REVIEW - Super Mario 3D Land

GENRE(S): Platformer
AVAILABLE ON: 3DS
DEVELOPER(S): Nintendo
PUBLISHER(S): Nintendo
RELEASE DATE: November 3, 2011

The creation of Super Mario 3D Land began with the most obvious and logical thoughts; the Nintendo 3DS didn't have any launch titles starring Mario, or any big plans for a Super Mario or Legend of Zelda title to be outed in the handheld's first months. Since this was a handheld that boasted on fancy 3D graphics, the new game was a near-obligated 3D title, but there was no way the most recent Super Mario Galaxy series could be ported to the Nintendo 3DS with full steam. So, Mr. Miyamoto once again had a fantastic idea. How about they made a 3D game that played out like a perfect cross between New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy, a 3D game that 2D Mario fans could just as easily access, one that would serve as a sort of "bridge" to those old-school gamers just getting into 3D Mario? As always, Mr. Miyamoto had a fine nose for this stuff - but this time, he outdid himself. Super Mario 3D Land is basically New Super Mario Bros. 3DS - just lightyears ahead of that series of games, no less than one of the best Mario games ever made. Especially considering the system it was exclusively released on.

Mamma mia, this is awesome!

The most severe thunderstorm in Mushroom Kingdom history strips the rigid Tail Tree of its leaves; these leaves being what gave Mario his flying ability in the jurassic times of Super Mario Bros. 3. Bowser quickly catches on to this mishap and sends his troops to gather the fallen leaves and bring them to him, so he can bless his army of miscreants with the magical powers of these leaves and once again capture Princess Peach, with hopes of finally being able to defeat Mario with the powers he once used to defeat him. Good thing we are here to prove the stubborn old turtle wrong.

I don't think I've ever used this word to describe a game before, but there's no way around it this time: Super Mario 3D Land is an extremely "attractive" game. The box art is pure Mario. Classic enemies, classic power-ups and Mario himself appear in a fancy, colourful 3D setting that really tells a lot more about the game itself than you could imagine. The back cover blurbs "Classic Mario Action with a Modern Twist!" and "Jump and Dash Your Way to the Goal Pole in an all-new adventure" sound like blurbs for New Super Mario Bros., but looking at the screenshots, we're more reminded of a Super Mario 64 of the new age. An image of a game that plays out like a classic Super Mario Bros. game, but looks like Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy (and is named after an 80's handheld classic) seeps into our minds. What's even better, that's exactly what the game is like. Super Mario 3D Land is as close to a new Mario classic than a new Mario game could possibly get, and very likely the singled-out best game the Nintendo 3DS has to offer.

It's classic from the start.

Pitting Super Mario 3D Land against the two prominent strings of platformers of the 21st century reveals that the game truly is a cross between New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy, although the most essential of its core influences come from the 8- and 16-bit eras. The game is even more straightforward than any iteration of New Super Mario Bros., actually straight as an arrow - there are no secret exits or levels to be found within the confines of a single playthrough - but surprisingly it really doesn't matter at all. The worlds don't have any distinct themes; it's a total mash-up of different experiments - presented just like the different galaxies in Super Mario Galaxy - usually dealing with the fanciest 3D effects and the most diverse level designs the 3DS could handle. Well, at least the game stays fresh all the time! No excessive abundances of anything, that's good. A human heart can only take so much ice and water. In exchange for the game's humongous dose of diversity, the boss fights leading up to the once again epic final battle against Bowser are gradually toughening versions of the same battles against fake Bowsers, or Boom Boom and/or his female counterpart Pom Pom. Not a big problem. The game doesn't have any big problems, actually, beyond some usual technical problems with the 3DS' game screen itself if you're going at the game in full 3D - which have probably been all but harvested when playing the game on a New 3DS.

The NEW Super Mario Bros. you always wanted

Our princess is probably in another castle.

