Super Mario Land (Game Boy)

With the Mario series being as big as it is, it’s easy to forget just how strange it is that an Italian plumber eats mushrooms to grow larger and can defeat evil turtles with a flower that gives him the power to throw fireballs. Mario has managed to keep his weirdness pretty cohesive across his games though, new ideas and enemies usually slotting in pretty well by playing off already established characters and concepts and matching the overall art style. Despite the normalization of the main Mario mechanics, Mario’s Game Boy outing still stands out as something strange, taking Mario and putting him in a world that isn’t totally outlandish but still sticks out compared to his typical adventures.

In Super Mario Land, Mario sets off to a place called Sarasaland where Princess Daisy has been taken captive by a goblin-like alien named Tatanga. Mario sets off to save her, moving through Sarasaland’s four kingdoms on a familiar yet different style of platforming adventure. The kingdoms are differentiated from each other in a rather interesting way, as they all seem to be based somewhat on ancient civilizations. The game begins with a kingdom based on ancient Egypt and you’ll encounter Easter Island and Chinese kingdoms as well, the only kingdom not really matching the theme being the second kingdom, one that is basically just a water focused kingdom that nominally has a tie to the supposed sunken continent of Mu. These kingdoms have backgrounds with defining landmarks to set them apart as well as enemies appropriate for their basis, with the Egyptian kingdom packing Sphinxes and the Easter Island one having Moai enemies running around. There are plenty of “regular” enemies in the game, but even these are a bit stranger than Mario’s regular fare. Mario’s used to jumping off the backs of turtles, but in this game, stomping on one turns it into a bomb that explodes shortly after, and while Mario usually has to worry about fish leaping out of the water to attack him, in the water kingdom here skeletal fish and fire-spitting seahorses gang up on him. There are even Jiangshi enemies in the game, creatures colloquially called Chinese hopping vampires when people even know about this unusual reach of a mythological reference at all.

Despite being in strange new lands, Mario’s platforming adventures still feel pretty familiar from a gameplay standpoint. Most of Mario’s obstacles focus on his ability to jump, the plumber needing to leap over gaps and dodge the enemies in his way while doing so. Mario’s jumps are always up the task demanded of them, but they are a bit quick to complete, making it easy to misjudge how much hang time you have in the air if you’re more familiar with other Mario games and their jumping mechanics. It’s not hard to acclimate to them though, but even when you’ve got the jumping down, Super Mario Land does understand how to design its levels to keep testing this basic movement option. Mario can jump on most enemies to defeat them, some areas putting enemies and deadly gaps near each other for moments of quick and reactive jumping to avoid losing a life. There are a few ways to stay in the game in Super Mario Land though, with there being many ways to earn extra lives. If Mario finds a heart hidden in a block or collects 100 coins he’ll earn a 1-up, but at the end of most stages, there’s a regular exit and a higher exit that requires a bit of platforming to reach, that exit letting you earn some extra lives in an easy little minigame. Super Mario Land is a pretty short game so restarting wouldn’t be a hassle if you run out, but the game also gives you a few continues despite its lack of a save feature so that you could conceivably finish it in one sitting.

Mario’s power-ups are also back, but even they are a little different. The mushroom will still increase Mario’s size if you find one by hitting a block in a level, allowing Mario to take one extra hit before he perishes, but the flower’s rules have changed a touch. Rather than giving Mario the power to throw fireballs, Mario just throws normal balls. These balls can still take down many weak enemies in a single hit and a few bosses in the game can be taken down with either the balls or by getting around them to press a switch, but these balls have a limitation. Once you fire one, you need to wait for it to disappear to fire another. If it hits an enemy then it’s gone and you can fire again, but the ball will continues to bounce off walls and ceilings for a while if it doesn’t, meaning Mario is left with just his jump if you get sloppy. Waiting out the ricochet doesn’t take all that long, but it does encourage you to be a little reserved with the attack’s use. Taking damage with the flower will revert Mario to his smaller form just like losing a mushroom though, so holding onto that useful combat edge should encourage being careful in the first place. In some stages Mario may even find a star that can give him brief invincibility, allowing him to plow through enemies with ease.

Most of Mario’s powers are basically carry overs from Super Mario Bros., but Super Mario Land does throw Mario into some new situations by adding vehicles to the mix. Some levels in Super Mario Land are tackled not on foot, but underwater in a submarine or flying through the sky in an airplane. The two vehicles control essentially the same, having the freedom to move around the screen as they please and the ability to fire shots to take down enemies in front of them. While the freedom to move around so easily and fire at your foes may seem like a recipe for easier stages, the game does pack in the enemies more for these and has moments where flying properly is required to navigate the level geometry, so they can still challenge the player just like the regular stages. There are even some bosses in these stages who turn up their capabilities to accommodate your freedom of movement. Expect many more incoming projectiles that require quick dodging compared to regular stages where it’s more about finding windows of opportunity between slow but deadly attacks. Those regular stages can also have a few smaller movement gimmicks. Besides taking small deviations through warp pipes, Mario can also ride on boulders to avoid deadly spikes, so it’s not always about jumping well to win. There is a hard mode to unlock after going through the small amount of levels, the levels getting a bit more crowded with enemies, but on the whole, the game is mostly short but sweet.

THE VERDICT: Super Mario Land is a bit weird compared to Mario’s typical platforming adventures, but it’s a smartly done adjustment to the Game Boy system. Mario’s jumps still get the job done and the levels are spaced well to challenge it smartly, enemies and deadly drops distributed properly to challenge a player on a satisfying yet simple level. Flying and underwater sections add some variety to what is otherwise a solid platformer, their design making sure things still stay interesting even as you’re given better tools to take on enemies and the environment. The game is pretty simple and short on the whole, but it is what it set out to be: an enjoyable yet condensed Mario platforming adventure for a portable system.

And so, I give Super Mario Land for the Game Boy…

A GOOD rating. Super Mario Land uses what it has pretty well and despite being the launch game for a system with limited graphical power, the game manages to have a distinct visual identity and one that complements its game design. Mario can see where he’s going and the game fills the area ahead with decent jumping challenges and enemies who you need to navigate around or defeat with a good jump or your ball weapon, and when Mario hops into his submarine or plane, the game is a bit more aggressive to make sure you’re still up against something that fits what you’re capable of. Super Mario Land is a game that doesn’t really make many mistakes, but its simplicity and shortness to accommodate its portability does mean that the game simply doesn’t have the time to really push itself into something incredible.

Super Mario Land is enjoyable little fun, but its the cupcake to regular Mario’s full-on cake. There are times you do want to indulge in a bit less than a full blown lengthy experience and Super Mario Land has you covered there, offering tight side-scrolling platforming with a bit of variety that can be wrapped up in less than an hour. It’s a weird and interesting journey, and while it doesn’t match the box’s boast that it’s Mario’s best adventure yet, its still a good Game Boy game and a good Mario game.