The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS) Review Redux

Little by little The Legend of Zelda series has moved along with progressing the formula, but none so pronounced as what the gaming world saw with this year's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. With a brand new open world setting and structure, as well as its moving from series norms, Breath of the Wild dawned a new era in The Legend of Zelda franchise.

However, Breath of the Wild wasn't the first Zelda game to try something new to shake up the formula after Twilight Princess (where the series started to sort of go through the motions). The Zelda game I'm referring to is the subject of this Monday morning's Review Redux, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

A link between tradition and progress

After playing the delightful Nintendo Switch launch title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (also on Wii U as a swan song for the system), I wanted to play some older games in the Zelda series. I didn't really have an idea on which entry I desired to replay, but then I thought about things from a deeper viewpoint rather than "which game will bring me the most fun".

The idea came to me, entering into my mind as if the thought came through my ear canal, that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a bold new direction for the Zelda franchise as it completely eschewed series conventions and traditions for the most part. However, this change to rework the conventions of The Legend of Zelda didn't begin with Breath of the Wild. It began with the Nintendo 3DS game, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. I believe that A Link Between Worlds serves as a real link between the foundations and traditions of older Zelda and the all-new take with Breath of the Wild.

Part of that is what occurs about a third of the way through A Link Between Worlds. After you've gathered the three MacGuffins to remove the evil force field surrounding Hyrule Castle and take care of the guards inside, you wind up within the realm of Lorule, an ominous kingdom coated under a dark and dreary sky and filled with powerful, horrifying monsters and creatures. This is where there is some freedom to be found in A Link Between Worlds, as a new batch of dungeons is unlocked. In most of the Zelda games prior to Worlds, you had to complete each dungeon in a linear fashion. Sure, there were times where a choice could be made, but those were few and far in between. With The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, you can opt to complete each dungeon in Lorule in any order.

A theme with this review is how A Link Between Worlds bridged the gap between
traditional Zelda games and the new kind seen with Breath of the Wild. So... here is a literal bridge!

Generally in past Zeldas, a given dungeon would provide you with its own unique item waiting within the monster-filled, puzzle-heavy rooms and corridors of its boundaries. With A Link Between Worlds, this is different, and this formula alteration assists in letting you reach and complete any dungeon in whatever order you wish. Instead of gaining Link's tools like the Boomerang, Bow and Arrow, Hookshot, et al within the dungeons themselves, you can rent them from a jolly character named Ravio who takes the phrase "make yourself at home" literally by turning Link's house in Hyrule into his own shop. All of the items to be used in Link's dual kingdom adventure are housed here, and can be rented for a price. The catch is that if Link falls in battle, Ravio's faithful bird companion will retrieve the rented items and return them to its master. Though that isn't really a threat in the standard difficulty as Link can take lots of hits and can gain tons of extra hearts. When Hero Mode is available (which sadly requires you to beat the initial game to play) with its damage multipliers to Link, the rental system is more pronounced and more of a game-changer.

Lorule is already rather inhospitable, unfriendly, and dangerous as is, but in Hero Mode? Even more so!

Eventually you'll be able to buy items for good rather than just rent them. This is where collecting Rupees in both Hyrule and Lorule become prominent within A Link Between Worlds' design. Items from Ravio cost anywhere between 600 to 1200 Rupees to keep. Thankfully, the game encourages exploration to find chests within the two overworld maps as well as within the dungeons. There are even puzzle rooms sprinkled about Hyrule and Lorule in hidden and/or hard-to-reach locations within both kingdoms' maps. These generally require a specific item or combination of items to solve the puzzle or challenge and acquire your Rupee reward at the end. Exploration is also encouraged by all of the Heart Pieces in the game to find or earn as well as cute creatures called Maiamais that when ten are collected, the creatures' mother gives you an upgrade to an item you currently own. With 100 to find spread across Hyrule and Lorule, it seems like an insurmountable challenge, but thankfully, the bottom screen shows how many Maiamai are remaining in each section of both kingdoms.

Whether it's the Ice Rod in Turtle Rock...

Dungeons in A Link Between Worlds require one particular item from Ravio's shop. While this is how Link can complete most dungeons within Lorule in any order (save for the Desert Palace which cannot be done first as it requires the Sand Rod, only available after beating the Thieves' Hideout), using only one item per dungeon means that you seldom truly get stuck in these labyrinths. Hit an obstacle that you don't quite know how to pass or overcome? The dungeon's required item will work by using it in some way. This is the same with bosses. They're defeated by using the weapon required for the dungeon as well. You just have to come up with how to utilize it for victory.

...Or the Hookshot in the Swamp Palace, each Link Between Worlds dungeon
needs one specific item to complete it.

Dungeons have the Zelda tradition of housing keys, Boss Keys to reach the dungeon boss' domain, treasure chests and more to acquire while the Compass reveals all treasures, locked doors, and boss locations on the bottom screen map, a lovely and convenient use of the Nintendo 3DS' second screen. While I said you don't get Link's traditional arsenal of weapons from special treasure chests in dungeons like in previous Zelda games, there is one special chest in each dungeon. These optional chests are well worth the rewards in finding them, ranging from added defense with new tunics, ore to give to a blacksmith who will create a more powerful sword for you, and more.

Feel free to come up with your own rock-related joke here! Tonight's an off night for me with puns!

