Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins was released in 1992; 3 years after the original. It had the same development team as the first game, but this one greatly differs.
The game’s plot is actually quite different from the other 2D Mario games. Following the events of Super Mario Land, Mario returns to his castle… because apparently he has a castle now (I guess that’s what he spends all those gold coins on). However, his castle has been taken over by Wario, who first appears in this game and later becomes an important character in the Mario franchise, just like Daisy has. Now Mario has to retrieve 6 Golden Coins, to unlock his castle door and fight Wario.
The game is very similar to Super Mario World. Not only does it have a world map like that game, but it has the same art style as that game. These sprites look really good on Game Boy, and are a huge improvement over the look of the first game. Also, the sprites are bigger in size, but not too big that they cause screen crunch problems (like a lot of Game Boy Games). I think it’s one of the best looking Game Boy games.
The music is even better in this game; they made it way catchier than the music in the first game. It’s super fun to listen to, and doing so makes me want to replay the game every time I hear it.
The gameplay of this one is pretty good. It controls similarly to World, but was adapted well for Game Boy. Although the platforming does feel a little floaty at times, you get used to it quickly and it feels so much better than the first game’s controls. The level design is also pretty good. The levels can be quite challenging, which I really like because 2D mario games tend to be way too easy now (especially the New Super Mario Bros Series).
For powerups, the fire flower comes back. It actually has a visual indicator this time, to compensate for the Game Boy’s lack of color. There’s also a new powerup, the super carrot. This powerup gives mario bunny ears, which allow him to glide slowly, similar to the raccoon leaf in Mario 3 (without the flight). The powerup is really cool, however it allows you to easily glide over some of the levels. There’s one really annoying feature with the powerups though: grabbing a mushroom while you have a powerup makes you lose that powerup! Usually when you get a mushroom with another powerup, either nothing happens or you get to save that mushroom for later. But not in this game; I don’t know what the fuck they were thinking with this, it means that you now have to avoid mushrooms.
Water levels are back… but they’re not that good. Mario sinks like an anchor, and you have to mash A to swim up, which gets tedious.
The game’s world map consists of 6 different zones, each with one of the golden coins. These zones can be played in any order, and consist of 3-5 levels. They each have their own theme which helps them stand out.
The end of level bonus games return, but this time they’re completely different. You access these by ringing a bell at the top of the exit. There are actually 2 bonus games this time; a claw machine and a wire game. The claw machine lets you use a claw to try and grab power ups or 1 ups. The wire game has you send a shock through wires (some of these wires get destroyed by rats) and wherever the shock goes is the powerup you get. You don’t actually have to take the powerup in the wire game; if you don’t want whatever you win you can simply walk away.
This game also has completely new enemies, and they’re actually somewhat memorable this time; some of the enemies look really unique. Not only are there new enemies, but quite a few enemies from the console games come back, such as koopas and boos. Unfortunately, none of the new enemies ever returned in any future games, which is a shame cause they had some really cool ideas for this one.
However, the same can’t really be said about the bosses. They’re way too easy; they can be beat in just 3 hits, similar to the koopalings in mario 3. Although, one of the bosses is actually Tatanga from the first game. I think it’s really cool that they brought him back for this game, as it helps further tie the games together. This game is his last appearance in a Mario game, and he was never seen again…
Once you retrieve all 6 golden coins, you open the door to Mario’s castle and can finally face Wario. The castle level is probably one of the hardest Mario levels; it took me quite a few tries to complete. I really like how this one is designed, it’s like a final test of all the platforming you’ve been doing in the game.
Wario’s boss has 3 different phases, and in 2 of them he uses a fire flower and a super carrot. It’s pretty cool to see him use the same power ups as you; it’s a really unique idea that isn’t really done in the newer mario games. It makes me wonder why they never brought Wario back in another 2D Mario game; I get that he’s busy with his micro games or whatever now, but it would be cool to have him in another mainline game. The boss fight is kinda easy, but it’s still fun. After you beat Wario, Mario gets his castle back and the game is over.
This game took me around an hour to beat, which I think is the perfect length for a game like this. It’s not too short like the first game, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome either. It makes it perfect to play on the go, which is an important aspect of handheld games like this.
Overall, I think Super Mario Land 2 is an enjoyable game. It’s fun, charming, and it’s a game I come back to every now and then.
