Some may know this game from the million-coin challenge. There was a promise that if you collected 1 million coins throughout your progress in the game, you would be rewarded. And rewarded those that did it were...with a brand spanking new title screen and a message of congratulations. Yup, that’s it. No extra level, no extra character, that’s it.

So yes, your money will perish with you. But the memories you make playing this game fortunately are about more than collecting coins.

If you’ve played New Super Mario Bros. DS or Wii, then you’ll feel at home. The goal is to get to the flagpole at the end, Mario style. X or Y to run and grab objects, B or A to jump. Jumping several times in a row with great timing will allow longer and higher jumps. This can be essential to get a one-up at the flagpole at the end without having the raccoon tail, which makes its return here from Super Mario Bros. 3.

8 worlds make their appearance here, but there isn’t too much substance, despite the liberal scattering of coins throughout the game. It’s pretty much another Super Mario game with a new coat of paint. Whether or not you like this game will almost entirely depend on how you like the color of the game. If you liked New Super Mario Bros., but weren’t very good at it, you’ll almost surely like this. But if you liked New Super Mario Bros. AND were good at it, you might find this game quite disappointing.

The worlds are very similar to those done in the past: greens, desert, island, mountain, clouds, volcano, and secret worlds (mushroom, flower, star). Many elements from previous games make their return (secret flagpoles, star coins, etc.) while others are missing (the only four powerups are fire flower, raccoon leaf, mini mushroom, and gold flower). This last one is a new powerup, and works quite well in some instances. It defeats enemies and gives you a coin value, and can turn some objects into coins. It does not work against most enemy projectiles, though.

Another addition are gold hoops. This will temporarily turn all enemies gold, and is put to use in interesting ways. Boos will flee, leaving behind a trail of coins. Koopa shells, when kicked, will produce coins in its wake and give you coins according to the number of enemies you defeat with it before time runs out. You may set up a trail of enemies for a koopa shell to send them flying and reward you with coins. These moments are among the most enjoyable in the game, and are a delight to pull off.

The final addition are gold bricks, albeit seen before in Super Mario 3D Land. By bashing a certain brick a certain number of times, it will either attach to Mario head or spew out coins, depending on how it was hit. If it attaches to Mario, he will be able to take one hit without taking damage. After a certain number of coins have been gathered, it will disappear and claps can be heard.

But the pace of the game is much slower for this. Time limits even go up to 600 for some levels. One might rightly miss the platforming of previous titles. And only when one’s focus shifts off the coins can one see this game’s flaws. It may even seem lazy. But there is much fun to be had, and the ability of the game to keep track of coin high scores is wonderful.

Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the game is the 3D. One of the 3DS’ strong suits is rendering several frames interposed upon each other in 3D. The effect in this game is marvelous! It is fantastic to see. And the final boss fight of the game may well be the greatest 3D effect ever achieved in a 3DS game.

The music is traditional. For those who have played a Mario game, you will recognize pretty much every tune in the game. It is all done well, but nothing really stands out, like the music of Mario Galaxy did, for example.

There is also a Coin Rush mode. In this mode, you rush quickly to the flagpole while gaining as many coins as possible. It is spread across 3 levels of 3 worlds. Only certain levels appear here, and perhaps as the greatest insult (or funniest joke), Nintendo charges $25 for all the remaining levels ($2.50 per pack).

Overall: Your enjoyment of this game will largely depend on how well you can deal with the coin gathering aspect of the game. You may wish to ignore it. You might want to try to beat a high score. But you cannot remove it. It is highly ingrained in this title. For that reason, I cannot give this game a very high score.

I give it an 8.0.