Making a cross between two completely different spheres of Mario, the developers have to be a little careful - judging from the whole cavalcade of power-ups they came up with in the 15 years (or so) leading into Super Mario 3D Land, being careful's good. NO Mini-Mario, NO Mega-Mario. Just Mario, Super Mario, Fire Flower-smelling Mario, Starman-humping Mario, and then the couple of new ones, which are God damn great. Tanooki Mario ain't exactly new, it's just heavily modified from what it was in the oh, so classic Super Mario Bros. 3. Since the levels' design is limited to what you see on the screen - very unprofessionally speaking, but I trust you know what I mean - you can't fly using the Tanooki Suit, but you can hover for a very generous amount of time after a high or long jump. The Tanooki Suit is an irreplaceable life saver in many different situations. The Super Guide of the game is no longer an automatic CPU yawn-fest; failing a level a set amount of times gives you a chance to beat the level yourself in a golden Tanooki Suit, wearing which your only weakness are the bottomless pits. If you can't handle the levels even with the help of this power-up, a P-Wing appears to send you straight to the end of the level. I know it sounds easy, but here's the best part: once you get to the secret worlds of the game, these items no longer appear, and trust me: most of those worlds are SHIT with a capital S. They're basically the same designs brought over from the main game, but heavily modified and stipulated, the heaviest stipulations being the constant appearance of the oh, so pleasant company of the Cosmic Clone, reprising his role from Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy 2, and sometimes, a 30-second time limit to finish the level at hand. Although the main game is quite easy - yet comfortable as hell - keep in mind that to complete Super Mario 3D Land, you need to beat it three gradually toughening times.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm loving this.

The Propeller Box allows you to jump to great heights, and usually appears in some special - outright awesome - levels. Finally, the completely and utterly original Boomerang power-up is a blast. With this, you basically gain the power of the Boomerang Brothers who make their first appearance since Super Mario Bros. 3, if I remember correctly. The boomerangs have a long range, and can be used to collect items out of your reach, including Star Medals. Yes, the three Star-somethings in each level from New Super Mario Bros. are back, most of them hidden in plain sight on the first playthrough. You actually need these to unlock certain levels in each world, which makes them much more useful than in any New Super Mario Bros. game - the levels these trinkets unlock are some of the best and most exciting ones in the whole game. Be ready for some retro madness, as well as levels that generally put the 3DS' capabilities to the ultimate test.

Not one bad word, huh? Well, not exactly. Super Mario 3D Land is just that damn good; here goes, nevertheless. The first round is a bit short and easy, with the exception of a few strings of really difficult levels in World 6. The worlds that unlock after the first playthrough are not different enough to spark interest for a second playthrough right away, but the extra challenge is interesting. The third playthrough, well that's starting to feel like the game is outright bullying the player. The levels are still designed pretty much the same, but they're ultra-hard to the constant point of total frustration. ...Here I'm talking like that's a bad thing. Die-hard Mario fans eager for challenge will love the shit out of those levels.

VERDICT

Instead of starting it simple with New Super Mario Bros. when I first got the Nintendo 3DS and started to collect all the Mario titles I've missed during these years, I went straight for Super Mario 3D Land, 'cause it was just so damn attractive. I was most pleased to witness that the attraction is real. If you've long craved for a bridge, the smack middle, of the two graphical dimensions of Mario, you should go, get yourself a 3DS (preferrably the new one), and dig up Super Mario 3D Land. You will not be disappointed. This game is fucking awesome.

UPS
+ Looks and sounds delightfully perfect
+ The perfect cross between 2D and 3D Mario
+ Innovative and constantly surprising level design
+ The perfect atmosphere for a bridging title
+ Great tempo, great controls, great power-ups
+ The Bowser fight is one of the best in the best company

DOWNS
- The rest of the boss fights
- Three playthroughs is a bit too much for perfect completion
- Some problems with the game screen blurring up, probably fixed when playing with the New 3DS

< 9.4 >

REVIEW - New Super Mario Bros. 2

GENRE(S): Platformer
AVAILABLE ON: 3DS
DEVELOPER(S): Nintendo
PUBLISHER(S): Nintendo
RELEASE DATE: July 28, 2012

Actually, this game should be called New Super Mario Bros. 3; it's actually the third game in the New Super Mario Bros. series, and I don't see any good reason as to why it's called "2". New Super Mario Bros. 3DS, that would've been consistent. Oops, I forgot: it's not a 3D game. OK, so what we have here, either way, is the third entry in the series that started with New Super Mario Bros. for the original DS in 2006. It's another spiritual successor to the very first Super Mario Bros. titles (including what we know as The Lost Levels), featuring a lot of gameplay elements, designs and mechanics that came along long after those classic games. The first New Super Mario Bros. game was a huge disappointment for me, and I have so far managed to miss the Wii game completely (it's actually one of those Mario titles I literally MISSED altogether, as in failed to note its release!). New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a very good game. It's not that different from what we've seen before in this particular series of Mario games, and its extra gimmick is not that interesting, but it's a fluid, extremely entertaining handheld platformer nonetheless, its influences come from the right places, and both its level and enemy design are far beyond what its direct predecessor had to offer - relativity noted - six years back. This is exactly what I expected from New Super Mario Bros. - it's not the best fairly recently released Mario game out there, but it's a damn good entry point to the modern times for Mario veterans and the new generation alike.

