Mauru
So for a long time I kind of refused to play the GB games because, I'm gonna be so real, the idea of a platforming game on a GameBoy sounded miserable to me. I mean, the GB is already on par with the NES, and I only like one platforming game on NES, Super Mario Bros. 3. Note how that means I don't like Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario Bros. 2.
That being said, recently I decided, why not? I'll try it out a bit. I didn't expect to finish the game, much less actually enjoy it. My preconceived notions were wrong. Don't get me wrong, I still wouldn't prefer to play this game, especially not in 2024 where I can not only play Super Mario Bros. 3 in three different forms on multiple handhelds, but I can play Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the go. But for what this game is, its fun. The controls are surprisingly good, the gamefeel is even more surprisingly good. This honestly feels better to me than the first two Super Mario Bros. games on the NES. Really, there's nothing to fault it that isn't just a symptom of it being a GameBoy game.
To be clear, it isn't joining the ranks of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder as "the 2D Mario games I actually like", but I did not have a bad time playing it.
That being said, recently I decided, why not? I'll try it out a bit. I didn't expect to finish the game, much less actually enjoy it. My preconceived notions were wrong. Don't get me wrong, I still wouldn't prefer to play this game, especially not in 2024 where I can not only play Super Mario Bros. 3 in three different forms on multiple handhelds, but I can play Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the go. But for what this game is, its fun. The controls are surprisingly good, the gamefeel is even more surprisingly good. This honestly feels better to me than the first two Super Mario Bros. games on the NES. Really, there's nothing to fault it that isn't just a symptom of it being a GameBoy game.
To be clear, it isn't joining the ranks of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder as "the 2D Mario games I actually like", but I did not have a bad time playing it.
For the first handheld mario game, I honestly enjoyed my time with it. It has a unique charm that makes it stands out from most other 2D mario games and the music is pretty neat. Controls take a while to get used to but overall a soild package if you have an hour to spare.
Fun little good time.
Released in 1989 and developed by Nintendo, even though it wasn't necessarily the first Gameboy game, it was certainly the most iconic of its launch. A game from Nintendo's most famous series at the launch of the console represented a huge selling point, and indeed, Super Mario Land was one of the best-selling games on the original Gameboy, and is still one of the best-remembered to this day.
It's a game with a real story, albeit a simple one because it's an old Mario story. In this game, Mario has the mission of saving Princess Daisy, in her first appearance in the franchise, and the inhabitants of Sarasaland from Tatanga, the little villain on the ship. Sarasaland is a very different world from the standard Mushroom Kingdom in Mario games, with each stage based on a real-world location, and the enemies, although similar to the originals, are different versions, such as the Goombo instead of the Goomba.
Another notable difference is in the gameplay, where the classic fire flower has been replaced by the Superball Flower, which launches balls that bounce off walls, adding an interesting but sometimes problematic dynamic when you get stuck in a loop.
In addition, the game features spaceship stages, where you control a submarine called Marine Pop and an airplane called Sky Pop, providing an experience similar to a shooting game. The Sky Pop stage is particularly challenging, almost like bullet hell, but with hellish birds instead of bullets.
Returning to the story, to save Daisy, Mario must travel and conquer all four kingdoms present here, Birabuto Kingdom, a desert kingdom based on ancient Egypt, Muda Kingdom, a water kingdom, Easton Kingdom, a kingdom partly based on Easter Island, and Chai Kingdom, a kingdom inspired by mythical ancient China, this last one I can also call INFERNO, because my god what a difficult business, the enemies are positioned in a way that was either completely deliberate to make it difficult, or it was a very poorly thought out level design, every two steps you take an enemy from beyond appears to kill you.
At the end of each kingdom you meet Daisy and she's actually an enemy in disguise, every time...
At the end, after the Sky Pop stage mentioned earlier, you defeat Tatanga in his armed airship, the Pagosu. After defeating him, Mario finally rescues the real Daisy, and the two of them set off together in a spaceship.
That's the basic story of the game. Although it's simple, it's good to have a narrative attached to the game, as it makes things less random, although they are still quite random.
I don't know why they made all these changes, perhaps to innovate or attract attention, but perhaps it wasn't the attention they wanted. Although it sold very well, being the console's fourth best-selling game, the game was heavily criticized in reviews at the time for its graphics, which were too ambitious for the power of the Game Boy, which is understandable, and for its length, which was considered too short, and I disagree with this last point.
