I was one of the people on this site who hated the E3 reveal, the nerd rage was strong with me that day; but after a few days I completely forgot about it, didn't care that much about the game to be honest. Even after when the ND back in October showed more footage for the game I was still not that excited about it, I thought it look ok but I was still in the "meh" side of things. I also didn't like Mario 3D Land, never even finished that game, and 3D World reminding me of that one didn't help at all.

I still bought the game because I knew I was gonna get it eventually and since this a Mario game, the price probably won't drop in like a year or even more (it probably won't ever drop on the Eshop, which is where I buy games), also because why the hell not.

Anyway, so I start playing the game and during the first 2 worlds I was like "is a fun game, but that's about it", but the more I keep playing the more I started to like it. By world 3 I couldn't stop playing, even after playing hours and hours I never got bored. Every level throws something new at you, every level feels unique in its own way. The artstyle is just simple amazing, everything looks so clean and polished, this is definitely what you call eye candy, even more than Wind Waker HD.

The cat suit has become my favorite Mario powerup, is just so much fun to use, and it can break the game in many ways which something I find enjoyable. Is also a great game to speedrun which is a huge plus for me (long live the fast Toad!). The music still doesn't hold to the likes of the Galaxy games, but it still very very good. 3D World has the best Boo house song ever in a Mario game and has some pretty catchy songs. 

Just like other 3D Mario games, the game is just about the right difficulty for me, the first 5 worlds or so are pretty damn easy, and even though I was having fun, I still felt like some challenge was missing; but after world 6 the game started to get a little bit more challenging (especially when trying to get the 3 green stars and the stamp), when I reached the final non-extra world I was having quite a bit of trouble getting 100% on those levels, which imo is great. I still haven't completely finish the game though. I just beat the first extra world (world star I believe) so I still have plenty of levels to go, which I heard can be quite challenging so I'm really looking forward to it.

Overall this is an amazing Mario game and waaaaaaay better than 3D Land which a lot of people like to compare it to. So because this is pretty much a norm around here:

Galaxy 1 > Sunshine > 3D World > Mario 64 > Galaxy 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 3D Land

i thought it looked really stupid at first.
then i played it and exploded in my pants.

The game is fucking awesome! The last extra stage is really really hard specially if you do it alone! Good to see you ended up liking the game! I also raged at the E3 reveal but after the October trailer I was sold on the game.

And yes the cat powerup is the best powerup along with the tanooki suit in the whole Mario franchise.

The game looks awesome but unfortunately I will never play it. After buying 3D Land and absolutely hating it, I cant see why I would pay full price for the next one. And Nintendo games dont go down in price at all in Australia, not even 7 years on so I simply wont be buying it =(

I don't get it.

I personally didn't hate 3D Land, but I didn't enjoy it that much either. While both games look similar, they play almost completely different, but if you like more the style of Mario 64 and Sunshine then you should probably pass on this one.

3D World is much better than 3D Land. 

It's deliciously fantastic, and I find myself agreeing with pretty much everything in the OP. The Boo House song is marvelous! Although yes, the Galaxies had much better music, even though 3D World's is very good, at times.

i find 3dland so dull and boring so i though 3dworld would be like that too. Thankfully i was wrong

 Here you go, Osed. Some fresh crows. 

Am glad you gave you are enjoying the game :)