Playing A Game Super Mario 3D Land 3DS

So it's been slightly over a year since I last picked up Super Mario 3D Land. I never abandoned it! Not officially, anyway. I got my 3DS updated, started the old girl up, beat a Shadow Mario chase stage, beat a Bowser time-limit stage, and ... now I am abandoning it.

The special world stages are like remixes of the original eight worlds - not identical, but pretty similar, and with mechanical twists like time limits and so on - which means they tend to feel just as short and insubstantial as the first time around. There is an undeniable joy in racing through one of these stages, but it's fleeting, and running around to collect star coins just isn't a meaningful-enough diversion. As much fun as I had beating the hell out of Super Mario Galaxy 2, there just isn't that much thrill in filling out this game's completion statistics.

This is a well-polished Mario, an enjoyable platformer, and impressively suited to short bursts of on-the-go play. But on the whole, the experience is shallower than any of the plumber's 3D adventures, and any of his post-Super Mario Bros. 3 sidescrollers.

Better than: New Super Mario Bros. ... I think. It's hard to remember.
Not as good as: Super Mario Galaxy 2
Still: probably one of the best bets on 3DS.

Progress: Complete(-ish), Special World 1

Rating: Good