Mario 3D land is one of most anticipated 3ds games for me. And it's worth to wait.
Good:
1, Mario's tradition:
If you have once played super mario, whatever which one. You can easy access into 3D land's world. The actions, enemies, platform, atmosphere, even some of them are brand-new, are familiar. This is important because that even the levels in 3D Land are harder to beat, you still have confident to make it.
2, Actions & Controls:
3D mario is more difficult than 2D for you have to consider the Z axis, not merely X and Y. Thankfully, the control is good. The left joystick of 3DS is perfect when you control Mario to walk, run, jump to different direction. You can even climb the tree and pole, that's amazing!!!
3, Level Design:
3D mode allows much more wonderful level designs in this game. You can walk in the land, fly to high, you can dive in water. When the regular and prosaic level turned to 3D, the world's totally changed. It's virtual, but it's real. Oh, one more thing, it's easier to miss the final flag:))
4, Game Life:
Super Mario 3D Land's game life is pretty long. I spend around 9 hours to beat. I didn't mean to collect coins, but some levels need them to unlock. And more important thing is, I must say I beat the game by using some help items...If just rely on myself, the time would go much longer. To beat the game didn't means to finish it, it's just another begin. You can not only set 100% coins collection as the goal, but also start your 2nd round but new journey. And some coins are hidden so ....mean. Just find it:))
5, Help Item:
I am not quite sure if this is the first time in Super Mario series that the game gives the help items to assist you when you fail so many times. You died 5 times, you will got a premium raccoon costume so that you would not fear any enemy, still, you could die by falling down the platform. If you died another 5 times after premium raccoon costume, the wing item will show up. You can beat this level directly. Given that the difficulty is really higher than previous Mario game, the help items appeared quite in time. It balance the game properly. I love it.
Bad:
1, where's is the Big mushroom?
I really love the big mushroom items, but they cut it :(
2, 3D sometimes..no..always..be shut down
Maybe we should not blame Mario 3D, but the 3DS. I felt tired and faint when open 3D, and more important is, even I shut down 3D mode, I still could beat the game. So the 3D is worthless.
Super Mario 3D Land is the must buy game if you have 3DS. But, i don't think it's worth to buy 3DS just because of this game. Compared with Super Mario Bro(DS and Wii), 3D land is less impressive.