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11-01-15 02:45 PM
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Super Mario Land for the Original Gameboy

 
Game's Ratings
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7.1
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11-01-15 02:45 PM
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Super Mario Land is another one of the first games released on Nintendo's new portable Gameboy system in the summer of 1989. My dad got this game for me about a week after I got a Gameboy that included the puzzle game Tetris for my 9th birthday in June 1992. What's even more interesting is that he bought all of this in Lowe's Hardware of all places! At the time, that store carried a lot of video games including ones like Super Mario World. Nowadays, the location of that store in my town has been remodeled into a whole new shopping center where my current temp agency is located along with: Bi-Lo, Planet Fitness, and it even used to have a computer store there back in 2007 where I bought the first computer I used on a regular basis! Lowe's is no longer there in other words, and everything about that location is totally unrecognizable now!

Enough about the old days and on to Super Mario Land. This game rocks! It was my first Mario game, and I get the same amount of enjoyment out of it that I did 26 years ago when I first played this game. How has it aged so well? There are a lot of reasons I still like it as much as I did back then, and these reasons are discussed below in this review.

Graphics 8/10: Super Mario Land looks great for an early 8-bit Gameboy game. Nintendo was really pushing the new handheld system to its limit with these graphics. The game is full of a lot of life with backgrounds such as: pyramids, clouds, statues, waterfalls, vines, etc. Hell, I don't even think Super Mario Bros. 2 had this many background objects. Although, the sprites in SML don't look very impressive, but they are an improvement over the ones in Super Mario Bros. 1 on NES. The downside is that this game doesn't have any color, and backgrounds haven't got that much detail to them. It's a good-looking game but only to a certain extent.   

Music 10/10: This soundtrack is simply amazing, but it does get repetitive in world 3. Every song sounds fantastic and keeps your attention. My only complaint was how the game re-used to same overworld and cave themes from world 1 again in world 3. To me, that isn't a big issue because the Chai Kingdom theme is nothing short of awesomeness! Same way with the music for the Submarine and Airplane levels. I'm telling you, even the pipe music sounds great! There isn't a dull song in the whole game! I don't even think the repetition of the musical numbers I spoke of earlier even brings it down at all. Almost every stage is amazing and does something different with the music.

Gameplay 10/10: The gameplay of this game is pretty similar to that of Super Mario Bros. The idea is to get to the goal as fast as you can without running out of time or losing a life. As before, Mario must avoid pits, (and in this game) spikes, and enemies along the way. The only items Mario has are the Mushroom and a Super Flower which gives him the ability to shoot superballs instead of fire. One notable difference in this game is being able to travel underwater in a submarine in level 2-3 where you can shoot your enemies with torpedoes. You can also fly through the skies of the Chai Kingdom in level 4-3 in an airplane and kill your enemies with missiles.

When you think of it, this was the first time Nintendo started putting auto-scrolling levels in their Mario games (and maybe in a lot of other video games as well). This is what made for some challenging but interesting game design. The concepts were also pretty original for their time. Mario could now pilot an airplane! Not only that, I felt like every level looked different which may not sound like a big deal, but it is. New players are in for some surprises with this Mario game. The stages of Super Mario Land look different and every one of them do something new. The game never gets boring or repetitive like in previous Mario games that came before it. I felt like this game was revolutionary in terms of its level design, and it's here that Nintendo started really being creative with the series.

There also is a Hard Mode in Super Mario Land for players, but I honestly didn't feel like playing this game again unless I had extra time. When I was a kid, and this game and Tetris were the only 2 games I had I used to play the hell out it. Nowadays, I don't care for it much because it's just the same game but with a few more enemies and obstacles. Even though SML is a short game with not much content, the content that it does have is very enjoyable because of how the stages are so different from each other and how players can progress through them. The controls are kind of an issue, but the game is pretty forgiving. For me, even that couldn't bring things down as far as I was concerned back then or even now.

