I find the toughest stages so far were the Special World retreads of that one stage where the red, blue, and yellow blocks flicker in and out. The one where each one appeared one at a time, and the one where the Cosmic Clone (or whatever the hell it's called in this game) chases you were two of the toughest times i've had thus far

The camera is bad or something, doesn't rotate?

You can only pan slightly, so that you can get a glimpse of what is ahead or behind.

Hm, doesn't sound too bad although it may get in the way of some things.

it isnt that bad. Only reason I am a little dissapointed because it would be nice to pan around fully to make it slightly easier finding the star coins , as time for me is a big issue so do not want to replay a level too many times looking. Some are relatively well hidden, so would begoo if it panned so I could go back in the level looking for missed one.

saying that, now that I am more in the game overall the impressions are very good and still fun to play. If i had more spare time on my hand this would be a non issue for me as I would enjoy running around the levels several times..

I love it. I think it's fun, more so than the Galaxy games and I think it does an excellent job of fusing the elements of 2D and 3D Mario together. The music is ace, the level design is excellent and the graphics and art style are brilliant. My only critique's would be that the normal worlds are a bit too easy, that the challenge/activity boxes (can't remember they're name) repeat too often and I suppose if I was being harsh I could say that one or two of the Star Medals in the special world seem to be a bit too frustrating to get at. I'd still say it's a 9/10 though. One of the best, if not the best, handheld mario game ever.

Rol, how do you like the game as a strong supporter of 2D Mario?

I see can be annoying apparently, but if I had a 3ds I'd definitely get it, seems like a great good 'ol Mario platformer!

Well it's easy till the end of World 7 I guess? Starting from World 8 all the way to Special 1 to Special 8 it's a good mix of easy and hard levels IMO.

And I always turn on my 3D no matter the game (damn you Devil Survivor Overclocked), but the 3D effects from SM3DL takes the cake. It's just amazing, not gimmicky at all. That's probably the standard Ninty wants to make. 3D for a purpose.

Plus it's a perfect mix of 2D and 3D elements of a Mario game.

Playing this game tempted me to go grab a new Wii and play SM Galaxy I & II, but well I'm cash strapped after I spent too much this year. (Half of my 5-year-old arsenal of games were bought this year)

That being said, SM3DL packs a "Wow" factor, but there still seems to be something missing. It lacks the "WOW" factor. It's full of O.O moments but it still lacks a proper jaw-dropping moment.

But it's still a pretty darn fine game. Well at least I feel that the wait for this after being an early 3DS adopter was worth it.

NOW GET ME ANOTHER POKEMON GAME FOR THE 3DS.

Huh, i prefer Luigi, but then again i always have. I've always been willing to sacrifice tight controls (and more power) for a higher jump, dating back to Super Mario Advance.

The only time i didn't prefer Luigi completely was Mario 64 DS, where i split him with Wario