Written by Paul Barbara Wednesday, 11 January 2012 10:04

Here at Console Domination we're always talking about the latest and greatest games to grace our consoles, whether it's on the Xbox 360, PS3 or the Wii, one thing is for sure is that we are gamers and as gamers we will play anything no matter what system it's on. That being said, I've had the pleasure of playing Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS and I must say it is phenomenal and believe me that's a statement coming from me.

We all know that the Nintendo 3DS's launch was well, a little lacklustre. With no great titles available on launch, gamers and especially the Nintendo faithful were left scratching their heads a little. Sure, the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was remade in 3D and released shortly after launch, but for me, it was an old game redone with some 3D. Sure it was nice but I wanted something new. Well, Nintendo has listened and released a Mario title that exceeds expectations in every way possible.

Super Mario 3D Land is the first genuine 3DS title that's been made from the ground up and developed exclusively for the 3DS system. The game is the first to rely heavily on the use of 3D, in fact its mandatory. By mandatory, I mean that you can turn it on or off, however the game has been designed to use the 3D and playing without it will give you a lesser experience. The game was designed to be played this way and you can actually in certain parts of the game adjust the intensity level of the 3D to suit.

With Super Mario 3D Land, Mario is back doing what he does always, saving the princess from Bowser. With nothing changed since 1985 in terms of story, it really doesn't bear any significance to this game. We all know what it's about, we all know what to do, and the question is "how does it do it differently?"

The game will see you transverse through the mushroom kingdom across eight worlds. The first few levels are quite easy to obviously introduce new players into the mix and get them familiar with the environment. Then, as you progress, the number of enemies increases as well as the skills of those enemies and as such the worlds become trickier to transverse through. Some of the later levels will push your patience especially if you try and collect each of the three super star coins contained within each level. So there is varying levels of difficulty here and the game is certainly going to take some time to complete.

Super Mario 3D Land also has some great platforming puzzles and some very clever level design. The 3D aspects of the game are not gimmicky either, with some great 3D scenes and elements, for example when playing on of the retro levels which is a Zelda themed level, it changes to a top down view much like the original SNES versions of Zelda: A Link to the Past. As Mario jumps on a spring loaded jump, he jumps towards you and essentially pops out of the screen. It's a fantastic moment and great use of the 3D aspect. Other examples of the 3D aspect will see you running up and down as opposed to left and right looking behind walls and trees in true 3D to find hidden items. It's a very clever system and those same scenes with the 3D turned off simply don't do the game justice.

Nintendo have also paid some homage to their own previous games by introducing certain elements into Super Mario Land 3DS that remind you of that nostalgia. I've touched briefly on the Zelda themed level above which was fantastic. Other moments are where there is a brief return to the 8-bit version where the finishing point of the level is done in 2D style graphics, yet you can walk around it so to speak, it's quite cool.

With each new Mario game you can expect to get your hands on a new costume or weapon to aid you on your journey. The new Boomerang Suit allows Mario to toss a boomerang at his foes. At first glance I thought it was a hammer brothers suit, but then realised you were throwing boomerangs and not hammers, but nevertheless very similar indeed. Mario also can collect a Tanooki Tail which allows Mario to float and spin around to knock out foes with his tail, again this is more like a racoon suit from Super Mario Bros 2. There are also plenty of other power ups including loads of red mushrooms, green mushrooms and of course flowers for those trusty bullets.

Visually this is the best game on the Nintendo 3DS, so make no mistake in thinking otherwise. You will instantly find similarities visually between this title and Super Mario Galaxy. The shading is gorgeous and the textures are crisp. Nintendo have never in my mind released a Mario title with Sub-par visuals and this is no exception. There is loads of colour and more interaction with other elements on screen thanks to the increase in power with the 3DS, everything is so well detailed. The overall presentation of the title, with its fantastic menu system and world map that allows you to touch it and you instantly jump to a different world you've explored is great. Further while playing a level, you can touch the 2 triangles on the lower screen that allows you to see just that bit further either left or right. Who knows, there may just be a hidden star hiding outside your field of view?

Super Mario 3D Land is the first true 3D title for the Nintendo 3DS. It is a great title that any Nintendo fan will love and yet will not find overly easy. There is plenty to do in this game, including unlocking time challenges and extra content. The presentation of this game is just brilliant and Nintendo as always does a top job in this regard. The true shining point is the 3D which I must say and have said this many times in the review is just amazing. You cannot play this game without 3D as you will lose the benefit and what makes this game special. It's the first true game that's really designed for the 3DS that makes the system shine. In my mind, this is on par with Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64, it's simply that great. If you own a 3DS, you must have this game. If you don't, what are you waiting for go and get it!