Super Mario 3D Land

 3DS
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1428 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,181 out of 1428
  2. Mixed: 183 out of 1428
  3. Negative: 64 out of 1428
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  1. Babalee
    Jun 22, 2023
    7
    Super Mario 3D Land is without a doubt one of the highlights of the 3DS, but nowadays there isn't really much of a reason to go back to it. My main complaints with this game are it's lack of memorability and the fact that it's a little slow at times. It also doesn't help that this 3D platformer is on the 3DS, making it a little more difficult to play. I still really like this game andSuper Mario 3D Land is without a doubt one of the highlights of the 3DS, but nowadays there isn't really much of a reason to go back to it. My main complaints with this game are it's lack of memorability and the fact that it's a little slow at times. It also doesn't help that this 3D platformer is on the 3DS, making it a little more difficult to play. I still really like this game and think it's a great experience, but compared to other 3D Mario games it falls a little short.… Expand
  2. duckypwns
    Jul 18, 2012
    6
    Easily the best original / non-remake Mario game for a portable system. It's very linear which is a blessing and a curse for anyone familiar with Mario games. It means that we don't have the element introduced to us in Mario 64 where you're thrown into a large, open world and you have to figure out what to do yourself. Instead, you just work your way through the levels with not muchEasily the best original / non-remake Mario game for a portable system. It's very linear which is a blessing and a curse for anyone familiar with Mario games. It means that we don't have the element introduced to us in Mario 64 where you're thrown into a large, open world and you have to figure out what to do yourself. Instead, you just work your way through the levels with not much deviation from what the developers intended. I prefer the Mario 64 style but I'm not going to criticize it based off of what it doesn't do, but what it does do. So for a portable, linear Mario game, it's exactly what I expected - a whole new set of levels, enemies, and mechanics such as the boomerang suit, the tanooki suit (this is the first 3D Mario to use the tanooki suit), the propeller box, and probably several others I can't think of at the moment. The controls of this game are generally pretty decent, but trying to get Mario to do the side flip for example can be frustrating. Mario's momentum can also be odd at times. If you don't get a huge running start and keep moving, you may find Mario to be somewhat slow, clunky, and unresponsive. If you jump in the air with no momentum, and try to start moving at the peak of your jump, Mario will barely move at all. Experienced players may find it frustrating that the advanced maneuvers are hard to do, and are scarcely useful anyway. This is an extremely basic and simplistic 3D Mario game. If you want something more than that, go with Mario 64 or the Galaxy games, depending on whether you want to play something nonlinear or linear respectively.… Expand
  3. rman1234567890
    Feb 15, 2012
    5
    luv this game kinda. it's kind of boring, so i'd give it mixed. i really don't know how to explain it but i guess it is fine but still not the best ever.
  4. DoungnutGamer
    Mar 28, 2012
    7
    Super Mario 3D land is good game, that takes inspiration from everything that made Mario what it is today but unfortunately after awhile it gets bland and wont inspire you to come back to it.
  5. Cale
    Dec 18, 2011
    6
    Okay, I'll admit that Mario games and myself have been on the outs since Super Mario 64. Lucky for me, there have been other games outside of the main series platformers, so I'm not living an entirely Mario-free life. The reason why is simple: Camera Screw. I can't stand games with camera screw. While Super Mario 3D Land is most definitely better about this than pretty much everyOkay, I'll admit that Mario games and myself have been on the outs since Super Mario 64. Lucky for me, there have been other games outside of the main series platformers, so I'm not living an entirely Mario-free life. The reason why is simple: Camera Screw. I can't stand games with camera screw. While Super Mario 3D Land is most definitely better about this than pretty much every Mario-themed platforming game with better-than-mild 3D worlds, it still suffers from this crippling disease. Symptoms of strange, inconsistent controls, death-by-camera, Indiana Jones syndrome (as in 'Why am I looking backwards at the thing I'm trying to run from instead of looking forward so I can evade obstacles in my path?'), inflated boss difficulty, inflated jump difficulty and suicidal hero are all present and accounted for. Happily, unlike many of it's predecessors, these issues are more moderated, and I could tell that it had been tweaked to minimize the very complaints I have. Unfortunately, minimization isn't elimination. Granted, I only rarely had to use the camera controls, and the fact that you can rack up an incredible number of lives not even playing seriously does help a great deal, but I shouldn't need so many lives, and I should never need to mess with the camera either. Worse, when I felt I did need camera help, the controls were usually locked, and when they weren't, they were so minimal that they provided no help whatsoever, except in a very few cases. Many of the levels also triggered my fear of heights as well. Seriously, why do so many levels have to look like they're a mile or more in the air? All in all, it's a great stride forward in making a better modern platformer Mario game that appeals to people like myself, but the continued camera screw continued to detract from the experience. A step in the right direction to be sure, but not out of the yellow for me.… Expand
  6. thor0298
    Nov 14, 2011
    6
    This was a game I really wanted to like but it felt uninspired and simple to me. It isn't just an easy game it is downright simpe. After a few levels it is so easy that you lose any connection you had to the game.
  7. Leigh28
    Dec 11, 2011
    7
    Oh mario am getting quite sick and tried playing same thing over over again. Tell peach to get a restraining order out on bowser because clearly hes got issues. Play one mario game then you've played them all. Am sorry i just wanted play sumthing fresh new and i just didnt see enough in your newest adventure to get excited over. While everything looked lovely and 3D looked great. I justOh mario am getting quite sick and tried playing same thing over over again. Tell peach to get a restraining order out on bowser because clearly hes got issues. Play one mario game then you've played them all. Am sorry i just wanted play sumthing fresh new and i just didnt see enough in your newest adventure to get excited over. While everything looked lovely and 3D looked great. I just felt like ive done this all before. I hoping we were gonna see other step forward like we did in mario galaxy. But what we got was one step forward 4 steps back:(… Expand
  8. cinavenom
    Dec 31, 2011
    7
    First off I will state that I have been a fan of Super Mario Bros. since the original NES release, so I may be slightly biased. Having said that, Super Mario 3D Land is an entertaining game with several flashes of nostalgic gameplay inspired by Super Mario Bros. 3. The tanooki suit is revisited giving this game a twist that we have not seen in many years. The graphics are clean and crisp,First off I will state that I have been a fan of Super Mario Bros. since the original NES release, so I may be slightly biased. Having said that, Super Mario 3D Land is an entertaining game with several flashes of nostalgic gameplay inspired by Super Mario Bros. 3. The tanooki suit is revisited giving this game a twist that we have not seen in many years. The graphics are clean and crisp, the sound and music is top notch like all Mario games and the control is exceptionally smooth for a hand held game. The big flaw in this game however, is difficulty level. This game is extremely easy. You can tell that this game is aimed at the very casual gamer. Any gamer with any significant experience will be able to coast through this game with relative ease. Even the gamer with very limited skill will complete this game easily because you are given assistance after you fail a level several times. All in all this is a fun and enjoyable game that revisits several nostalgic NES themes, however, like many new age games, it lacks in the difficulty department allowing you to cruise through the game nearly unopposed.… Expand
  9. CH513
    Jan 17, 2018
    5
    To be honest, I believe this game is massively overrated. I am quite surprised to see it's got a 90% Metascore. I do not believe Super Mario 3D Land is a bad game, but neither that it's a good one.