Mario '12

Mario and Luigi take off on a coin hunt. Meanwhile, you know who along with his seven bastards get the chance to snatch Peach (Toadstool.) in total peace. Upon discovering that they have YET another princess-rescuing mission ahead of them, the Mario Brothers decide to mix their little game of gold rush with serious work, Not only are they after Bowser, but the kingdom-wide record of finding one million coins along the way.

I can tell you right now, even if focusing on collecting the most coins possible isn't my favourite way to start a new Mario game, I had much better vibes with this title from the start than I ever had from start to finish with the first New Super Mario Bros. game. It's not that different, really - hell, some of the levels are almost identical to some of the levels in the first game. However, it has somewhat better controls, it looks absolutely fantastic, and no matter how much some levels indeed resemble levels found in the first one, the level design is generally speaking so much more innovative, clever and exciting. It's a much more daring game, in a word. After a game like Super Mario 3D Land, it's obvious New Super Mario Bros. 2 doesn't exactly push the 3DS to its limits, but it's just as technologically awesome as a vintage Super Mario Bros. game on a handheld can be. I'll give it that.

Things get pretty crazy with the Golden Flower.

What might also jog my curiosity and enthusiasm towards this game, including its sights and sounds, is its variety of influences, that most come from two of my absolute favourite 2D games in this series from ages past - Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. First of all, and most importantly, the three dumb power-ups that almost utterly destroyed a good part of the DS original are (almost) omitted from the fray. and replaced with the classic Super Leaf from Super Mario Bros. 3, and a couple of power-ups that primarily exist to produce a shitload of money - a Golden Flower which lets you shoot fireballs that break bricks into coins, and a very strange curiosity item, a "brick mask" that produces money from every move you make, the faster the better, for a limited amount of time, or until you take damage. There are also some golden rings about, which turn all the enemies to gold, and if you defeat them in that time window, they yield tens of coins upon defeat. It's kinda cool, really, but of course, you'd have to be into collecting coins a bit more than me. Also, since collecting coins is such a focus point in this game, and their primary function is still the same after almost 30 years, it takes no genius to figure out that it's almost impossible to see a Game Over screen in this game. There's a good bit of tension missing - but I guess that's the sign of the times.

What about the children?

The Mega Mushroom is still in, but as even more of a novelty
item than before.

The Koopalings already made their long-awaited return in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but since I missed that game - it's so damn good to have these rascals back! ...And, to be completely honest, these seven confrontations are probably my favourite boss fights ever against this particular collective of henchmen. The order in which you face these guys is a little shuffled up from the past, which is good, and what's even better: some of the Koopaling fights mirror the fights against them in Super Mario World, and some which were just basically harder copies off each other in that game have taken a turn into something completely new, moreover clever and exciting. Reznor returns, as a mid-world boss - that's a little disappointing, 'cause he (they) appears in every single world, and if you've played half as much of Super Mario World as I, he's easily dealt with throughout the game.

Every promising paragraph has ended with a slight downside, and it's true that New Super Mario Bros. 2 isn't the perfect Mario game, but the best thrills it offers are at the very least very close to what I'd expect from a 2D platformer with the Super Mario Bros. brand on it, and at even better times, the game manages to surpass my expectations. However, and still, having been released after such as mold-breaking masterpiece as Super Mario 3D Land (oops, I might've spoiled something there...), I still find this game somewhat lacking of excitement and true innovation. BUT, to a die-hard fan of classic Mario jump-action, I must say that New Super Mario Bros. 2 might very well be the best game in the NSMB series.

VERDICT

I kinda leaked it out there already, didn't I? New Super Mario Bros. 2 is everything that its direct predecessor on the original DS was, only a much better, more flowing and exciting platformer. If you're still in the dark of Mario's more recent exploits like I was a little over a year ago, but interested in how this jurassic icon is doing nowadays, I strongly suggest you dig up this game first. Like I said, it's a fabulous entry point for both young and old.

8.7

REVIEW - Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D

GENRE(S): Platformer
AVAILABLE ON: 3DS
DEVELOPER(S): Monster Games
PUBLISHER(S): Nintendo
RELEASE DATE: May 24, 2013

Note: All screenshots are from the original Wii version of the game. If Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is played in Original Mode, superficial differences between the games are minimal.