The game’s plot is actually quite different from the other 2D Mario games. Following the events of Super Mario Land, Mario returns to his castle… because apparently he has a castle now (I guess that’s what he spends all those gold coins on). However, his castle has been taken over by Wario, who first appears in this game and later becomes an important character in the Mario franchise, just like Daisy has. Now Mario has to retrieve 6 Golden Coins, to unlock his castle door and fight Wario.
The game is very similar to Super Mario World. Not only does it have a world map like that game, but it has the same art style as that game. These sprites look really good on Game Boy, and are a huge improvement over the look of the first game. Also, the sprites are bigger in size, but not too big that they cause screen crunch problems (like a lot of Game Boy Games). I think it’s one of the best looking Game Boy games.
The music is even better in this game; they made it way catchier than the music in the first game. It’s super fun to listen to, and doing so makes me want to replay the game every time I hear it.
The gameplay of this one is pretty good. It controls similarly to World, but was adapted well for Game Boy. Although the platforming does feel a little floaty at times, you get used to it quickly and it feels so much better than the first game’s controls. The level design is also pretty good. The levels can be quite challenging, which I really like because 2D mario games tend to be way too easy now (especially the New Super Mario Bros Series).
For powerups, the fire flower comes back. It actually has a visual indicator this time, to compensate for the Game Boy’s lack of color. There’s also a new powerup, the super carrot. This powerup gives mario bunny ears, which allow him to glide slowly, similar to the raccoon leaf in Mario 3 (without the flight). The powerup is really cool, however it allows you to easily glide over some of the levels. There’s one really annoying feature with the powerups though: grabbing a mushroom while you have a powerup makes you lose that powerup! Usually when you get a mushroom with another powerup, either nothing happens or you get to save that mushroom for later. But not in this game; I don’t know what the fuck they were thinking with this, it means that you now have to avoid mushrooms.
Water levels are back… but they’re not that good. Mario sinks like an anchor, and you have to mash A to swim up, which gets tedious.
The game’s world map consists of 6 different zones, each with one of the golden coins. These zones can be played in any order, and consist of 3-5 levels. They each have their own theme which helps them stand out.
The end of level bonus games return, but this time they’re completely different. You access these by ringing a bell at the top of the exit. There are actually 2 bonus games this time; a claw machine and a wire game. The claw machine lets you use a claw to try and grab power ups or 1 ups. The wire game has you send a shock through wires (some of these wires get destroyed by rats) and wherever the shock goes is the powerup you get. You don’t actually have to take the powerup in the wire game; if you don’t want whatever you win you can simply walk away.
This game also has completely new enemies, and they’re actually somewhat memorable this time; some of the enemies look really unique. Not only are there new enemies, but quite a few enemies from the console games come back, such as koopas and boos. Unfortunately, none of the new enemies ever returned in any future games, which is a shame cause they had some really cool ideas for this one.
However, the same can’t really be said about the bosses. They’re way too easy; they can be beat in just 3 hits, similar to the koopalings in mario 3. Although, one of the bosses is actually Tatanga from the first game. I think it’s really cool that they brought him back for this game, as it helps further tie the games together. This game is his last appearance in a Mario game, and he was never seen again…
Once you retrieve all 6 golden coins, you open the door to Mario’s castle and can finally face Wario. The castle level is probably one of the hardest Mario levels; it took me quite a few tries to complete. I really like how this one is designed, it’s like a final test of all the platforming you’ve been doing in the game.
Wario’s boss has 3 different phases, and in 2 of them he uses a fire flower and a super carrot. It’s pretty cool to see him use the same power ups as you; it’s a really unique idea that isn’t really done in the newer mario games. It makes me wonder why they never brought Wario back in another 2D Mario game; I get that he’s busy with his micro games or whatever now, but it would be cool to have him in another mainline game. The boss fight is kinda easy, but it’s still fun. After you beat Wario, Mario gets his castle back and the game is over.
This game took me around an hour to beat, which I think is the perfect length for a game like this. It’s not too short like the first game, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome either. It makes it perfect to play on the go, which is an important aspect of handheld games like this.
Overall, I think Super Mario Land 2 is an enjoyable game. It’s fun, charming, and it’s a game I come back to every now and then.