    This game is basically a somewhat poorly executed fusion of Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros. It has a very big amount of levels, but they look bland, most of them are uninspired    To be honest, I believe this game is massively overrated. I am quite surprised to see it's got a 90% Metascore. I do not believe Super Mario 3D Land is a bad game, but neither that it's a good one.

    This game is basically a somewhat poorly executed fusion of Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros. It has a very big amount of levels, but they look bland, most of them are uninspired and overall uncreative, and are vastly underwhelming in difficulty, plus you can add up hundreds of 1-UPs to make a Game Over screen close to impossible to be triggered. Even the levels in the Bonus Worlds (unlocked after Bowser is defeated) are mostly nothing more than slightly modified versions of previous levels, to the point the game can get very boring at times. The story is just the same "Save Princess Peach" stuff we see almost always in the Mario franchise, plus every time you finish a world, you recieve a letter from the princess which is merely a bland and stupid animated picture. In order to unlock the final level, you need to play the entire game as Luigi (who is unlocked after you beat Bowser and finish the 1st bonus world). The soundtrack, although decent to a certain extent,
    has some tracks are largely forgettable. There are only THREE bosses in the game: Boom-Boom, Pom-Pom and Bowser. And the game is very linear, so you will have to beat the levels one by one in order to advance. This probably wouldn't be much of a problem if some levels didn't require you to collect Star Medals to unlock them, doing which isn't exactly a fun idea.

    However, the game has good things about it. Despite my complaints about the levels, some of them can actually prove entertaining, and sometimes even somewhat challenging. Scoring a gold flag at the end of a level feels very satisfying. Bowser may not be exactly a challenging boss, but in the 3 times you encounter him in the game, it's exciting to confront him, and crumble the bridge he's standing on to defeat him. And the final battle is just epic, as you have to overcome various obstacles while avoiding Bowser's attacks, and in the final segment, Bowser chases you on a bridge that is full of blocks, while the camera is fixed on him and you have to react quickly.

    I'll make it clear again: 3D Land isn't a bad game, but it's got just so many flaws that it becomes an underwhelmingly easy and quite boring experience, and that's why I'm giving it a 5/10 and the "Most Overrated Mario Game" title. But that's merely my opinion, and If you like the game, it's all right.    … Expand
  10. GoombaJMR
    Jan 12, 2014
    6
    Super Mario 3D Land was played for 18:35 minutes by me.

    So, I was expecting a game like this to come out, a hybrid of SMG1&2 and SM64 with some hints of NSMB in it. It was very good looking, and I went to grab it. As I played the level, I realized a couple of things that may seem awkward for long time Mario game players. Mario is extremely unresponsive when he jumps. This is a big    Super Mario 3D Land was played for 18:35 minutes by me.

