Even though I'll always hold fondness for Mario Land 1, there's no doubt that the sequel fixed and improved every aspect of the first game, enough to a point that anybody who liked Mario 3 or World, but wasn't feeling the awkward Mario Land 1 physics, could easily jump into this one and feel right at home.
This is a short, well-made, and aesthetically creative platformer. The odd plot of a "fake goblin Mario" stealing your apparently-existing castle is the cherry on top of the unique set of levels that puts Mario World's harmless but not very memorable setting to shame. I always considered Mario to be at his peak when he leans into the really weird side of his universe, and the Mario Land series was one of the first examples of this, straying away from the expectations of Mario, to do what it wants, how it wants it, even among the more traditional elements found here.
I believe this was also Kazumi Totaka's first major composing project. Next to Koji Kondo, I consider Totaka a very notable composer for the Mario series. Koji often brought the catchy tunes, while Totaka did the same but added a little more weirdness into his work. Even with the limitations of 8-bit composition, you can still feel these odd little uses of instruments that I think really add to this game's soundtrack. It's a great listen, especially the music that plays during the autoscrolling moon level.
I mean, damn, what else I can say? This is a good Mario, and just because it's on the Gameboy, is no excuse for anybody to hesitate to play it. It holds up just as well today as it did back then, a true miracle.
This is a short, well-made, and aesthetically creative platformer. The odd plot of a "fake goblin Mario" stealing your apparently-existing castle is the cherry on top of the unique set of levels that puts Mario World's harmless but not very memorable setting to shame. I always considered Mario to be at his peak when he leans into the really weird side of his universe, and the Mario Land series was one of the first examples of this, straying away from the expectations of Mario, to do what it wants, how it wants it, even among the more traditional elements found here.
I believe this was also Kazumi Totaka's first major composing project. Next to Koji Kondo, I consider Totaka a very notable composer for the Mario series. Koji often brought the catchy tunes, while Totaka did the same but added a little more weirdness into his work. Even with the limitations of 8-bit composition, you can still feel these odd little uses of instruments that I think really add to this game's soundtrack. It's a great listen, especially the music that plays during the autoscrolling moon level.
I mean, damn, what else I can say? This is a good Mario, and just because it's on the Gameboy, is no excuse for anybody to hesitate to play it. It holds up just as well today as it did back then, a true miracle.