Super Mario Land is a game for the gameboy, as well as Mario's first appearence on the system. It is also Princess Daisy's first appearence in a gameboy game and a Mario game.
Story
One day, in a peacefull kingdom called Sarasaland, a dark cloud appeared. From a crack in the clouds, a space being named Tatanga emerged and began to terrorize Sarasaland. He hypnotized the people of the land into doing what he wished. He than came upon the land's princess, Princess Daisy, who he wished to marry and make her his queen. Mario soon learned of the events, and ran to the kingdom, determined to set it free.
Gameplay
Mario in his Sky Pop fighting Tatanga
The gameplay is very similar to the other games in the early Super Mario series. Mario must reach the end of a level by dodging enemies, traps, and bottomless pits. At the end of each level are two doors: one continues on to the next level, the other lets Mario play a mini-game to earn 1 life, 2 lives, 3 lives, or a Flower before going to the next level. There are four worlds, each containing 3 levels and a world boss. There are 3 power-ups: a Mushroom, a Superball Flower, and a Starman. The Mushroom makes Mario bigger and allows him to take one more hit before losing a life. The Superball Flower makes Mario grow to the same size as when he gets a Mushroom, and, like
Mario battling the first boss of Mario Land
the Mushroom, gives Mario one more hit before losing a life. He also gets the ability to toss one superball (similar to fireballs in other games) on a screen at a time. As the name would imply, the superballs bounce around the stage untill they disappear offscreen, hit an enemy, or stay onscreen for too long. The superballs also collect coins if they come into contact with one. The Starman, similar to its appearences in previos games, gives Mario temporary invincibility from enemies, but can still die if he gets squished or falls down a pit. Enemies
Dragonzamasu and Tamao fighting Mario
It is interesting to note that all of the enemies have not appeared in another game (besides Tatanga). Most of them, however, are similar to enemies from other Mario games, such as the Chibibo appearing to be Sarasaland's equivalent of the Mushroom Kingdom's goomba. Many of the enemies' names, when translated, are close or similar to names of their Mushroom Kingdom counterparts. This is mainly thought of because Super Mario Land was in a rush to be released elsewhere in the world, and Nintendo didn't have time to rename the enemies, so they decided to
A sprite of Hiyoihoi
name the enemies close to their Japanese names. Levels
A sprite of Biokinton and his chicken helpers
There are 4 Worlds, each having 3 seperate levels and a World boss at the end of the World
World 1: Birabuto Kingdom
A simple world made to prepare the player and to get used to the controls. It appears to take place in an area similar to Egypt,
Boss: King Totomesu- An enemy that resembles a sphinx, most likely due to the final level of World 1 taking place in a pyramid. He shoots fireballs and attemps to jump on Mario. To be defeated, when he jumps, Mario must step on the switch behind the boss to destroy the platform King Totomesu is standing onm or simply hit him with 5 superballs.
World 2: Muda Kingdom
A kingdom close to the water. The third level is the only appearence of Mario's submarine, the Marine Pop.
Boss: Dragonzamasu-An enemy that appears to be based off of a seahorse. He spits fireballs, and has a Tamao (2 if the game has been beaten before), a large bubble, that moves around the screen, blocking the Marine Pop's torpedoes, and will also damage Mario if he comes into contact with it. To be defeated, Dragonzamasu must be hit with 20 torpedoes, or Mario can sneak under him while he is moving, destroy the blocks blocking the end of the stage, and hit the switch.
World 3: Easton Kingdom
A kingdom with many traps and pits. It appears to be based off of Easter Island.
Boss: Hiyoihoi- An enemy that appears to be based off of an Easter Island head, also called a Moai. He attemps to defeat Mario by throwing boulders at him. To defeat the strange enemy, Mario must jump on top of the boulders Hiyoihoi throws, and either shoot superballs at it, or jump over it and hit the switch behind Hiyoihoi.
World 4: Chai Kingdom
The final kingdom. It is an oriental-styled level. The final level is the only appearence of Mario's plane, the Sky Pop.
Boss: Biokinton- An enemy that appears to be based off of a cloud. He bounces around the stage, attempting to hit Mario. He also shoots chiken-like enemies at Mario. Unlike the other bosses, he must be defeated by being shot down, as there is no switch to finish the level. He must be shot 20 times to be defeated.
Final Boss: Tatanga-the evil alien that has been causing terror in Sarasaland. Immediately after Biokinton is defeated, Tatanga appears in his spaceship, trying to finish Mario off. Since he appears in the same place Biolinton is fought, he also must be defeated by being shot down, and can't be defeated by hitting a switch. He shoots giant cannonballs, that when hit or are close enough to the side of the screen Mario is on, split into three smaller cannonballs. Tatanga must be shot 40 times before he is defeated. After he is beaten, Daisy is rescued by Mario, and the player gets the chance to play the game on a harder difficulty.
After the final boss
After Tatanga has been defeated, and the credits have ended, the player gets the chance to beat the game again, albeit on a harder difficulty (bosses attack more frequintly, more enemies appear and are placed in areas that may cause Mario trouble, etc.). If the game is beaten a third time, the player can chose any stage to play on. Unfortunately, if the game is turned off, the entire game must be beaten again, as there is no save feature. At the ending of Super Mario Land Daisy kisses Mario and a heart goes into the sky and Daisy thanks Mario and they ride away in the rocket and then the credits come on.
Reception
Super Mario Land was a big hit, and became a Player's Choice title. It sold a few million, and will be released for the Nintendo 3DS' version of the Wii's virtual console.