The main mechanic in A Link Between Worlds is magnificent and one of my favorite twists to the gameplay of any Zelda game. It's a mural mechanic, where Link can use a ring handed to him by Ravio to literally merge into walls, resembling a Link mural, walking along the wall to reach otherwise impossible to access locations. It really opens up the world and dungeon designs of the game to make you think in a spatial kind of way that you may not have thought about before. There are obvious methods of crossing short chasms with Wall Link, but when you need to circle around as Link in an extended length of a room, switch between both forms on the fly like in the Tower of Hera with its moving platforms, or figure out which level of height will allow you to cross a gap and reach a certain platform, things get a bit trickier.

The many uses of merging with walls and the like are immensely cunning,
but what else is there to expect from the Zelda team anyway?

You can't just perpetually stay in mural form either. That would be too easy. Instead, many of the dungeons and areas in Link Between Worlds consist of sections where you have to manage your energy meter well. This meter is a new feature in the Zelda franchise. It empties while in mural form, and if it depletes fully while you're inside a wall, you're tossed out. With that Tower of Hera example where you have to navigate around a jutting piece of wall as Mural Link that blocks regular Link from continuing to ride a moving platform, you need to manage your energy meter carefully so it doesn't run out while hanging over a pit. Not only is the meter spent from being Mural Link in general, but it also serves as ammo for all of Link's items. So instead of having to pick up arrows and bombs from defeated enemies, you just wait a little bit for Link's meter to replenish to continue bringing destruction and carnage to enemies.

Wall merging as Link isn't just used to solve puzzles or to get from location to location. It's the whole basis upon which Link travels between Hyrule and Lorule. There are myriad magical cracks or rifts within the walls of Hyrule and Lorule, and as being Lorule is heavily segmented, it's crucial to find rifts within Hyrule to reach the various sections splitting up the kingdom. Better yet, if you find these, they are put on your map on the bottom screen via icon so you never have to 100% remember where they are.

Rifts like these allow Link to travel from one world to the other.

Apart from traveling between worlds, backtracking is also prominently done with Link Between Worlds, but it's done in a way that doesn't feel tedious or repetitive. This is greatly helped by the inclusion of bird signposts that not only serve as save points but fast travel locations. Even still, Hyrule and Lorule are so well made, especially Hyrule, a kingdom filled with so much in such a little space, one might worry that areas wouldn't blend in with one another naturally. After all, when you have deserts, towns, mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, marshlands, and more in such a small area of space compared to the open world spaces of larger budget games, it's a little bit of a concern to a tyro of Zelda. Fortunately, that is not the case at all. You feel like you're playing in a wholly complete world that exudes personality, flows effortlessly from segment to segment of Hyrule, and the feeling for that reason is because Hyrule is a complete kingdom and has no design oddities within it.

Places with multiple sprawling platforms like this Ice Ruins section look fantastic in 3D.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds remains one of my favorite games on the Nintendo 3DS with one of the best implementations of 3D around next to Super Mario 3D Land. The way Link bounces towards your face when being jolted up a floor in the Tower of Hera is one notable moment where the 3D slider needs to be turned up all the way. While sharing many familiar themes to A Link to the Past from the Super Nintendo -- the game Link Between Worlds is essentially a love letter for fans of the game and pretty much a sequel to -- the music in this 3DS classic is phenomenal with its new renditions of old faves and completely new compositions such as Yuga's theme.

Nonetheless, some issues are present with A Link Between Worlds, but they didn't really harm my viewpoint of the game even with my fourth play-through of the game. I'm talking about things like dungeons requiring only one item each, making them less challenging -- and speaking of difficulty, the overall difficulty of the game is low. Despite these issues, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds served as a nice preview of how Nintendo EPD would change Zelda series even further and to a much more extreme degree with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Those looking for a bridge or better yet, a link between traditional Zelda and the whole new world of Zelda, seek out A Link Between Worlds.

[SPC Says: A]

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) Review Redux

With The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the latest in the long-running and historic Legend of Zelda series coming out in almost a month's time, it seemed like an opportunity to look back at one of Link's most legendary adventures. It was legendary on the Nintendo 64, and now it's even better on the Nintendo 3DS. It's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, and it's SuperPhillip Central's first review of 2017.

A Legend Reborn

The original Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64 is commonly seen on many gamers and critics' lists of top games of all time. That's for good reason, as it successfully brought the Zelda formula and gameplay into a 3D space while offering some seriously clever dungeons, a heartfelt and endearing story, and plenty of secrets within the world. However, while Ocarina of Time's original release was indeed fantastic, it was far from perfect. One of the earliest releases for the Nintendo 3DS was a remake of the game, fixing a lot of the issues that plagued the original N64 release. It's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for the Nintendo 3DS.

For those uninitiated, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time features a story that tells the tale of a young child living in the Kokiri Forest who is the only child living there without his own fairy. One day, the Great Deku Tree, the mighty spirit of the Kokiri Forest, feels an evil presence in the world and assigns Navi, a helpful fairy, to join up with the young child, who he sees as the one to save Hyrule from this evil. This young child is none other than Link, and Ocarina of Time sees him leaving Kokiri Forest for the expanses of Hyrule, reaching far and wide in the kingdom, meeting with Princess Zelda, and going on a journey between time periods in his quest to save the kingdom from the wretched Ganondorf.

And so begins one of Link's most memorable adventures!

