Cara... como esse jogo envelheceu mal.

Eu sempre adorei Super Mario Land 2 e até hoje considero ele um dos jogos mais subestimados do Mario, quiçá da Nintendo. A quantidade de originalidade que aquele jogo esbanja (Principalmente para um jogo de Game Boy) não é brincadeira.
Naturalmente, com o primeiro Super Mario Land chegando no Nintendo Switch Online, a vontade de experimentá-lo foi instantânea, visto que é um jogo bastante clássico e é antecessor de uma baita pérola, então não tem como ele ser ruim, não é? Bom... talvez eu tenha colocado expectativa demais em um jogo bastante maltratado por limitações da época e carregando o peso de ser um jogo que difere pra caramba dos Marios tradicionais.

Pra quem não sabe, os jogos de Super Mario Land do Game Boy diferem consideravelmente de um Mario tradicional, aqui por exemplo a flor de fogo solta bolas que quicam nas paredes, as tartarugas literalmente explodem ao pisar nelas e o tema da estrela não existe aqui, só colocaram o can-can e foda-se. Isso e mais muitas outras diferenças relacionadas ao level design, mas enfim... ser diferente é só uma característica, não é isso que faz Super Mario Land ruim, afinal, o sucessor dele deve ser mais maluco e diferente ainda e eu amo ele.

A real é que parece que se embananaram um pouco ao transmitir a gameplay pro Game Boy, até porque minha principal crítica é em relação à movimentação, que achei bastante estranha e mal programada até mesmo pros padrões da época. A física é um lixo, o Mario pesa muito na hora de cair, e deve ser o único jogo do Mario em que eu achei de fato difícil de controlá-lo, até o Super Mario Bros. de NES consegue ganhar dele nesse quesito, e olha que esse game lançou quando Mario 3 já estava no mercado, ou seja, a movimentação clássica da série já estava consolidada.

Outra reclamação que eu tenho é na questão da falta de originalidade desse jogo. Não me levem a mal, eu até acho maneiro que escolheram umas temáticas mais diferentonas pros mundos, e na minha opinião era isso que separava o Mario Land dos Marios tradicionais na época, mas veja só, na minha humilde opinião desperdiçaram essas boas ideias montando um level design um tanto duvidoso.
Realmente parece que deram Ctrl C + Ctrl V em algumas partes, pois o início de algumas fases parece idêntico ao meio, só que com mais obstáculos e inimigos, quase como quando você enche sua fase em Super Mario Maker de inimigos e tralhas para ficar insanamente difícil, mas sem planejar nada.
Não temos mecânicas interessantes ao decorrer das fases, a maioria dos inimigos não tem tanto carisma e não temos salas bônus legais, e ah, esse deve ser o único jogo que eu já joguei na vida em que colocaram obstáculos mortais nas salas de bônus, eu realmente buguei... Afinal, essas salas não são pra recompensar o jogador?

Enfim, levando em conta tudo isso que eu falei, não pude deixar de terminar o game com um gosto amargo na boca, mas pelo menos o game é curtinho, 4 mundos de 3 fases cada. Talvez eu esteja sendo duro demais com um jogo de 1989, logo no início da vida do Game Boy, sendo como consequência, o início de Mario no portátil também, mas eu realmente não consegui deixar de notar o quão melhor esse game poderia ser, realmente esses embustes foram bastantes determinantes na minha gameplay, e se algo datou, acredito que tenham visto esses erros e corrigido eles nos próximos games, e quem jogou Super Mario Land 2 sabe muito bem que foi o caso aqui.

Se forem jogar, tenham em mente as limitações e falhas desse game, e não coloquem tanta expectativa como eu, mas é interessante ver como foi o início da franquia no Game Boy e como ela aprendeu com o tempo.

