Super Mario 3D Land

Plot

During a storm, a tail-like branched tree called the 'Tail Tree' on Princess Peach's castle grounds is stripped of its leaves, which are Super Leaves taken by Bowser to bestow tanooki tails on his minions. When Mario and the Toads inspect the tree the next day, they find a letter from Bowser revealing he has kidnapped the princess. Mario sets off to rescue her, learning of Bowser's intentions for the stolen leaves. After rescuing Peach, the Toads and Mario return to the Mushroom Kingdom with Tanooki Suits while Mario carries her, restoring the Tail Tree.

A photo falls revealing Luigi behind bars, starting Mario's quest into the Special World. After rescuing Luigi, they complete the other seven Special worlds. Upon finishing the Special 8 Castle level, a letter reveals Bowser has kidnapped Peach again. After Peach is rescued once more by Luigi and Mario, another photo shows Peach in a Tanooki Suit.

Development

Super Mario 3D Land came from Nintendo EAD Tokyo, the same studio behind the two Super Mario Galaxy games, with help from fellow Nintendo subsidiary Brownie Brown. Koichi Hayashida, who directed Super Mario Galaxy 2, took the director's chair here, while Takeshi Hama, Mahito Yokota, and Asuka Hayazaki handled the music. The project spanned two years, kicking off with just two developers and eventually growing to a team of thirty. Shigeru Miyamoto first revealed the game in November 2010, announcing that both a 3D Mario adventure and a 2D Mario title were on the way for the Nintendo 3DS.

He called the 3D entry "completely original," describing it as a blend of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 64. The whole point was to bridge the gap between 2D and 3D Mario games, sticking to Miyamoto's belief that games should be fun and give players every chance to enjoy themselves. A big goal was pleasing fans of both styles, so levels were built so you never got lost, pushing Mario in a single direction toward the flag. Tech advances played a big role too.

Satoru Iwata pointed out that judging jumps in 3D space had been tricky since Super Mario 64, and the 3DS's autostereoscopic screen helped solve that. Since the team had only worked on console games, they tested Super Mario Galaxy 2 on a small monitor and found Mario too tiny to control well. That led them to design the camera and level layouts specifically for the 3DS's small screen, making it easier to keep track of the plumber. Some camera tricks were borrowed from The Legend of Zelda series.

Ideas that got cut included a pro skater suit for Mario, the ability to change his size drastically, and a feature that would swap Princess Peach's face for a photographed one.

Reception

Super Mario 3D Land was widely praised by critics. It earned a 90.09% average on GameRankings and a 90 out of 100 on Metacritic, ranking as the fifth highest-rated game for the Nintendo 3DS on that site. In its debut week in Japan, it sold more than 343,000 copies and helped push over 145,000 3DS systems. Famitsu gave it a 38 out of 40, highlighting its level design, beginner-friendly accessibility, and use of 3D.

IGN awarded it a 9.5 and an Editor’s Choice, calling it brilliant and addictive, and claiming that 3D gaming had never been fully realized before. GamesRadar scored it a 9 out of 10, praising the amount of content but noting the run button and some easy sections as drawbacks. Game Informer also gave it a 9.5, stating it matched the quality of earlier Mario games and was the best reason to own a 3DS, though they criticized the repetitive boss battles.

Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com gave a less enthusiastic review, saying a moderately skilled player would never run out of lives, but he appreciated the creative presentation and clever twists in the later stages. Justin Haywald of GamePro gave a perfect score, noting that Nintendo blended nostalgic aesthetics with technical innovation, though he felt the 3D effect was mostly a gimmick.