Everything you loved about the original Ocarina of Time is present in this Nintendo 3DS remake. The world is still full of secrets to uncover, the story is as memorable as ever, the characters remain intriguing, and the dungeons continue to possess dangerous enemies, keys to unlock doors, special items, brain-bending puzzles that are satisfying to solve, and big bosses that protect the game's MacGuffins. L-Targeting replaces Z-Targeting from the original Ocarina of Time, but both have the same use, to target specific enemies to keep them in Link's focus to move around them in a circle if needed, to avoid attacks, and to deal damage from Link's blade when their defenses are down.

L-Targeting is used to center Link's focus on one enemy at a time.

Then, there are all the memorable moments in the game's story. You have Link winning the horse Epona from the crooked Impa, escaping from Lon Lon Ranch by leaping over the wall. You have Link's first encounter with the mysterious Sheik. You have Young Link leaving Kokiri Forest for the first time to the sadness of his childhood friend Saria who gives him her ocarina as a means to remember her by. There are so many moments that are still touching decades later for veteran fans of Ocarina of Time and for a whole new generation of first-time players.

Link once again meets up with the enigmatic Sheik. Who is this young man? (Oh, just play along!)

However, Ocarina of Time 3D isn't just the Nintendo 64 original moved to the Nintendo 3DS. There are multiple improvements in Ocarina of Time 3D over the Nintendo 64 original, and the most obvious is that of the visuals. Not only are the characters and environments more detailed, but the frame-rate is vastly improved as well. There are still some slight moments where it dips a little, but overall, the frame-rate remains steady, quite unlike the original Nintendo 64 version. The addition of stereoscopic 3D offers a feeling of depth that makes it seem like you're looking at the Nintendo 3DS screen like you're looking into a window. It's a highly impressive effect that is only mired by some ghosting in darker areas of the game, where colors bleed over just a tad.

Link learns an abundance of ocarina songs that have a myriad of powers.

Then, there are the quality of life improvements that do a lot to make the game less of a chore to play. With the touch screen, you can assign four items to one of four spaces on the screen. X and Y can have specific items tied to them while the I and II sections of the bottom screen can be touched to pull out two other items. This makes it so you need not continually move to the pause screen to switch between items, making the process of changing between items much faster.

One of the best changes involves a certain pair of notorious boots discovered in the Ice Cavern. These Iron Boots had the reputation in the Nintendo 64 original of having players being forced to pause the game and equip or remove them from a menu. For the Water Temple, this process was needed more times than players could count, immensely slowing down to pace of the game to a tedious crawl. In Ocarina of Time 3D, the Iron Boots are not a piece of gear. Instead, they're just another item, meaning you can use the touch screen to equip and remove them with ease and without the need to pausing and unpausing the game over and over again.

Constantly equipping and removing the Iron Boots in the Water Temple is no longer a nightmare.

In addition to those changes, a nice inclusion is the ability to use the Nintendo 3DS's gyroscope technology to aim weapons in first-person view. This includes things like the Slingshot, the Boomerang, the Bow and Arrow, and the Hookshot. You can still use the Circle Pad to aim, or even a combination of the Circle Pad and moving the 3DS to perfect your aiming, so it's a pleasant and ultra helpful addition to Ocarina of Time 3D.

After the initial quest is completed, taking somewhere around 15-25 hours depending on how skilled you are and your familiarity with the original game, you unlock the Master Quest option. This quest not only presents a mirrored Hyrule to explore-- even having the dialogue of certain characters change to reflect this-- such as a character saying in the original quest that something is to the west, while in the Master Quest, they say it's somewhere to the east instead-- but Link takes more damage upon getting hit. Then, there is the most exciting part of the Master Quest, completely retooled dungeons filled with different puzzles. While the rooms and designs of the dungeons remain untouched, how you get through them and the order of rooms you move through to progress through the dungeons changes.

Young Link overlooks the central area of Dodongo's Cavern, the second dungeon in his adventure.

For instance, don't be surprised to get a dungeon's key item, such as the Water Temple's Longshot or the Fire Temple's Megaton Hammer earlier in the dungeon than you would have in the normal quest. Nor, should you be surprised to find yourself traveling through specific rooms earlier than you would have done so in the normal quest. Lord Jabu Jabu's Belly is the third dungeon of the game, and in the Master Quest, the dungeon is full of cows placed in peculiar locations, needing to be interacted with to open doors or unveil treasure chests. The Master Quest's redesigned dungeons add new twists of familiar puzzles and turn certain puzzle conventions completely upside down on their heads.

While Adult Link stares at this ominous and foreboding statue in the Spirit Temple.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D takes one of the best games ever created and makes it even better. Every improvement to the game like the upgraded visuals, touch-based inventory, ability to see how to play various ocarina tunes by looking at the bottom screen, gyro-based aiming, the Iron Boots no longer being stuck in the gear menu, and everything else makes for a better game than the already stellar Nintendo 64 original. If you like action, love solving puzzles, enjoy getting lost in a fantastic world, and want to see an epic tale unfold, then The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is everything you want and more.

[SPC Says: A+]

New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS) Review Redux

The first review of the last month of the year is a Review Redux, a new type of review I introduced at review #700 on the site. It seems with this new review type that I just can't get away from Mario! That trend continues with this next review, New Super Mario Bros. 2. Let's (once again) check it out!

A game to boost your coin-centration

It was the summer of 2012, and Nintendo was gearing up to release its newest home console, the Wii U, later in the fall. However, rather than just release one game in the New Super Mario Bros. line, Nintendo opted to create two, one for the Wii U and one for the Nintendo 3DS, the latter of which being New Super Mario Bros. 2, the one that released in the summer. Why Nintendo felt the need to release two similar platformers in the span of four months, regardless of being on two different systems, is anyone's guess, but it did make New Super Mario Bros. 2 less exciting of a game. After replaying the game recently, while it doesn't hold a candle to the Wii U launch title, New Super Mario Bros. U, that released after, it's still a competent platformer all the same.

