Super Mario Land (1989)

Looking at this from a retrospective lens, I may have enjoyed this much more playing it when it had come out. This is Mario's first handheld adventure, yet a really creative outing. Where Mario was running around the Mushroom Kingdom for the most part in his adventures up to this point, this game takes you in almost a globe trotting journey with levels taking place in a fictional Egypt, Japan, underwater, and other settings.

The biggest downside to this game is its length. Even a first time playthrough can finish this game in one sitting without much difficulty. Sure, if you get a game over you have to start at the beginning, but I doubt you'll see a game over as this game is very generous with it's lives.

It's still a fun game especially to view from a historical snapshot of the plumber!

Super Mario Land is the first handheld Mario adventure and quite meager one at that. The game looks pretty crude and is really, really short and simple. It's really basic platforming with finicky physics through a handful of platforming stages and a couple of shmup levels thrown in for variety. The gameplay isn't amazing but serviceable. The music is nice all the way though.

The game is also a bit weird for a Mario game. For example, the worlds are based on real-world locations like Egypt and China. The enemies are also themed accordingly, so in China you are stomping on human kung-fu fighters, which seems bizarre and brutal. In addition, instead of Peach, Mario is saving Daisy this time around. With all the hearts going around when saving her, it seems Mario and Peach are not an item or at least don't date each other exclusively. Or Mario is just a player.

Even though it's far from an amazing game, I had fun with Super Mario Land. The game's brevity is kind of a saving grace: there wasn't enough time to get bored or disappointed. Paying full price for this game back in the game could have stinged though, there's not much bang for buck that way.

Preliminary: Hmmm, definitely quite clunky but that has to be forgiven. I never owned a mobile Mario game. I think I would've been hooked for sure. It looks... interesting. And the theme... not really sure what's going on with this

But like always, I'm already in the Mario hook :-p Very inspired by the first Mario with how the ending of levels work and the boss, instead of bowser tho it's a Sphinx?, and uh now there's a UFO lol

The jingle is great tho. And all I really need in a Mario game is run :-p Tho the run functions a bit odd, very jittery. And the fireball is not as powerful as in the other games. And ohhh ok now we are in an underwater shmup

Despite the obvious limitations, I was able to achieve the tight-response-controls for last second dodges that I always enjoy in Marios, even if it felt a bit more like a C64 game than the usual Mario :-p Oooo I love the Easter Island vibe

Had to call it quits cuz it's movie time but I see that there are only 4 worlds and I'm already at 3-3. Ezpz

Day 2

Despite the clunky movement and platforming, and the iffy collision masks, and frequent sprite overload slowdown, I'm still hooked on pushing on through. The shmup parts were a bit sluggish but still a cute idea.

And I thought the final boss was a bit underwhelming (the cloud) and then what seems to be the REAL final boss has arrived. Complete with a lot of sprite slowdown. He was quite easy though, tho I wish he made a sound when you successfully hit him like with the Cloud.

Look: 7.5/10 It's a bit unfair since the portability of the Gameboy is a huge perk and limits the Look possibilities. But yea, can't rave about it. I did like the UFOs and Easter Island references :-p

Sound: 7.5/10 Cute, catchy, functional, nothing special tho

Play: 7.5/10 Full of flaws but I can't deny the Mario hook.

Feel: 8/10 Cute Sound, absurd Look, but most of all, Mario in a portable form! And what a great idea that was, and the Gameboy was in general. So many hours put in to Qix and Link's Awakening on my Gameboy!

Attachment: 7.5/10 Doubt I will replay this but also doubt I will forget it!

Overall: 7.6/10

Completion: Main Story

I recently bought myself an Anbernic RG35XX on a bit of a whim, because I wanted a small system to emulate retro games on-the-go instead of lugging around my massive Steam Deck. So I figured, what better way to break it in than with one of the Game Boy's quintessential launch games?

I did not play Super Mario Land in my Game Boy days, and it wasn't until the 3DS era that I gave this one a shot. I found it to be a delightful, if a bit dated, but it does an admirable job of translating Mario's mechanics into the Game Boy's smaller screen. It does this by shrinking all of the series' elements into tiny 8x8 sprites, a decision that lets it successfully retain the fast pace of its NES counterparts. I find the visuals to be quite charming, even if later Game Boy games would find ways to allow games to be more visually attractive without compromising gameplay.

