Mario, yesterday

B.J: Will Luigi and Yoshi be playable characters? And will the Koopalings appear in the game?

Nothing so far has suggested Yoshi will appear, so we're 99% confident in saying he won't be included. However, this panoramic Mario artwork includes a Luigi statue which certainly suggests he'll appear in some capacity: perhaps not playable, but in Green Star-like challenges.

As for the Koopalings, we've not seen anything of them yet but there are still six bosses we haven't seen.

Robin: Will the game include multiplayer?

No, Nintendo has confirmed this is a single-player only game.

Hussain: How would you describe the difficulty in Super Mario 3D Land? Is it too easy, or will it give us challenges in a similar fashion to Super Mario Galaxy 2's green stars?

We've only played the first two worlds — there are eight in total — and even Shigeru Miyamoto says the game doesn't get difficult until the final world. That said, we didn't have too much difficulty to start with: the fact you start as Super Mario means you can take a hit and still survive, which is obviously a bit more forgiving. Mario newcomers might find it more challenging, but seasoned plumbing veterans will ease through the first two worlds at least.

AJ: Are the worlds named or numbered? Does the game make creative use of alternate exits, as Super Mario World did, or is it strictly a linear path from one world to the next? Also, is there a separate world map for each area in the style of Super Mario 3 and New Mario Brothers, or does the entire overworld take place on one large, expansive plain, like Super Mario World?

The worlds and their stages are numbered or feature icons, so it's World 2-3, World 1-Castle, World 2-Airship. Everything we've seen and played so far suggests a single exit via the Goal Pole, but this is Nintendo, so there may be Warp Pipes tucked away.

As for the map itself, it's broken down into Worlds, each of which is a single straight line. Nothing special, really.

Boom Boom - not a Koopaling

Shockerz: I'm curious to what the medal coins do in this game, they were my favorite in Super Mario Galaxy 2 but what do they unlock in this game?

Each stage has three Medal Coins, which are used to unlock "Mystery Box" stages from the World Map. If you've played Super Mario Galaxy 2 these are like the green pipe mini-challenges: you're in a room full of enemies, and you have to defeat them to earn a stack of coins and usually a power-up. They're bonus stages, and usually over pretty quickly, but of course there's always scope for more complex levels in later worlds.

Andrew: In a screenshot of Super Mario 3D Land, level 1-1 on the map appears to consist of a grassy field with colored blocks from SMB3, Goombas, and Cheep-Cheeps. But, in the second trailer for 3D Land that came out after TGS '11, world 1-1 has a white and pink structure extremely reminiscent of Princess Peach's Castle. Would you happen to know whether Level 1-1 takes place at or near Peach's Castle or not?

Excellent eyesight! We assume you mean this screenshot when compared to this trailer. In this very recent screenshot of World 1-1 you can see Peach's castle is in the background, but a shot of the world map released on the same day doesn't show Peach's castle. We're getting mixed messages from Nintendo on this one, so let's leave it as open until we can get an answer.

No sign of Peach here

Joel: How many levels were in each world? Also, how does the Circle Pad feel for control, as I heard some concerns about that. Did the worlds have themes, like the 2D series, or random ideas, like the 3D ones?

World 1 has seven levels: that's including Toad's House, which fulfils the same purpose as in SMB3. Worlds themselves aren't as obviously themed as New Super Mario Bros., for example, but you'll see thematic similarities: a desert world, a grassy world, ice, haunted house and so on. The levels themselves are more centred around concepts than environments, though: one strongly resembles Flipswap Galaxy from SMG2, only more evil.

The Circle Pad feels good, though it's strange to have full analogue control and a run button, like a strange compromise between Mario's 2D and 3D control schemes.

As for the worlds, the first world starts off with the Super Mario Bros. template — 1-1 is overworld, 1-2 is underground —

Matthew: What does the Luigi statue do in this game? How will StreetPass work?

We're honestly not sure about the Luigi statue, but see above for our response. As for StreetPass, it'll allow you to exchange "items and information" according to Nintendo, which could mean pretty much anything. We asked, but Nintendo isn't ready to share this information yet.

Cyberguy: What other powerups are in the game besides the Tanooki suit, Fire Flower, and Propeller Block? Was there the Goomba Shoe? The Frog Suit? The Cape Feather? F.L.U.D.D.?

These puzzles work fine in 2D or 3D

We've played the first two worlds and haven't seen any suits other than Tanooki, Fire Flower and Propeller Block. However we do know that there's a pretty cool white, 'super' Tanooki Suit that shows up to help players who die repeatedly. We know there's more suits to come — Shigeru Miyamoto has said so — but we'll have to wait to see what they are.

Super Mario 3D Land is yours to own in just one month, so we will no longer be taking questions for the FAQ.