PLATFORM: PRICE: ESRB RATING 3DS $39.99 E PUBLISHER: AGE: RATING Nintendo All ##### SUPER MARIO 3D LAND REVIEW TANOOKI MARIO TO THE RESCUE! REVIEW By Sean Cooper 26 amers everywhere rejoice: we cameras – not so with Super Mario 3D ups like the Propeller Box, are available. have yet another epic all-new side- Land. The camera stays put, only switching The Tanooki suit makes its long-awaited Gscrolling Mario adventure to enjoy! to offer games new level perspectives – this return. Players of the classic Super Mario After years of Mario remakes from allows gamers to concentrate on the action- Bros. 3 will feel right at home: similar to Nintendo, we’ve had three amazing brand- packed gameplay instead of constantly fid - Raccoon Mario, Tanooki Mario can fly to new Mario games in in the past five years: dling with camera angles, a smart move by new heights and swing his tail at enemies. New Super Mario Bros. for the DS, New Nintendo. Tanooki Mario has the special ability to Super Mario Bros. Wii and now Super Mario transform into a statue to avoid enemies. 3D Land. Just a few short months ago, the New gameplay, Unlike Super Mario Bros. 3 the Tanooki suit Nintendo 3DS was released. Its launch was is readily available and doesn’t play second- impressive, but something just didn’t feel classic Mario fiddle to the raccoon suit. right: a new Mario game wasn’t ready day Super Mario 3D Land While the Tanooki suit one. If you haven’t picked up a 3DS, is this offers a fresh perspec - may be familiar to the game to make you go out and buy the tive for games. Worlds gamers, two new handheld system or is it just another ho- no longer have tradi - power-ups are intro - hum Mario adventure? Let’s find out! tional themes, such duced: the invinci - as desert world, bility leaf and the p- Mario, help! water world and ice wing. These new world. Instead features are geared The game starts off like any other Mario themed-levels are towards gamers title: Princess Peach is outside minding her spread throughout the struggling on the own business when the das - game. This game’s more difficult levels tardly King Koopa kid - gives each world (these features are similar to the naps her. It’s up to a nice degree of level Super Guide feature introduced in New everyone’s favorite variety. Despite being a Super Mario Bros. Wii). If a player dies five blue overall-wear - platform game, the times in a level, he will receive the invincibili - ing plumber to game designers truly ty leaf. If a player dies ten times in a level, come to the push it to the limits: he will receive the P-Wing, which will allow princess’s rescue you’ll find some of the Mario to easily fly to the end of the level. once again. This most innovative and These power-ups are totally optional, but may sound like your unique levels in each they’re a nice addition if you’re stuck on a typical Mario plotline, world’s ghost houses and level and feel like giving up. but there’s a twist: the castles. Super Leaves off Peach’s magi - If you’re looking for a challenge cal tree have blown across the Mushroom you may be disappointed: there is an abun - MUST-OWN TITLE Kingdom, leaving an abundance of Tanooki dance of lives (for the first time ever Mario tail power-ups for Mario to collect. can amass over 99 lives). The game has a FOR THE 3DS good learning curve: the early levels are 2D side-scrolling easy so you can adjust to the gameplay, while the later levels will have you burning Super Mario Land 3D is a must- fun on the through lives at rapid speed. If you want you have title for the 3DS – if there was ever a reason to pick up the could complete the game in a single sitting, Nintendo 3DS Nintendo 3DS, this is the game! however, it’s the content after completing Super Mario Land 3D does a fantas - Game designer Shigeru Miyamoto the game that makes it worthwhile. You can tic job of blending the classic, describes Super Mario 3D Land best: “3D go back and collect each level’s three Star Goomba-stomping, flagpole-jumping Mario that plays as a 2D Mario game.” The Coins or complete levels in record time and Mario action we’ve come to love game takes full advantage of the 3DS’s compare with your fiends through the DS’s with the unique 3D capabilities of gyroscopic capabilities. Levels are ingen - StreetPass feature. the 3DS. New features like iously designed – levels switch between tra - Boomerang Mario, Gombas with ditional side-scrolling action and the 3D Power-ups galore tails and Piranha Plants that spit ink exploration you’d expect in home console are sure to keep players entertained Super Mario titles like Super Mario Galaxy. The power-ups are where Super Mario for hours. Pick up Super Mario Land 3D today and rescue Princess One of the major pet peeves I have with 3D 3D Land really shines. Classic power-ups Peach one more time – this time in games is a lot of them suffer from finicky like the fire flower, as well as recent power- fantastic 3D glory! 27.