I've never played this game before, surprisingly. I figured, since it recently got added to the Switch Online emulator, I might as well fix that. Super Mario Land, as it turns out, is very much an early Game Boy game. Its a launch title, so I'll cut it some slack, but it is a very short game (only 4 worlds and 3 levels per world, meaning the game has 12 levels in total) and the level design doesn't have much substance to it. Its still a decently fun little 2D platformer, though, and I think the short length is ultimately a good thing since it means the game didn't overextend itself too much. I tend to prefer Game Boy games to be shorter anyway since it can encourage replaying the game and its a design decision that meshes well with the portability of the console. I will say that its pretty staggering just how much better Super Mario Land 2 is in every way, but I know that's an unfair comparison. Super Mario Land took me only an hour or so to beat, and it probably would've taken even less if I didn't die or get game overs (I had a few idiot moments of dying to the same obstacle a few times over).

In gameplay, Super Mario Land sort of feels like a watered-down Super Mario Bros on NES, except the physics are more awkward and, weirdly enough, Mario actually moves very fast. This is one of the very few 2D platformers that saw me hardly ever using the run button; Mario's walk speed is deceptively quick and the screen is just too small, so its a major risk to be holding the run button. The game does have pretty unique enemies, though, like spiders that descend down from the ceiling and Jiangshi that jump around the level and can't be killed. Even Koopa Troopas are different this time around since, for some reason, jumping on them makes their shell explode instead of just leaving the shell around for you to kick. Goombas are still the same, though. Aside from one or two unique level gimmicks the game will throw at you, such as the bouncing rocks you can stand on to traverse over spikes, and the previously mentioned enemy variety, there really isn't anything in this game that you won't also find in Super Mario Bros. Probably the most unique thing about Super Mario Land are the sidescrolling shoot-em-up levels, in which Mario rides a submarine/airplane and shoots enemies. They're pretty fun, albeit a little annoying because of how small the screen is. These levels have enemies feel like they came out of nowhere as a result. Also, the game has no underwater levels, and, frankly, that's purely a positive for me.

The game has little to no story, but the presentation is pretty neat in its own way, so I will discuss that just a bit. The game itself doesn't exactly look appealing, but the enemy design and background designs are really fun. I love how one of them just has tons of Moai and its cool that one of the underground levels has a strong Egyptian theme with hieroglyphs and sphynx enemies to fight. My favorite world thematically is probably World 4 for the Chinese bamboo forest aesthetic, in which they cleverly replicate the look and feel of bamboo through warp pipes. Also, the soundtrack in this game is genuinely the best part about it, I'd almost say Super Mario Land is worth playing for the music alone. Every song is so catchy and fun and I really do love listening to them.

Overall, Super Mario Land is an alright game. I don't think its very worth revisiting in the modern day since it just feels dated and barebones, even compared to other Game Boy games, but it does have some aspects that make it stand out a bit despite its simplicity. I give it a decent 3 stars.

This is very likely the weakest sidescrolling Mario game that Nintendo has made. To enjoy it, you really have to forgive it for being a Game Boy launch title - they didn't seem to really know yet how to create great games for the machine. By the time the sequel came out (Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins), you could tell they had really figured the Game Boy out. Mario Land 2 is an amazing game.

This game is weird in a way that sort of salvages the otherwise mediocre experience. All Mario games back in the day felt weird, but in modern times this one stands out since it was a dead end for a lot of new ideas for Mario. Seeing Mario frolic past moai heads, blast sea creatures in his little submarine, and fend off kung fu zombies does give some justification to get through the brief hour long playtime. Also, the theme over the ending credits is a bop.

You can’t have a Nintendo console without having its launch game being a Mario title. Some may argue the nes was the console that started that trend but I’ll always say that the game boy was the console to solidify the Mario series as the one thing you have to have launch your console. This is also the first Mario game not to have any sort of influence from miyamoto himself and was actually the game that was going to show off the game boy’s power…until they decided to bundle in Tetris instead but that was probably a much safer option. So let’s dive into the very first Mario land game.

