There's understandably a spotlight on Super Mario 3D World with its impending Switch port but we shouldn't forget what came before. 3D Land may be the better selling game but it simply doesn't have the same prominence in conversation and is largely seen as the lesser of the two. We're not here to compare them though, we went back to the 3DS original to see why it should be remembered on its own merits.

This is the game the saved 3DS and justified stereoscopic 3D - who knows where the system would be without it. 3D Land merged the essence of Sandbox Mario with the basics of the traditional 2D series and the results feel effortlessly elegant. Nintendo clearly had a lot of ideas for this one, so many in fact that they essentially packed a sequel into this post game!

We had a blast revisiting 3D Land and while it certainly has its shortcomings, we believe it deserves to stand alongside every other game in the series.

What do you think about Super Mario 3D Land almost 10 years later? (We're in denial about this game being 10 in November too)