Super Mario Land Review

In 1989 the gaming scene was revolutionized with the launch of Nintendo’s Gameboy and of course this meant it would launch with a title from their flagship franchise, Super Mario. While Super Mario Land is now met with mixed opinions and is often said to not stack up to Super Mario Bros. 3, the so called “greatest NES game of all time”, I actually tend to disagree with the criticisms as their superficial. I think this is a worthy entry into the Mario series and for its time having this on the go was a technical marvel.
There’s not much to say other than the graphics were slightly scaled back, the gameplay is slightly different due to the level design so jumps have to be done more carefully, the music is really good and catchy, and it’s a short game of 4 worlds, three levels each. It’s also pretty easy as I mastered it in a night but gets fairly more challenging at world 4. There’s also now shooter stages on two levels which are done really well and are totally fun.
Overall while different, it’s imaginative and does well to show off the console even with its limitations. It’s a fun, short game that still stacks up today so buy into the people who say it’s bad. It’s a retro game sure but if the first Super Mario Bros can still be enjoyed with its vast limitations there’s no reason this one can’t be as well. I’ll give it an 8/10 as it’s a great portable Mario Gameboy title.
The whole reason I jumped back into this game is because of Brental Floss and his amazing song about this game being so damn catchy and managing to worm its way into my mind so if you like funny, informative video game music and have a few minutes to spare here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAtWQ_xn0kI