This is easily Nintendo's best Mario game.

Super Mario 3D Land is better than:

-Super Mario Bros (1,2,3)

-Super Mario World

-Mario 64

-Galaxy

-Sunshine

-all the other Land games

-New Super Mario Bros (Wii and DS)

-New Super Mario Bros 2

It combines the best of all the these games, in particular Mario 64 and NSMB. Add the 3D and this is without a doubt the peak of the Mario platformers.

Prove me wrong, internet.

my bad. read it as 3d world. but still.. come on.

3D Land is great but i prefer Galaxy 1 and 2.

@killacam said:

3D Land. on the 3DS. Not 3D World on the Wii U.

Also I don't know about it being the *best* Mario game... Certainly the best handheld Mario game, and easily one of the best Mario games... Makes me really excited for 3D World.

super mario world is probably my pick for best mario game (maybe even best game ever...? ooooo)

I haven't played 3D land, but for me World is the best, with Galaxy in second. Though I want to ask, is 3D World going to be Super Mario World 3? I thought that once I saw the Super Mario World goombas and Chargin' Chucks in the trailer.

3D Land is my favorite after the Galaxy games.

World is obviously amazing, but I feel like 3D Land renders it obsolete. The platforming is better. The platforming in 3D land can only be compared in quality to M64.

Level design, precision control, the variety of environments, the power ups the game balance.

I actually preferred Mario 64 over the Galaxy games and I honestly thought more people would've said 64. I didn't like sunshine, just didn't feel very 'mario like' for me and I gave up after completing less than half of the game, everything just felt like a chore.

As for 3D land, it reminds me a bit of Crash Bandicoot, so I think I'll enjoy it.

I went back to it for a little bit after the announcement of 3D World. I like that it has the diverse moveset (including long jump) of the 3D Mario titles but I've always had a bit of a problems with the controls on the 3DS. Either the smaller screen makes it hard to judge distance or it's tough to be precise using the circle pad. Something about the controls when playing this game has always felt off to me.

Now it's possible that being on the WiiU could fix some of these troubles of mine so I am rather excited about 3D World coming out. Hoping it's good.

Some stuff I really liked about 3D Land was:

• Doing away with pointless points, instead you get coins for your remaining time at the end of a stage which are at least not entirely pointless. (3D World seems set to pring points back so Meh!)
• You can have more than 99 lives, which helps keeping coins "useful" in that at least you can keep increasing that life number.
• It's got flagpoles. Of all the end-of-stage goal minigames flagpoles was the best one to bring back.
• The challenge eventuallly becomes pretty awesome, while games like Galaxy 2 didn't force you to use all of your abilities until you started to collect all the green stars.
• Giant Shadow Mario 10 seconds on the clock gooo! I actually don't remember if this combination was in the game, but it is devilish so I bet it was
• And last but not least: It's as close as we've gotten to a 3D Mario game with 2D Mario rules. Something that has bothered me lately with the design of the 3D Mario games is that "suits" are never used as a "powerup" any longer, instead its a required part to get through a level or section. In Galaxy if you get hit by an enemy or touch water you loose your Bee Suit, but there will always be one available nearby as you need it to complete the level (don't get me started on how I felt when they made Fire Mario into such a suit in Galaxy 2. It was even time limited!). I really prefer the design of the Mario games where powerups are just that, they make it easier to get through a level but you never need them. Which is the #1 reason I like 3D Land, I can spit fireballs in a 3d Mario game and keep the power from level to level. It's great.

I won't argue that it's better or worse than any of those other games because I don't really care. I'm just happy that they're making a game with this design in mind again.

I quit playing the game because it was boring.

It's not even close to the best.

I disagree.

Super Mario World, 64, Galaxy 1&2 and Super Mario 3 are better in my opinion.

People like Super Mario 3D Land so much, I must be missing something. It just seemed really boring and many areas were very constrained to me.

I've never been a big Mario fan, but I always quite liked Super Mario 3. 3D Land, though... I played up to maybe the third world or so, and it was possibly one of the most boring games I've ever played. I have no idea why, but it just did absolutely nothing for me.

I still miss how crazy open the worlds were in Mario 64. It did kinda trivialize enemy encounters because you could often just run around them easily, but I still prefer that openness, compared to the considerable linearity of (most) Galaxy 1 and 2 levels, and all of Super Mario 3D Land.

It's my second favorite. No Mario game can ever surpass Super Mario World.

I'm not entirely sure why I loved 3D Land though. The game really didn't get that great until you beat the first eight worlds and the tanuki suit was absurdly cheap. Something about the game just clicked with me I guess.

You're easily Nintendo's best Mario game.

World and Galaxy are both better in my opinion. 3D Land is damn good though.

Prove your opinion wrong? What does that even mean? Should we give you an fMRI whilst you play through each of those games?

Personally, Mario platformers have done very little for me; I much prefer the RPGs (especially Bowser's Inside Story).

3D Land is pretty damn good. Replayed through it about 2 months ago and the game is still fucking awesome. Really glad Nintendo is making another one of these games. Really hope the move to consoles wont hurt 3D World.

It's entirely unremarkable until the late Special World levels. The stages designs are boring as shit -- most of the game is easy even for a Mario and it has no interesting environments or mechanics that in any way make up for the lack of challenge. It's maybe the best handheld Mario (I've only played Super Mario Land and the first New Super Mario Bros. and it's certainly better than those two), but it's not even remotely comparable in quality to something like Super Mario Bros. 3, or Super Mario 64, or Super Mario Galaxy 2 etc.

Yes.

Galaxy > 3D land

Why? because.

I feel bad now because I've actually only played the first quarter of Galaxy 1.

Zing!

I know 3D land is supposed to get really good towards the end, but honestly the first 3 or 4 worlds I've played haven't been interesting enough to keep me playing.

The Galaxy games are still tops in my book though.

I disagree, and I have proof!

Take That!

I didn't have to play half of Super Mario Galaxy to get to the good part.

Yoshi's Island > Super Mario: RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars > All else

3D Land is really a great game, but it doesn't come close to Super Mario Bros., 3, World and 64. Those are the games that wrote the rulebook on 2d and 3d platforming.

3D Land is more like your favorite band releasing a "back to the roots" solid album that is good on it's own right, but doesn't really bring anything forward or innovative, it's just competent fun time.

p.s.: I never played the Galaxy games, because I Brad Shoemakered the Wii, plan on rectifying that getting a Wii U later on.

Super Mario Bros 2 is the best Mario game. Seriously, no joke. It would be followed closely behind by Super Mario World. In my opinion, of course. :)

Don't get me wrong, Super Mario 3D Land is super fun and a breath of fresh air when compared to other Mario games made in the past few years, but it's not as innovative or as interesting as some of the earlier titles, Mario 3, 64 etc.

Wario World.

Come at me.

Dr. Mario is my favorite Mario game.

Notice you left out Galaxy 2.

You're insane. SMW and 64 both crush it.

The test of time will show that on the graph of Mario games, 3D lands represents the top of the bell curve.

Nintendo is making a console sequel to it, bro. Writings on the wall, bro.

Bro.

I do really like 3D Land. It was fun, and once you got to the special stages it was also challenging. That last level you unlock after completing everything else was pretty nuts. Maybe it was actually the Mario game I enjoyed most, but there's too many contenders to make a clear choice.