One interesting fact about this game is that Miyamoto did not take part in its development--it was produced by Game Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi himself and a relatively tiny development team. Maybe this is why Mario Land feels a bit more quirky and offbeat than the typical Mario game, with its oddball enemies and environments that don't stick to the Mario formula you see today. Sure, there's Goombas and Koopa Troopas, but there's also aliens, Moai statues, seahorses, giant spiders and... jumping zombies?

Mario Land is also quite short. Its 12 levels can be finished in under an hour. As a proof of concept showing that the Game Boy is capable of console-style games, though, it succeeds. But more than 30 years after its release, it's definitely showing its age. Mario's controls feel a bit off, and because the sprites are so small, there is less room for error, leading to plenty of frustrating and unfair-feeling Game Overs.

A special shout out goes to Mario Land's music, which is composed by Hirokazu Tanaka, a name you should recognize from Kid Icarus, Mother and Metroid. Mario Land's soundtrack is spectacular, and easily the most timeless element of the game. The themes to Birabuto Kingdom, Muda Kingdom and Chai Kingdom all have lived rent free in my head for years, and probably will continue to do so for eternity.

To sum it up, Super Mario Land is a nice snack-sized version of Super Mario Bros. that I don't doubt was pretty impressive in 1989. Its mechanics definitely haven't aged as well as its console counterparts, but its small length and charming presentation always make it a pleasure to return to.

Super Mario Land is a neat little launch title for the Game Boy. But boy did it leave me wishing there was more.

Super Mario Land isn't anything special. It's mostly the same as every Mario game to have released at the time. Sure, it's graphically underpowered (Which isn't a bad thing as it makes sense seeing that it's on the Game Boy). But other than that, the basic gameplay wasn't anything remarkable. It's 4 Worlds, 12 levels. So it's by far the shortest Mario game in this retrospective. There's the mushroom and Fire Flower. Everything you'd expect. Yes, there are unique bosses and enemies but that's really it. It does have one thing... There is submarine gameplay. They are basically Auto-Scrolling Shooter levels. Unfortunately, there are only two of them.

What I do like... Is the plot. Bowser isn't in this. It also introduces another character. Princess Daisy... (Who was then regulated as a Spin-Off Character but I digress). Daisy, Princess of Sarasaland is kidnapped by an Alien named Tatanga. Mario must rescue Daisy and stop Tatanga. That.. Is really unique and is a nice change of pace.

The music is also pretty neat

Super Mario Land is a fun and charming game. But it left me wanting more. Good thing there is a sequel.

3/5

Would Slightly Recommend

What an incredibly bizarre and short Mario game. I really like it though, the weirdness brought back some good memories and even though the game is short (Finished it in under 40 minutes) the last couple of levels were pretty challenging !

3.5 out of 5, would save Daisy again !

(Ps : I wonder how a Mario Land remake would look like... HD sarasaland would be pretty awesome, not gonna lie :p)

Never owned an original Game Boy until a few years ago (a modded one to make chiptunes with LSDJ) and I felt like playing a launch title on the original hardware.

The game is short, but given it has no save capabilities, it has the perfect length to beat it in one sit. This is also balanced with the level of difficulty, which is hard but fair. For me, most of the difficulty came from the controls, which don't quite feel like in the NES Mario's. It felt especially weird when falling off the edges of platforms or sprinting, which feels like an on/off state without accel/decel phase. Nothing that makes the game unplayable.

The shoot'em up stages are just sublime!

One can grab the original cart for cheap so there's no reason to not own a piece of gaming history and give it a go.

"There ain’t no place like Super Mario Land (let’s go!)” -Ambassadors Of Funk, ‘Supermarioland‘

As I accepted my role as the Hopeful Handheld Mage, my first question to myself was ‘Where do I start?’ I knew I had to start with a game that played a big part in the beginning of handheld games. The format had to be be the Game Boy, the most important handheld console of all time, but which game? My first thought was Tetris, the game that helped the Game Boy become the phenomenon it did and a game that still resonates with gamers and non-games alike. Then I thought about the game that was originally planned to be the pack in game with the Game Boy, Super Mario Land.

