Super Mario Land

Title
Publisher Super Mario Land / Nintendo

Genre Platform

Features Continue

Reviewer Ben Kosmina

Summary
Gameplay
Super Mario Land involves Mario rescuing Princess Daisy from the land of Sarasa. Hang on - doesn't that sound a bit wrong?? Well, that's because this is the Gameboy version of SMB. Princess Toadstool isn't here in the Mushroom Kingdom - yet. Anyway, Mario must travel through four worlds (Birabuto, Muda, Easton, and Chai) each with three levels, and a boss at the end.

The gameplay is alright, but it certainly could beat some of the GameBoy platform games released nowadays. Basically, Mario Land is SMB squashed down into a GameBoy cart, with a few less levels, and a bit less difficulty. The graphics are almost exactly the same as the original Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo, except that they are much smaller, and the worlds have been given different themes, such as Egyptian, Water and Chinese themes. Fireballs have been replaced with Superballs which bounce and can be used to collect coins.

There have been some very unique additions to this episode of the Mario saga. In Mario Land, Mario controls a submarine in one level, and an aeroplane in another. Both of these levels are auto-scrolling, and you must face a boss at the end of both of them. The bosses are all different, too. You can still avoid them (just as you could Bowser in SMB), but they all now have different patterns and are all unique. A couple of things have been removed though, such as Koopa Troopas and Hammer Brothers.

The graphics are very miniscule in Mario Land (normal Mario would be about as big as the 'plus' symbol on your keyboard), but nonetheless, they are still fairly clear and at least you can tell your character apart from the scenery. The sound is nothing to get excited about (the 'baa' when you attack a boss is funny though), but some of the music will get into your head and you won't be able to stop humming it!

Verdict Well, as I'm a huge Mario fan, I openly admit that I love this game. It was one of the first (and in my opinion, the best) GameBoy games that I've played. Even though it screams out 'rip-off' from Super Mario to the fire flowers, it's great fun. Once you beat the game, there's also an 'expert mode' to keep you busy, so you can't finish it right away. There's no saving in this game, so you're going to actually have to work to finish it!

If you can find this game for a discount price, and you feel your GameBoy library needs another addition, go ahead and get it! I'm sure you'll like it, even if you've never played a Mario game before.

Title Publisher	Super Mario Land / Nintendo
Genre	Platform
Features	Continue
Reviewer	Ben Kosmina
Summary Gameplay	Super Mario Land involves Mario rescuing Princess Daisy from the land of Sarasa. Hang on - doesn't that sound a bit wrong?? Well, that's because this is the Gameboy version of SMB. Princess Toadstool isn't here in the Mushroom Kingdom - yet. Anyway, Mario must travel through four worlds (Birabuto, Muda, Easton, and Chai) each with three levels, and a boss at the end. The gameplay is alright, but it certainly could beat some of the GameBoy platform games released nowadays. Basically, Mario Land is SMB squashed down into a GameBoy cart, with a few less levels, and a bit less difficulty. The graphics are almost exactly the same as the original Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo, except that they are much smaller, and the worlds have been given different themes, such as Egyptian, Water and Chinese themes. Fireballs have been replaced with Superballs which bounce and can be used to collect coins. There have been some very unique additions to this episode of the Mario saga. In Mario Land, Mario controls a submarine in one level, and an aeroplane in another. Both of these levels are auto-scrolling, and you must face a boss at the end of both of them. The bosses are all different, too. You can still avoid them (just as you could Bowser in SMB), but they all now have different patterns and are all unique. A couple of things have been removed though, such as Koopa Troopas and Hammer Brothers. The graphics are very miniscule in Mario Land (normal Mario would be about as big as the 'plus' symbol on your keyboard), but nonetheless, they are still fairly clear and at least you can tell your character apart from the scenery. The sound is nothing to get excited about (the 'baa' when you attack a boss is funny though), but some of the music will get into your head and you won't be able to stop humming it!
Verdict	Well, as I'm a huge Mario fan, I openly admit that I love this game. It was one of the first (and in my opinion, the best) GameBoy games that I've played. Even though it screams out 'rip-off' from Super Mario to the fire flowers, it's great fun. Once you beat the game, there's also an 'expert mode' to keep you busy, so you can't finish it right away. There's no saving in this game, so you're going to actually have to work to finish it! If you can find this game for a discount price, and you feel your GameBoy library needs another addition, go ahead and get it! I'm sure you'll like it, even if you've never played a Mario game before.