Played it on the NSO right after Mario Land 1, I was expecting to get a really similar experience to the predecessor.
And it honestly it went better that I expected.
I feels Mario land 2 is a mari ogame like no other: it feels like a bridge between the standard mario platformer and the weirdness of the wario land series.
Instea of opting for a standard straight progression, the map opens after the first levels, leaving you the freedom to choose which world and levels to explore.
That is honestly really fascinating, especially considering how much creative are the worlds in this one: a giant mario ststue, a graveyard with Friday the 13th references, an hippo that literally sent you to the moon, the inside of a whale, a world in miniuature....

the gameplay is considerably better than SML1, taking inspiration by SMW and feeling impressive for a Game Boy title. The new Rabbit powerup is just a rehash of the tanooki lef but it does its job decently I suppose.

The way the game leads to the progression with the different (kinda just okay) bsses to collect the 6 golden coins make you end up in Wario's castle, honestly a really tricky take on a final level with hidden traps and weird design decision that honestly add a lot to the experience.

ALso wario is here and honestly as it's first debut.... it leaves a damn first impression. He is weird, he is tricky and he reflects Mario not only in the way he moves around, but also how he uses powerups in its different phases. It reallymsolidified himself as a great rival for mario since the beginning. Love that guy.

SO yeah, genuinelly surprised with his one... it's still like a short experience that kinda suffer for the hardware it was put in, but I really liked it.

3 years later, after the relative success of Mario land 1, yokoi would return and give us a Mario land sequel we all deserved. A sequel that improved on the original in quite a few ways. Its sequel would also end up being quite a hit, with the game getting a lot more inspiration from the recent Super Mario World and going above and beyond to make the game as ambitious as possible. So let’s dive into it shall we?

So this time, Mario land 2 actually does take place in Mario land. While Mario was away, his rival Wario took over and now Mario has to take it back by finding 6 coins in 6 differently themed areas and then facing up against Wario. This was the game to introduce Wario and would end up being the precursor to that of the Wario land games, which I promise, I will get to one day.

In terms of gameplay, it takes both a few steps forward and a step back. I said it took a lot more inspiration from Super Mario World and trust me: it really does show. The sprites match that of it and the power-ups also reflect it. This time there are two: the fire flower and…a carrot…which helps you fly. The fire flower is a lot more traditional, with the carrot being very similar to things such as the tanooki suit and the cape feather. Then there are the 6 different areas which are all accessed by a world map, which is very similar to the world maps of Super Mario Bros. 3 and obviously World. The 6 worlds include the Tree zone, the space zone, the macro zone, the pumpkin zone, the turtle zone and the Mario zone with them each having different bosses and amount of levels.

After all this we finally face up to Wario in a pretty interesting final level. Personally, this is probably one of my least favourite final levels, mainly because of its random bullshit thrown everywhere. You survive a pool of lava and then whoop- looks like you got hit by a random mechanical fist. The bane of my existence. The Wario boss is also pretty annoying but it isn’t all too bad. He just uses the different power ups you used and you have to adapt to them and hopefully not die. But then, Mario finally gets his castle back, and harmony is restored.

Something quick to mention is the zoomed in camera. My problem with the first Mario land was it was way too zoomed out which would probably be tedious to play in the wrong lighting conditions. But thankfully for this game they zoomed it out! Well…maybe zoomed it out a little too far. This was the step back I was talking about earlier. The camera is a pain to deal with. The only thing you can control is what is above you and what is below you, anything to the sides you’re just gonna have to risk it and hope an enemy or spike isn’t there. I didn’t have that many problems with it but when it annoyed me, it annoyed me.

Overall, out of the 2 games I’d say Mario Land 2 is a great improvement over the original. It applies a lot more inspiration from its console counterparts whilst still doing its own thing. While it is still quite flawed in areas, I have to admit it’s a very fun time. Whether I’ll get to the Wario land games I’ll definitely see.

Quirky sequel to a quirky game boy game, music still slaps, nice sprites, cool areas, shit camera, and fuck the mechanical arms

Unironically, this is one of the best video game sequels ever made and a genuine contender for the best 2D Mario.

For what it is and the time when it released, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is an absolute marvel. When reviewing older games, I try to analyze a given title from both of the following viewpoints equally - “How does this hold up now?” and “How good is this for the time when it was released?”. If the answer to the latter question leans positive, I’m more likely to overlook some of the usual frustrations that come with game design philosophies of a title’s respective era.

