Super Mario Land

"The First of An Amazing Series (*Revised*)"

NOTE: I was stupid to not include an audio rating. You'll find one in this updated review.

"The First of an Amazing Series"
Super Mario Land was made before I was born- well over 17 year ago. With that said, it's easy to dismiss this game as too old to be fun. However, if you give this game a chance, you will see gameplay on par with any game in the Super Mario Bros. series. The graphics are laughable by today's standards, the music is nothing more than beeps and boops, and you can't ever save your game. However, what this game does excel at is setting the grounds for every handheld platformer to come. This game is simply fun. Alright, here's the breakdown:

Story: 2/3

For some reason, nearly the entire story is laid out in the instruction manual. Princess Daisy (not Peach) was kidnapped by Tatanga (not Bowser) and it's up to Mario to travel through the four world's of Sarasaland (not Mushroom Kingdom) to rescue the princess. As you can see, none of the characters are familiar, however, this makes sense because this is not a continuation of the Super Mario Bros. series. Some of the enemies are familiar, but every enemy has been given a Japanese-esque name.

Manual design and In-game menus: 2/2

The manual describes the controls and rules very efficiently. There are basically no in-game menus other than the title screen. Once you begin the game, it plays out with no breaks.

Graphics: 8/10

This is not an exaggeration. Considering that this game was made in 1989, the graphics people did as best as they could. Animation is done very well; the game is very smooth and is able to handle many enemies at once. The large bosses are fairly detailed. My only complaint is the lack of background graphics. I would have liked the different worlds to have felt more diverse.

Audio: 8/10

The sound effects are pretty bad sounding but the the actual music more than makes up for this flaw. Tracks are repeated, but always complement the setting.

Controls: 9/10

The controls are simple and easy to learn. My only complaint is that Mario sometimes skids a bit to much. However, this adds fairly to the challenge.

Gameplay and Fun Factor: 51/55

Simply put, this game is fun. The levels are varied and creative and throw surprises at you all the time. Along with classic platforming levels, the game includes two automatic scrolling shooter levels which are both incredibly well done.The game does a fabulous job slowly increasing the difficulty. The way they did this was by providing tons of opportunities for 1-ups. By the time you reach the final world, it's quite common to have 20-30 lives. However, those lives are quickly drained away so that you reach the final boss with only a few lives left. This smart decision by the programmers really creates suspense.

Replay Value: 7/10

You won't want to play this game all the time especially since you can't ever save. However, it is the kind of game that you will pick up every once in a while and play all the way through. It's nostalgic, but more importantly, it's just plain fun.

Overall score: 87/100

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/01/09, Updated 11/13/09

Game Release: Super Mario Land (US, August 1989)