Game Debate #223: Super Mario Land

[Reed Rothchild | 9,930]

[Gloves | 12,259]

Never played it. 

[Ankos | 547]

Not sure whether to give this a 7 or 8. It's fun every time I play it, but it definitely doesn't feel as good as most other Mario platformers. It's got its own strange little charm though, having the player fighting bugs and other weird little dudes that don't show up in any other Mario game

[Webhead123 | 753]

I love this game, despite it being kind of an odd entry in the Mario franchise. I appreciate the unique take of adding in the shooting stages in between the standard platforming ones. The music is also fantastic and some of my favorite Mario tunes.

It's simple, strange and certainly not as good as SML2 but I still like it a lot and play it regularly.

I waffled between a 7 or an 8 but I'll be conservative and say 7/10.

[Sumez | 3,154]

I haven't played this game since the early 90s.

At the time I was disappointed by how little it actually felt like Mario, but I still had fun with it. Played it through and then didn't think much about it again. Don't really have any interest in revisiting it either. I loved the sequels though.

Probably a 4/10 or so, but it's way too distant a memory for me to say anything certain.

[fox | 1,768]

It's nice they try to do their own thing with the enemies and a couple shmup stages, but this game just feels off.  The graphics and controls are not up to the level of quality you expect from a Mario game.

[Tanooki | 5,114]

A very solid game, but a very brief one given it's a launch title, the grasp of the GB wasn't the best by far yet, and used a small storage chip limiting what could be placed as well.  Yet despite all that, they rounded out a very amazing game that controls quite well, has a unique power up, and some also even more unique non-on foot stages which sadly Super Mario games didn't really run with after unfortunately with the sub and airplane.  The game can be knocked off give or take in around 45min making it a fun romp to do over and over again without being too too short, but not long enough you can't find an hour to zen out on it.  The music is pretty memorable and stunning, the control is pretty tight yet maybe a little stiff like the original, and visually a mixed bag nothing great but nothing terrible being a weird blend of SMB1 style and plus a bit on some stuff.  It's not a 10 nor is it a 9 given the minor negatives, but it's also by scale here unfair to call it a 7 because it really is great.

This was the game to get aside from the pack-in for much of the year (1989) outside of I guess Castlevania just before Christmas as it was just alleyway and sports.  The first half of 1990 had a few solidly if not decent titles after with gator, nemesis, solar striker, wiz & warriors, and batman through June (Gargoyle's Quest was July.)

[TDIRunner | 2,893]

It's definitely a good game, but a little rough around the edges.  It's amazing how much of a graphical improvement we saw between this and SML2, but it's understandable since it was a launch title.

I was always surprised, and also in love with the fact that they threw in two shooter levels.  The music is also amazing.  I would probably rank it third out of the 3 SML games on the GB, but it's still a must play for any Game Boy fan.  

[NostalgicMachine | 325]

8/10 GameBoy title.

No complaints!

[Link | 2,880]

Obviously, this is not a real Mario game. I mean what's up with the superball, and the boss that isn't Bowser? Faaaaaake! Lies! It's not in the Mushroom Kingdom, it's a fake princess, the koopa troopas EXPLODE which doesn't happen in any other Mario game??? And there's hearts for extra lives  how can people even...

jk, I love it. 8/10. Very short, acceptable given the tech and time. Nice and memorable music and sfx, and the graphics are small but very clear; I daresay good-looking considering the limitations. Many Game Boy (and Super Nintendo) games sacrifice maneuverability for detailed, too-large sprites, but that's not going on here. I like the giant bugs and spaceship stuff (Galaga/Mario crossover, anybody?) and different environments styled from pyramids and Pacific areas. Controls and movement are perfect, and the whole thing is quite replayable, imo.

[Link | 2,880]

double post

Edited Wednesday at 09:15 PM by Link

[CMR | 538]

I always loved how quirky and weird things at Nintendo could get when Miyamoto wasn't involved.  Mario Land was a great example. 8/10

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,042]

Impressed with the high scores. I don't dislike it but I never went back to it after beating it. SML2 is orders of magnitude better. 

[TDIRunner | 2,893]

22 hours ago, Link said:

Controls and movement are perfect, 

My only disagreement with your post.  I always thought the controls were just a tad too slippery, especially for such small sprites.  It's certainly not a deal breaker, but it was always an issue for me.  You can certainly get adjusted to it during a full play through, but I find myself having to readjust back to the controls every time I play the game again.  

Edited 7 hours ago by TDIRunner

[Silent Hill | 284]

19 minutes ago, TDIRunner said:

21 hours ago, Link said:

Controls and movement are perfect, 

My only disagreement with your post.  I always thought the controls were just a tad too slippery, especially for such small sprites.  It's certainly not a deal breaker, but it was always an issue for me.  You can certainly get adjusted to it during a full paly through, but I find myself having to readjust back to the controls every time I play the game again.  

Agreed on the controls, they're a bit off but you do get used to them. 

[RH | 5,212]

I enjoyed this game for what it was but it kind of felt like a rush job to have a Mario game released with the console, but they prioritized a consistent experience over quality graphics.  I mean they aren't bad, but there's a HUGE leap difference between this and SML2.

I enjoy it, though. It's not a bad game.

[Tanooki | 5,114]

To be fair about two things in these comparisons.  SML2 lifted the SMW Mario sprite which blew me away, but it's also a game using a very very much larger for the time chip size for far more data.  And they both had wonky feel to the control compared to the console titles, and they're not even consistent between those 2 on GB either so they are both unique stand outs.