Game Review: Super Mario Land (NGB)
Game Title: Super Mario Land
Release Date: 1989
Developer: Nintendo (Gunpei Yokoi)
Platform: Nintendo Game Boy
Genre/Type: 2D Platform
Game Rating: [III/V]
While Super Mario Land has some good ideas and has some originality, it barely meets the standard for a platform (or a Mario) game and doesn’t necessarily break new ground with it…
With Nintendo pushing the concept of a portable game system with interchangeable software, the Game Boy has been aching that can define it as a viable platform. This is what Super Mario Land tries to attempt. With what the player will get out of the entire game experience, the key term is “try”.
In the main story of Super Mario Land the princess Daisy (not Princess Peach) has been kidnapped by Tatanga, a space creature from a far away land. Rather than taking place in the Mushroom kingdom, Super Mario Land’s setting is in the kingdom of Easton. The player assumes the role of Mario who has the task of rescuing Princess Daisy and bringing Tatanga to justice.
Technologically speaking, the game borrows the engine from the First Super Mario Bros. title and re purposes it for Mario’s latest adventure. With that, the game has several worlds of varying environments. Each world consists of a few levels, with the last level ending in a boss fights. The regular levels end and transition to a small bonus stage. The bonus stage is a roulette style mini-game the player randomly hits the A button and hopes for an extra life or a power-up.
There have been many changes to the Mario game formula with Super Mario Land for better or worse. One of these changes is that there is no multiplayer mode in the game which takes quite a bit away from the game as far as replay value goes. Another change is the addition of a continue feature. However, you have to be more than halfway through the game for the feature to work and have more than a certain amount of points as well. This new feature more like a headache than a blessing and is practically non-existent for both struggling players and those who excel at this game.
A feature that is new to this title is the concept of vehicular combat. There are some level where the player will fly a plane or operate a submarine and can shoot enemies down blast bricks and boxes apart. There are some cases where the vehicles are used in boss fights. Though this concept is new for Mario games, it lacks depth and does not play particularly well. On top of this, vehicular has been done before and to a higher quality in game of years past.
Though the graphical limitations of the Game Boy are severe, Super Mario Land makes dew and also manages to differentiate itself from previous Mario game titles when it comes to originality. With the odd environments and new enemies the game’s identity is its own. The sound effects are not particularly special in any way, but the musical soundtrack does not suffer from the same stigma. The music is quirky and adds to the game’s charm.
It is unmistakably clear that Super Mario Land is a very different game when compared to the previous Mario games. The changes made to the formula help this game in some areas, but also hurt it in others. Despite these changes, Super Mario Land keeps the mainstays of the previous Mario games which are solid platform game play and balanced level structure. Even if the graphics and sound are not particularly special and the game lacks some standard features, Super Mario Land is a competent 2d platform game. Anyone who is already invested in a Game Boy or is a fan of the previous Mario games should definitely give this title a look.
Game Rating: [III/V]
June 14, 2008 at 9:59 pm
For a 1st gen title, it has impressive visuals, with more action than what Tetris could show, and it has fantastic compositions.
Although I never particulary yearned for a multiplayer mode, the game did have flaws. The game engine didn’t survive well the transfer to less powerful hardware, making it hard and unresponsive. Cruel level design didn’t help with the limitations imposed to Mario’s movements.
It succeded with what it was trying to do, to create a portable Mario experience. But it wasn’t well suited to the handheld as much as I would have liked it to be. The sequel fared better I think.
June 16, 2008 at 8:36 am
I agree with what you mean about the graphic to a point. They were original, but you can tell that the developers held back. The music was the impressive part. It was what I would have enjoyed hearing on a home console, so the fact that a portable had music that actually made the game more enjoyable is something special.
However, I loved the level design. Cruel to beginners and the experienced gamers alike. Unless a game is fundamentally broken (wasn’t programmed well), the difficulty is something that should never impact the overall quality of a game in my opinion. I have always embraced rediculous challenge in video games. I love playing Phantom league difficulty on Wipeout XL (PS).
The game definately sets a standard for what a competant Game Boy game should be like in terms of quality.