Nintendo needed something to distinguish New Super Mario Bros. 2 from its bigger brother releasing the following fall as a Wii U launch title. What Nintendo decided upon was a mechanic behind collecting as many coins as possible. Coins are literally handed to the player in all manners in New Super Mario Bros. 2: laying about in levels, found in special blocks that Mario can wear on his head that generate coins while he moves, gold rings that turn enemies into golden versions of themselves which leave trails of coins behind them, and even a Gold Flower power-up, which launches gold fireballs, turning all blocks hit by it into coins and giving Mario a coin bonus for each defeated enemy. 

As always with an introductory Mario level, 1-1 eases players into the platforming action.

As you can probably guess with this overload of coin collecting, 1-ups in New Super Mario Bros. 2 are pretty fruitless to collect. After all, you're easily going to collect 100 coins for a 1-up that way in a given level, if not multiple times. It makes it so you'll never see the Game Over screen unless you either try, or do terribly in the first levels of the game. 

A running coin tally across all three included save files tracks your total amount of coins collected, and at certain thresholds, you earn messages highlighting coin achievements. If you go the distance, you also earn two special prizes for reaching specific coin amounts at one million and by collecting the maximum amount of coins. Unfortunately, these prizes are hardly worth it, and they seem more like booby prizes than anything else.

Raccoon Mario makes a mad dash through this elevated level.

A secondary mode in New Super Mario Bros. 2 to help assist in collecting coins, if you still feel the need to do so, is called Coin Rush. This mode has you play three random courses, trying to collect as many coins as possible. You have a Gold Flower that can be summoned from the touch screen to be used in one level, and if you hit the top of the flagpole at the end of a level, whatever coin total you have currently is doubled. There are downloadable level packs available for free and to purchase that feature all-new levels, one of which features some of the hardest challenges in a non-Kaizo-Mario Mario game.

As for the standard adventure, New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a lot of fun. It's Mario, and it's still really good. The level design is a notable piece of the game, as New Super Mario Bros. 2 was developed by a younger team of fresh talent to Nintendo. There are lots of genuinely clever ideas in these levels, too. One ghost house has you escaping from a giant Boo known as a Boohemoth, while another has you using the Mini Mushroom power-up to skim along the edge of a body of water, leaping over instant-death spikes as you perform multiple platforming stunts to stay alive.

When a Star Coin has already been collected in a level, it's transparent such as this one.

Many levels house smartly placed secrets that require intuitive investigation of peculiar-looking areas, where usually you can find one of a level's three Star Coins, the main collectible of the game, or a secret exit, leading to alternate paths through New Super Mario Bros. 2's worlds. Some of these secret exits even lead to special cannon levels, which are auto-running endeavors where timing your jumps as well as bouncing off enemies either lightly or with force can be the difference between success and falling into a bottomless pit. 

Whoa. If you were a second slower, Mario, you'd be the one getting blasted!

The special cannon levels take you to two worlds that are otherwise inaccessible to players. Unlike Worlds 1-6, these Mushroom and Flower worlds do not have a unified theme to them, and they are more difficult affairs. After beating the game initially, a third secret world is unlocked, the Star world, which can only be accessed through collecting many of the game's aforementioned Star Coins from the previous worlds. 

Just in time for the holiday season, World Four is all winter, all the time.

While most secrets in the game can be found with the right amount of investigation and deduction, the developers of New Super Mario Bros. 2 sometimes overly use the "hidden block" trope used in other Super Mario Bros. games. This is where jumping and hitting an invisible block will reveal a beanstalk to a new area. Most of the time these have a tell, but sometimes they do not, and that's when trying to find some of the game's secrets can be rather... well, unfair at best and really frustrating at worst.

Mario moves and controls as well as he has ever in a 2D Mario in New Super Mario Bros. 2. His controls are tight, making you never feel like you're out of control. Walking and then running into a standard sprint feels great, and using that to develop into a series of jumps, all culminating with the ultra-sweet triple jump is awesome as ever. Mario keeps his ability to wall jump as well, something born out of the very first New Super Mario Bros. game. Alongside these acrobatic moves, Mario can utilize a ground pound to break up blocks below him and quickly dive-bomb with ease.

An artifact from Super Mario World, the ability to cling to fences like this one.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 features a standard repertoire of power-ups, such as the Fire Flower, for one, but it also brings back the Super Leaf from Super Mario Bros. 3 to turn our portly plumber protagonist into Raccoon Mario. This form allows Mario to fly temporarily when he gains enough speed on the ground to take off, as well as enables him to twirl his tail to take out enemies. Mini and Mega Mushrooms also return, though the latter is only used in a couple of levels and has never really been too exciting. After all, just running forward, crashing through everything-- pipes, enemies, and blocks-- isn't what Mario is really about, as with the Mega Mario form there is no real platforming to be found.

Raccoon Mario leaps into the sky in this vertical-scrolling level.

Visually, New Super Mario Bros. 2 isn't a particularly fascinating game. The character and models are serviceable enough, but they keep that sterile, clean feeling that even fans of the New Super Mario Bros. line find boring. The backgrounds are equal in this regard, too. Even the 3D effect that the Nintendo 3DS produces isn't that enthralling or striking. That said, the game runs incredibly smoothly, which makes for a pleasant experience. On the sound side of New Super Mario Bros. 2's equation, Mario's use of vocal clips is cute, but the music mostly recycles everything from past New Super Mario Bros. titles, which just comes off as a lazy effort all-around.

