the Super Leaves, returning enemies and even a remixed soundtrack, 3D World took on a life of its own. With a greater focus on Cat skills than your Tanooki powers, it featured fully cooperative four-player local multiplayer, an area for which previous games had minimal support. With the Switch port adding online multiplayer and improved performance, this premise gets more refinement and we’ll have plenty to look forward to in a few weeks.
Considering how much love Super Mario got on Switch last year, there’s never been a better time to bring 3D Land back. Sure, there are a few gameplay elements that need tweaking, but if Nintendo could do it with Galaxy, they could do that again here. It’s not perfect in any way, but it remains an almost unique experience in Mario’s history, one that feels significantly underrated compared to its peers. This is an adventure that deserves a second chance in the spotlight.