Best 3DS Mario game?

[puggsoy]

So we finally have a chance to buy some 3DS games for my sibling's 3DS, and I won't go into details but put simply we can get 2 (1 each). We've decided to definitely get Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (obviously), and we've concluded the other to be a Mario one. Thing is, there's a bunch of Mario games on the 3DS and we're not sure which one to choose.

We've narrowed it down to either New Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario 3D Land, or Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Dream Team is out of the question since we can only do this within a certain time range (once again, I won't go into details), and I doubt it'll be out by then. And if it is, then we'll probably get that anyway.

We've read that NSMB2 is best enjoyed with the co-op features, and unfortunately we don't know anyone else with a 3DS. We've seen some SM3DL gameplay, and while I'm one for seeing new and unique stuff, it doesn't seem to fit very well. For those reasons we're leaning towards Sticker Star, but I think I recall someone here saying it wasn't so great?

So yeah, I know there's no way to say which is best, but I'd just like to hear your guys' opinions on the games. Even if you haven't played all three, I'd like to hear what you think of those you have played, it might make it easier for us to decide.

[Hacksponge]

Uhmm..
New super mario bros 2 is like the first one..
for 3DS, Mario 3d land is the best for me..

[TomGuycott]

I only own 3D land, though you can almost say I own NSMB 2 twice already (nyuck yuck yuck).

Seriously though, I thoroughly enjoy 3D land. It is probably the closest to a newer Mario feel on a handheld. Paper Mario is visually appealing and has awesome music, but I hear it has a bad story and people miss the more unique paper Mario characters compared to what they replaced them with. For me gameplay is everything, and i haven't played it. :/

[Zero Kirby]

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is going to be a disappointment if you go into it expecting a new and challenging experience on par with, say, New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Even the multiplayer is slightly gimped - instead of both screens having a separate camera they decided it was a good idea to have a "leader" player have the camera follow them. (Oh, and it's not Download Play - you'll need two copies. Yeah that wasn't a great idea to me either.) There's nothing new in the game - even the Gold Flower is just a bigger variation on the Fire Flower from Super Mario World (and the fireballs from Super Mario World still turned enemies into coins). The bosses are all rehashes, the locations are all too familiar, and the game is ridiculously short. Coin Rush might extend your playtime, but you'd have to be a hardcore Mario fan to get enjoyment out of this game beyond an initial playthrough. The soundtrack is also ridiculous, filled with an overwhelming amount of sheep to the point I poorly parodied it. The only good tracks are the title and credits, which actually use a good jazz scat soundfont, but it might sound kinda familiar.

Super Mario 3D Land is a nice change of pace for 3D Mario games. While it's completely linear the levels are pretty well designed and the game gets pretty challenging once you've unlocked the Special Worlds, which while they're mostly remixed levels, they often throw a wrench into the mix like having a very short amount of time that must be extended by defeating enemies, or being chased by a Cosmic Mario Clone throughout the level. The bosses are pretty underwhelming, but the final boss is a load of fun. Overall it's a pretty satisfying Mario experience on the 3DS. Not much else to say other than it's probably your safest bet.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star is divisive - you'll either love it or hate it, but even then there are some parts of the game which are just plain bad, namely, using Thing Stickers to solve environmental puzzles. This hinges on you not only finding the Thing, but having turned it into a Sticker (likely having done these steps twice to fill out your Sticker Museum), deciding to keep said Thing Sticker (and some take up more space than others and fit different playstyles), and then finding the environmental puzzle to use it on. You will need to leave a level more than once to find or buy a Thing (which you can only do if you already found it), make room in the album (which are your attacks), make the Sticker, and keep it until you reach the puzzle. Bosses ALSO have these puzzles in them (which is a pain in the neck if you don't know beforehand, and you won't, the game dropped a ridiculously tiny amount of hints compared to recent Nintendo games). The game also doesn't tell you the Action Commands for the Things as well - and they are different depending on the Thing (but most are the same, hammering the A Button). But the battle system, while unorthodox, is a lot of fun, and some events are pretty great as well (a Kamek fight in particular stands out). Experimenting with different stickers and Thing Stickers is fun. The story is pretty stale, though, as are the environments and characters - you won't find any breakout characters like Rawk Hawk or Don Pianta here, it's strictly from the standard Mario stable, except for Kersti. The forest section of the game also tends to drag on a bit, and there's even a potentially Lost Forever sidequest - no items come of it but if you're obsessive with 100%'ing, I'd GameFAQs that. I loved it - if you can handle a Paper Mario experience that's really different from the other Paper Marios, it might be worth a spin.

[puggsoy]

Huh, looks like 3D Land is the general opinion. I had some suspicions about NSMB2, we'd actually ruled it out but decided to make it an option just in case it was better than we thought, although it doesn't look like it.

As for Sticker Star we've been leaning towards that because it's Paper Mario. While we haven't played TTYD nor SPM, the original Paper Mario was awesome and I was hoping/expecting this to be basically the same, but with stickers instead of moves (and occasional out-of-battle uses).

Guess we'll get 3D Land then, the gameplay seemed a bit strange but I guess it's just something new for Mario. Also I haven't looked at it thoroughly, I mean I just saw like 30 seconds of it and I was like "woah, this is looks weird".

Of course I'd still love to hear other peoples' opinions on any of the games.