The visuals are not bad, but not great either; they're overall serviceable.

While not exactly the gold standard for Super Mario platformers, New Super Mario Bros. 2 is ultimately a competent and highly enjoyable title. Though the central gimmick of coin-collecting wears thin and isn't used to its full potential, it is great fun trying to increase your coin total though taking advantage of each level to its fullest. The level design is impressive, housing myriad secrets, and Mario feels as good as ever to control. Seeing as New Super Mario Bros. 2 is now part of the Nintendo Selects line, now's a good time as any to go on a coin-collecting expedition with Mario.

[SPC Says: B]

Review Round-Up - September 2016

Wait a minute. What year is this?! It doesn't matter when you have the all-new Review Redux!

October is here, as is autumn! Before we delve deeper into this month featuring Halloween at its tail end, let's look back at the month that was September 2016 for a Review Round-Up!

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas kicked things off with its console version, scoring an A- for its wonderful effort. Then, the 700th review of SuperPhillip Central, concluding the Summer of 700 promotion, was in the form of an all-new type of review, the Review Redux. Super Mario 3D Land was the first of this type of review, earning a fantastic A. A pair of racers then proceeded to follow Mario with Bears Can't Drift!? (C-) and Riptide GP: Renegade (B-). Mekorama delivered isometric puzzling fun with the ability to create levels, so it got a great B grade! Did I mention that game is totally free to download and play? Finally, another Review Redux arrived, capping off this past month's reviews, with a return look at Mario Kart 7 (B+).

October is going to excite with its review output. Such games that might be featured include Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Paper Mario: Color Splash, Dragon Quest Builders, and some scary titles perfect for Halloween!

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas (PS4, XB1) - A-
Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) Review Redux - A
Bears Can't Drift!? (PS4, Steam) - C-
Riptide GP: Renegade (iOS, Android) - B-
Mekorama (iOS, Android) - B
Mario Kart 7 (3DS) Review Redux - B+

The Review Redux also took us by land, sea, and air with a return look at Mario Kart 7!

Mario Kart 7 (3DS) Review Redux

Last week was SuperPhillip Central's 700th review, which introduced a new type of review to the site, the Review Redux. Now, the Review Redux returns again with another Mario game, but this time in a totally different genre. It's a look back at Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS!

Revisiting the wild, rigorous racing of Mario Kart 7!

While Diddy Kong Racing seems to still be the king for me when it comes to kart racers, when it comes to kart racing series, then it's no question that Mario Kart is still the king for me. I like to make any excuse to replay the games in the series, whether it's to play with my friends and family, or just because I'm totally bored. I went to back to Mario Kart 7 recently, as I was hoping the online community was still available. Plus, I still had some kart parts to unlock. Returning to Mario Kart 7 has been a rewarding time in my gaming life, and it's great to see that I still find a lot to love about the latest handheld Mario Kart from Nintendo.

Mario Kart 7 is the first Mario Kart in the series where kart customization is a feature as well as something that's important. While past Mario Karts had it where what weight of character you chose factored into that character's top speed and acceleration skills, Mario Kart 7 has it where choosing from three kart options: body, wheels, and glider, affects your kart's performance. It can affect your top speed, acceleration, handling, and off-road skills.

When you begin Mario Kart 7, you have a very meager selection of kart parts available to you. However, as you progress through the game, collecting coins as you race, you receive new kart parts at various total coin milestones. For instance, if you collect 1,000 coins throughout your Mario Kart 7 career, then you unlock a new, random kart part. Now this way of unlocking kart content isn't perfect-- actually, far from it. As I stated, not only do you unlock a random kart part at various coin milestones, which means that if you're wanting a specific kart part for looks or for function, then you're a slave of the RNG, but you can only collect a maximum of 10 coins per race. This means per cup you can only get 40 coins. For kart parts that take that aforementioned 1,000 coins to unlock, for instance, that is A LOT of grinding for kart parts. Even then, you're not guaranteed 10 coins per race, as getting hit by an item knocks three coins away from your kart.

I dunno, Mario. I still think your brother gives the best death stare out there.

Thankfully, unlocking Mario Kart 7's cast of characters to race as is far easier a goal. All you have to do is win the various cups on various difficulties. The selection of racers this time around is an eclectic bunch with some new additions like Metal Mario, Honey Queen from Super Mario Galaxy (though shrunk to ridiculous size to fit in her kart), and Wiggler. However, some of the characters who missed the cut are very much missed by yours truly, such as Bowser Jr., Diddy Kong, and the most egregious loss for the reason that he has his track from Mario Kart DS in the game as a retro track, Mr. Waluigi, everyone's favorite racing wah-rrior.

Absences like Waluigi and Bowser Jr. may sting when their
replacements are characters like Honey Queen and Metal Mario.

The biggest new addition to the Mario Kart series this time around gameplay-wise takes the kart racing action beyond just the regular ground and puts it underwater and in the air. While the former isn't too interesting, save for changing how the karts handle and their physics while submerged in water, the air parts of Mario Kart 7 are an absolute blast. There are specific parts of tracks in Mario Kart 7 where your kart's glider automatically opens up, allowing you to take big air as you soar along the sky. Many of the newer tracks of the game contain areas that give you this temporary power of flight before you lose altitude and return to the ground. It's especially fun to see how far you can glide, sometimes even being able to skip modest portions of track to trim off some seconds from your overall time. In the Grand Prix case, it's awesome to gain some extra distance over your opponents or to help you catch up with the pack.