The story is pretty simple: Mario goes to a place known as sarasaland in the hope of saving princess daisy from the evil tatanga. The game is split into 4 worlds which each consist of 3 levels each with there usually being a boss at the end of each of the final levels. The levels themselves are very similar to the original Mario bros. You have the suspended blocks in the air, the goomba’s and koopa’s, the pipes leading to secret areas, and the power ups. However, the levels no longer end with the flag pole and instead just let Mario go into a small door, or if your feeling a little adventurous, you can do a small platforming section to get to a door above to go through a bonus minigame. These either grant you extra lives or a power up.

2 of the levels are also shooter levels which are…fine? It’s not like I have an awful grudge against them cause there are only 2 and they don’t go on for that long. As for the levels themselves they are also fine. My only real issue is that it is all way too small. I get why they made it like that, it’s a small screen and they wanted it to have similar dimensions to the original, but did they not factor in that I can’t see shit at the best of times and no night light will be able to help me see this minuscule shit.

Overall, Mario land is definitely a quirky little game boy title with some questionable design choices. Now that I think about it, Tetris was probably a pretty good choice to show off the system’s capabilities. The game is still really fun and I would probably still recommend people try it, but its sequel would definitely improve things and also bring in a new problem.

Quirky little game boy game, goated music, tiny characters, oh daisy!

This game is super short, so I'll honour it correctly and make my review of it super short.

The level design is simple, yet effective. Mario has weird, slippery physics, but at this point, I should expect that from older Mario games. The number of levels is small, yetI get that it was a launch title for the original Game Boy, so it's fine I guess. Uhh... it was Daisy's first appearance! She evolved to become my favourite of the Mario princesses!

Umm... Yeah, that's it. Simple, decent game that I guess I wouldn't mind replaying if I was bored.

For what it is, I like Super Mario Land, and even being a game with significant limitations, it has a certain charm about it. The wealth of catchy new music and the unique settings of Sarasaland give the game a simple, yet colorful personality, despite the simplistic gameplay from the early days of the game boy.

Regardless, charm can only do so much, as the game can still feel incredibly frustrating to play. Jumps are wonky compared to the normal ease with which Mario handles, as controlling your momentum is incredibly difficult. The graphics are ancient, even by Game Boy standards, as the sequel on the same hardware looked much better. It felt like I was playing some overly simple mobile game, like Flappy Bird or Doodle Jump. Not what you want from a platformer, even on a mobile console. The poor aging of Super Mario Land make it hard to justify coming back to it, even with its unique characteristics. Nothing this game did was the best in the series, not by a long shot, so there's always a better game to play.

Still, there are a few things that helped the game for me. The platforming and level design did not overstep its limits for what players could realistically accomplish with such simple controls. It also did its best to create its own identity, contrasting with other games in the franchise. It replaced the typical enemies with bomb koopas and spiders. The bouncy-ball power up was fun to aim and ricochet. The game's airplane segments were a fun break from the platforming, allowing for a new style of gameplay that Mario hadn't seen before. The game is short, at only 12 levels, but frankly, it didn't need to be much longer - it was a designed as a simple, replayable Mario game that could be taken on the go.

Overall, decent game. Certainly not a must-play, but I can see the appeal.

Yeah, I dunno. I still don't get it. After just replaying the game (because it's short so why not), I'm really surprised by the overall positive-to-mixed reactions to the game after its addition to NSO. I really thought that its addition would cause more people to look at it in a more critical light, but I guess people truly will eat up any platformer with "Mario" in the title, huh...

People call this game "weird" to justify giving it high scores, but I actually think this is one of the most aggressively bland Mario games out there. It is paint-by-numbers Mario, but it even feels like a pale imitation of that, with uninteresting level design and zero secrets. It's like Mario 1 but even further stripped down to its bare essentials. If having a few unique character designs and two generic space shooter stages constitutes "weird", then those are some extremely low standards of weirdness. If you want weird, play Mario Land 2. That's a game that truly earns its reputation for weirdness, and it's also much higher quality too.

