Review by: Danielle Riendeau

Now this is how you make a 3DS game. After a ten-month period wherein the best title on the new system was 13 years old, little old Mario has come along and whipped the handheld into shape. It doesn’t innovate the Mario formula as much as it remixes and mashes up old favorites with new design sensibilities, but it does so expertly, presenting what is arguably the most enjoyable Mario in years.

Mercifully, there’s next to no story in this chapter, and what’s there is non-verbal, a few tiny cut scenes and static 3D portraits showing that yes, Bowser has captured the princess again, and it’s up to you, as the world’s most athletic plumber, to save her. After the briefest of introductions, you’re unleashed into the first stage and given your first taste of 3D Land’s Super Mario Galaxy-meets-every 2D Mario of the past approach.

This is fully 3D gameplay, with a largely static camera, set in worlds that constantly shift perspective. Sometimes you’re top down, sometimes you have a sort of wide angle view and others (in special puzzle rooms) trick you with isometric 3D that must be navigated either by turning up that 3D slider (or using the little cheat button and jumping from memory). However, the stages are so tightly, masterfully designed and the perspective shifting so fluid that it’s almost never a problem. The result is truly dynamic gameplay – think Mario Galaxy, without the annoyance of babysitting a wayward camera.

The stages themselves are obviously calling back to the Galaxy series’ funky aesthetic and design sensibilities. Each is a fully contained “world” with its set of unique challenges – along with the usual enemies to bop, platforms to jump, hidden coins to seek out. There are stages that recall the awesome Honey Hive galaxy, a clockwork level that manages to mash up Mario 64’s nightmarish Tick Tock Clock with Super Mario World’s underground stages, and sky-based challenges that put Galaxy’s Cloud Mario levels to shame. The sheer variety is intoxicating – although you are hopping and bopping throughout, you never feel as though you’re doing the same thing over and over – that is, unless you keep dying.

On that note, the difficulty is close to perfect. I felt I was being adequately challenged throughout (with a nice, gradual learning curve), without ever getting the sense the game was about to beat me into a pulp. There are a few tough stages, but nothing that comes close to Galaxy 2’s more insane gauntlets. If you die enough times, you are given the option of taking an infinite power-up (a Tanooki suit that takes no damage from enemies), a nice balance between Galaxy 2’s “Let me play this for you” mode and the “no soup for you!” challenge of the truly old school games. Most stages will yield if you give them a couple of tries, and everything is presented in mobile friendly bite-sized chunks. In fact, as a throwback to the older games, there’s a ticking timer for each level.

Other throwbacks are sprinkled in liberally – the enemies will remind you of every Mario baddie since 1985, while there are more than a few specific calls to the beloved Super Mario Bros. 3. There are airships (or castles) at the end of each world, complete with auto scrolling, koopa sibling bosses and those awful gophers that throw wrenches at you – and they couldn’t be more fun. The music, the art and even the power-ups all nod to the good old days, while the actual experience of playing couldn’t be tighter or better assembled. This is a platformer master class and not a cheap retread or simple fan service.

In fact, I would go so far to say that anyone interested in level design should pick this up for a spin. Elements of surprise are expertly balanced with mechanics that are incredibly easy to pick up, yet deep and difficult to truly master. I may even prefer it to Galaxy 2, for its tighter design and better (read: more balanced) challenge level.

There’s no question – if you own a 3DS, this is the best game on the platform, and instantly worthy of a purchase. It’s one of the best portable platformers I’ve ever played (and I’ve had my fair share), and an almost shockingly good Mario title on any platform. Don’t miss this one in the seasonal rush.