Even though this is one of the more well known Touhou fangames (at least among the Japanese Touhou fanbase) I didn't try this game out until very recently. The visual style is very cute, the soundtrack is as good as anything else composed by Akiyama U2 and the level design is mostly good with a lot of unique powerups and encounters that provide a unique take on the mario platforming formula. The 10 red stars to find in most levels also provides a lot of replay value and challenge incentive for completionists.

However; New Super Marisa Land is held back by a somewhat "bootleg" feel to the whole thing. When playing the game everything from the movement controls to collision detection feels a bit off. Not massively off and the game remains perfectly playable throughout but still off enough to feel like a bootleg of an actual 2D mario game. When Marisa is running it takes a bit too long to pick up momentum and when she has momentum it takes too long to slow down again, giving the game a "slippery" feel as though you're constantly walking on ice blocks. It's clearly trying to emulate the P speed mechanic of SMB3 but doesn't do a very good job at it.

Also some levels cross the boundary from fair challenge into the realm of genuinely frustrating. Overall I'd recommend this game for Touhou fans who also like platformers as long as you can tolerate the slippery controls.

Reviewed on Mar 31, 2021


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