Super Mario Land - Retro Review

Platform: Game Boy
Original Release Date: April 21, 1989
Captured from MiSTer FPGA Game Boy Core, scaled to 4K.
Correction: Super Mario Bros. Movie was released in 1993, not 1983, obviously, since that would have been before the first Mario game even came out.

[@PaperyPip]

When I first started playing Mario games as a kid, this one was one of the easiest to get your hands on, since it was just around the Pokemon craze, Game Boys were everywhere, and this and Tetris were one of the most common games if you had access to a Game Boy. You may as well have SOMETHING other than Pokemon Red/Blue. I think this gave it a lot of longevity that the NES games didn't get to enjoy, since Pokemon stretched the lifespan of the Game Boy so much. This game and its sequel filled the niche of "portable Mario" so well they weirdly coexisted alongside Super Mario World and then Super Mario 64 in public consciousness, even after people stopped thinking about the NES games.

[@finnhaverkamp]

Really really dang good video. Shared with all my friends

[@hbomb168]

The Wario Land series continues this game's spirit of being different. Make sure to check those out if you haven't!

[@Magnifico145]

The final world is made to resemble feudal *China*, not Japan. This directly relates to the so-called "just dudes hopping around" which are based on the mythical "jianghi" ala the stiff zombie-like hopping vampires from Chinese folklore. Notably the Jianghi also appear in the Spelunky games. Anyways, cool video. Super Mario Land 1 is one of my personal favorite mario games due to its peculiar style.

[@davidsenra2495]

You mean the Jiang Shi, the zombie-like hopping creature wearing Qing dynasty government official clothing. You can also spot them as an enemy jumping around in Kid Dracula (for NES and Game Boy).

[@Magnifico145]

@@davidsenra2495 Yes. Looks like there's a secret optional miniboss in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia that's one of them as well :O

[@shamaruku]

Great review and insight. Wonder how Wario Land stacks up

[@remonjules]

Love this game dude. Chai Kingdom is like my favorite game OST from Nintendo.

[@martind2520]

My first ever Mario game, and it took a 7 year old _far_ longer than to complete than 1 hour 30 minutes.

[@sm5574]

Correction: the movie was 1993, not 1983.

[@TheJadeFist]

Ya I had to rewind to make sure I heard that right. Otherwise I went back in time to before I was born to watch it in theaters, which would be a cooler story.

[@davidsenra2495]

@@TheJadeFist I mean, 1983 would be even older than Super Mario Bros itself, as it came out in 1985. That would be a pretty bold move by Nintendo and the studio making the movie.