Super Mario Land Game Boy
Everything you need to know about Super Mario Land
Mario's first handheld gaming adventure was Super Mario Land, released in 1989. It was released alongside Nintendo's revolutionary Game Boy system, along with the best puzzle game ever created, Tetris. Hot on the heels of the Mario Bros. trilogy on NES, Super Mario Land had a lot to prove.
And I'll be damned if Super Mario Land isn't amazing. It's just what you'd expect from a Game Boy game; is a bite-sized version of its bigger brothers on consoles. It retains the basic gameplay formula found in the other Mario games, tasking players with reaching the end of each level before time runs out, collecting coins, going down pipes, stomping on heads, and performing incredible segments of platforms. Super Mario Land is beautifully designed, plays beautifully, and is a good example of translating console gameplay to a handheld device.
However, there are still subtle changes to the basic Mario formula. There are no bouncing turtle shells. Instead, jumping on a Koopa Troopa will cause it to retract into its shell, which will then explode. Many new enemies also abound, including large spiders and fireball-shooting seahorses.
Speaking of fireballs, one of Mario's signature abilities is quite different in this game. When you get a fire flower, Mario doesn't just shoot a bunch of fireballs. Instead, throw a single ball that bounces and bounces around the screen. It looks exactly like the ball from the quasi-Mario spin-off Alleyway, which may or may not be a cool reference. Anyway, it hurts the game a little.
When a ball is thrown, Mario cannot throw any more. Which means that the ball's richochet effect is much more of a detrimental feature than a useful one, as the only time this buff is useful is when you hit an enemy with a direct hit.
Super Mario Land gameplay
There are other changes to the gameplay as well. Instead of having Mario limited to simply running through levels, vehicular segments have also been included in the mix. Mario controls a submarine in this game, as well as a fighter plane. These sections are virtually identical, with Mario swimming or flying through the air, shooting at obstacles in the distance while avoiding enemy attacks and killing others.
These sections are a nice change of pace from the rest of the game, but there's something annoying about them. Mario can't turn around while in a vehicle, which is a strange and silly design decision, and makes some parts of the game much harder than they should be, such as the boss fights.
One thing that Super Mario Land can claim over previous Mario games is that it has fairly original boss fights, compared to the rest of the series. Bowser, Mario's archenemy, doesn't even appear in this game. Instead, Mario is on a quest to rescue Princess Daisy of Donkey Kong fame, and battles giant seahorses and a sphinx. I'm not even sure if this game takes place in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Regardless of the setting, these boss fights come down to two different formulas. Mario has to maneuver around the boss to get to a switch to destroy them (Super Mario Bros. style), or he has to use the vehicles to quickly shoot the boss, while dodging incoming fire. This variety of boss battles is respectable and keeps the game from becoming too repetitive.
Unfortunately, Super Mario Land is a very, very short game. Instead of the typical eight worlds of other Mario games, that number has been cut in half. There are only four worlds to play in this game. This game is really designed for multiple play and to be played when you are on a long trip and have nothing to do, but the fact is that the game can be completed in less than an hour if you are skilled enough.
There are Game Boy games with much more content than this, and the lack of worlds feels like a huge missed opportunity. However, the quality of each level is amazing, with not a single bad apple in the bunch.
However, once you've completed the game once, there's a chance you won't feel like playing it again. Personally, I reviewed it several times, just because the level design is great, but there are a lot of people who like to go through a game once and forget about it. There aren't that many secrets to discover, but the game keeps track of your high score, so there's an incentive to keep going and try to beat yourself.
Graphics
Now, Super Mario Land is certainly not a graphically intense game, even for the Game Boy. It looks like a basic black and white Game Boy game, with nothing really graphically impressive from start to finish. The vehicular segments work quite well despite everything happening on the screen at the same time, but the top of the screen has this strange flickering graphical effect that is common in catridge games.
Music and Sound
Nintendo nunca deja de impresionarme con su dominio del sonido de Gameboy. La música, aunque no es de tan alta calidad, es tan atmosférica y francamente pegadiza como todos los juegos de la consola doméstica. Los fans de Mario como yo gritarían maldita muerte si los efectos de sonido no estuvieran ‘marioizados’ pero, afortunadamente, no tenemos nada de qué preocuparnos. Ah, y no puedo hacer una reseña de un juego de Mario sin mencionar el «¡acabas de morir!» tintineo, pegadizo como siempre. Completamente impresionante en esta área.
Final reflection
Super Mario Land is a lot of fun and is a very important game, considering it was a launch title for the handheld that essentially invented portable gaming. The game is also a launch title for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console service, and is also available there if you want a more convenient way to access the game.
Game technical sheet
Genders)
platforms
game modes
1 Player
Cooperative
Nope
Format(s)
Cartridge
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