Daisy soars over the idyllic settings of the track named after her, Daisy Hills.

As for the racing in general, Nintendo once again delivers a tight, responsive racer in Mario Kart 7. You can opt to race normally with the Circle Pad to control your kart, or you can use new tilt controls for an interesting racing experience placing you in the driver's seat, given a first-person viewpoint as your race.

Mario Kart 7 shares how karts handle from Mario Kart Wii, its predecessor. As you drift, instead of moving the analog stick (or the Circle Pad in the Nintendo 3DS's case) back and forth to produce energy to unleash a turbo boost, you get energy from maintaining a drift. The longer your drift, the bigger boost you get when you let go of the drift button. In addition to the Mario Kart Wii way of earning turbo boosts, you can once again perform tricks off of ramps and jumps to get a minor boost when you land. Thankfully, you need not shake anything to do this. All that's needed is a tap of the R button as you reach the end of a ramp or jump.

Donkey Kong shows off his drifting skills. A blue streak like this
one will turn into a red one for maximum boosting goodness.

Items have been an important part of the Mario Kart series since its inception on the Super Nintendo. Mario Kart 7 continues this trend, but this time the game offers three new items in addition to the ones featured from past installments of the series. The Fire Flower item gives the acquirer the ability to launch fireballs backward and forward until it runs out. These fireballs spin out racers for a brief period of time, but in a race, even a split-second's spin-out can win or cost someone the race. Then, there's the Tanooki Leaf that spawns a Tanooki tail on the rear of the user's kart. Not only can this swipe at and spin out opponents who veer to closely to your kart, but it can whack away items like shells and banana peels. Finally, the Lucky Seven item gives you a spinning roulette of items to use, most notably the Super Star. Just don't let your opponents steal it from you! The total amount of items in Mario Kart 7 is nice and varied, but yes, there is still the Blue Shell to worry about when you're in first place. Fortunately, it doesn't just fly over opponents as it reaches towards first place. Instead, it speeds along the track, able to collide and crash into other racers who are foolish enough to race in the middle of the track when it heads for first place.

Mario Kart 7 sports 32 unique tracks. Since Mario Kart DS, the unofficial rule has been that 16 of these tracks are brand-new while 16 are from past Mario Kart games. Mario Kart 7 follows this rule to a "T." The original tracks featured in Mario Kart 7 are wonderfully designed, sporting plenty of unique locales, treacherous turns, underwater sections, segments where you can soar with your kart's glider, and many shortcuts and alternate paths. Some favorites of mine this time around include the Netherlands-like Daisy Hills, a track that features many rolling hills, and a very fun ending segment where you glide past the blades of several windmills as you re-enter the cozy-looking village where the track started. Then, there's two tracks situated in Wuhu Island, a place originally featured in Wii Sports Resort. These two tracks show off a varied amount of geography, as you race through the town, through caves, bridges, cliff-sides, and more. These races are especially notable for not being traditional three-lap affairs. Instead, they're so long that they're actually three-segment races, where each segment is a different piece of the track-- it's like one long adventure through Wuhu Island. Finally, there's my favorite iteration of Rainbow Road in any Mario Kart to date, a three-segment tour of space, featuring racing on a planet's rings as well as on the surface of the moon.

The 16 retro tracks take some of the best tracks featured in Mario Kart history and breathe new life into them, giving some new sections that include Mario Kart 7's new underwater and gliding gameplay. New shortcuts have been added, such as Mario Kart DS's Luigi's Mansion, where you can use a Mushroom to boost up a ramp in the graveyard portion that allows you to glide over the graveyard's exit instead of navigating the turns inside. Favorites of mine here in the retro selections include Airship Fortress (DS), Koopa Beach (N64), Maple Treeway (Wii), Coconut Mall (Wii), Dino Dino Jungle (GCN), the aforementioned Luigi's Mansion (DS), among many others.

I know you're excited about winning, Shy Guy, but let's be responsible racers. Both hands on the wheel, please.

Content-wise, Mario Kart 7 is pretty lacking compared to the series's past two installments, DS and Wii. A major part of that is the total lack of a Mission Mode. Really, all you have single-player-wise is getting through all of the four Grand Prix cups and four difficulties of each, unlocking all characters in the process, grinding for kart parts, and doing time trials. Thankfully, Mario Kart 7's online community is still quite a bustling one, where you won't have to wait long to race against up to seven human opponents from around the world. You can still join specific Mario Kart 7 Communities, where you and whomever possesses the Community code can race in groups with predetermined rules like no items, Mushrooms only, and options of that nature. Local multiplayer is a feature, allowing 3DS's with copies of the game to race against one another, or you can even do Download Play, which gives the player without a copy of Mario Kart 7 to still be able to race on all 32 tracks via Grand Prix or Vs. Mode. The only caveat here is that they can't customize their kart and are stuck with using Shy Guy.

You can also gain new time trial ghosts via Spotpass and Streetpass, as well as race against said ghosts to try to improve your times in the game's 32 races. You can even compare your best times with the world on a very helpful and easy-to-read graph. Finally, Battle Mode is included, and this offers six arenas: three new and new from past Mario Kart games, to combat their opponents in with traditional non-team rules.