These days, console launch games aren’t taken seriously; they’re usually tech demos, ports from previous generations, underdeveloped versions of annual sports games….the like. Console companies know that consumers will purchase the latest console regardless of the games offered at launch; consumers are aware of the generally poor quality of launch titles and will buy the console to play the games due later in the console’s lifespan.

For the launch of the Game Boy however, a lot of effort was put into providing games for the first handheld console. Nintendo wanted the Game Boy to be as dominant as the NES and knew how to market the Game Boy. Simply, their original plan was to include a Mario game at launch, as the plumber had helped to sell the NES and Nintendo were confident that he would do the same for it’s little brother. However, upon securing the rights for Tetris (a convoluted story in itself), Tetris would become the pack in game for Europe/North America and Super Mario Land would be relegated to launch game status.

“I told him, if you want little boys to play Game Boy, pack in Mario—but if you want everyone to play Game Boy, pack in Tetris.” -Alexey Pajitnov (Tetris creator) to Minoru Arakawa (Nintendo of America President)

The above quote seems harsh – but in hindsight, it’s true. Tetris was the game that sold the Game Boy to kids and parents alike, leading to the Game Boy becoming the handheld console…but was Super Mario Land really just a game for little boys? Officially, Super Mario Land sold over 18 million copies (more than Super Mario Bros. 3) so it must have had a much wider appeal.

Click here for the full review... https://thewellredmage.com/2017/08/04/super-mario-land/

History:

Always knew this series existed, but never played any of the titles.

Expectations:

This one should be interesting. If I'm not mistaken this game was not actually developed by Nintendo, so while I'm hoping for a solid run and jump experience, I really don't know entirely what to expect!

Day 1:

Not gonna lie... The first impression I got from this game was not a good one. It felt like such a Super Mario "knock-off" that it was hard to see any value at all. I played a few minutes, got to 1-2 and turned it off. I just didn't care.

When things quieted down around the house I decided to pick up the Gameboy again and give it another go, this time getting to World 2, and encountering my first Schmup level...

This felt... brilliant! Water levels in Mario are supposed to be horrible but this was just fantastic. Incredibly fun. I made it to 3-1 before getting game over and deciding I'd finish the game up on the Super Gameboy.

Playing on the TV with a controller certainly made things "less hard", but the incredibly awkward controls and physics in this game remained. It doesn't control anything like a proper Mario game, nor does it handle in any reasonable way you'd expect it to.

In any case, I made it to 2-2 before my game froze. I took some rubbing alcohol to the contacts and still had some issues getting it to start. This time I made it to 1-2 before the music started getting really wonky. Sure enough, a freeze was imminent. After that I couldn't get the game to read at all, so it was time to open the cart and apply some proper contact cleaner. Yahtzee!

After World 2 the game spikes in difficulty, and you find yourself dodging Bullet Bill turrets coming out of pipes and riding giant stone wheels across spike pits!

4-1 and 4-2 were appropriately intense, as the game only has four worlds. I went from 15 lives all th eway down to about 4 here, and there was a real risk of wasting this entire play session. With a bit of skill and a lot of luck, I was able to make it to the final stage...

4-3 was another scrolling shooter level! Much more relaxed than the staging leading up to it, I was able to make it to the last two bosses and defeat them very easily.

Way better than Peach.

Conclusion:

I was ready to write this game off pretty quickly, but I'm glad I gave it a fair shot. As a Mario game I still think it's pretty awful to be honest. The controls are terrible, it's lacking in any of that classic Mario style, and everything just feels a little cheap. On it's own though, and in the context of it being the only other Gameboy game to play at the time besides Tetris, it's really decent. You get used to the controls, the difficulty is hard but never "too" hard, and the game is just about the right length for a portable platformer designed to be played straight through. All in all, Super Mario Land is an okay game, and it warrants a playthrough.

Liked:

- Good length for a portable platformer.
- Actually decent soundtrack, despite not being from the classic Mario score.
- Fair difficulty curve, complimented by plenty of chances to get extra lives.
- Cultural relevance as a Gameboy launch title.
- Awesome sidescrolling shooter levels.
- Daisy.

Disliked:

- Absolutely horrible handling, leading to several cheap deaths.
- Game itself looked and played like a watered down Mario port, rather than a proper title.

Personal Score: