Topic: Super Mario Land Impressions

[NWR_Neal]

There might not be a new Mario game around launch, but you can play this 1989 classic.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressions/24825

Nintendo had two demos of the 3DS Virtual Console on display at their event in New York City. One of them was Super Mario Land, which originally came out alongside the Game Boy in 1989.

Unfortunately, the Virtual Console version of Super Mario Land doesn't feature any Super Game Boy or Game Boy Color benefits. It's just the drab two-color graphics that kicked off the early goings of Nintendo's handheld history.

The controls for the game show up on the bottom screen. This might have been just for this demo, but I personally hope that feature stays in the final release. It's nice to be able to see what each button does on the fly, though I hope they use the bottom screen in more interesting ways, such as displaying your online friends list or letting you access the game's manual while playing.

There is no set release for the 3DS Virtual Console. However, Super Mario Land is slated to be a launch title for the service when it hits. No pricing has been announced.

[brian577]

Ah, now that brings back memories, and I still have a copy lying around somewhere. 

[Bboy]

Wow, I think this may have been the first Mario game I ever played. I'll probably get it out of pure nostalgia.

[Shaymin]

Best shooting game on the GB, in this author's humble opinion.

Yes, I'm aware it's only 2 levels.

[yoshi1001]

I'm curious-where to VC games sit on the Z-axis in the screen? Level, towards you, or back? I was actually kind of hoping you could push them back so it would be like peering into an arcade cabinet.

[Ryan Cannon]

I love the music to this game

[Mop it up]

Super Mario Land is half the length of the original Super Mario Brothers and is even more simplistic and rough, I'd say it isn't worth playing and to wait for the inevitable release of its two sequels. They're much better games.

[Ian Sane]

The funny thing about Super Mario Land is that it breaks the rule that makes Nintendo's first party handheld games exceptional.  While nearly everyone else made sort of scaled-down versions of their console games for the Game Boy, Nintendo made games that felt like with colour and some better graphics they could have been released on the consoles of the day.  Metroid II and Link's Awakening are absolutely essential entries in their respective series.  They didn't feel like half-assed spin-off product.  If you were a fan you had to play those games.  You figured that even if the Game Boy didn't exist those same games would have been made but for the NES or SNES.

Super Mario Land is exactly what everyone else released on the Game Boy.  It was just a scaled down Mario game for handhelds.  If the Game Boy never exists you would not assume that they would have bothered to make Super Mario Land in between the Super Mario Bros games.  It feels unessential.  It wasn't until the series morphed in Warioland that it really felt like you HAD to play these games.  Super Mario Land is more or less just to play Mario on the go and nothing more.

[vudu]

There might not be a new Mario game around launch, but you can play this 1989 classic.

Except you won't be able to play this 1989 classic at launch either.    Except on your Game Boy.

[Mop it up]

The funny thing about Super Mario Land is that it breaks the rule that makes Nintendo's first party handheld games exceptional.

To be fair, it was one of the first Game Boy games Nintendo released, so at that point in time they didn't really know what the best kinds of games were to release on the handheld.

[Ian Sane]

To be fair, it was one of the first Game Boy games Nintendo released, so at that point in time they didn't really know what the best kinds of games were to release on the handheld.

Yeah, I totally agree.  Aside from Tetris, which Nintendo did not originally design, do any of the first Game Boy titles really hold up?  I'm not going to criticize Nintendo for that since they were clearly treading new ground.

[Chozo Ghost]

It would have been nice if it had the Super Gameboy color scheme for it, but only if it were offered as an option. I would hate to be FORCED to relive games like this in full color HD or whatever. The point of playing old games is to re-experience them as they originally were. If you insist on HD color graphics, there are modern games for that. Please don't destroy the integrity of classic games by forcing them to look like modern games. If its just an option, fine, but only so long as its optional.