Released in 1989 for the original Game Boy, Super Mario Land is now 20 years old- just three years younger than me. Being by far the oldest game currently in my backlog, the question I wondered as I popped the cartridge into my GBC was "will it hold up?" I've recently replayed some old Mario games and some are just as good as ever (Mario Bros 3) while some feel unplayable by today's standards (Super Mario Bros). Unfortunately, it seems Super Mario Land falls into the latter category. Okay, "unplayable" is a little harsh, especially considering I not only played it but finished it, but it certainly hasn't stood the test of time. The game is divided into 12 levels, none of which are notably long, but many of which are notably short. Seriously, I think some of them were completed in under a minute, and the whole game took about half an hour to play through. Add to this the little replay value, and it seems like the whole game is very lacking. In addition, the boss fights were either mindlessly easy or frustratingly difficult. The first three are bosses who you can literally run right through if you have a mushroom; the last two take a lot of damage to finish off and require precise controlling- something you won't find in a several-generation old system. Luckily, I managed to finish the game off with a few lives left, only to see Mario and Princess Daisy take off in a rocket ship. How the hell does that fit in with the Mario canon? Oh well, at least I can put away my Game Boy Color now, comforted by the fact that I am done with all of the games I had for it.
August 27, 2009
Super Mario Land
Released in 1989 for the original Game Boy, Super Mario Land is now 20 years old- just three years younger than me. Being by far the oldest game currently in my backlog, the question I wondered as I popped the cartridge into my GBC was "will it hold up?" I've recently replayed some old Mario games and some are just as good as ever (Mario Bros 3) while some feel unplayable by today's standards (Super Mario Bros). Unfortunately, it seems Super Mario Land falls into the latter category. Okay, "unplayable" is a little harsh, especially considering I not only played it but finished it, but it certainly hasn't stood the test of time. The game is divided into 12 levels, none of which are notably long, but many of which are notably short. Seriously, I think some of them were completed in under a minute, and the whole game took about half an hour to play through. Add to this the little replay value, and it seems like the whole game is very lacking. In addition, the boss fights were either mindlessly easy or frustratingly difficult. The first three are bosses who you can literally run right through if you have a mushroom; the last two take a lot of damage to finish off and require precise controlling- something you won't find in a several-generation old system. Luckily, I managed to finish the game off with a few lives left, only to see Mario and Princess Daisy take off in a rocket ship. How the hell does that fit in with the Mario canon? Oh well, at least I can put away my Game Boy Color now, comforted by the fact that I am done with all of the games I had for it.
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