Mario Kart 7's visuals range from very good to not-so-much. For instance to the latter, the character models sort of have the look of being carved out of wood, with blocky sections to them that don't appear like the best the Nintendo 3DS could do, even at the time of its release. However, the actual track environments and textures are lovely. There's plenty of stuff going on in the environments and some really cool effects, such as on a turn in Mario Circuit where cherry blossom trees unload their pink petals into the air and onto the track. The frame-rate of Mario Kart 7 is smooth as butter, offering a delicious-running game. On the sound side, you get the typical character voices and taunts in and after races, and the music is full of terrific tunes that are easy to want to hum along with. Just don't get too distracted by the music that you don't notice that red shell coming towards you!

Mario Circuit is made even lovelier with these pink cherry blossom petals fluttering about the track.

After replaying Mario Kart 7 after these 4-5-odd years, I still enjoy the game and the racing experience as a whole. I think a major part of that is just loving how well the tracks are designed and how memorable they are. They're just plain fun to race on, and the addition of underwater and flying segments really make the tracks more exciting. Sure, grinding for random kart parts isn't my preferred way of unlocking content, but it does give you something to shoot for, though I'm still only at about 6,500 total coins after this many years and my next kart part-unlocking milestone is at 10,000. Makes for some hard motivation to continue grinding, as you can probably understand. Still, whether it's engaging in a long sessions of Grand Prix cups against the AI or just doing a race online with friends or strangers, Mario Kart 7 remains a wonderful kart racer that while lacking in content, more than makes up for in its tremendous gameplay.

[SPC Says: B+]

700th Review! Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) Review Redux

This is it, guys and gals! The whole Summer of 700 promotion on SuperPhillip Central has been leading up to this, and thankfully it's here before summer's end-- barely! It's SuperPhillip Central's 700th review!

But what is this? It's a game that was already reviewed on SuperPhillip Central in the past, Super Mario 3D Land! Well, this milestone of a moment on SPC is perfect for this new type of review I have on the site. It's a Review Redux. No, it's not a redo of a review exactly, but it's more my returning to a game and posting my overall thoughts about it in the present. What changed? What stayed the same opinion-wise? That's the beauty of the Review Redux. (Also, between you and me, it also gives me an excuse to replay games without feeling like I'm wasting time not reviewing new ones!)

Check out this, the 700th review on SuperPhillip Central with my return to Super Mario 3D Land with pictures by yours truly! For SuperPhillip Central's original Super Mario 3D Land review, look no further than this link.

Two different tastes, 2D and 3D Mario, put together for one delicious gaming concoction.

In the early years of the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo was really trying to sell the idea of autostereoscopic 3D to the masses. Some games did this better than others. Some used it for an "ooh" and "aah" effect that was while cool, didn't really affect gameplay at all. However, there was one game in the 3DS lineup early on that really showed that the ability to perceive depth with the stereoscopic 3D of the Nintendo 3DS system could very much improve the gameplay experience. Super Mario 3D Land not only sold the concept of 3D well by implementing a great sense of depth to judge distances to jumps and platforms, but it also provided some visual trickery as well to impress.

A new handheld made Nintendo want to have players engage in a new experience with Mario. I'm not just referring to the usage of stereoscopic 3D to improve the gaming experience. No, I'm also talking about the structure, the very foundation of Super Mario 3D Land. Its levels are obstacle courses like the 2D games with very little room for the intense exploration found in the 3D Mario games, particularly Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. In essence, Super Mario 3D Land is a mix between the 2D, fairly linear obstacle courses of the classic Super Mario Bros. line of games and the 3D movement more modern Mario games have possessed.

Beginning levels have plenty of wide open space for Mario and players to get used to the controls.

This new way of Mario was developed for the type of player who struggles with movement in 3D, the type of player that just couldn't get his or her head wrapped around controlling Mario in a 3D space like in Super Mario 64, Sunshine, and both Galaxy games. Instead of analog movement, Mario in Super Mario 3D Land has nine directions he can move. And instead of pushing an analog stick forward to increase speed and momentum, like the 2D games, a run button is necessary to hold down to provide Mario's quick movement.

Mario does not have the same wide repertoire of moves as he did in past 3D Mario games. However, for a game like Super Mario 3D Land, all of these acrobatic stunts the plump plumber could perform aren't exactly necessary. He can still wall jump, he can still perform a long jump (perfect for launching himself across long chasms as well as reaching the top of the flagpole at the end of a given level), he can do his well known backflip, and he can do a side flip if you move the Control Pad in one direction and then quickly in the opposite while jumping. The controls might be more accessible to those learning how to play 3D Mario games with better fluidity, but by no means are they dumbed down to the point that veterans players will feel insulted.

Mario and Bowser go back quite a ways. Like I said in my original review, you gotta admire Bowser's spunk.

Super Mario 3D Land features eight initial worlds played in a linear order. Unlike the 2D Mario games, however, there is no theme to a world. One level might be set in a grassland area while the next will have Mario leap his way through a winter wonderland. There's no rhyme or reason for the level locales, and while this great for not having to be stuck in a typical ice world with all ice levels, I do rather prefer the more unified worlds in theme. However, that's just a minor gripe I have with the game.

I guess Mario isn't invited to this pool party. Goombas were always selfish creatures.

Like I said about the levels previous, they are obstacle courses. At the beginning of the game, you have wide open platforms and areas that don't offer much in the way of the danger of falling off them. As you progress in the game, not only does the challenge increase as platforms become narrower, but the tricks the level designers throw into the levels to trip you up increase as well. Levels don't take much time to complete at all, making for play-anywhere-for-as-long-or-as-short-as-you-like handheld convenience.