    So, I was expecting a game like this to come out, a hybrid of SMG1&2 and SM64 with some hints of NSMB in it. It was very good looking, and I went to grab it. As I played the level, I realized a couple of things that may seem awkward for long time Mario game players. Mario is extremely unresponsive when he jumps. This is a big downside because in other games, mario was responsive enough that you could easily dodge and avoid things that were coming at you. Another issue was the amount of levels. It's understandable that the game is linear and takes some more effort to make, but there are only around 5 levels a world, and 8 worlds, so you have a basic 40 levels in the game. That amount of gameplay won't be that much to entertain you, and the difficulty is very low. Now once you have all the star coins in each world though, Another set of 8 bonus worlds open up. It's very difficult to play with the unresponsive controls in those worlds, but that basically adds another 40 levels...BUT you actually get the same (usually) level with a few additions of spikes, time limit, or other things that don't really make it a separate level. I highly recommend this to platforming beginners and people who can find simplicity for their best, as this game is NOT recommended for long time Mario Fans that have mastered the art of platforming and want a challenge.

    Gameplay: 8.5/10
    Story: 7/10
    Music: 8.5/10
    Presentation: 7.5/10
    Length: 6/10
    Overall: 7/10    … Expand
  11. noob_saibot
    May 3, 2013
    6
    Looked good but most the levels was very easy to figure out and do, non the levels was quite hard has Mario Galaxy was.

    So if you must know it was a straight one linear game that's what you Mario fans get nothing to hard to do and same boring story as usual like Bowser kipnapps Peach yet again yawn. Most of his moves was gone too eg the backflip move anyway can't remember all them    Looked good but most the levels was very easy to figure out and do, non the levels was quite hard has Mario Galaxy was.

    So if you must know it was a straight one linear game that's what you Mario fans get nothing to hard to do and same boring story as usual like Bowser kipnapps Peach yet again yawn.

    Most of his moves was gone too eg the backflip move anyway can't remember all them but they was not on this game unlike Mario 64.    … Expand
  12. Redz0ne
    Apr 16, 2012
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Mario is back and this time the 3d is not a hindrance (as opposed to Mario64 where it was tough to judge distances and jump accordingly.) on first playthrough it felt like it was waaaaaaaaaay too easy but once you beat the first set of levels, you get another set with increased difficulty and surely will challenge diehard run-n-jump players. this game takes a long time to shine but once it kicks in, it revamps the spirit of the mario franchise successfully. the downside is that the level designs didn't hold to any sort of consistency in theme which isn't in itself bad but is indicative of poor designing. for example, you can play on a level that is made out of mattresses and springs and the next level will have you scaling trees and/or cookies. if the themes were consistent, it would have earned a MUCH higher rating.… Expand
  13. Swiggy12
    Dec 3, 2011
    7
    There is nothing particularly wrong with Super Mario 3D Land...except for its predictability. The level design is superb, just like any other Mario game. The problem is that it is so easy that it becomes boring after a while. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but after beating the game, I now have 108 lives. The game practicality GIVES them away. It's just way to easy for me, simple as that. IThere is nothing particularly wrong with Super Mario 3D Land...except for its predictability. The level design is superb, just like any other Mario game. The problem is that it is so easy that it becomes boring after a while. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but after beating the game, I now have 108 lives. The game practicality GIVES them away. It's just way to easy for me, simple as that. I can only recommend this game to kids quite frankly.… Expand
  14. wesker2012
    Apr 11, 2013
    7
    Solid Mario game. Game is a little too easy until very end. Doesn't get challenging until the last level and the secret levels. Good game for younger gamers or something to play to relax. Has typical Mario charm and upbeat whimsical music.
  15. dimweat
    Nov 25, 2011
    7
    Its a Mario game. You've been playing them for 25 years. The only real difference with Super Mario 3D land is you get more head-aches playing, less of a sense of accomplishment....and you can throw a boomerang, which Nintendo has made as redundant as a weaponized boomerang would be in real life.
    After a fair bit of thought, I really don't understand what market Nintendo was aiming for. The    Its a Mario game. You've been playing them for 25 years. The only real difference with Super Mario 3D land is you get more head-aches playing, less of a sense of accomplishment....and you can throw a boomerang, which Nintendo has made as redundant as a weaponized boomerang would be in real life.
    After a fair bit of thought, I really don't understand what market Nintendo was aiming for. The game is simple and unchallanging, great characters of a game targeting the casual gamer market...But the game is coated in heavy-handed Mario nostalgia and subtle references that would only appeal to long-time fans of the Mario franchise....    … Expand
  16. ERB
    Dec 7, 2013
    7
    Super Mario 3D Land is a must buy game for you Mario Fans.This Game has an awesome game play and it is so addicting to play this game.The world in this game looks very creative and that is why I love it.The story in this game is so obvious but the story is not bad.Although the story is really obvious and we will all know what will happen so the story isn't really interesting.But it isSuper Mario 3D Land is a must buy game for you Mario Fans.This Game has an awesome game play and it is so addicting to play this game.The world in this game looks very creative and that is why I love it.The story in this game is so obvious but the story is not bad.Although the story is really obvious and we will all know what will happen so the story isn't really interesting.But it is still okay.The graphics is what should I say?Not good.I should admit It looks like I was playing a 2004 game rather than a 2011 game.