Is having a few weird character designs and some mild historical significance really enough to single-handedly give this game a passing score? Enough to look past the controls and visuals and everything else that is clearly substandard? Honestly after thinking about it I truly feel confident in saying that this is my pick for the worst mainline Mario game. I'm pretty shocked that it isn't brought up more in that discussion.

Pretty inoffensive game all things considered, and it makes sure not to overstay it's welcome with only 4 worlds, though that was probably due to limitations of the time rather than some kind of intentional design decision...

The physics are sorta janky but you can't really fault it too much considering it was the very first handheld Mario. You can learn to wrangle Mario decently enough with patience, similarly to the original on NES... though, the entire time, I was wishing I could play these levels with a more straight conversion of the Super Mario Bros. physics rather than Super Mario Land's rough approximation of them. It's essentially a lesser version of that game due to the clear limitations of the Gameboy.

Something that surprised me about this game, however, was how great the atmosphere was, and that's due in part to the stellar soundtrack by Hirokazu Tanaka, though it's surprising how much personality and variety is packed into each level compared to something like Super Mario Bros from years prior even in terms of just graphics. Pretty much every world, let alone level, feels like an entirely distinct location, and Nintendo R&D1 did a really good job getting great mileage out of the Gameboy's minuscule cartridge space. The game's simple, limited art style couldn't help but capture my imagination: It really felt like Mario was going on a globetrotting adventure, once again, even moreso then something like it's predecessor on NES. It's a pretty cool time capsule of how far technology and gaming had come since the early 80's... like, a recreation of an NES game on a handheld that's even half way there in terms of gameplay and is arguably more artistically varied is nothing to sneeze at I think.

All that's to say, it won't blow your socks off, but it's pretty easy to appreciate it for what it is rather than what it isn't, especially when any perceived misdeeds it made were quickly rectified in the following handheld Mario platformers.

Ultimately, it's worth a try if you're curious about the history of this series, but it's definitely not something I'd come back to very often I think. As said above, however, it's short length is definitely appreciated.

Never managed to finish this game as a kid in the 90's on my niece's grey brick GameBoy. I can now confidently and proudly say that I'm a better gamer than 5 year old me.

It's not really hard when you get used to Mario's weird physics and it's not a particularly long game either. It's fun to experience a Mario game back when the franchise didn't any conventions that were set in stone.

The Koopas explode. The star jingle is now Offenbach's Can Can. To be fair Nintendo used classical music for other releases like Tetris. It was a thing you could do and nobody would bat an eye.

Go play it if you have half an hour to burn or something.

Honestly, for Mario’s first handheld outing, I feel like this holds up pretty well.

Obviously the criticisms are there - the level design can be pretty basic, controls sometimes feel jank, and a number of series staples are either missing or compromised to make it work on a handheld. But because of how important and ambitious a title it was, it becomes easy to overlook these shortcomings.

It’s games like Super Mario Land that sometimes make me wish I had been around for the age of the Game Boy - I imagine this would’ve kept me entertained for hours on long journeys, even if handheld titles today are objectively more complete and fulfilling experiences.

Even so, I still had this on original hardware as a kid for some reason, so I actually still have a fair bit of nostalgia for this one.

What makes Super Mario Land so memorable to me however, out of Mario’s earlier adventures, is just how unique it is. Some may criticize it for the same reason, but this game has a lot of weirdness that I feel gives it such a strong, distinct identity. The enemy variety, level themes, even the main villain are unlike any we’ve seen in the series before or since. And I think that makes Super Mario Land a pretty unique, short and sweet platformer - and proof you don’t need all the processing power in the world to make a fun game.

I mean, come on, in what other Mario game are you going to travel through Egypt, fight strange stone-faced creatures, encounter aliens in flying saucers, all before ending up in feudal Japan?

wait a FUCKING SECOND I just described odyssey