Super Mario Land

"Mario, you're a pimp. This is your 3rd girlfriend! Tsk tsk."

Super Mario Land was Nintendo’s first Mario game for their then-new handheld system, the original Game Boy. It holds particular affection from me, since it was the first Game Boy game I ever got. The fact that it even worked on my GB is astonishing; my friend had given it to me as a moving away present, as he thought it was broken, and there was no battery cover. I improvised a cover using cardboard and lots of duct tape, and I was good to go! However, it’s not that because of that that I like it: SML is a prime example of classic Mario gameplay at its best.

Story: 5/10
The evil alien Tatanga has kidnapped Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, and it’s your job as Mario to defeat him! …Yes, that’s it. That’s all the storyline there is; no explanation is given as to why Tatanga wants Daisy. I guess he just does it for the heck of it. And when you think about it, why does Mario rescue all these princesses? Aren’t you just supposed to marry the one you rescue first? Heck, this is his third one (Pauline, Peach, Daisy)! Oh well; you have to remember, this was released over ten years ago (I believe it was in 1988). Many games didn’t even have this much of a storyline! In that respect, SML’s plot is perfectly average, and normal.

Gameplay: 9.8/10
SML plays almost exactly like Super Mario Brothers for the NES. As Mario, you’ll run through the levels on a 2D plane, jumping on enemies’ heads to defeat them. The coins are here as usual; also, as usual, collecting a hundred of ‘em will grant you another life. The classic mushrooms are here to make you “Super Mario”, too, as are the fire flowers to give you the power to throw fireballs, and the stars which allow invulnerability for a short amount of time. The enemies, however, are not only classics such as goombas and those irritated pipe-dwelling plants, but there are new ones like hopping flies and exploding turtles. I personally like the new enemies more, actually, since they’re bigger than traditional Mario baddies and give more of a feeling of satisfaction when you squish them.

Mario has to travel through four different worlds to defeat Tatanga: desert, sea, rock, and forest, each of which has three levels. There are a few level-specific enemies, and level-specific events. For example, riding the boulders in the rock world is a level-specific event. Also, to spice up the gameplay, there are two side-scrolling shooter levels (in the water and forest worlds), where Mario pilots a submarine and airplane. These are quite fun, in my opinion, and a welcome addition. It’s too bad these haven’t been featured in any other Mario games!

One nice little addition is the optional bonus game at the end of every level: there are platforms to jump on up to the special door, but it’s sometimes quite hard to do because of the placement. This is also available if you deign to defeat a boss by yourself at the end of the first three worlds, since it’s possible to simply jump on a peg and kill them instantly. If you do make it there, you’ll be able to play a strange bonus game where Mario randomly lands on one of four platforms, which will earn him one, two, or three lives, or automatic Super Mario status and fireballs.

Spread throughout the levels are a few secrets, such as hidden “elevators” to higher ground, secret blocks, and like. While there aren’t really that many of them, they’re fun to find. You get a real feeling of success when you find one!

SML, while it doesn’t especially deviate from the Mario formula other than in a two instances, is very fun because of that. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. This is classic Mario gameplay, folks, and that’s never bad (it’s hella fun, actually!).

Control: 10/10
Control is about as simple as it gets: A jumps, B throws fireballs, and holding B runs. During the shooter sequences, either button shoots. Yep, that’s it! Blissful simplicity.

Difficulty: Easy
Super Mario Land just isn’t very hard if you’re used to Mario games. Even if you’re not (which is rare), it’s easy to pick up and play. And after you’ve played through it a few times, all of the placement is obvious and you’ll blow through it without any trouble. Also, if you can get the bonus at the end of the levels, you’ll easy have enough lives to finish the game without breaking a sweat.

Graphics: 4/10
Mario himself looks almost exactly like his NES incarnation (that’s a good thing). The enemies also look nice, especially the larger ones. Unfortunately, the rest of the game doesn’t fare so well. The backgrounds never have any detail whatsoever other than the occasional waterfall or cloud. C’mon, Nintendo. I know you can do better than this! The animation for Mario is slightly choppy too, which is irritating.

Sound: 7.3/10
I personally love the Mario music; it’s perfectly suited to games of this style. I’ve got that music stuck in my head for over two months now, and it doesn’t show any sign of stopping. Some will say that it’s just beeps and bloops, but I think that it sounds great for the Game Boy, back in ’88. However, the sound effects don’t fare as well: they are just beeps and bloops.

Value: 5/10
The game itself can be completed in under thirty minutes if you know what you’re doing, and that is very, very bad. While there are secrets to find in the levels, it just isn’t enough. There is a Hard mode available after the game is completed once, and a Level Select mode after that one is beaten, but you’ll have to redo everything every time you turn the game on (no battery backup). However, in spite of this, I find myself pulling out SML every once in a while, just for nostalgia’s sake, and for some good ‘ol Mario fun.

Conclusion
SML’s superb gameplay wins out in the end over the huge downsides, and it succeeds in being, quite simply, fun. If you’ve already purchased Super Mario Bros. DX and beaten that, and still want great gameplay of the same variety, look no further than this.

Pros:
+ Very fun
+ Nice music
+ Great Mario gameplay

Cons:
- Quite short
- Lousy graphics
- Irritating sound effects

Overall Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/09/01, Updated 11/08/01