Yes, the game is short, but I think that's an advantage, firstly because I'm not the biggest advocate of "length = quality". Besides, I think the greatest quality of this game is its brevity. It's possible to finish it in less than an hour if you play well, and I think this was an important quality for Game Boy games, especially in the early days when it was convenient to be able to play for short periods of time during the day.
The main negative point for me is the gameplay, specifically Mario's movement. They've implemented a kind of momentum on him, so that when you stop pressing the direction button, he keeps moving a little until he stops completely, just like in real life. This mechanic would be bad enough for a platform game that requires some precision like Mario, but the problem is that it only works sometimes, which makes everything confusing.
Another problem with movement is that sometimes Mario simply turns into a rock and falls like a meteor into the holes in the scenery, which is quite annoying.
Despite this, Super Mario Land isn't a bad game, it could just be better. The shortcomings in the gameplay I attribute to the Game Boy's architecture, especially at the beginning, when they still couldn't get the most out of the console, so I put that down to a bit of relief.
The thematic and story part is a bit random, honestly the worlds don't even seem to be part of the Mario universe, they're just a generic desert, a generic ocean, Easter Island and a generic Chinese place. The only good thing that came out of it was the introduction of Daisy, who later became important in the franchise.
All in all, the first great Game Boy game, Super Mario Land, has many flaws, but it occupies an important place in the console's history and is remembered to this day as a classic.
My rating for it is: 3 stars.
It's a game with a real story, albeit a simple one because it's an old Mario story. In this game, Mario has the mission of saving Princess Daisy, in her first appearance in the franchise, and the inhabitants of Sarasaland from Tatanga, the little villain on the ship. Sarasaland is a very different world from the standard Mushroom Kingdom in Mario games, with each stage based on a real-world location, and the enemies, although similar to the originals, are different versions, such as the Goombo instead of the Goomba.
Another notable difference is in the gameplay, where the classic fire flower has been replaced by the Superball Flower, which launches balls that bounce off walls, adding an interesting but sometimes problematic dynamic when you get stuck in a loop.
In addition, the game features spaceship stages, where you control a submarine called Marine Pop and an airplane called Sky Pop, providing an experience similar to a shooting game. The Sky Pop stage is particularly challenging, almost like bullet hell, but with hellish birds instead of bullets.
Returning to the story, to save Daisy, Mario must travel and conquer all four kingdoms present here, Birabuto Kingdom, a desert kingdom based on ancient Egypt, Muda Kingdom, a water kingdom, Easton Kingdom, a kingdom partly based on Easter Island, and Chai Kingdom, a kingdom inspired by mythical ancient China, this last one I can also call INFERNO, because my god what a difficult business, the enemies are positioned in a way that was either completely deliberate to make it difficult, or it was a very poorly thought out level design, every two steps you take an enemy from beyond appears to kill you.
At the end of each kingdom you meet Daisy and she's actually an enemy in disguise, every time...
At the end, after the Sky Pop stage mentioned earlier, you defeat Tatanga in his armed airship, the Pagosu. After defeating him, Mario finally rescues the real Daisy, and the two of them set off together in a spaceship.
That's the basic story of the game. Although it's simple, it's good to have a narrative attached to the game, as it makes things less random, although they are still quite random.
I don't know why they made all these changes, perhaps to innovate or attract attention, but perhaps it wasn't the attention they wanted. Although it sold very well, being the console's fourth best-selling game, the game was heavily criticized in reviews at the time for its graphics, which were too ambitious for the power of the Game Boy, which is understandable, and for its length, which was considered too short, and I disagree with this last point.
Yes, the game is short, but I think that's an advantage, firstly because I'm not the biggest advocate of "length = quality". Besides, I think the greatest quality of this game is its brevity. It's possible to finish it in less than an hour if you play well, and I think this was an important quality for Game Boy games, especially in the early days when it was convenient to be able to play for short periods of time during the day.
The main negative point for me is the gameplay, specifically Mario's movement. They've implemented a kind of momentum on him, so that when you stop pressing the direction button, he keeps moving a little until he stops completely, just like in real life. This mechanic would be bad enough for a platform game that requires some precision like Mario, but the problem is that it only works sometimes, which makes everything confusing.
Another problem with movement is that sometimes Mario simply turns into a rock and falls like a meteor into the holes in the scenery, which is quite annoying.
