Back story
Recently, I’ve played through the first two Super Mario Land titles on Game Boy, first with a friend and later by myself! These charming handheld takes on 8-bit Super Mario are definitely some platformers to check out for fans of retro gaming!
Taking inspiration from Super Mario Bros. on the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom in Japan, and released a year after Super Mario Bros. 3 debuted in Japan, Super Mario Land was developed by Nintendo's oldest dev team; Nintendo R&D1. It was made under no supervision of Shigeru Miyamoto and added many new elements, characters and worlds never seen in since in the franchise.
It was initially intended as a pack-in title for the Game Boy at launch in April 1989, however, Tetris became that selection instead. It became a huge system seller and a title that became synonymous with the system. Game Boy brought handheld gaming to the masses in a way never seen before.
With a dot-matrix display, depicting a black and greenish hue, powered by a simple 8-bit processor, it was modest hardware which did a few very smart design choices. Firstly, it consumed batteries rather moderately, something colour display handhelds at the time did not. Secondly, it was built around the patented d-pad and proven quality buttons Nintendo had used the NES.
Combined, it captured a market for gaming on the move or simply as an alternative to a stationary console which required a TV. Together with the Pocket and Color versions it would end up selling a massive 118 million units.
With Super Mario becoming a huge success on the NES and quickly becoming the mascot of the Nintendo, it was only natural that he arrived on the Game Boy too. Super Mario Land would sell an impressive 18 million copies.
Later, a sequel arrived which this time was inspired by Super Mario Bros. 3, lending ideas and visual characteristics from it. SML2: 6 Golden Coins was also developed by Nintendo R&D1, while the main releases SMB 1, 2 and 3 were made by R&D4. While it wouldn't quite reach the sales of the first game, it sold a huge amount reaching over 11 million copies sold.
Apart from hunting down these classics on cartridge for use on a real Game Boy, an increasingly expensive affair these days, the Nintendo Online subscription on Switch covers these titles. They suit the smaller screen when playing the console handheld and offers some lovely scanlines to replicate that iconic, greenish screen. You can even mimic the black and white style of a GB Pocket, which had better contrast, or the weird colour scheme of a GB Color as these are titles not designed for colour.
Regardless of playing them on original hardware or on Nintendo Online, they're well worth your time if you're a fan of the traditional 2D Super Mario series. They go nicely alongside SMB 1 & 3.
Let's take a closer look at them both!
Review
Played on: Switch 2
Released: 1989 (Game Boy)
I played this one a few times back in the day, it was a common cartridge for Game Boy owners to have, alongside Teris of course, and so I got to play it every now then. Back then my skills weren't up too much, and I didn't own a Game Boy myself, so I've only played the first few levels.
At first glance it's a little strange looking, especially if we compare it to the first Super Mario Bros., an extremely common title around the same time. SML has the blocky and primitive sprite style like SMB, but it looks different. In some ways it looks more detailed, while in other ways it looks simpler with less elements onscreen.
What I really appreciate is the minimalist approach clearly built for the system; the tiny sprite models take excellent use of the Game Boy screen. After all, we're talking a 144p resolution here which is a tiny playfield to display graphics on. By making the sprites less detailed but smaller, makes way for broadening the field of view surrounding Mario to show more of the environment.
It's a smart choice as platforming requires a fair bit of view to avoiding jumping into oblivion and spot enemies walking towards you. Better still, this minimalist design allows the hardware to keep up with performance and feels responsive as a result. A lot of Game Boy titles have this zoomed-in look, to cater for larger and more detailed sprite models, but as a result feel sluggish and bog down performance on the handheld.
While the visuals are simple, they do a solid minimalist job of depicting enough background scenery to give a sense of how each world looks. We have memorable Egyptian and Ninja inspired levels, complete with accompanying music. We have UFO levels, as well as an underwater one where Mario rides a shoot-em-up inspired submarine. It doesn't have the same number of levels as SMB, but it's more varied!
The premise of story takes a slightly odd, but in retrospect highly original, turn. Aliens have taken Daisy, this is her debut into the Super Mario lore, and Mario sets out to free her. While saving the princess is basically the premise of every title in this franchise, the aliens are an original idea which they never returned to. From strange enemy creatures to UFO levels, it's enjoyable and memorable backdrop.
Gameplay is surprisingly tight, even though it has a slightly different feel compared to Super Mario Bros. on the NES. Mario controls well and stops immediately when you want him too. Combined with the more panned out view of the environment, it's one of the better Super Mario titles in this 2D era to play.
