I have no idea what you're talking about, Super Mario 3D Land was awesome.
It was somewhat fun, in that I actually bothered to finish it, but it was just so bland. There wasn't any sense of exploration or discovery. It was pretty much a New Super Mario Bros game but in 3D - the gameplay wasn't any different.
OT: I never played much of Rare's games, but from what I've played and heard, it's a huge bummer Microsoft forgeted them up.