Levels aren't necessarily left to right affairs either. Many times you'll be moving away from the front of the screen into the background, really selling that 3D depth I was talking about earlier. One level is set in a forest, having Mario leap on horizontal ropes to bounce up the side of a tree (of course while avoiding enemies like fireball-spewing Piranha Plants and invincible Fuzzies). Another has Mario jumping on rotating box platforms in a sky setting, requiring careful timing and precision so he doesn't get carried off into the abyss below. Then there are artifacts from Super Mario Galaxy, such as the platforms that flip whenever Mario jumps, or beat block platforms that appear and disappear with the beat played in the level. Additionally, enjoyable levels and mainstays of the 2D Mario series such as auto-scrolling levels, airships, ghost houses, and lava-filled fortresses will require Mario's attention.

These donut lifts will give Mario a lift, but only for a limited time before they drop towards the abyss.

After the initial eight worlds of Super Mario 3D Land are completed, and the game is technically "beaten", as Mario engages in a confrontation with Bowser that is one of the best in the Mario series, a second set of eight worlds unlocks, Beating the first world's fortress unlocks the higher-jumping Luigi for play. The second set of worlds feature what are mostly essentially remixed levels of the first eight worlds. They feature harder challenges, new enemies, differently organized platforms, and other variances like having to rush through a level with a Cosmic Mario stalking you, where he copies Mario's movements, meaning you always have to be on the move.

Like the levels in the first eight worlds, the second eight worlds contain a collectible known as Star Medals. There are three of these placed in each level of the game, and many are hidden in some precarious locations. This is where an exploration aspect of Super Mario 3D Land comes in. Many levels have secret areas hidden off the beaten path, just outside of the player's view if they were just running through the level normally. Collecting these becomes mandatory for the second half of Super Mario 3D Land, as many of the later levels are locked behind these medals. If you don't have enough, you can't unlock these levels. This can be an annoyance if you haven't been collecting Star Medals throughout the game, because then you have to return to past levels to collect them. Not the most fun if your mind was set on continuing to make progress towards beating the game. That said, the Star Medals are fun to seek out and allows players to enjoy the level design even further, so why wouldn't you go after the Star Medals to begin with?

Mario games and airships: these go together like a plumber and a Fire Flower.

I was talking about artifacts from Super Mario Galaxy earlier. Well, there is also one from Super Mario Bros. 3, and that is the Tanooki Leaf, which turns Mario or Luigi into a Tanooki or Fox version of themselves. This allows you to slowly float down in the air after a jump, making Super Mario 3D Land's levels much more manageable. In a way, it's a means for beginning players to use this item to get through levels that they might not have been able to otherwise. At the same time, for veteran players, this is also a relatively easy way to cheese your way through most of the game, as you can skip otherwise challenging platforming sections with ease. While talking about power-ups, a new one was introduced in Super Mario 3D Land, the Boomerang Flower, allowing Mario and Luigi to don a suit like the Boomerang Bros, and use it to chuck boomerangs that return to sender routinely-- usually after smacking an enemy into submission. You can carry an item in storage as well, calling for it by tapping the center of the 3DS's touch screen.

Speaking of the Tanooki Suit, it's back, but it may make the game a little TOO easy for some players.

Super Mario 3D Land will take most players not even five hours to beat the first eight worlds. Getting the second set of worlds complete adds a few more hours. However, you can't really call Super Mario 3D World completed until you get all five stars on your profile in the main menu. This is performed by beating Bowser once, beating all sixteen worlds then challenging and beating Bowser again, collecting all Star Medals, reaching the top of every level's flagpole as either Mario or Luigi, and beating the super-difficult final level as Mario and Luigi, unlocked by earning the first four stars and beating all levels as both Mario and Luigi. So, as you can see, there is a good deal of content to be had in Super Mario 3D Land. This can give you upwards of 15-20 hours, though my latest run-through was around 12 hours for five stars, but that was only due to familiarity.

There's a lot of beauty in Super Mario 3D Land. Sure, there's little time to take it all in when you're racing against the timer to beat each level, but just letting Mario's leg stretch out as you survey each environment shows an immaculate amount of detail for such an early Nintendo 3DS release. A particular pyramid level is an example where you wouldn't ordinarily even notice the insane detail of the pyramid bricks, chiseled with a complex pattern. Speaking of bricks, the rain-drenched bricks on the final tower you reach before facing Bowser in the final showdown are absolutely astonishing with their shimmering texture. I doubt I have to even go into how amazing the 3D effect of Super Mario 3D Land truly is. The game was built for it, allowing you to use two types of 3D, one that pops out the characters and environments while the other makes it so it's like looking into a box. In addition to the visuals, the music delights with a cheery and memorable main theme and other catchy tunes abound.

That's right, Mario. Just stretch out those legs while we admire the scenery!

Replaying Super Mario 3D Land has made me realize that this method of Mario, mixing 2D progression with 3D movement is a master class of Mario design. While I'm not saying I don't want another "sandbox", open-ended design to levels in my Mario games, like 64 and Sunshine had, I am saying that this style of Mario game is by no means inferior. It's particularly catching and special, offering no nonsense gameplay and design that is perfect for the handheld format, and perfect for players of all skill ranges. I appreciate Nintendo attempting to make its 3D Mario games more appealing and accessible to those who are uncomfortable with the games otherwise. Super Mario 3D Land is an engaging 3D platformer from beginning to end.

[SPC Says: A]