- This article is about the Game Boy game. For the microgame in WarioWare Gold, see Super Mario Land (WarioWare Gold). For the microgame in WarioWare: Get It Together!, see Super Mario Land (WarioWare: Get It Together!).
Super Mario Land is a platforming game developed by Nintendo and released in 1989 for the Game Boy as its launch title, it is the fifth game in the Super Mario series and is Mario's first appearance in a handheld game.
This game didn't have any involvement of Shigeru Miyamoto and it was developed by Satoru Okada, his mentor, instead. The game is also available for the Virtual Console of the Nintendo 3DS, for US $4.99.
Plot[]
The following text is taken directly from the instruction booklet.
Once upon a time, there was a peaceful world called Sarasaland. In this world there were 4 kingdoms named Birabuto, Muda, Easton and Chai. One day, the skies of Sarasaland were suddenly covered by a huge black cloud. From a crack in this cloud, the unknown space monster Tatanga emerged to try to conquer Sarasaland. Tatanga hypnotized the people of all the kingdoms so that he could control them in any way he liked. In this way he took over Sarasaland. Now, he wants to marry Princess Daisy of Sarasaland and make her his queen. Mario came to know of these events, and he has started on a journey to the Chai Kingdom where Princess Daisy is held captive, in order to restore peace to Sarasaland. Can Mario defeat Tatanga, release people from his interstellar hypnosis, and rescue Princess Daisy? It's all up to you and Mario's skill. Go for it Mario!
In this game, Mario is tasked with saving Princess Daisy and the inhabitants of Sarasaland from Tatanga. To do so, he must travel across and conquer all four kingdoms - the Birabuto Kingdom, a desert kingdom based on ancient Egypt, the Muda Kingdom, an aquatic kingdom, the Easton Kingdom, a kingdom partially based on Easter Island, and the Chai Kingdom, a kingdom inspired by mythical ancient China.
The first three kingdoms are each guarded by a boss Mario must defeat to rescue an enemy disguised as Princess Daisy. These three kingdoms are led by the Gao-like King Totomesu, Yurarin Boo-like Dragonzamasu, and Tokotoko-like Hiyoihoi. A cloud known as Biokinton is fought in the fourth kingdom. In the end, Mario must board the Sky Pop to battle and defeat Tatanga himself in his heavily armed airship, Pagosu. After he is defeated, Mario rescues Daisy and the two ride off together in a spaceship.
It is revealed in the sequel, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, that Wario took advantage of the events in this game to take over Mario's castle. In this game, Tatanga guards a Golden Coin, presumably working under Wario.
Gameplay[]
As a side-scrolling platform game and the first in the Super Mario Land series, Super Mario Land is similar in gameplay to its forebears: as Mario, the player advances to the end of the level by moving to the right and jumping across platforms to avoid enemies and pitfalls. In Super Mario Land, Mario travels to Sarasaland to save Princess Daisy from Tatanga, an evil spaceman. Two of the game's twelve levels are "forced-scrolling" Gradius-style shooters where Mario helms a submarine or airplane and fires projectiles towards oncoming enemies and bosses. Levels end with a platforming challenge to reach an alternative exit located above the regular exit. The former leads to a bonus minigame that awards extra lives or a fire flower power-up.
Unlike other Mario games, which take place in the Mushroom Kingdom, Super Mario Land is set in Sarasaland and drawn in line art. Mario pursues Princess Daisy, in her debut, rather than the series standard damsel in distress, Princess Peach. When jumped on Koopa shells explode rather than slide, Mario throws bouncing balls rather than fireballs, 1-Up Mushroom power-ups are depicted as hearts, and the level-end flagpoles are replaced with a platforming challenge. Compared to Super Mario Bros., which contains 32 levels subdivided into 8 "worlds" with 4 levels each, Super Mario Land is smaller, with 12 levels subdivided into 4 "worlds" with 3 levels each, and the boss at the end of each "world" is different every time. Some elements recur from previous Mario games, such as blocks suspended in midair, pipes that lead to other areas, and Goomba enemies. After the player has completed the game, they may play through again on a harder mode, in which the levels are the same apart from enemies being more numerous. If the player completes the harder mode, the game allows the player to start another play on any level in the game.
Characters[]
Main and Supporting[]
Enemies[]
- Batadon
- Bombshell Koopa
- Bullet Biff
- Bunbun
- Chicken
- Chikako
- Fighter Fly
- Ganchan
- Gao
- Gunion
- Goombo
- Honen
- Kumo
- Mekabon
- Nyololin
- Pionpi
- Piranha Plant
- Pompon Flower
- Roketon
- Roto-Disc
- Suu
- Tokotoko
- Torion
- Yurarin
- Yurarin Boo
Bosses[]
- King Totomesu
- Dragonzamasu
- Hiyoihoi
- Biokinton (Final Boss) (Phase 1) & Tatanga (Phase 2) (True Final Boss)
Trivia[]
- Despite this being the 5th entry in the Super Mario series, it was actually the third to be released in North America, following Super Mario Bros. & Super Mario Bros. 2.
- Super Mario Land was proposed to be bundled with the Game Boy, but Tetris was chosen instead because of its addictive nature.[1]
- Super Mario Land does not feature the Toad rescue from Super Mario Bros. but instead has a fake Princess Daisy and text saying, "Thank You Mario. Oh! Daisy!" with the fake Daisy revealing to be an enemy.
- The text for completing the world parallels the game complete text "Oh! Daisy! Daisy! Thank You Mario." in reverse order.
- This is the second game in the series to not feature Bowser as the Main Antagonist.
- First being Super Mario Bros. 2 (where the main antagonist was Wart).
- In Super Mario Land, Starman has part of the tune of Gaite Parisienne, Vivo, Offenbach, often known as the Can-Can
- At over 18 million copies, Super Mario Land is the best-selling Mario game for the Game Boy.
- This was the final Mario game to be released in the 1980's.
Gallery[]
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To view Super Mario Land's image gallery, click here.
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External links[]
References[]
- ↑ "IGN Presents the History of the Game Boy," article on IGN.
| ||
|---|---|---|
| Characters | ||
| Mario (Superball Mario) • Princess Daisy | ||
| Locations | ||
| Birabuto Kingdom • Muda Kingdom • Easton Kingdom • Chai Kingdom • Sarasaland | ||
| Levels | ||
| World 1-1 • World 1-2 • World 1-3 • World 2-1 • World 2-2 • World 2-3 • World 3-1 • World 3-2 • World 3-3 • World 4-1 • World 4-2 • World 4-3 | ||
| Enemies | ||
| Batadon • Bombshell Koopa • Bullet Biff • Bunbun • Chicken • Chikako • Fly • Ganchan • Gao • Gunion • Goombo • Honen . Kumo • Mekabon • Nyololin • Pionpi • Piranha Plant • Pompon Flower • Roketon • Roto-disc • Suu • Tokotoko • Torion • Yurarin • Yurarin Boo | ||
| Bosses | ||
| King Totomesu • Dragonzamasu • Tamao • Hiyoihoi • Biokinton • Tatanga | ||
| Items and Objects | ||
| Mushroom • Superball Flower • Superball • Starman • 1-Up Heart • Coin • Mystery Block • Marine Pop • Sky Pop • Pagosu | ||