Frankly, Super Mario Land 2 is a platformer that just straight up holds up today. It feels like a home console quality Mario game which has been perfectly translated onto a portable console (a fucking original Game Boy, at that). The weirdness I loved so much in the previous game is intact - level themes are possibly the most creative in the entire series, enemies are once again incredibly varied, and on the whole it feels like a game that combines the very best of all 2D Mario games prior.

The sprites are more detailed, levels incorporate a refreshing amount of verticality not often seen in the Mario series, and did I mention that you can play any world in any order?

It’s also incredibly forgiving on lives and checkpoints, allowing it to sidestep many of the usual frustrations of other games from the era. Any and all jank is basically gone and the platforming feels so much tighter. Genuinely, I don’t know that I’ve ever played a Game Boy game that felt more fair. Screw-ups were my screw-ups, and the game doesn’t punish you too hard for them.

The only genuine issue I have with this game is one that a lot of early handheld platformers face - the lack of screen space. In the previous game, the camera was more zoomed out, and thus Super Mario Land felt like one of the few Game Boy platformers that don’t feel like they’re suffering from the Game Boy’s tiny screen size. The downside to this is that much of the sprites and textures are less detailed as a result - Super Mario Land 2 does the opposite, zooming the camera back in to allow for more detailed spritework. A widescreen hack would easily fix this, and to the game’s credit, it was never a massive issue - only on a few occasions did it trip me up, but it’s still something to note. The change is definitely worth it, but I would love to see this fixed in a future re-release.

If you had told me that Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins had been developed recently as a throwback title, I would have believed you. It boggles the mind that Nintendo were able to make a handheld Mario as good as this on only their second try. I stand by the statement that this is the most creative level themes in Mario have ever been, and I adore it for that. Never again will we see a giant robot Mario’s ballsack as a level (yes, really), nor the inside of a giant turtle. It also introduced Wario, so I have to love it for that too.

An even better entry in the Mario franchise for the Game Boy than its already great predecessor. This time around the gameplay was based on the more recent titles, including an overworld map acting as a stage selection mechanic. The gameplay still retains the peculiarities that made the first Game Boy title its own unique thing. The music is also a mix of classic Mario tunes with unique compositions.

The Game Boy Mario games are also the biggest reason why I'm so brutal with most other platformers on the system. Nintendo proved you could make high quality platformers that could hold their own against the consoles of the day, but almost no one else bothered to step up to the plate. All that to say this is a fantastic third pillar of the Super Mario Bros 3. and Super Mario World trifecta.

Super Mario Land 2 improves on basically everything that was janky and rough in the first Super Mario Land, resulting in something much more on par with Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World... just a bit easier and shorter.

This game's kind of funny to me. Design-wise, everything is recognizably Mario - the levels have a familiar pace to them, and familiar Mario series elements all look basically like you'd expect from the home console games. And yet, I like how out-of-left-field a lot of the world themes and enemy designs are, with Mario exploring a giant toy version of himself, or fighting a nameless Witch in the the Pumpkin Zone.

There's a charming sort of deviation from the Mario formula, conceptually, while the gameplay and visual style nevertheless stays truer to it than the first Super Mario Land. It's surprisingly effective. Super Mario Land 2 may not surpass SMB3 or World, but it's a well-crafted game all the same.

It's quite impressive all things considered! The 2D Mario games are at their best when they deviate from the typical Mario experience and this is one of those games.

We have Mario rescuing his own turf from the devious lord of garlic, Wario. I have to give props to this game for introducing the meme lord. Along with that, there are 6 coins to collect in 6 unique areas. It's all very charming in its variety of styles and its refreshing not to have to fight Bowser or rescue a princess.

It's also neat that we can tackle any of the areas in any order. However, this causes all 6 areas to be relatively easy. This is further compounded by Mario's godly rabbit hat that lets him glide for long periods of time. Along with that, the final level is quite the gauntlet in relation to all the other levels. Admittedly, I quite enjoyed the challenge though, so I felt that it added to the experience.

Finally, there's a nice musical variety and I was honestly quite impressed by the music that plays in the space area.

Overall, I have to say that Super Mario Land 2 is well worth playing for fans of the Mario games.