Super Mario Land, honestly, is incredibly underrated. I may be more glowing in this review than most people are, but I think that’s because my weird connection to this game comes from the fact that I feel like I discovered a hidden Mario gem. Among all the classic (NES,GB,SNES) Mario games, this is the one that is BY FAR talked about the least, and honestly I find that kinda sad.
I’d been watching a lot of The Gaming Historian and I saw the episode on the Super Mario Land series, and one day thought that it would be pertinent for me to give the first one at least a try. I then proceeded to hop onto Vimm’s lair, download a Gameboy emulator and a ROM of the game in a couple of minutes, then get sucked into the game for a couple of hours while simultaneously putting off my homework.
This is a different Mario game than its contemporaries in some ways- its far smaller than the rest, sitting at a smooth 4 worlds with 3 levels each, but it manages to pack that tiny length with so much variety and charm that it blew my friggin’ mind. I think this bite/pocket sized length is my favorite aspect of this game. It does so much within the limitations of a Gameboy launch title in terms of getting the most out of the power and visuals of the early development of the system that it really did impress me. Each level in this game is SO visually and mechanically distinct from the last because it has to compact everything down to such a short length, and this makes the game feel much more varied than even Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World. On top of this, there are two shoot-em-up levels dispersed throughout the game, with one being the final level, and this is something that (as far as I know) no other Mario game has. That fact alone makes this a super special game, but honestly it goes even further than that for me.
I’ll come out and say it, this heavy, drops-like-a-stone Mario is my favorite Mario controls I’ve played. I always felt so in control of my movements with where I fell and with the lack of any sliding when you stop running, it was super refreshing to come off of SM3 and World which are so incredibly momentum based. This enjoyment I had with the controls in Super Mario Land meant that I was finally compelled to get good at a Mario 2D platformer, and that was a great feeling to have coming from someone who historically wrote off the genre as too simplistic to fully dig into.
This game also has one of my absolute favorite video game soundtracks of all time. Birabuto and Muda kingdoms are incredible tunes, and the ending theme has no business being as killer as it is. Seriously, go give it a listen. It does so much with the simple tune chips of the gameboy, and I absolutely love it for that. I also just love how weird this game is. It’s incredibly visually distinct from the other Mario games, the only consistency being power mushrooms, stars and goombas. You fight robots that throw their heads at you, fish skeletons, fireball-shooting seahorses, flying and running moai heads, and even jumping vampires that can’t be beaten by jumping on them. Even the Koopas act differently in this than any other Mario, with their shells exploding shortly after you bounce off of them, giving even that simple enemy a unique flair.
There are also a few mechanics that this game has that I wish were translated into other Mario games, because it would be great to see them fleshed out more. The only new power-up here (well, really the only power-up) is the Super Ball, which is incredibly satisfying to use. It bounces around the stage, turning the level into a mini game of breakout. It can also collect coins, leading to some fun bonus areas, and can deal a lot of damage to an enemy if they end up trapped in a corridor with it. I also really love the stage exits and associated chutes-and-ladders style 1-Up mini-game, giving you a small platforming challenge that rewards you for taking a risk and then giving you a chance to earn some lives back at the end of each level. This is my favorite of the level end bonuses in Mario, far surpassing the cards from 3 or the stars from World. There are also hidden elevators in a few levels that allow you to get on top of some of the levels, which is satisfying to learn about, even though it's one of the simplest hidden level gimmicks in the series.
This game isn’t all roses and daisies (pun intended) for me though. The last world and last level of the last world in particular, are such a crazy difficulty spike that it isn’t that fun to get to. I ended up having to learn to use save states on the mGBA emulator I was using to get past the STUPID ASS CHICKENS in the last level, and I had a really hellish time beating Tatanga, the final boss, because it was such an insane shakeup from the rest of the game and required a genuine level of shmup challenge that I really was not expecting. This final area really did knock my enjoyment of the game down a solid notch, leaving a bad taste in my mouth as I finished it up (though that credits tune certainly helped alleviate some of that), which is unfortunate because I do really like this game a heck of a lot.
