Super Mario Bros. 3 isn’t the only title exerting a clear influence on the design, either; nearly every game in the series has its fingerprints on 3D Land, making it an amalgam of past Mario elements– the control scheme is reminiscent of Super Mario 64 DS (albeit considerably more functional thanks to the availability of the circle pad); certain backgrounds, particularly during the little vignettes that punctuate each world, hearken back to Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World; even the very mechanics seem to have been culled from the New Super Mario games, placing a renewed emphasis on timing and momentum. Combined, these elements make 3D Land the most faithful of the plumber’s modern day adventures, and it genuinely feels like a two-dimensional title despite its three-dimensional setting. A-/A+
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