As we joined the 3DS club this holiday, SM3L came home with us. This game shows the interesting use of 3D, while also allowing you to turn off 3D mode. I am mostly fond of the vertical levels, but all around the 3D use for level design is pretty impressive. Truth be told, seeing this game on demo in store, is what encouraged me to get a 3DS.
Game play wise, your base Mario platforming mechanics are intact. There are a few more new Suit / Power Up items, but nothing radically different enough from previous games for me to spoil it any more than that. There are are some mechanisms to make the levels more accessible and they are:
- Default state is 'Big' Mario. You'll shrink if you get hit, unless you have a powerup. Then you would revert to Big.
- Extra Lives are silly easy to acquire. This goes along with:
- If you die multiple times on a level (3x to 5x), a Gold block with a Leaf on it will appear by the Start or Checkpoint. This will give you a Tanooki outfit and Star Power for the duration of the level.
- Hit the top of the Flagpole @ the end of a level, get a 1 Up.
- Jump on 5 enemies without hitting the ground (or via Star Power), get a 1 Up. This will continue with more 1 Ups if you continue 6+ on your jumps or star mode.
- Levels are 'bite-sized' imo. I saw this with Mario 3 in mind. I'd say they are about half the length of those levels, on average.
- World Maps tend to have 5 Levels and the Castle. Each World also has an optional level, unlocked via the Gold Coins you collected from the other levels.
Per the system time logging, I completed the 1st play through in about 7 hours. Since you collect Gold Coins in each level to proceed into Castles and such, replaying levels works out pretty well.
As common with the newer games, you'll find extra levels regularly not accessible. Details in spoiler
This game also utilizes StreetPass connections. Thus far, I have gotten a few items from Mushroom houses via other people's StreetPass Miis. This is the extent of StreetPass functionality, as of my completing all the main and extra worlds.
I look forward to rocking the extras detailed in the spoiler. I should have this ready for  rocking by tomorrow. The level design is awesome and impressive. I feel the quality trumps any concerns about conceived length.
I think World 5 is my favorite world, as I recall being Wow'ed when I got there. |
Happy 2012 
