When I first started gaming, I had several gameboy games in my collection, including Donkey Kong, and this game, Super Mario Land. It was first released on August 21, 1989, and is still to this day one of the better games in the gameboy library. How is this game compared to other games in the Mario series? Well, I'll go ahead and tell you by making this review.
Graphics: 7/10 For a 1989 gameboy game, the visuals in this game were really nice. There's a good variety of areas you must go through, and all the levels look very impressive for a gameboy game. Mario himself however, looks just like he did in the original Super Mario Bros. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I would've liked to see some sort of improvement in his character sprite.
When compared to other gameboy games such as Link's Awakening and Pokemon, Super Mario Land's graphics don't show what the system was truly capable of. While the graphics were really good for their time, there are better looking games on the gameboy than Super Mario Land. For these reasons, I'm giving the graphics a 7.
Sound: 8/10 Super Mario Land shows how good a gameboy soundtrack can be. Most of the music is extremely catchy and makes the game that much funner to play. There are few themes that get repetitive though, such as the boss theme. Overall, Super Mario Land's soundtrack isn't as great as Link's Awakening or Pokemon's soundtracks, but it's still good enough to receive an 8 from me.
Addictiveness: 8/10 As far as replayability goes, there's plenty of that found in Super Mario Land. The game provides some very unique levels for a Mario platformer, such as a submarine level, and even a helicopter level. Super Mario Land's levels are very different than those found on the Super Mario Bros NES classics. In addition, it has some very fun boss battles. The only thing that keeps Super Mario Land from being more addicting is the lack of difficulty, which I'll get into later. Overall though, Super Mario Land has enough replay value to give the addictiveness an 8.
Story: 2/10 The story in this game is save rescue Daisy, that's it. I honestly don't get why they wanted to have Mario save her rather than Princess Peach/Toadstool. The story is generic and the princess he has to save is worse than the the one he normally saves. For these reasons, I'm giving the story a 2.
Depth: 2/10 This is where Super Mario Land truly falters. There are only 4 worlds compared to Super Mario Bros' 8 worlds. There are 3 levels in each of Super Mario Land's worlds, making a grand total of just 12 levels. This game is easily one of the shortest gameboy games you'll find. There should've been far more levels to complete, but instead, this is an extremely short game that can be beat in a half an hour. Overall, Super Mario Land is way too short, therefore I'm giving the depth a 2.
Difficulty: 1/10 When I first played this game many years ago, I had a pretty tough time with it since I was just a little kid getting his first taste of what gaming is like. However nowadays, I see that this game is extremely easy to complete. There aren't as many tough enemies to battle and get past as Super Mario Bros for example, and the levels themselves are very easy to get through. Honestly, Super Mario Land is one of the easiest games I've played. For that reason, I'm giving the difficulty a 1.
Overall Score: 7.5/10 Even to this day, Super Mario Land is one of the better games you'll find on the gameboy. It has good graphics for it's time, a pretty memorable soundtrack, and unique levels for a Mario platformer. However, the severe lack of difficulty and levels causes Super Mario Land to be less enjoyable than other platformers on the system such as it's Super Mario Land 2 and Wario Land. Overall though, Super Mario Land is good enough to get a 7.5 out of 10 from me. When I first started gaming, I had several gameboy games in my collection, including Donkey Kong, and this game, Super Mario Land. It was first released on August 21, 1989, and is still to this day one of the better games in the gameboy library. How is this game compared to other games in the Mario series? Well, I'll go ahead and tell you by making this review.
Graphics: 7/10 For a 1989 gameboy game, the visuals in this game were really nice. There's a good variety of areas you must go through, and all the levels look very impressive for a gameboy game. Mario himself however, looks just like he did in the original Super Mario Bros. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I would've liked to see some sort of improvement in his character sprite.
When compared to other gameboy games such as Link's Awakening and Pokemon, Super Mario Land's graphics don't show what the system was truly capable of. While the graphics were really good for their time, there are better looking games on the gameboy than Super Mario Land. For these reasons, I'm giving the graphics a 7.
Sound: 8/10 Super Mario Land shows how good a gameboy soundtrack can be. Most of the music is extremely catchy and makes the game that much funner to play. There are few themes that get repetitive though, such as the boss theme. Overall, Super Mario Land's soundtrack isn't as great as Link's Awakening or Pokemon's soundtracks, but it's still good enough to receive an 8 from me.
Addictiveness: 8/10 As far as replayability goes, there's plenty of that found in Super Mario Land. The game provides some very unique levels for a Mario platformer, such as a submarine level, and even a helicopter level. Super Mario Land's levels are very different than those found on the Super Mario Bros NES classics. In addition, it has some very fun boss battles. The only thing that keeps Super Mario Land from being more addicting is the lack of difficulty, which I'll get into later. Overall though, Super Mario Land has enough replay value to give the addictiveness an 8.
Story: 2/10 The story in this game is save rescue Daisy, that's it. I honestly don't get why they wanted to have Mario save her rather than Princess Peach/Toadstool. The story is generic and the princess he has to save is worse than the the one he normally saves. For these reasons, I'm giving the story a 2.
Depth: 2/10 This is where Super Mario Land truly falters. There are only 4 worlds compared to Super Mario Bros' 8 worlds. There are 3 levels in each of Super Mario Land's worlds, making a grand total of just 12 levels. This game is easily one of the shortest gameboy games you'll find. There should've been far more levels to complete, but instead, this is an extremely short game that can be beat in a half an hour. Overall, Super Mario Land is way too short, therefore I'm giving the depth a 2.
Difficulty: 1/10 When I first played this game many years ago, I had a pretty tough time with it since I was just a little kid getting his first taste of what gaming is like. However nowadays, I see that this game is extremely easy to complete. There aren't as many tough enemies to battle and get past as Super Mario Bros for example, and the levels themselves are very easy to get through. Honestly, Super Mario Land is one of the easiest games I've played. For that reason, I'm giving the difficulty a 1.
Overall Score: 7.5/10 Even to this day, Super Mario Land is one of the better games you'll find on the gameboy. It has good graphics for it's time, a pretty memorable soundtrack, and unique levels for a Mario platformer. However, the severe lack of difficulty and levels causes Super Mario Land to be less enjoyable than other platformers on the system such as it's Super Mario Land 2 and Wario Land. Overall though, Super Mario Land is good enough to get a 7.5 out of 10 from me. |
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