My review of Super Mario Land 2 gave about one paragraph on the original. I didn’t review that first because it simply wasn’t available for me. Nintendo had at the time just implemented a Game Boy player for the Switch but it put Super Mario Land 2 as an initial release rather than Super Mario Land. This was for the best as 2 is vastly better and more replayable than the original. But how is the original, now with it available to play on the Switch ? Let’s look into it.

In that review of the sequel, I described 2 as more like Super Mario World while Super Mario Land was more like the NES original. That is a very accurate way to describe it, but I should go into more details here.

For modern gamers of the Mario franchise, you may be surprised this is where Princess Daisy first comes from. You’re running through Sarasaland to rescue her from the forces of the evil alien Tatanga (the sequel retcons the events to have been set up by Wario). Mario does this by running through 4 zones each with 3 levels. Each of the zones are based on Ancient civilizations, both real and fictional which quickly does make the zones stand out from those of even Mario 3. Starting with a zone based on ancient Egypt, complete with a Sphinx as the end boss, you’re then treated to a watery island setting based around the fictional Mu that ends in an underwater submarine level which plays like a side spaceship shooter. Following that is one based on Easter Island (guess what the boss is) and finally one with a clear China feel before you get into a plane to fly up high and face Tatanga, mechanically the same as the submarine level, in his spaceship (you later face him on foot in 2) before flying off with the rescued Daisy.

The last levels of zones 1 and 3 play very much like the castle stages of the original Mario Brothers, feeling like underground or fortress-like structures with a boss you can either defeat with your fire flower-like upgrade or lacking that reaching the goal. However the really memorable final stages are those of 2 and 4. These are extremely different from any other Mario games even to this day and have bosses you can’t just beat by going round them, you have to shoot them with your vehicle’s weapon. It’s these elements (as well as the main theme tune) that are the most memorable elements of the game.

Mario controls very much like he would in the classic Mario game. They managed to translate that into a Game Boy game from 1989 surprisingly well. But you can notice some compensations made as you play. The Fire Flower power up will make Mario shoot a ball at a 45 degree angle that will then bounce and keep diagonal strength right into the air rather than bounce along the ground. Also the Koopa Troopa stand ins will rather than have their shells fly off working as a potential projectile, just leave a bomb that explodes a few seconds later.

The game is short. 4 zones each with 3 levels. It won’t take long to clear that, less than an hour, but don’t expect any saves. You turn off the game, and you’re starting from the beginning.

While the game has its charm and is impressive for one of the very first Game Boy games. Playing it you do start to see that it is one of the very first Game Boy games, with those compromises above or even just the way you seem to move and the levels. Still it’s a neat little short experience with a fair number of unique elements in the Mario franchise.

Rating: 🎮🎮🎮