There seriously can't be a better title to start off this new Mario & Donkey Kong marathon than a game called Donkey Kong Country Returns. The very original Donkey Kong Country from 1994 was the most important key reason why I truly wanted to have my own SNES system in the first place. When Donkey Kong Country Returns was first announced in 2009 or so, history repeated itself; for the first time, I thought about getting a Wii. Stubborn and hostile as I was towards Nintendo at the time, and as broke as a man could be, I never really gave it a second thought. Even when the game was finally released and Retro Studios got showered with all forms of godly praise for bringing back what Rare was once forced to abandon, I refrained from actually reading any of those positive reviews. Then, I got myself a 3DS, and it was then I really noticed, that Donkey Kong Country Returns had been ported to the handheld some time ago. I went to great lengths to find this game; good games for the 3DS (as well as the original DS) are surprisingly hard to find. I did find the game, though, and went at it like a hawk - I felt all of those old emotions come over me like a tidal wave. Sadly, those emotions include severe anger and deep frustration. No Donkey Kong Country game has ever been this full of those moments when you seriously want to kill someone. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D has some breathtakingly great moments - but it is not everything I ever hoped from this return.

Return of the swing

An ancient tribe of malicious Tikis is woken from their deep sleep by the eruption of their home volcano. They set off after the greatest treasure of Kong Island - Donkey Kong's famous banana hoard - hypnotizing the animals of the island to do their bidding. After years of peace, Donkey and Diddy Kong - who are both immune to the mass hypnosis - journey forth through the perils of Kong Island to reach the volcano and banish the creatures for good.

Donkey Kong Country Returns (3D) is very much like a blast from the past, made with those who grew up with the original trilogy firmly in mind, but at the same time, it draws influence from more recent 2D platformers, especially in constantly breaking the 2D mold of the game with amazing 3D effects and multi-layered level designs. The original Donkey Kong Country trilogy was simply a marvel to behold. Rare's technology and design was something never seen before. In this day and age, the sort of jaw-dropping moments such as seeing the intro to Donkey Kong Country for the first time can no longer be experienced. Graphics, as such, have reached a standard very few even try to break nowadays. They're no longer Donkey Kong Country's greatest draw. Now it's all about the level design. And man, Donkey Kong Country Returns is one hell of a ride; there's some slightly revamped old stuff in there, and a lot of new stuff. All of which is not that fun to play. Let's focus on the part which is, though.

The backgrounds are not what they seem.

Donkey Kong Country Returns could might as well be called Donkey Kong Country Rebooted - it's very clear that this game was made by different people than the original trilogy, and it's fully understandable that Nintendo wants to really own this series again. It was more or less Rare's property back in the day, which probably made it very hard for this series to return after they were bought out by Microsoft. However, David Wise's original music remains, heavily remixed by a tight-knit group of Japanese composers. Most of it sounds pretty damn awesome, and once you reach the Factory world, you might want to turn up the volume to max; avid fans of the original Donkey Kong Country know that theme damn well. The music plays a surprisingly important key role in building up the game, 'cause it WILL feel weird at first. All of the classic enemies are completely ousted from the fray, DK has some strange new abilities (and he seems to have lost the ability to swim), Rambi and Squawks are the only returning animal buddies, and single players will have to live with the fact that they're going to play as the ever-so-bulky DK all along the way. Diddy - who's now DK's nephew instead of his best friend - is an irreplaceable companion as always, but he plays out very differently from before.

Monkeys in Hell

Diddy travels piggyback and boosts your jumps with his jetpack; he also brings in two extra hearts of health (three, if you're playing the 3DS' New Mode). As long as the easy-going, hang-loose platformer schtick goes on, he feels like a small, useless bonus, but rest assured, the game isn't like that for very long at all and soon Diddy becomes irreplaceable. So irreplaceable, that I would almost make a claim that some levels are simply impossible to complete without Diddy's help. I know it's not the truth, but it's pretty damn close, frustratingly so. The levels do have fair checkpoints, but a little too often reaching a checkpoint means you're cut off from perhaps the only DK barrel in the whole level, whereas in most situations in the old games, a DK barrel was placed right next to a checkpoint. The returning Cranky - my man! - has a shop from where you can buy some helpful items for your reserves kind of like in Super Mario Bros. 3, but if you leave a level in midway to pick some item you find yourself in desperate need of, you'll have to start that level all over again, and the collectables you've already gathered from that level go back to zero; just so happens that those collectables are very often the main reason for your constant failures to complete the level.

The climbing mechanic's actually quite nice. Too bad any of
that nice didn't rub off on some even more important
mechanics.