While it's a short affair to complete once your skills build up, a full run through all the levels can clock in at around an hour, it suits the handheld format well. Titles on the GB were often aimed at shorter playthroughs, and the more lenient difficulty here begs for a replay now and then. Perfect for a bus or train ride!
As I mentioned, MSL takes inspiration from SMB but makes a lot of imaginative choices to designs of levels, but this also goes for the enemies. Many of which we have never seen since. A completely different choice is how Koopas work when jumped on; in SMB they become an empty shell and can be kicked to knock out other enemies along your path. In SML they become a round bomb with a rather short timer, forcing you to quickly move away after jumping on a Koopa!
Elements like these help differentiate SML from SMB and adds another kind of element of challenge. It helps keep the game relevant for people wanting to replay the franchise, rather than just being a simpler, identical version of the SMB series.
Overall, a strong debut to bolster Nintendo's first party line-up on their new portable console, especially considering a franchise still in its infancy. The way the balance the visuals to fit the small screen and retain a responsive feel to the platforming which was key to making Super Mario Bros. on the NES so successful, is impressive. The quality platforming and tight controls is what made Super Mario become so popular after all, setting it apart from the competition.
While the linearity of levels is understandable compared to SMB, let's not forget how much more variety there is here, the length of the game is noticeably shorter. It's not an incredibly tough game to beat, of which I'm happy in hindsight to have done, so reaching the end probably was something a fair bit of players did back in the day.
Super Mario Land balances everything right to become one of the best of the early Game Boy releases. For those that love the first SMB, this is a must play!
Review
Played on: Switch 2
Released: 1992 (Game Boy)
Prior to a recent playthrough of this, I'd never played this one back in the day. My only experience with the Super Mario Land franchise was the first one. Interestingly, this is the release where Wario first debuted as a character, with his creepy silhouette roaming the castle you need six coins to enter.
It's a larger and more ambitious release compared to the first game. Structurally, it's designed around an overworld map, much like SMB3 and World, allowing players to choose the order of which they play though the game. The overall goal is to collect six coins spread across six worlds with a handful of levels in each.
This structure is smart and avoids linearity. Players can always choose between a handful of levels if they get stuck on one. It helps break the game into sessions too, rather than one start to finish experience the first game had.
Every world has a cohesive visual theme, be it a bee's nest, Halloween or little big world. It keeps some of the quirkiness of the SML franchise with unique enemies and level themes never since seen in Super Mario.
In a change of pace, Mario is out to access and defeat Wario in his castle here. Rather than save some distressed Princess held hostage. Like the first game, Bowser is not the main villain and helps differentiate this sub-series from the SMB titles.
The first thing you'll notice with this sequel is the larger sprites, echoing more of how SMB3 looks. With a less blocky sprite look and more refined character art. It's a visually pretty GB title, echoing a more modern and recognisable Super Mario experience for sure. Think the change from SMB1 to SMB3. Not only characters and enemies look more detailed, but the levels sport a lot more background detail too.
The downside is what I mentioned earlier; a zoomed in view to cater for the increased sprite detail on the figures. An unavoidable design choice for such low resolution; either have a more distanced view of your surroundings but have fewer actual pixels to draw your artwork on or reduce the view of the level and zoom in for more detailed sprite work.
The result is a look, which I prefer less, that is typical for many Game boy titles because of the small screen and less hardware power. It results in a crowded visual style, rather than the cleaner minimalist approach. This closer view of the playing field makes tricker platforming parts harder than they need to be.
Gameplay is a little more loose than the first game. While it feels better than most third-party platformers it doesn't quite have the nuance of preciseness the first one had. In combination with the closer view, it makes way for making errors more often.
At least it doesn't suffer much from performance issues, something larger sprites with this kind of detail resulted often in on the system. Plus, this isn't the worst of the bunch of more zoomed in Game Boy titles I've seen. Still, I feel it's a NES design titled trying to crush itself onto the tiny screen. In comparison the first game felt like it was built with the intent of that screen in mind.
While I appreciate the better game structure and increased amounts of levels, this is a full-sized Super Mario right up there with the SMB titles on the NES, the less responsive and closer view distance makes it a little less enjoyable when it comes to actual gameplay than the first one.
That said, SML2 is a larger, varied and more ambitious release which gives you far more play hours and value for money back in the day. It's an equally impressive game for the GB and one of the better titles on the handheld.
