Super Mario Land

"Well worthy of its place in Mario history."

SUPER MARIO LAND
(NINTENDO GAME BOY)

INTRODUCTION:

This addition to the Mario series is possibly the most unique of all his platform titles. Not only was it not made by Mario's legendary creator- Shigeru Miyamoto, but it features many interesting baddies and locations which have never been replicated in further titles in the series. This is the game that spawned the existence of Princess Daisy, of the mysterious Chai Kingdom in Sarasaland. All details relating to power-ups, enemy names and statuses are one-hundred percent accurate and come straight from the game's instruction manual.

STORY- 5/10

Mario is famous for his ‘travel through many lands to rescue Princess' storylines, and this installment doesn't disappoint. Interestingly, history fans, Bowser and Princess Toadstool (nowadays called Peach) make absolutely no appearance in this game whatsoever, perhaps due to the fact that Mario is outside the Mushroom Kingdom. Several other interesting details are of note, regarding the fauna of Sarasaland. Creatures unmistakably resembling Goombas are known as ‘Chibibos', whereas Koopa look-alikes are known as ‘Nokobons' and have exploding shells instead of regular ones. Many other strange monsters lurk throughout the games four kingdoms, including ‘Tototokos'; strange moving statues resembling the Easter Island heads, ‘Suu' spiders and ‘Yurarin' seahorses.

Mario is also required to pilot certain craft to navigate awkward regions of Sarasaland, another unique addition to the platforming series. You have to hand it to Gunepi Yokio (sadly deceased creator of Game Boy, Metroid and this very game), he and his team made the title their own. The story makes no difference to the classic gameplay, but it's nice to look back on and take note of.

GAMEPLAY- 10/10

You can't argue with brilliance, the very brilliance which pretty much invented the platform genre in NES classic- ‘Super Mario Bros.'. Guide Mario from point A to point B via the simple interface of ‘walk with the D-pad, press ‘B' button to run'. A press of the ‘A' Button will cause our hero to jump, at varying heights depending on the length of time pressed. Pressing down on the D-pad makes Mario duck. Mario starts off small and vulnerable, but hitting an ‘?' block with his head sometimes releases a Super Mushroom. Once collected, Mario will double in size and become ‘Super Mario', protecting him from one enemy hit. Being hit once will cause him to revert to regular Mario. Hitting a ‘?' block and collecting a Flower will cause regular Mario to turn into Super Mario. If collected as Super Mario, he'll become ‘Superball Mario', gaining the ability to throw superballs. Superballs bounce diagonally off solid objects, collecting coins and disappearing after damaging/ destroying certain enemies. If Mario collects a Star, he'll temporarily become invincible (causing Mario to flash and emit ‘The Can-Can' tune), protecting him from enemies and destroying certain baddies on contact.

Enemies can simply be avoided, if you so wish, or they can be destroyed for points. Collecting coins will also add to your score, collect one-hundred coins to receive an extra life. Your score is cumulative throughout the game and your high score will be displayed on the title screen once you've finished. Sadly, the high score feature is more or less redundant without photographic backup, as earliest Game Boy titles didn't have the technology to provide a save file. This would have extended the life of the game somewhat, giving you a visible high score to beat, but there you go. This is no fault of the designers as it was (I believe) technically impossible at the time.

As is traditional, each stage has a time limit. Failing to reach the end in time (which is unlikely) will result in the loss of one life. Each non-boss level has two possible ‘Goals'. Sprinting into the ground level Goal of a stage will merely progress you to next level, awarding points for seconds remaining on the timer. Making the effort to reach the more difficult Goal exit at the top of the tower will reward you with the same bonus points, but you'll then be transported to a mini Bonus Game before starting the next level.

Breaking up the jumping-on-heads action nicely, Mario will also take charge of a submarine called a ‘Marine Pop' and an airplane called a ‘Sky Pop'. The player can then guide Mario in all eight directions through two auto-scrolling stages, aided by torpedoes for the former vehicle and missiles for the latter. These are nice and brief inclusions and they allow the introduction of a few aquatic and airborne enemies.

Take the time to explore the game and you'll find plenty of secrets. Pressing down when stood on a pipe could take you to a hidden room, just like Mario games should. Other things to discover include invisible platforms leading to bonus areas, hidden ‘?' blocks containing 1-ups and hidden elevators. I'm still discovering little surprises to this day, and I've been playing it ever since launch.