Story 8/10: In Super Mario Land, Tatanga has taken over Sarasaland and has kidnapped its ruler Princess Daisy. Sarasaland in made up of 4 kingdoms: world 1 Birabuto, world 2 Muda, world 3 Easton, and world 4 Chai. Mario must make his way through these 4 worlds to confront Tatanga and save Princess Daisy. Tatanga is a mysterious alien who drives a spaceship, and Mario has to shoot him down with his airplane. The storyline isn't all that original, but I liked how Nintendo takes Mario to a different land and introduces a new Princess named Princess Daisy. She was different in appearance from Peach with a yellow dress instead of the pink one that Peach wore.

Tatanga is also a new character, but there really isn't many other characters in this game. Luigi isn't in it nor is Toad. The setting is different, and so are the enemies. This kind of reminds me of Super Mario Bros. 2 but maybe not as creative. Mario has to save a Princess, but this time it is Princess Daisy. Tatanga replaces Bowser as the main villain, so there isn't that much difference from the first SMB with the ideas. I have mixed emotions here, but most of them are still positive. 

Content 5/10: Super Mario Land only consists of 12 levels, and this is where the game suffers. You do have Hard Mode, but that just amounts to basically re-playing the game again. Who wants to do that? Unless, you have a lot of spare time and no other games to play. Anyway, world 1 is The Birabuto Kingdom which is a desert world, world 2 is The Muda Kingdom which takes place on a seaside and underwater where Mario drives a submarine, world 3 is The Easton Kingdom which is basically like Easter Island where Mario ventures through dangerous underground caves, and finally world 4 is The Chai Kingdom which has an Asian theme with the final level taking place in the sky where Mario flies an airplane.

These 4 worlds are broken up into 3 stages with a boss at the end of stage 3. Every level is different and oozing with creativity, but there isn't much content to the game. These levels are fun to play, but there just aren't enough of them. This is where Super Mario Land starts to show its age, and is also the game's weakest area.

Difficulty 6/10: In some ways Super Mario Land is hard, and in some ways it is pretty easy. It feels tame compared to Super Mario Bros. 1 and 2 on the NES. There you had very few chances to try again if you screwed up. In SML, Mario can only take one hit, so we're back to same hit system from the first game. However, it is easier to earn extra lives in this game because of the bonus games you can access by reaching the top exit at the end of each level of the game. Not only that, but players get continues after scoring 100,000 points which restart you from the beginning of the level. What an improvement from the previous games!

The controls did give me some problems because you had too much momentum with your jumps. I usually died a lot from falling off of platforms and into bottomless pits, especially in world 3. But with all the extra lives you could earn from the bonus games (which were a big improvement over the ones in SMB2) I could always try again. I found the game to be kind of difficult but only to a certain extent. I had some trouble beating it, but not near as much as did with Super Mario Bros. 2 or even Super Mario Bros. 3 for that matter. I feel like this is a moderate to challenging type of game.

Overall 8.2/10: Super Mario Land has some pretty cool concepts as far the game's level design and soundtrack go. It also doesn't look bad either nor is it a hard game for first time players. Nintendo was starting to go in a different direction with this game, and it became very popular very fast when it was first released. I feel like it is just as good now as it was back then. The only problem I have with it is its lack of content. The storyline also might not have been as creative, but that feels like just like I am expecting too much. Overall, Super Mario Land is a good game in terms of gameplay, and this is another game I can also recommend it to fans of the series.  




Super Mario Land is another one of the first games released on Nintendo's new portable Gameboy system in the summer of 1989. My dad got this game for me about a week after I got a Gameboy that included the puzzle game Tetris for my 9th birthday in June 1992. What's even more interesting is that he bought all of this in Lowe's Hardware of all places! At the time, that store carried a lot of video games including ones like Super Mario World. Nowadays, the location of that store in my town has been remodeled into a whole new shopping center where my current temp agency is located along with: Bi-Lo, Planet Fitness, and it even used to have a computer store there back in 2007 where I bought the first computer I used on a regular basis! Lowe's is no longer there in other words, and everything about that location is totally unrecognizable now!

Enough about the old days and on to Super Mario Land. This game rocks! It was my first Mario game, and I get the same amount of enjoyment out of it that I did 26 years ago when I first played this game. How has it aged so well? There are a lot of reasons I still like it as much as I did back then, and these reasons are discussed below in this review.

Graphics 8/10: Super Mario Land looks great for an early 8-bit Gameboy game. Nintendo was really pushing the new handheld system to its limit with these graphics. The game is full of a lot of life with backgrounds such as: pyramids, clouds, statues, waterfalls, vines, etc. Hell, I don't even think Super Mario Bros. 2 had this many background objects. Although, the sprites in SML don't look very impressive, but they are an improvement over the ones in Super Mario Bros. 1 on NES. The downside is that this game doesn't have any color, and backgrounds haven't got that much detail to them. It's a good-looking game but only to a certain extent.   

Music 10/10: This soundtrack is simply amazing, but it does get repetitive in world 3. Every song sounds fantastic and keeps your attention. My only complaint was how the game re-used to same overworld and cave themes from world 1 again in world 3. To me, that isn't a big issue because the Chai Kingdom theme is nothing short of awesomeness! Same way with the music for the Submarine and Airplane levels. I'm telling you, even the pipe music sounds great! There isn't a dull song in the whole game! I don't even think the repetition of the musical numbers I spoke of earlier even brings it down at all. Almost every stage is amazing and does something different with the music.

Gameplay 10/10: The gameplay of this game is pretty similar to that of Super Mario Bros. The idea is to get to the goal as fast as you can without running out of time or losing a life. As before, Mario must avoid pits, (and in this game) spikes, and enemies along the way. The only items Mario has are the Mushroom and a Super Flower which gives him the ability to shoot superballs instead of fire. One notable difference in this game is being able to travel underwater in a submarine in level 2-3 where you can shoot your enemies with torpedoes. You can also fly through the skies of the Chai Kingdom in level 4-3 in an airplane and kill your enemies with missiles.

When you think of it, this was the first time Nintendo started putting auto-scrolling levels in their Mario games (and maybe in a lot of other video games as well). This is what made for some challenging but interesting game design. The concepts were also pretty original for their time. Mario could now pilot an airplane! Not only that, I felt like every level looked different which may not sound like a big deal, but it is. New players are in for some surprises with this Mario game. The stages of Super Mario Land look different and every one of them do something new. The game never gets boring or repetitive like in previous Mario games that came before it. I felt like this game was revolutionary in terms of its level design, and it's here that Nintendo started really being creative with the series.

There also is a Hard Mode in Super Mario Land for players, but I honestly didn't feel like playing this game again unless I had extra time. When I was a kid, and this game and Tetris were the only 2 games I had I used to play the hell out it. Nowadays, I don't care for it much because it's just the same game but with a few more enemies and obstacles. Even though SML is a short game with not much content, the content that it does have is very enjoyable because of how the stages are so different from each other and how players can progress through them. The controls are kind of an issue, but the game is pretty forgiving. For me, even that couldn't bring things down as far as I was concerned back then or even now.

Story 8/10: In Super Mario Land, Tatanga has taken over Sarasaland and has kidnapped its ruler Princess Daisy. Sarasaland in made up of 4 kingdoms: world 1 Birabuto, world 2 Muda, world 3 Easton, and world 4 Chai. Mario must make his way through these 4 worlds to confront Tatanga and save Princess Daisy. Tatanga is a mysterious alien who drives a spaceship, and Mario has to shoot him down with his airplane. The storyline isn't all that original, but I liked how Nintendo takes Mario to a different land and introduces a new Princess named Princess Daisy. She was different in appearance from Peach with a yellow dress instead of the pink one that Peach wore.

Tatanga is also a new character, but there really isn't many other characters in this game. Luigi isn't in it nor is Toad. The setting is different, and so are the enemies. This kind of reminds me of Super Mario Bros. 2 but maybe not as creative. Mario has to save a Princess, but this time it is Princess Daisy. Tatanga replaces Bowser as the main villain, so there isn't that much difference from the first SMB with the ideas. I have mixed emotions here, but most of them are still positive. 

Content 5/10: Super Mario Land only consists of 12 levels, and this is where the game suffers. You do have Hard Mode, but that just amounts to basically re-playing the game again. Who wants to do that? Unless, you have a lot of spare time and no other games to play. Anyway, world 1 is The Birabuto Kingdom which is a desert world, world 2 is The Muda Kingdom which takes place on a seaside and underwater where Mario drives a submarine, world 3 is The Easton Kingdom which is basically like Easter Island where Mario ventures through dangerous underground caves, and finally world 4 is The Chai Kingdom which has an Asian theme with the final level taking place in the sky where Mario flies an airplane.

These 4 worlds are broken up into 3 stages with a boss at the end of stage 3. Every level is different and oozing with creativity, but there isn't much content to the game. These levels are fun to play, but there just aren't enough of them. This is where Super Mario Land starts to show its age, and is also the game's weakest area.

Difficulty 6/10: In some ways Super Mario Land is hard, and in some ways it is pretty easy. It feels tame compared to Super Mario Bros. 1 and 2 on the NES. There you had very few chances to try again if you screwed up. In SML, Mario can only take one hit, so we're back to same hit system from the first game. However, it is easier to earn extra lives in this game because of the bonus games you can access by reaching the top exit at the end of each level of the game. Not only that, but players get continues after scoring 100,000 points which restart you from the beginning of the level. What an improvement from the previous games!

The controls did give me some problems because you had too much momentum with your jumps. I usually died a lot from falling off of platforms and into bottomless pits, especially in world 3. But with all the extra lives you could earn from the bonus games (which were a big improvement over the ones in SMB2) I could always try again. I found the game to be kind of difficult but only to a certain extent. I had some trouble beating it, but not near as much as did with Super Mario Bros. 2 or even Super Mario Bros. 3 for that matter. I feel like this is a moderate to challenging type of game.

Overall 8.2/10: Super Mario Land has some pretty cool concepts as far the game's level design and soundtrack go. It also doesn't look bad either nor is it a hard game for first time players. Nintendo was starting to go in a different direction with this game, and it became very popular very fast when it was first released. I feel like it is just as good now as it was back then. The only problem I have with it is its lack of content. The storyline also might not have been as creative, but that feels like just like I am expecting too much. Overall, Super Mario Land is a good game in terms of gameplay, and this is another game I can also recommend it to fans of the series.  


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(edited by luigi25 on 11-24-18 10:32 AM)    

11-01-15 03:57 PM
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I like that you put your review's title on the top of your post and centered it, it's a nice touch that I barely ever see in reviews.

As for the review itself, you did a great job with it! You spaced it out, made it neat (except for the weird spacing that you get by copying and pasting), and you used a format pretty similar to the format I use for my reviews. You also included plenty of detail, but not too much. However I think you should have gone a little more in-depth with the difficulty section. For example, you could have described what made the basic platforming so easy. Also, you should try to fix the weird spacing with the lines being shorter than they're supposed to be, even though it's time-consuming.

Keep on reviewing!
I like that you put your review's title on the top of your post and centered it, it's a nice touch that I barely ever see in reviews.

As for the review itself, you did a great job with it! You spaced it out, made it neat (except for the weird spacing that you get by copying and pasting), and you used a format pretty similar to the format I use for my reviews. You also included plenty of detail, but not too much. However I think you should have gone a little more in-depth with the difficulty section. For example, you could have described what made the basic platforming so easy. Also, you should try to fix the weird spacing with the lines being shorter than they're supposed to be, even though it's time-consuming.

Keep on reviewing!
Vizzed Elite
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Philippians 4:6-7


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(edited by PacmanandMariofan on 11-01-15 03:59 PM)    

11-01-15 04:23 PM
luigi25 is Offline
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luigi25
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PacmanandMariofan : I figured out how to fix the spacing. I copied my review and clicked on the icon at the top that says paste from Word. That made the whole article look very neat looking and more professional. I'm thinking of reviewing Mario Land 2 next. 
PacmanandMariofan : I figured out how to fix the spacing. I copied my review and clicked on the icon at the top that says paste from Word. That made the whole article look very neat looking and more professional. I'm thinking of reviewing Mario Land 2 next. 
Trusted Member

Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'

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(edited by luigi25 on 11-01-15 06:30 PM)     Post Rating: 1   Liked By: Pacman+Mariofan,

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