    Well anyway despite hating the graphics and hating the story line the game play saved them all from sinking into a low score.I love the game play in this game because It is fun.The verdict for this game is a 7/10 a good game.This game is a must own game for you Mario fans and I hope you will buy this game and have fun.    … Expand
  17. Zegilgamesh
    Dec 30, 2012
    7
    Sporting varied difficulty levels, great graphics and a great use of the 3DS's technology, Super Mario 3D Land is an innovative twist on classic Mario action we had a long time coming.
  18. Tall_But_Short
    May 26, 2012
    7
    Whenever I play Mario games, i feel different than when I play other games. Mario games are simple, fun, and sometimes challenging. This game, however, was simple, fun, but extremely easy. The graphics were great and the gameplay was fun in the beginning but all the levels feel very much the same. Super Mario 3D Land is literally the original Mario games we know, except in 3D. I am a fanWhenever I play Mario games, i feel different than when I play other games. Mario games are simple, fun, and sometimes challenging. This game, however, was simple, fun, but extremely easy. The graphics were great and the gameplay was fun in the beginning but all the levels feel very much the same. Super Mario 3D Land is literally the original Mario games we know, except in 3D. I am a fan of the Nintendo 3Ds â… Expand
  19. HopeHera
    Jul 11, 2012
    5
    This is the first game that I bought with my 3DS and I grew tired when I finally beat the game and went "elsewhere" the purple thing was too hard for me and as you go on "elsewhere" it gets repeated on and on from the past. It can really get annoying. If you're into the slight twists and turns in the same EXACT levels then the game was literally meant for you.
  20. ihatecheez
    Apr 14, 2014
    7
    great game but way too short and easy, its clear that this game was aimed for children. the bonus levels they put at the end of the game should of been part of the main game. also, its sometimes hard to tell where mario is and then he falls off the ledge, this happened to me way too many times.
  21. memus
    Sep 11, 2018
    7
    It's a good and addictive platform game. Closer to old Mario games in feel and style due to technical limitations of 3DS, but still impressive.
    But for me it was a completionist's highlight and nightmare at the same time:
    +Compared to Mario Odyssey with endless moons the stars here finite and doable. They are much tougher to get on underground Luigi level, so I needed some breaks in    It's a good and addictive platform game. Closer to old Mario games in feel and style due to technical limitations of 3DS, but still impressive.
    But for me it was a completionist's highlight and nightmare at the same time:
    +Compared to Mario Odyssey with endless moons the stars here finite and doable. They are much tougher to get on underground Luigi level, so I needed some breaks in fury. Still, I got them all. And it felt rewarding.
    +I really enjoyed animated drawings at the end of each level. They are fun.
    +Also, Luigi screams "ОПА!" like his Russian and not Italian. And that's insanely fun.
    -Even after completing all of this, I just got 4 stars out of 5 on my profile. I needed to finish each level as Mario and as Luigi which felt boring as hell. And even after that I wasn't able to get the 5 shining stars, because I needed to die less than 5 times per level or reboot game after each 5 deaths. It's simply not fair.
    -When I finally got 5 stars the game presented the last special level. And It's so hard that I can't get even past 20% of it. So now the "!" notification will blink in my game forever, driving me crazy.
    -I played the game on New 2DS XL (Nintendo, don't be **** with your naming, please) and the 3D feature levels seemed kinda broken for me. The game was still totally enjoyable and playable, the 3D gimmick was used like maybe 5 times during the whole playthrough. But falling down from clouds due to it seemed unfair.    … Expand
  22. Squishez
    Aug 19, 2013
    5
    I'm a little blown away by how many high ratings this game got...My first game was the original Mario on the NES so please don't think this review Bias, I made this account literally just to rate this game. Super Mario 3D Land has AMAZING levels that are each unique, but because of how easy this game is you will breeze past them without fully appreciating them. This game passes outI'm a little blown away by how many high ratings this game got...My first game was the original Mario on the NES so please don't think this review Bias, I made this account literally just to rate this game. Super Mario 3D Land has AMAZING levels that are each unique, but because of how easy this game is you will breeze past them without fully appreciating them. This game passes out power-ups, free lives and easy check points like no other. If you get more then 7 hours out of this game I will be VERY impressed, once you beat it there will be no satisfaction because you will never have felt any risk of losing at any point. By the end of the game I had 140 extra lives and rarely lost any, even if I did lose some each level would pretty much hand out 2-4 more lives anyway.