Each kingdom contains a boss at the end of every final stage, another twist in the format here being the ability to bypass three of the four bosses entirely. This seems a strange decision, but it adds the edge for more skilled players to beat the game faster than those dealing with the boss in the traditional manner. It is also impossible to attack the boss without the aid of superballs or projectiles, which seems slightly against the grain and makes Mario's trademark jump redundant.

Strange gameplay devices aside, the game itself controls just as tightly as you'd expect: - screw up a jump and it's most definitely your own fault, no one else's. Simple as that. There is very little to complain about in the gameplay department at least, like most of Mario's games.

GRAPHICS- 6/10

This is a tricky one to review. Super Mario Land was a Game Boy launch title and as such, was created when the developers themselves were coming to terms with the little machines' limited capabilities. Future Game Boy titles saw clever use of cross hatching, pointillism and shading to overcome the limited colour palette. This obviously wasn't explored right at the beginning of Game Boy's life; therefore, the visuals reflect the apprehension of the unknown.

Regular Mario stands in at roughly twelve (12) pixels high, which probably equates to the height of an armpit hair on a Metal Slug boss. Make no mistake, he looks just like regular Mario of old, but the developers were obviously uncertain as to what their new toy would tolerate. They therefore played it safe and created a minimalist and petite gaming world for our plumber to negotiate. In action, it has its own charm to it and you'll soon forget how small everything is. You'll also see as the levels progress that certain things become more detailed and baddies slowly grow in size. It's like watching the developers grow in confidence, until you are left with a really quite impressive and rather fitting final boss fight.

A few compensations are made along the way however, you'll grow rather tired of seeing the same three hidden rooms repeated endlessly. There also seem to be occasions where you'll (quite rightly) swear that you've been through a particular part of a level once before. These are really minor complaints but they are at least noticeable, perhaps as a result of memory storage limitations. Graphics are awarded with six points: - functional and charming, but a bit basic.

SOUND- 8/10

Classic tunes! From the ‘Pause' noise to the ‘Game Over' melody, the music is a treat to the ears. The first stage of the Birabuto Kingdom features a tune which was later remixed and entered into the UK pop charts. Other tunes include an Egyptian themed tune and a Chinese themed tune, to name the more memorable ones. The fact that you can tell what they are meant to sound like can only be a good thing. The levels are brief enough to stop the sound becoming too repetitive and a few levels have unique scores, a far cry from some endless loop of six notes, as featured in many portable titles of the time. Sound effects are of a decent quality too. The enemies make a very satisfying 'splat' noise when jumped on, flame noises accompany fireballs, Mario's jump makes a leaping sort of noise. The bosses also cry in pain when hit by superballs, sounding suspiciously like injured sheep....You get the general idea.

LIFESPAN- 6/10

Another tricky one. From a nostalgia perspective, this is one of those titles that I dig out regularly and remember fondly. Playing this game is like riding a bike- you never forget how to play it, seeing most of the secret bits along the way. Experienced players will clear it easily in under thirty minutes (per run through, on any difficulty setting). For a fan of the Mario franchise who hasn't played it, there's little excuse not try this game as you see it in just about any game store that keeps retro titles. Although a new player is much less likely to get the same replay value as a nostalgia head. It'll probably get a couple of playthroughs to appreciate the history of the game, then get bunged in a cupboard.

As mentioned, an attempt to extend the lifespan of the game has been made by way of an unlockable harder difficulty; this can only be accessed after completing the game on the easier setting. Due to the lack of battery backup, you'll need to complete the game again each time you turn the handheld back on to reach it. A further surprise is unlockable after completing the game on the harder difficulty setting, but I'll leave you to discover that.

SUMMARY

Unmistakably Mario. Nintendo's first attempt at a handheld Mario title is still well worth a look despite its age.

OVERALL SCORE- 7/10 (not an average)

PRO'S

+ A historic Mario title with pure gameplay.
+ Features many characters which remain unique to this game.
+ Still great fun.
+ Typically charming.

CON'S

- May cause blindness in gamers used to pin-sharp Nintendo DS displays!
- A bit on the short side.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/07/07

Game Release: Super Mario Land (EU, 09/28/90)