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Super Mario Land Review
Overview
Super Mario Land is an old Gameboy game; actually, it's old even for a Gameboy game. It's often considered sub-par compared to other Mario games because it's short, and because it changes some of the traditional gameplay elements.
Art
As I said, this game is old even for a Gameboy game, so I have to give the graphics some leeway. Still, they are truly poor compared to other Gameboy games like Super Mario Land 3, and even Tetris. I have to give the game credit for fairly atypical level settings. The game strays from Mario's usual grassy fields and deserts, and replaces them with things like techno-alien and something Easter Island-esque. The sound and music are average for what you'd expect from a Gameboy game, though the lack of classic Mario music hurts.
Innovation Factor
The game finds a surprisingly decent amount of room to experiment in within the 2-D Mario style. There are a couple fun "shoot 'em up/shmup" levels, and replacing Mario's standard Fire Flower with a bouncing ball attack brings a refreshing change to the gameplay mechanic.
Gameplay
This is a 2-D Mario game, and remains fairly faithful to the traditional mechanics that make Mario games so fun to play. There's running, there's jumping, there's ball shooting, you get the idea. I think the changes made from the typical Mario formula help to set apart the game, and don't detract from the quality. Still, a lot of it is "not quite right," the physics are too slippery and the running is way more dangerous than is typical.
Lastability and Re-playability
This is technically a very short game, with only 12 levels and no save functionality. The game has managed to last me years though, mostly because I was never able to beat it as a kid, which has driven me to keep coming back, desperate to finally beat it. I suppose all this means the game lacks lastability, but has fairly high re-playability.
Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Played
Continuously running, as is standard practice in almost every Mario game, is actually not a good idea. It exacerbates the slippery physics issue of the game, and seems to get the player in a particular amount of trouble with the dangerously placed enemies and short platforms.
Overall
Because of its age and ties to the Mario franchise, this game is difficult to score. In the end though, this game was probably never considered truly great, and hasn't aged especially well. There is certainly fun to be had though, and it's well worth it for an obsessive Mario collector. I think this game could become fantastic if it were remade on GBA with SNES-level graphics and save functionality, especially because the game apparently contains an unlockable hard-mode and level-select. Such a high selling game that was pivotal to the Gameboy's early line-up, and made by the legendary Gunpei Yokoi deserves it.
Screenshot source: Moby Games
Super Mario Land is an old Gameboy game; actually, it's old even for a Gameboy game. It's often considered sub-par compared to other Mario games because it's short, and because it changes some of the traditional gameplay elements.
Art
As I said, this game is old even for a Gameboy game, so I have to give the graphics some leeway. Still, they are truly poor compared to other Gameboy games like Super Mario Land 3, and even Tetris. I have to give the game credit for fairly atypical level settings. The game strays from Mario's usual grassy fields and deserts, and replaces them with things like techno-alien and something Easter Island-esque. The sound and music are average for what you'd expect from a Gameboy game, though the lack of classic Mario music hurts.
Innovation Factor
The game finds a surprisingly decent amount of room to experiment in within the 2-D Mario style. There are a couple fun "shoot 'em up/shmup" levels, and replacing Mario's standard Fire Flower with a bouncing ball attack brings a refreshing change to the gameplay mechanic.
Gameplay
This is a 2-D Mario game, and remains fairly faithful to the traditional mechanics that make Mario games so fun to play. There's running, there's jumping, there's ball shooting, you get the idea. I think the changes made from the typical Mario formula help to set apart the game, and don't detract from the quality. Still, a lot of it is "not quite right," the physics are too slippery and the running is way more dangerous than is typical.
Lastability and Re-playability
This is technically a very short game, with only 12 levels and no save functionality. The game has managed to last me years though, mostly because I was never able to beat it as a kid, which has driven me to keep coming back, desperate to finally beat it. I suppose all this means the game lacks lastability, but has fairly high re-playability.
Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Played
Continuously running, as is standard practice in almost every Mario game, is actually not a good idea. It exacerbates the slippery physics issue of the game, and seems to get the player in a particular amount of trouble with the dangerously placed enemies and short platforms.
Overall
Because of its age and ties to the Mario franchise, this game is difficult to score. In the end though, this game was probably never considered truly great, and hasn't aged especially well. There is certainly fun to be had though, and it's well worth it for an obsessive Mario collector. I think this game could become fantastic if it were remade on GBA with SNES-level graphics and save functionality, especially because the game apparently contains an unlockable hard-mode and level-select. Such a high selling game that was pivotal to the Gameboy's early line-up, and made by the legendary Gunpei Yokoi deserves it.
Final Score: 65/100
Where does this game rank on my All Time Reviewed Games List?
Screenshot source: Moby Games