    If you have a friend with this game go ahead and borrow for the weekend, but it is no where near worth the $40 or the high praise it seems to be getting. You will forget about this game very quickly and it won't live anywhere near to the expectancy the original games did.    … Expand
  23. TristanBomb
    Oct 19, 2013
    6
    Good enough. Honestly, I had some fun playing this game and it killed my boredom, but the levels were very linear. Linear is okay once in a while, but at this point everyone's gasping for something new. And at first glace, it looks like they did but did they really? No. It's New Super Mario Bros but with a few blocks forward and backward. I never had a feeling of exploration, and theGood enough. Honestly, I had some fun playing this game and it killed my boredom, but the levels were very linear. Linear is okay once in a while, but at this point everyone's gasping for something new. And at first glace, it looks like they did but did they really? No. It's New Super Mario Bros but with a few blocks forward and backward. I never had a feeling of exploration, and the level design here went for quantity instead of quality. Certainly, it was decent, but it wasn't developed. Having a time limit and a flagpole really brought this game down. I would have much preferred, perhaps, Super Mario Sunshine 2, or even just another Mario 64-like game. Again, decent, but not in any way captivating or exciting.… Expand
  24. Inryoku
    Jan 8, 2014
    7
    For a game that's getting so much praise it's really nothing special. It seems as if the lack of any story is common in the Marioverse so I'll just skip this. The graphics are OK, but everything looks somewhat sterile to me. Yeah, everything looks like it should (and it looks even better when you consider that you're playing it on a 2ds), but everything is lacking that special somethingFor a game that's getting so much praise it's really nothing special. It seems as if the lack of any story is common in the Marioverse so I'll just skip this. The graphics are OK, but everything looks somewhat sterile to me. Yeah, everything looks like it should (and it looks even better when you consider that you're playing it on a 2ds), but everything is lacking that special something that's everywhere in games like Rayman Legends. The gameplay is amazing, Mario corresponds to commands like you would expect him to, there is no way to deny that. The level design is overall boring and way too easy in the first half of the game, but the second half will test you and in the levels with the Shadow Mario it will break you; these levels are the ones that destroyed the whole fun for me. These levels aren't difficult, they are straight out annoying. The reward for completing the game 100% (which is more of a chore than fun) is a single level which I didn't even bother playing as I was sick and tired of this game at that point. I would recommend this game to everyone who like Jump & Runs and owns a 2ds, but don't bother finishing the whole game, it's not worth it.… Expand
  25. Pikminjp
    Dec 12, 2013
    6
    This game is okay. I really think this gave does not deserves all the respect although. Yes I know it is indeed a Mario game. Finally gameplay change from the past 6 years and I'm proud of that. However this game is more repetitive then people are though to be believing. This game has stolen models of the enemies, coins, mushrooms excluding the poison mushroom, and music. Ghost houseThis game is okay. I really think this gave does not deserves all the respect although. Yes I know it is indeed a Mario game. Finally gameplay change from the past 6 years and I'm proud of that. However this game is more repetitive then people are though to be believing. This game has stolen models of the enemies, coins, mushrooms excluding the poison mushroom, and music. Ghost house repeated cosmic Mario entirely repeated and sky world repeated. The gameplay ain't bad. Music is pretty good excluding the Mario galaxies rip offs. Only 3 power up are in the game which include the tonoki leaf, boomerang the only new power up and the fire flower. I guess I could say that the level design is the only remarks of new in the game. However this even has a problem on how pafaticly easy the game is until you reach special world 7. The special world is also a let down due to the reused levels in the game with minor enemy and rule adjustment. Beating the game 100% is almost literally use less except to get a stupid bonus level with even gets rid of the pipe in special world 8. No joke it just one hard level. That's near imposiable with the cheap item the tonoki leaf. After that this game also has no replay value at all. Plus the street pass feature is fairly broken. Why because if you don't go out and you have a brother who only played the game once. You only get the same block over and over again. Plus even that your indeed rewarded for it with two star coins every time you beat it. So what's the point of collecting the stat coins if you got over 300 of them just by street passing. For just one stage it just disappointing. I don't know about you guys bur this game is just a recycled super Mario galaxy 2 game with pointless achievements. I sorry but this game is nor on my like list.… Expand
  26. pikodon
    Apr 3, 2014
    6
    at first this is WOW, it's like a pocket mario galaxy version of the classic mario bros or something, but, after a while playing, you notice, the levels are super short, and they use the exact same level designs sometimes 6 times or more, changing slight details like the placement of a single trap and enemies...
    super exciting at first, then, slowly gets a bit tiring, especially with the    at first this is WOW, it's like a pocket mario galaxy version of the classic mario bros or something, but, after a while playing, you notice, the levels are super short, and they use the exact same level designs sometimes 6 times or more, changing slight details like the placement of a single trap and enemies...
    super exciting at first, then, slowly gets a bit tiring, especially with the requirements for 100% completion, what's worst is the requirement for getting the shiny 5 stars in your save file, you screw up once and might as well erase your save file and start over, because you lost it, forever.
    the gameplay is fantastic, but the game is too short to enjoy it fully.    … Expand
  27. le-weirdo
    Jun 28, 2014
    7
    Mario 3D land is not too innovative, only 4 music tracks stood out too me, the bosses are some of the most repetitive bosses i have ever faced, lame special world, and a HATE the fact that this is just a excuse for a new Mario series were all they did was copying Mario galaxy. but, this game has it's charm and is more addicting than every game i have played so far i sound more negativeMario 3D land is not too innovative, only 4 music tracks stood out too me, the bosses are some of the most repetitive bosses i have ever faced, lame special world, and a HATE the fact that this is just a excuse for a new Mario series were all they did was copying Mario galaxy. but, this game has it's charm and is more addicting than every game i have played so far i sound more negative than positive but this game have soo much charm too it that i just love it.… Expand
  28. FrannyFantastic
    Nov 15, 2014
    7
    A huge step up from the bland and sterile 2D Mario games on the Nintendo Wii. This is a fun 3D platformer with a huge array of levels. Although short, each one is unique and presents a different challenge.