Coins are needed for shopping at Cranky's, obviously - his items are actually so cheap that you will never run out of lives to live out in this game, assuming you're not one serious speedrunner. Jigsaw pieces are littered all over the levels, some hidden in plain sight, some in secret passageways, and some in traditional bonus levels - which you'll have to complete, and in one try, to make 'em count for the 100%. Bananas are for the exact same purpose they ever were, but then come the KONG letters. If you collect every single KONG letter in all levels of a single world, you'll get to try a "Lost World"-type of bonus level, which of course is one hellish piece of work. There's also a whole world of bonus levels waiting to be visited after the completion of the game, which is the actual "Lost World". If that's not hard enough for you, and you manage to complete the hellholes of this God-forsaken place, you'll be rewarded with a hard mode, with all levels unlocked, with alternative design for you to "enjoy". Donkey Kong Country Returns is, for all intents and purposes, the hardest game in all of the series. Yes, even harder than Diddy's Kong Quest, and by far. However...

If you're not too judgemental towards yourself, you can always use a Super Guide. The Super Guide mode activates every time you die eight times in a single level, and offers you a chance to automatically complete the level by watching Super Kong do it. Your most severe penance for this is not finding any collectables from that level. As long as these bypasses have existed in video games - the original Wii version of this game might be one of the first - I have heavily criticized them, but seeing what sort of trainwrecks await you in the last couple of worlds, I'm all in for the option.

Rockets set my eyes in red glare

The game is at its absolute worst - in all senses of the description - during mine cart rides, which make their extremely notable return from the old games, and the new types of vehicular levels, where you'll be using a rocket-fueled barrel to navigate through tight passages, in both horizontal and vertical levels. I'm amazed I didn't mention this before, but the controls, at least in this version of the game, are not perfect. So many moves are mapped to one single button, that it's very easy to make mistakes when the game's tempo reaches 200 for every single level. The analog disc is so damn sensitive, and no, there's no option to use the digital pad for precision moves. In most of the rocket barrel levels, there's just one button for you to use: the button to fly upwards, which you'll be needing to keep balance as middle of the level as possible. That is until the hazards from all over the place set in. Then you're up shit creek. It's as simple as that. The rocket moves extremely weird; often, it feels like it ascends and descends on its own. Yep, as you might've guessed, these levels are one-hit kills. I fucking hate these levels. Just when you think you've been through the worst and there are no more of these coming, they fall like snow in February. Even the final boss fight of the game starts with a rocket barrel sequence, as I already guessed hacking through the level which I think was meant to be sold as the final one, judging by its sky-high difficulty. (And one level which I totally Super Guided, with no remorse.)

This is bullshit, bullshit, BULLSHIT! ...And I don't like it.

Two more serious flaws remain, and these are also gameplay issues that get worse as time and levels go by. Like I said, there are many moves assigned to a single button (Y), and of course one of them is the ability to dash. Well, let's say DISability. One of the basic core elements of just about any platformer ever made is complete fluff in this here game. After starting up the dash with a roll, DK takes a few running steps, and returns to a speed just barely above his walking speed until you roll again. Most levels that mandate the involvement of Rambi are even worse; these levels require a consistently fast speed, and Rambi can only dash when you tap the Y button at well-timed key points to slap his ass (literally) to make him take a few running steps. Having Diddy along doesn't help Rambi with running jumps at all, since he's too heavy for Diddy's jetpack to carry anywhere beyond his normal jumping distance. In short, the game borders on impossible to keep up with, the tempo gets that damn crazy after the first couple of worlds.

Then, the final flaw - trial and error. There's a lot of that involved here, again many thanks to the tempo, but there's also a graphical issue, which blurs the line between a static background object and a solid obstacle a bit too often. Playing the game with the 3D graphics set to minimum helps a little, but not much in the more difficult levels where there's much happening as it is, all kinds of shit's flying all over the place, and you're fully focused on mere survival like in the rocket barrel levels. Once again, a short version: Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is the hardest game in the franchise, but all of its difficulty does not stem from the proper place.

VERDICT

Although it makes you feel quite homicidal, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D has a sweet purpose behind it. I would very much like to try the original game, 'cause I believe a lot of the issues I had with this experience come from the fact that it's a hectic, non-stop platformer on a handheld system, and my eyes and hands are both 32 years old. I'll have to see how Tropical Freeze checks out, and if it supports this theory at all. Anyway, this is a good game. Not quite what I expected after almost 20 years, but it has lots of entertaining moments and a great atmosphere.

7.7