Despite this, Super Mario Land isn't a bad game, it could just be better. The shortcomings in the gameplay I attribute to the Game Boy's architecture, especially at the beginning, when they still couldn't get the most out of the console, so I put that down to a bit of relief.
The thematic and story part is a bit random, honestly the worlds don't even seem to be part of the Mario universe, they're just a generic desert, a generic ocean, Easter Island and a generic Chinese place. The only good thing that came out of it was the introduction of Daisy, who later became important in the franchise.
All in all, the first great Game Boy game, Super Mario Land, has many flaws, but it occupies an important place in the console's history and is remembered to this day as a classic.
My rating for it is: 3 stars.
This game annoyed the hell out of me. The second half of the game had me dying again and again to bullsh*t enemy placement. the music was good tho
full of unusual, non-Mario-like quirks and weirdly short/easy but a neat tiny little adventure
This official Nintendo game has baby’s first flash game physics.
As one of the first Game Boy games I’ve found interest in, it does its job well as an early Mario game. I love the overworld theme a lot.
Tied with New Super Mario Bros. (DS) for being the first game I ever played. My dad had it on the Gameboy, I never actually beat it though.
le tengo cariño pero es lo que es
Cleared the game on my original Game Boy. It's not a very long game, which makes it great for spur-of-the-moment replays. Should I ever replay this game, I will do so using my Game Boy Player peripheral.
Solid game even through all of its limitations, very creative settings and enemies
while very limited, it's still an interesting mario game. more fun than i thought. hell even the soundtrack was memorable
Si Newton jugara a este juego, les cantaría las cuarenta por el total desprecio a la coherencia gravitacional.
This is one of those games that reminds me just how amazingly far gaming has evolved from it's primitive beginnings.
Moreso than Tetris, this was my go-to Game Boy game. A svelte, tight experience that (if played again-and-again to master it's jumps) could be completed in a breezy half hour.
I still like the catchy tunes, the bare-bones graphics and the responsive controls. It doesn't look like much by today's standards but it's incredibly fun.
Moreso than Tetris, this was my go-to Game Boy game. A svelte, tight experience that (if played again-and-again to master it's jumps) could be completed in a breezy half hour.
I still like the catchy tunes, the bare-bones graphics and the responsive controls. It doesn't look like much by today's standards but it's incredibly fun.
Yall this game whooped my ass I was genuinely so surprised when I couldn't move backwards once the screen had scrolled and there were a few things about the collision (specifically around corners of platforms) that really threw me off and I definitely did NOT beat this game I didn't even reach the second boss despite playing for almost an hour. But...! I had fun and that's what matters. I just don't have the time to really learn this game right now especially when I have to restart from the beginning every time I die
This game does not hold up well today, but it is a Game Boy game, so I suppose it is excusable.
Divertido e curto
Since when did turtles explode man???
This game doesn’t deserve a place on the shelf with the good Mario games.
I agree with brentalfloss on this one.
The quality dropped off like some kinda Mario knock off.
This game doesn’t deserve a place on the shelf with the good Mario games.
I agree with brentalfloss on this one.
The quality dropped off like some kinda Mario knock off.
It's janky in the way a lot of Game Boy and NES games are, but it's short enough it doesn't outstay its welcome. It's still decent, though, and somewhat unique for a Mario game with its level themes.
little funky control wise but its gas
Pretty weird by Mario standards. I didn't find it too memorable, but it did have some cool music.
This review contains spoilers
The final boss is juked out to be a fucking cloud
No es un mal juego pero ha envejecido fatal
Really primitive game but at least it's short
Incredibly weird and quirky, but most surprisingly, very aesthetically pleasing in look and sound. It doesn't quite play right, but it's so weird and quirky, that it's worth checking out for Mario fans, if only because it demands so little of your time.
really impressive for a Game Boy launch title. Feels understandably jank but it’s so cool how weird this game and the sequel are
A simple but fun experience. The controls are a little jank, but the game's level design seems to know this and doesn't get out of hand. The game feels like an expansion to SMB1, so it's quite basic. Thankfully, with game only having 12 levels, SML doesn't overstay its welcome.
The game is fun but because it is so hard to pass it can become frustrating.
But don't get me wrong, this game was addictive! Maybe because I was always losing and wanted to beat this
But don't get me wrong, this game was addictive! Maybe because I was always losing and wanted to beat this