    But solid as it is the game is still rather vanilla. Compared to Donkey Kong Country Returns or Shovel Knight the platforming feels plain and the level design a bit simple.
  29. smeargle05
    May 14, 2015
    7
    Super Mario 3D Land boasts colorful graphics and utilizes the 3D very well. For the most part, the first eight worlds were fairly easy, and though the game looks great, some levels looked kind of bare in some respects. The levels are quite linear, despite being a 3D game. Later levels (Beyond world 8) are more challenging with different things added to a level design that has beenSuper Mario 3D Land boasts colorful graphics and utilizes the 3D very well. For the most part, the first eight worlds were fairly easy, and though the game looks great, some levels looked kind of bare in some respects. The levels are quite linear, despite being a 3D game. Later levels (Beyond world 8) are more challenging with different things added to a level design that has been copy-pasted from previous levels.
    There's no doubt that the game is great fun, but I feel that there is more to be desired.    … Expand
  30. AriseAndBe
    Aug 5, 2015
    6
    Maybe I just prefer Mario Kart to the traditional Super Mario but for me, this game didn't give me quite the enjoyable experience that I was looking for. Whilst still fun in short bursts I can't play it for more than around twenty minutes at a time before I get bored.
  31. Figster512
    Jan 20, 2018
    5
    This game was fun when I was 10, but coming back to it 6 years later, it isn;t the same. 3D Land is so easy to the point that it is not enjoyable. Without using any "hacks" or "secrets" or "glitches" I finished the game with over 300 lives. The graphics are good, the soundtrack is terrific, and it is a decent relaxing game to play. But it's too easy to the point where it's boring.
  32. Untitled94
    Feb 26, 2018
    7
    This game is pretty fun, but it does sort of lack variety. At the time, this was one of the best 3DS games, and really showed off what the 3DS could do in a lot of ways. It's great how the game actually lasts a decent amount of time. Not too long and not too short. The only thing is, once you've beaten it, there's not much else to do. There's a lot to do, just not after 100% it.
  33. Kosama
    May 19, 2018
    7
    La primera mitad es extremadamente fácil, la segunda mitad aumenta a un muy buen nivel de dificultad.
    No me gusto mucho este tipo de niveles 3d, me atrevo a decir que es el peor Mario que jugado.
  34. beebo42
    Jun 3, 2018
    6
    Playing this after playing Super Mario 3D World, this just feels like a pale imitation. Rather then try to make it it's own game, it just copies 3D World where it can and makes do it when it can't. Bland, featureless levels, no textures, nothing much in the backgrounds, and moving around in the 3D environments is awkward with no way to manipulate the camera (other than some extremelyPlaying this after playing Super Mario 3D World, this just feels like a pale imitation. Rather then try to make it it's own game, it just copies 3D World where it can and makes do it when it can't. Bland, featureless levels, no textures, nothing much in the backgrounds, and moving around in the 3D environments is awkward with no way to manipulate the camera (other than some extremely awkward camera buttons on the touch screen).… Expand
  35. pmasterfunk
    Oct 31, 2018
    5
    I honestly find this game incredibly overrated. Sure, it looks and sounds good, but that's about it for me. I find the gameplay mostly frustrating and unsatisfying, as the levels are either too easy, or frustrating because of bad mechanics. AND they sullied the venerable reputation of the tanuki suit from Super Mario Bros. 3.

    What's so frustrating about this game? Well, any difficulty    I honestly find this game incredibly overrated. Sure, it looks and sounds good, but that's about it for me. I find the gameplay mostly frustrating and unsatisfying, as the levels are either too easy, or frustrating because of bad mechanics. AND they sullied the venerable reputation of the tanuki suit from Super Mario Bros. 3.

    What's so frustrating about this game? Well, any difficulty comes from falling into pits. The only other difficulty comes from phantom Mario chasing you around, which is mostly annoying. None of the enemies really pose a threat, and even the bosses are pretty easy.

