Super Mario 3D Land and Taking off the Training Wheels

I love the heck out of Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS. One of my friends, however, begs to differ. In a conversation some time back, she says that the game focused too much on one of its features and came out weaker because of it.

The feature in question is the game's "Tanooki Suit" power-up. Simply put, the Tanooki Suit's main function allows Mario to hover in air and generally be much more maneuverable when jumping. Since jumping between platforms is the backbone of the game, having this power-up clearly makes things tons easier.

After that conversation, I knew what I had to do. I created a new file in Super Mario 3D Land and set out to play through the game with one stipulation: Never use the Tanooki Suit. This way I can compare the impact of suit versus no suit.

My friends, this game is amazing when you don't use the Tanooki Suit. The stages are tougher to navigate, more careful jumping is necessary, and you even get to explore more of what the game has to offer.

First and most obvious, the game was more difficult. If I missed a jump over a pit, I couldn't just scramble my way back to try again. It was down into the pit with me. If my jump landed me in front of an enemy, that was my problem to deal with. And I loved it. It was practically a whole new game now that all the circumstances had been changed.  I adjusted my play style to account for a lack of a "get out of trouble free" card and was happily on my way.

Secondly, I came to appreciate the game's other power-ups. Despite the game emphasizing the Tanooki Suit so hard, it contained two other power-ups: the fire flower and the boomerang flower. These power-ups give Mario the ability to launch fireballs or use boomerangs to damage enemies. Boomerangs can even collect coins wherever it goes. However, these items offer no mobility upgrades, so they were booby prizes compared to the Tanooki Suit. In fact, I distinctly remember in my first play through going out of my way to avoid these power-ups. I only used the Tanooki Suit with another one in reserve.

See the shadow, the goomba, the tail in the title? It's everywhere, man.

Now that the "default" power-up was no longer in the picture, I was free to make use of the other two. This also added to the fun factor since I had more choices in how to defeat enemies. I could just clear the path from afar, pull some impressive shots by bouncing the fireballs off of walls, or safely defeat bosses by having my projectiles to the work. I could even carry the other item in reserve just in case I wanted to switch up the play style. I also got less upset when I took a hit and lost the power-up. I still had my core abilities and the way I moved stayed the same. In some cases, I would value the extra hit over the actual abilities of the power-up.

Thirdly, there is just more fun to be had when the game isn't too easy. I was amazed at how the game engaged me. Before, I could just float through - in some ways literally - without much challenge breaking my stride. Now I just had my skill, wits, and reaction time; all of which improved to adjust. For instance, I had to jump from a rotating block to reach a collectible item. The window for making this jump was tiny. I had to wait for the platform to rotate into the optimal position and still jump at the very furthest I could to get the most height and distance. I must had stayed at that point for at least half an hour straight, jumping, falling, coming up short, and having to traverse the whole stage again just for another shot. Finally, one particularly focused jump saw Mario perch himself on top of the flag pole. I earned a 1-up and a golden flag. I thought I had passed out and was dreaming. It probably was the most rewarding thing I had done in a video game in a long time.

If I were using the Tanooki Suit, I could have made the jump with a half-hearted effort on the first try. There also is an alternate way to make the jump much easier, but that would have had to wait way later in the game.

At this point, this post probably closely resembles the previous one, trumpeting the praises of the self-imposed challenge. And that is true that it's similar. In this case, rather than add more challenge to build a new skill, we are instead avoiding the path of least resistance to enrich the experience. I'd instead say that the game was built around Mario's default jumping abilities. Using the Tanooki Suit is more akin to an "easy mode" than the default.

I can now see where my friend's frustration comes in. The game wasn't necessarily middling to easy, it actually is pretty well crafted. However, it came bundled with Nintendo's PR move to put the Tanooki Suit front and center for the throwback effect. If only there were an Options menu button that could remove the Tanooki suit, or some method of bringing to peoples' attentions the possibility of playing the game in such a way. I count one single collectible that absolutely required the Tanooki suit to obtain. Otherwise, you could play through the game, as-is, and complete every objective. To prove my point, here's someone beating the game's toughest level without use of the Tanooki Suit.

This whole thing got me thinking on how we use inhibitors in our everyday life to make things more comfortable. These range from physical assistance such as escalators to mental and emotional processes that lead us away from the strain of thinking for ourselves. Go ahead. Try and find at least one thing you "use" in your life that makes it easier but duller. Do you think you could carry on without that thing for a little bit? I'd like to see you try. Others would probably like to see you try. Most importantly, I'd wager that you would like to see you try.