Super Mario Land is weird and that’s good

Around the world in twelve levels

Being neither too weird nor too safe, Super Mario Land is clearly the work of developers both new to the Mario series and working within the constraints of the target platform. As a launch title for the then new Game Boy handheld system Super Mario Land is the work of Nintendo R&D1, the division headed by Gunpei Yokoi. The lack of leadership that worked on the home Mario games means the result is something that feels different and a bit weird, but ultimately still Mario.

One of the first things that should be noted is how Super Mario Land feels in the hands. The NES line of Mario games, especially the first Super Mario Bros., feature surprisingly intricate momentum and weight to Mario’s movements. This feeling is captured quite nicely on the Game Boy. Jumping from a standstill will still result in a meager horizontal movement, a running start will produce a longer arc which can be used for an extra bit of vertical height, and you can still influence a jump’s horizontal trajectory mid-flight. It’s all just slightly off, however, when compared to Mario’s console adventures, but this isn’t to say it feels bad. It’s easy enough to adjust to the play feel and a lot of the old tricks learned in previous Mario games will still apply here. Most importantly, the game remains fun to play.

While the physics and game play do a good job capturing the sensation of Mario the development team didn’t quite figure out how to translate the size and scale of a Mario level to the Game Boy screen. Mario himself actually looks decent on the screen, even retaining the small/large dichotomy when grabbing a mushroom, but the enemies and other interactables are just a smidge small. It’s hard to feel fully confident aiming jumps on enemies or through a gap between blocks when Mario either feels too large or the enemies feel too small. It is something you get used to; it’s just not as seamless an experience as other finely tuned Mario games. To the game’s credit, and what I assume is the primary reason for this contrasting scale, the screen never needs to shift vertically to view the entire playfield. The game scrolls left to right, what you see is what you get, there will be no surprise enemies here. It works, it might be a tad ugly and unwieldy, but it works.

Music is an aspect where the difference in team brings some nice variety to the series. Composed by Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka the soundtrack is unsurprisingly both catchy and unique. Ranging from happy-go-lucky to mysterious to outright joyous the game is quite competent at using its music to set the mood of any given moment. A special mention should be given to the surprisingly wistful end credits theme. The shift from the style of series composer Koji Kondo is clear, and ultimately to the game’s benefit.

Mario’s weird handheld journey also features a touch of globe-trotting, a nice change of pace from the expected Mario theming. The first world features pyramids and sphinx, evoking an obvious Egyptian setting, but these touches are often limited. A lot of the time it feels like a normal level that just happens to have Moai statues or some such in the background. Still these minor touches are much appreciated and can be surprising given the legacy of a Game Boy launch title.

All told Super Mario Land is quite an interesting title in the Mario milieu. Both the development team and platform add up to a game that occasionally feels odd but, at the end of the day, is still recognizable as a Mario game. It’s a jumping action game, it largely feels good to control Mario, and it’s just fun to play.

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