    The pits become much easier to manage (and I mean downright easy) if you have the tanuki suit. By using it, controlling your jumps becomes much easier, and all that painful platforming becomes a piece of cake. That's just broken mechanics.

    Also, I feel the game doesn't control that well, which leads to the aforementionned frustration with jumping. Why was Mario so much easier to handle in Mario 64 than in this game? I don't think it's the circle pad, I haven't had any issues in other games. It feels like Mario takes forever to get to top speed, and his jumping range a sub-top speed is very limited.

    After finishing the game and getting all 3 stars in every level, I have absolutely no intention of ever coming back to this game. It's nowhere near as good as Mario 64 or other great 3D Mario games.    … Expand
  36. Dsros96
    Oct 30, 2018
    6
    It is a good game and it looks beautiful but the levels are more plain than usual. The mix of 3D and 2D elements from both sagas (3D Mario and Mario Bros) is not a good mix. Also it has less replay value than other Mario games.
  37. nintendo-sekta
    Jan 6, 2019
    6
    Игра средняя. В неё скучно играть, на финальный уровень нужно собирать монетки что ещё делает скучнее, игра лёгкая- со всеми минусами игра достаточна скучная.
  38. sitebender
    Mar 26, 2019
    7
    I struggle with Mario 3D Land a lot due to the 3D issue and there being so many pits. There's a reason the game gives you so many leaves to slow fall. Game looks great, on paper it may play great, but it just doesn't feel good to play when the game opens up to be lots of narrow lands and pits.
  39. ZXSth
    Mar 7, 2023
    6
    The best praise I can offer Super Mario 3D Land is that it is a perfectly serviceable Mario game. However, I find that this franchise's hallmarks are beginning to wear thin on me. 3D Land offers no multiple characters (as 3D World did), none of the 3D exploration opportunities that games like Odyssey had, and very little that felt truly innovative to me.

    I believe that 3D Land is    The best praise I can offer Super Mario 3D Land is that it is a perfectly serviceable Mario game. However, I find that this franchise's hallmarks are beginning to wear thin on me. 3D Land offers no multiple characters (as 3D World did), none of the 3D exploration opportunities that games like Odyssey had, and very little that felt truly innovative to me.

    I believe that 3D Land is engaging, perfectly functional and at a level of overall quality that is expected of a Mario game. In the same breath, however, I feel that much like the Zelda (before Breath of the Wild, at least) and Pokemon franchises, Mario games seem to somehow manage to ride the coattails of their predecessors while receiving undue critical praise for even the slightest gameplay innovations. I personally believe that upon its release, this game needed to be far more innovative than it was to properly hold my attention, which it unfortunately failed to do for long.    … Expand
  40. RedXTL
    Oct 31, 2019
    7
    This game is alright for the system that it is on. It presents many things and brings back power-ups that are awesome in this game.
  41. livelovelaugh22
    Mar 23, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Hello readers, this is my review of SM3DL. Lettuce jump in! Heh, LOL.
    Super Mario 3D Land is a fun, smooth Mario journey that we will review now.
    Pros
    The gameplay is fun, smooth, and provide a classic Mario style game.
    The soundtrack hits home. Awesome soundtrack.
    Solid graphics.
    Cons
    This is my biggest one. Lack of story! After this many times, Bowser taking Peach gets boring. We need an in between in the story, not just a 1 minute start and end.
    The boss fights are easy, dull, and repetitive. They use that Boom Boom dude way too much.
    Lack of spark compared to the other games in the series! It's lazy, and just copies the other games.

    Overall, this is a lazy repeat to the other games in the New Super Mario Bros series. The only thing that makes this more than a 1 out of 10 is the gameplay. This game is a very easy game that I bet a 4 year old could best. Bad, but not too horrible.    … Expand
  42. Denvers
    Jun 18, 2020
    7
    Super Mario 3D Land is both one of the most fun Mario games I have ever played while being one of the most dissapointing. A 2 1/2D Enviornment (Not fully 3D) is super fun to play on and mess around with. The game feels like a natural evolution to the 2D Mario formula that I hope they continue to improve on. My main issue with the game is that is lacks content and has annoying and excessiveSuper Mario 3D Land is both one of the most fun Mario games I have ever played while being one of the most dissapointing. A 2 1/2D Enviornment (Not fully 3D) is super fun to play on and mess around with. The game feels like a natural evolution to the 2D Mario formula that I hope they continue to improve on. My main issue with the game is that is lacks content and has annoying and excessive padding. The game, without filler, is about 3.5-5 hours long. To make up for this, is is required of you to go back to levels you have already beaten, each level multiple times over, to gather collectible to progress. As fun as the levels are, playing the same levels over and over in a short period of time is super annoying and tedious. I don't know if I would reccomend this game - if you want a really fun Mario game and don't mind the tedious grind, I would pick this game up. Otherwise, I would probably stay away from this title.… Expand
  43. Frost_Cube
    Jan 7, 2022
    7
    Solid plattformer, without the quality thad made the series great, and without any innovations or especially well gameplay, level design, graphics or 3D.
    Pretty much feels like New Super Mario Bros in small 3D environments, which definitely isnt a bad thing, and i can certainly see people having fun with thi
  44. MrTheMan
    Feb 20, 2021
    7
    It's great mario platforming, but the levels are very short and not very memorable. For the 3DS they managed to make good but something that doesn't match the likes of the traditional 3D Mario games.
  45. ND-Bringer
    Jul 8, 2023
    6
    When I was younger I was obsessed with studying Super Mario 3D Land. Back when I had Nintendo Channel on the Wii, I used to watch trailers, tips and trick videos, the works. But I never actually had the desire to play the physical game. And now after finally sitting down and playing it from start to finish, I began to see why. With its sequel Super Mario 3D World now available on theWhen I was younger I was obsessed with studying Super Mario 3D Land. Back when I had Nintendo Channel on the Wii, I used to watch trailers, tips and trick videos, the works. But I never actually had the desire to play the physical game. And now after finally sitting down and playing it from start to finish, I began to see why. With its sequel Super Mario 3D World now available on the Nintendo Switch, there isn't any reason to play this game anymore.

