The game that should have been sold since day one!—or so they say. I tried out SM3dL and put it down unimpressed. I played it with the 3d setting cranked up as recommended by numerous podcasts and articles and at times didn’t really get a sense of it. Situations where the game was presented on a 2d plane, I actually became more frustrated by accidentally moving into and out of z-space. This was not helped by my inexperience with the analog disc. Maybe with more time this feature of the 3DS would click more, but it would likely not make a difference as to how I feel about SM3DL. The 3d didn’t help me keep track of my self in space and I still found myself going back to Mario’s shadow to confirm where I was in relation to my surroundings.
One of the early secret rooms presented itself with an M.C. Escher like design, but it didn’t feel like a puzzle so much as I just toggled the 3d to assess my situation. It was impressive I suppose how much it impacted the view, but not in a way that I felt lent itself to gameplay. By comparison, the short time I spent with Mighty Switch Force and its more traditional 2d platforming was more enjoyable due to its simplicity and the 3d felt like an appropriate novelty.
Maybe its my general feeling about 3d, but SM3DL’s charms failed to impress.