I suppose there has to be a Mario game which is considered the worst, and by default that is Super Mario Land (I forgot about The Lost Levels when writing this, which speaks for itself about that game). I've come around on this game just because I've got more experience in older games now than when I first played this and really don't think it's a bad game anymore, but the physics and controls do hold it back to the point where there's no other Mario game which could be considered worse. This game does actually have some really good ideas in it such as the theme being a desert, the vehicle sections which are the best way to incorporate auto-scrollers, the music is very lively and even though it was outdated only 3 years later by Mario Land 2 it's still worth trying mostly due to how short it is, and now that it's on the switch it's more convenient to play too.

Reviewed on May 16, 2024


3 Comments


1 month ago

Yeah I really think this game should be brought up more in the discussion for worst mainline Mario. I'd even rank Lost Levels and Run above it, the former for having better physics and 8 main worlds, and the latter for being boring but not annoying to play.

1 month ago

@JCLKaytwo Honestly when I remembered The Lost Levels I did have to think to myself which game was worse, because they are ultimately both not good, and since Lost Levels is basically just the first Mario game again but tweaked I thought it might get raised in my ranking as I actually like the first game a fair bit. But I think what it comes down to for me is Mario Land at least brings something new to the table and feels like they at least tried to create a fun experience with what they could on the GameBoy before they got more familiar with the system, and whilst it didn't deliver that until Mario Land 2, I still truly think they tried. Whereas Lost Levels is just the first game again but with worse level design and a harder difficulty and there's honestly no reason to ever play it. I think Mario Land should be considered one of the worst Mario games, but purely because all the others are way better and not because Nintendo phoned it in for quick sales.

1 month ago

@VinGamer34 Yeah, I definitely agree that Lost Levels, and Run for that matter, have less individual merit than Mario Land. But just judging the games themselves with no external factors, I think Land just has the least going for it and is the lowest quality in pretty much every aspect. Aside from level design which obviously Lost Levels is the worst at.