    Of course being on more powerful hardware, 3D World has the obvious advantage in graphics, extra content, and overall freedom. But at the time, 3D Land was the only method of experiencing this type of Super Mario gameplay style on the go. And now that we have the deluxe version of 3D world, I don't have much reason to play this game. And that wouldn't be a problem if the game had a stand out theme, but the only stand set pieces are already present in other core series Mario games.

    The advertising hypes it up as a recreation of Super Mario Bros 3, but it's lot closer to the original Super Mario Bros. Each world is a linear path of at least four levels, all the castle levels contain a clash with either Fake Bowser or regular Bowser where you have to destroy the bridge to win, and Luigi is the only extra playable character. Sure, about everything has a tail in this game to reference the original game, but it's more of a topping than a batch of ingredients.

    The adventure theme is also quite generic. Peach is kidnapped...and everything has a tail to give Mario trouble. It's not Peach is kidnapped and Bowser has turned her castle into a world of portals, polluting an archipelago, or taking over an entire galaxy. It's something we've all seen done to death in the New Super Mario Bros series. No added flavor no new spices...the level designs are quite imaginative and there are a few fun new obstacles here and there. But the motivation for going on this quest feels lost due to the uninteresting adventure format.

    And it doesn't help that many of the bosses are reused. And I know they did this 3D World too, but the difference here is that it's nine different types of bosses compared to a measly four. Two of which are just Bowser and the bridge and final boss Bowser. And even if you're still enjoying yourself despite these issues, the annoying motion controls linked with the cannon can really kill your adrenaline especially if you're playing this game in a moving vehicle.

    This not a bad or broken game by any means, but more so a pointless adventure. A prototype with little to no substance to entertain future players, thanks to a much more powerful sequel overshadowing its once acclaimed success.    … Expand
  46. Nautalcritzsm64
    Jan 18, 2022
    6
    Un pò overvalued, non mi sembra molto di che, un platform parecchio derivativo che però introduce meccaniche interessanti in una console portatile, e la longevità e la rigiocabilità lo elevano a bel gioco
  47. Shamrock97
    Apr 30, 2023
    6
    It's an alright, decent game and one of the better titles for the 3Ds but there's nothing really about it that sticks out to me or sets it apart from other generic Mario games, I much rather prefer its Wii U/Switch counterpart Super Mario 3D World over this game
  48. UnrealByBladee
    May 24, 2023
    6
    This game isn't bad, a 6/10 means slightly above average, still, there are so many better Mario titles compared to this. It's just very repetitive and brings nothing new to the table, which makes it boring. It's also pretty mid gameplay-wise, since the 3d is bad. Still, I liked most of the level design and the final fight against Bowser was fun as well.

Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best 3DS Game of 2011
2
#2 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2011
3
#3 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 82 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 81 out of 82
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 82
  3. Negative: 0 out of 82
  1. Gamer.no
    Feb 6, 2012
    80
    Mario is back! In a classic Mario-fashion you jump your way througheight worlds, where you battle goombas, koopas and the main meaniehimself, Bowser. This game is never particularly difficult, butgradually advanced to a challenge that feels just perfect. Fun, varied and guaranteed to make you smile.
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 19, 2012
    90
    Lifesaver for all Nintendo 3DS owners. Super Mario 3D Land delivers flawless design and perfect use of 3D effects during the whole game. [Christmas 2011]
  3. DarkStation
    Jan 11, 2012
    90
    The Nintendo 3DS has had a slow start, but I feel this marks one of the first important games to come out on this system. I can't say it's a must buy, but is really close for those who have already picked up a 3DS. The amount of content in this game along with the varying degree of gameplay makes this one of the best Mario games I've played in a while.
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