It’s short, it’s weird as hell, and it’s significantly different in a lot of ways from the games that surround it in its own series, but I really cannot recommend Super Mario Land enough. Give it a whirl some time on the 3DS e-shop or an emulator, this game really needs more love.
I’d been watching a lot of The Gaming Historian and I saw the episode on the Super Mario Land series, and one day thought that it would be pertinent for me to give the first one at least a try. I then proceeded to hop onto Vimm’s lair, download a Gameboy emulator and a ROM of the game in a couple of minutes, then get sucked into the game for a couple of hours while simultaneously putting off my homework.
This is a different Mario game than its contemporaries in some ways- its far smaller than the rest, sitting at a smooth 4 worlds with 3 levels each, but it manages to pack that tiny length with so much variety and charm that it blew my friggin’ mind. I think this bite/pocket sized length is my favorite aspect of this game. It does so much within the limitations of a Gameboy launch title in terms of getting the most out of the power and visuals of the early development of the system that it really did impress me. Each level in this game is SO visually and mechanically distinct from the last because it has to compact everything down to such a short length, and this makes the game feel much more varied than even Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World. On top of this, there are two shoot-em-up levels dispersed throughout the game, with one being the final level, and this is something that (as far as I know) no other Mario game has. That fact alone makes this a super special game, but honestly it goes even further than that for me.
I’ll come out and say it, this heavy, drops-like-a-stone Mario is my favorite Mario controls I’ve played. I always felt so in control of my movements with where I fell and with the lack of any sliding when you stop running, it was super refreshing to come off of SM3 and World which are so incredibly momentum based. This enjoyment I had with the controls in Super Mario Land meant that I was finally compelled to get good at a Mario 2D platformer, and that was a great feeling to have coming from someone who historically wrote off the genre as too simplistic to fully dig into.
This game also has one of my absolute favorite video game soundtracks of all time. Birabuto and Muda kingdoms are incredible tunes, and the ending theme has no business being as killer as it is. Seriously, go give it a listen. It does so much with the simple tune chips of the gameboy, and I absolutely love it for that. I also just love how weird this game is. It’s incredibly visually distinct from the other Mario games, the only consistency being power mushrooms, stars and goombas. You fight robots that throw their heads at you, fish skeletons, fireball-shooting seahorses, flying and running moai heads, and even jumping vampires that can’t be beaten by jumping on them. Even the Koopas act differently in this than any other Mario, with their shells exploding shortly after you bounce off of them, giving even that simple enemy a unique flair.
There are also a few mechanics that this game has that I wish were translated into other Mario games, because it would be great to see them fleshed out more. The only new power-up here (well, really the only power-up) is the Super Ball, which is incredibly satisfying to use. It bounces around the stage, turning the level into a mini game of breakout. It can also collect coins, leading to some fun bonus areas, and can deal a lot of damage to an enemy if they end up trapped in a corridor with it. I also really love the stage exits and associated chutes-and-ladders style 1-Up mini-game, giving you a small platforming challenge that rewards you for taking a risk and then giving you a chance to earn some lives back at the end of each level. This is my favorite of the level end bonuses in Mario, far surpassing the cards from 3 or the stars from World. There are also hidden elevators in a few levels that allow you to get on top of some of the levels, which is satisfying to learn about, even though it's one of the simplest hidden level gimmicks in the series.
This game isn’t all roses and daisies (pun intended) for me though. The last world and last level of the last world in particular, are such a crazy difficulty spike that it isn’t that fun to get to. I ended up having to learn to use save states on the mGBA emulator I was using to get past the STUPID ASS CHICKENS in the last level, and I had a really hellish time beating Tatanga, the final boss, because it was such an insane shakeup from the rest of the game and required a genuine level of shmup challenge that I really was not expecting. This final area really did knock my enjoyment of the game down a solid notch, leaving a bad taste in my mouth as I finished it up (though that credits tune certainly helped alleviate some of that), which is unfortunate because I do really like this game a heck of a lot.
It’s short, it’s weird as hell, and it’s significantly different in a lot of ways from the games that surround it in its own series, but I really cannot recommend Super Mario Land enough. Give it a whirl some time on the 3DS e-shop or an emulator, this game really needs more love.