[NICKtendo DS]

I'd like to jump in and be the counter-balance to the negative reception of New Super Mario Bros. 2.

Let's get this out of the way:
Gold Flower is over-powered, Mega Mushrooms are scharse, music has reached a new level of sheep, getting 1M coins is too much of an effort for too little of a reward and Story Mode literally dies when you 100% it, because of its coin pay-out and replayability compared to Coin Rush, which sucks, because Luigi is playable in every mode except Coin Rush (can you believe it). Oh yeah, the bosses are far from unique.

Now you know what cripples the game, but that doesn't make it the worst game ever made. It's a kick in the groin for loyal Mario fans, me included for sure, but while it's more of the same on the go, it's more of the same on the go.
The game is not bad, not bad at all. It's just the "laziness" behind it that is so heavily overpowering to the point where some can't even enjoy it. I enjoyed it. Some levels are cleverly designed while some are boring and too focussed on the coin gimmick. (I got 9.999.999 coins, that is the maximum. I don't need coins!)

If you decide to pick it up, there is one DLC pack I must recommend. It's not the hard-beyond-fun Impossible Pack. It's too much challenge for just 1 life. No, what you need is the Gold Classics Pack. It's just 1 star in difficulty, but the amount of exploration is just phenominal. Just when you think you've found everything, another secret shows up. Mystery Adventure is nice too, if it weren't for the tedious flying level in the middle. For some reason I'm in love with the industrial level, the 3rd in the pack. But to pay 2,50 for just that level you can only play if you make it through the slugfest known as that sky level, I'm not sure it's worth it.
The Gold Classics pack is worth the 2,50 pricetag and it used to be free. How ironic.

[puggsoy]

Hmm. Not sure what the chances are of actually buying any DLC, it's not the price as much as it is the action of paying for it.

Thanks for that though, I knew it wouldn't be all bad.

[Zero Kirby]

I didn't say NSMB2 was horrible, I just said if you expect something new you won't get it, and you probably won't find much enjoyment after the first playthrough unless you're really into Mario games. Though my post was pretty negative...

Oh, and a note about Coin Rush - it caps at 30,000 coins per run. It's ridiculously easy to reach this number (especially in the Gold Classics pack which I'll admit is a pretty swell level pack) and the only reason I can fathom for it being there is to artificially lengthen the game. Sure you can compete with other players' high scores, but it's not much of a competition if they can be cut off before their fully realized potential, is it? Take that as you will.

[Kriven]

Score caps make me sad 3:

[NICKtendo DS]

I didn't say NSMB2 was horrible, I just said if you expect something new you won't get it, and you probably won't find much enjoyment after the first playthrough unless you're really into Mario games. Though my post was pretty negative...

Oh, and a note about Coin Rush - it caps at 30,000 coins per run. It's ridiculously easy to reach this number (especially in the Gold Classics pack which I'll admit is a pretty swell level pack) and the only reason I can fathom for it being there is to artificially lengthen the game. Sure you can compete with other players' high scores, but it's not much of a competition if they can be cut off before their fully realized potential, is it? Take that as you will.

Point with NSMB2 is, there is more bad things to say about it than good, which makes it sound terrible, while it's not. That's why I jumped in.

Yeah, the coin cap is beyond stupid. It makes the already limited high-score system, that only saves one general record at a time, unneeded and dumb. I welcome some kind of patch or update that makes all packs save individual, cap-less records, so you don't have to throw away your precious achievements. It'll never happen, because right now, Nintendo is too busy with U to care or aknowledge 2 exists.

Yeah, I'm kinda mad they announced New Super Luigi U for NSMBU to commemorate 2013, the Year of Luigi, during a 3DS Nintendo Direct, might I add, while the Luigi-less Coin Rush gets nothing. All I can do is hope doubleing the global coin count that got us the Gold Classics pack matters to Nintendo. If not, surely hitting 1.000.000.000.000 must do the trick. Right?

[Dear President Seinfeld]

Get Ocarina of Time instead. It is currently the best 3DS game.

[puggsoy]

We already do, it was the first (and currently only proper) game for the console we have. I haven't completed it yet (not such a big fan of 3rd-person Zelda gameplay), but I'm planning to get round to it soon.

[DioShiba]

The only good 3ds games I have played thus far were OoT3D, Mario Kart 7, and Super Mario 3D Land.

I haven't played Sticker star but there's no way I'm going to buy NSMB2 unless it's under $5. It doesn't seem like it's worth the price tag.

[NICKtendo DS]

Call NSMB2 a lazy rehash all you want. I've played 3D Land and for some reason NSMB2 entertained me longer. 3D Land challenging? Yes, but it was more 'annoying' than 'enjoyable'.
Also, when playing 3D Land, my arch nemesis is the circle pad. Especially annoying in the harder levels, it's a bitch to have Mario walk a straight line. In my honest opinion, I found the replayability in 3D Land to be non-existant.
Call me an idiot, I don't care, but I think NSMB2 is better than 3D Land. NSMB2 may be a lazy rehash compared to the fresh and exciting 3D Land, but to me that doesn't make NSMB2 bad and 3D Land good by default.

[TomGuycott]

Addendum to what I said earlier: The best Mario game you can get on the 3DS is Super Mario Land 2: The Six Golden Coins.

No joke, it's an awesome gameboy game available on the Shop. Get it if you can. o: