Super Super Mario Land is another rare Mario ROM hack, and for this one, it is Super Mario Land that is modified. Last time, I reviewed a pretty unknown hack of Super Mario Bros. 2 (//www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=99909), but this game is also a game a lot of people probably don't know about. Unfortunately, it isn't playable on Vizzed because of Copyright issues. You can't play it unless you've played it before or have it downloaded on your computer. Anyway, everything is about the same, so I'd have to rate the categories of this game like I rated the original (//www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=90748).

I was a pretty big fan of Super Mario Land, mainly because it was my first Mario game and my first video game in general that I got to play as a kid. Super Super Mario Land isn't the same game that that game was. The difficulty is a little higher, and the levels are quite modified that make for some pretty interesting game design in this Mario hack.

Graphics 8/10: Mario Land and SS Mario Land both have a lot of background objects. The levels in both games are full of: pyramids, statues, waterfalls, vines, etc. I liked how this was an improvement over the bland/uninteresting backgrounds of the NES Mario games, especially SMB1. The sprites don't look as impressive, but they are still better looking than those of some of the previous Mario titles. Even though, the two games don't have any color to them, they both look pretty good. The sprites aren't that great, but everything else is standard for an early Gameboy game.

Music 10/10: In both the hack and the original SML, the soundtrack is nothing short of awesomeness! Super Mario Land produced some of the best Mario music in the trilogy. SS Mario Land follows the blueprint of that game. The Chai Kingdom theme is probably my favorite, but the overworld theme from 1-1 is also pretty cool too. There isn't a dull track in either game, and the soundtrack for both are amazing!    

Gameplay 10/10: The goal of SS Mario Land is just like in most other Mario games. You have to get to the goal before running out of time. The player has to avoid enemies, pits, and other hazards along the way. Although, there are new types of levels here that include some auto-scrolling where Mario drives an underwater submarine and pilots an airplane over the skies of the Chai Kingdom. The 4 worlds have the same themes from the original game, and each one of them is unique. As far as the way this hack plays, there isn't anything about it that's much different from before. Hard Mode is also included here, but it is just the same game as Normal Mode. Although, for this hack Frank Maggiore made it way harder than what it should have been, so it really isn't worth the time unless you want to be trolled.

This hack is not that hard and is very playable unlike a lot of other Mario hacks. It plays the same as the original SML on Gameboy, but it is not just a copy of that game. The design of these stages is pretty challenging, but after a good bit of trial and error they get easier. Players learn where the traps are and how to avoid them. This is just the way a video game should be. The themes may be the same for the stages, but the design of this hack is pretty creative. I enjoy both the game and the hack just as much as the other and find both almost equal as far as their creativity in level design and gameplay.

Story 8/10: You have the same story from the regular game also. Tatanga has kidnapped Princess Daisy and taken over Sarasaland. Mario must make his way through the 4 worlds of Sarasaland in order to defeat Tatanga and restore peace to the kingdom. The plot is the same type of plot from Super Mario Bros., but this time the game takes place in Sarasaland instead of the Mushroom Kingdom. Also, Mario must rescue a different Princess named Princess Daisy. The storyline is too much like that in the first Mario game, but the characters of Tatanga and Princess Daisy are something new. It's a nice concept but not all that original.

Content 5/10: Super Super Mario Land has the same amount of content to it that the regular game had. As mentioned earlier, it takes place in Sarasaland which is broken up into 4 areas: The Birabuto Kingdom, Muda Kingdom, Easton Kingdom, and The Chai Kingdom. Each one of these 4 areas consists of 3 levels. So, there are only 12 levels in the normal game. In Hard Mode, you play the same 12 levels again with a much higher level of difficulty, so there isn't that much original content to it. Like with SML, it all adds up to a game that only takes about 35 minutes to finish.

Difficulty 7/10: Super Mario Land is pretty easy when compared to games like: Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, or 3 on NES. Players get more extra lives, continues, and the game itself isn't very long to try and finish. Although, in SS Mario Land, the platforming is a little trickier, and there are a few more traps such as: fall-through floors that take a few playthroughs to successfully avoid. This hack gave me some trouble trying to beat it for the first time, but after a while, I got used to it. It is a little more of a challenge from the original, and that was the way it was meant to be. SS Mario Land is kind of a hard game but nothing players can't get used to with time and practice.

Overall 8.2/10: I consider both the hack and the original to be so similar in quality that I could play either one and get the same amount of enjoyment out of both. In other words, this is a very good ROM hack of Super Mario Land. The level design is well thought out, and Frank Maggiore put a lot of time and effort into making a hack similar to the original with the level themes but something totally different in terms of level design that makes for some interesting gameplay. All the other categories of this review are just as good as Super Mario Land, and the two games are almost interchangeable they are so much alike.