Mario is back, and back in 3D. That was the big Nintendo news for Mario fans at this year after everyone’s favourite plumber missing the launch of the Nintendo 3DS earlier in the year.

But is he going to be fashionably late, or just one of those guests you wish you hadn’t invited? We tracked down Super Mario 3D on the Nintendo 3DS at this year’s E3 to find out. Read on to see what we thought.

Name

Super Mario 3D

What platform is it on?

Nintendo 3DS

When's it due out?

What other game is it like?

Does it use any new tech like 3D, PlayStation Move, or Kinect for Xbox 360?

3D

The pitch

Super Mario 3D for Nintendo 3DS is an all new game that combines classic Mario game play and 3D visuals in a truly amazing way. It's the return of the Tanooki Mario! Tanooki Mario has a tail that allows him to hover jump easily from platform to platform or even take out enemies with a quick whip of the tail. Players of all skill levels will enjoy playing the game.

The storyline

Wasn’t announced at E3 however you get bet their will be turtles to kill, and a princess to save.

Our first impressions

Having watched the trailer at the Nintendo E3 press conference in Los Angeles, we then tracked down Super Mario 3D (working title) at the company’s booth on the show floor to get a hands on with the new game to see whether you should be getting excited.

Yep it’s as good as ever with the fanbois rewarded as ever, as you play Mario trying to get to the end of yet another level and avoid turtles, plants and everything else in-between.

Super Mario 3D is, according to Nintendo the first Mario platformer that has been built from the ground up for a handheld system and has been created by the same development team that worked on the Super Mario Galaxy games.

That fact means a lot of the Mario Galaxy stlye gameplay has rubbed off here. Combine that with the last Mario brothers outing on the DS and you start to get an idea of what the levels entail. 

e3 quick play super mario 3d image 2
Pocket-lint

The gameplay is simple, the colours are vibrant, and the experience enjoyable in 3D – although as with all Nintendo 3DS games, it’s just as fun with the 3D turned down or off.

There are some benefits to playing it in 3D – it’s easier to judge jumps for example, and Nintendo have created a game that benefits from the new depth that is afforded to it. hitting blocks for coins also proved easier as well.

Health isn’t metered as in recent outings, however like the traditional platformer of yesteryear. Get hit once and you shrink, hit again and you die to start back over again.

Most exciting, especially for the nostalgic amongst you will enjoy, will be pleased to hear that Nintendo have brought back the Tanooki suit for Mario to wear from Super Mario 3.

Find a super leaf on the ground and Mario suddenly dons a squirrel suit allowing him to spin his tail to slow himself down after jumping off a high ledge. Sadly the suit has lost the power of flight, but it’s still fun nonetheless and for those that have embraced the Mario world from the start, a chance to relive fond moments.

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Pocket-lint

Fun bits elsewhere include the piranha plants that now spit ink at the screen blocking your view (also a trick used in Mariokart incidentally) reminding you that you’re playing in 3D.

It’s Nintendo playing with the three dimensional landscape in the way that only they do, and should mean plenty of treats to be discovered as you play into the game.

Sadly we were only able to play the one level on the show floor, but juddging by the presentation we saw at the Nintendo press Mario fans won’t be disappointed.

Super Mario is expected out later this year.

Please note

The E3 games convention is a fantastic chance to see the latest games due out over the coming year, as well as, letting us get a glimpse into what is going to be the big titles and the ones to avoid like the plague.

The big problem however is that for most of the titles that glimpse is, well, just that. At the show you'll get to play a level here or a multiplayer map there or even have a product manager walk you through a specific level.

So with that in mind we present you with our Quick Play.

What we've done is broken down the key facts you need to know and then given you our first impressions based on around 15 minutes of gaming. For us that 15 minutes isn't enough to do a First Look review or even a review. How can you rate a game that offers over 30 hours of gaming on just 15 minutes of play? However it should hopefully give you an idea, a feeling, a notion, of what to expect come launch day.