Mario Land is a short but sweet game, that manages to hold a strong sense of individuality thanks to unique themes, enemies and bosses; which are always welcome in the ever so repetitive Mario franchise. With this being the first Mario game on the Gameboy system it's clear that Nintendo were still getting a feel of how to best utilize the console to the best of it's ability. Consequently the main drawbacks of this game are it's unnatural feeling physics and questionable artstyle, however I feel that the core gameplay is not significantly held back by this, leaving an overall enjoyable experience that holds up decently today.

An adequate starting point for the series, but not the greatest aged game of all time. Some great storytelling throughout and overall fun gameplay, however not enough is done to keep the gameplay loop fresh. This is particularly evident in combat and enemy variety, with a lot of mini-bosses returning as basic enemies time and time again. There is a lot of fun to be had upgrading and testing the skills and different combos however, more often than not you'll find yourself sticking to a set few which are most effective. Puzzles ranged from either intricately designed with incredibly satisfying solutions to frustratingly tedious with no clear solution at times but overall there was an enjoyable level of charm and challenge in solving them. The final Boss was quite fun however with so much narrative build up I can't help but feel a little disappointed by the lack of new mechanics or challenges presented by it.