Ahhh… the birth of the Wario franchise. Though he's a villain in Mario land 2, Wario appears here as a protagonist. This
There are no pipes, as in the plumber with a similar name's games, but there are rooms to go in, save points that cost coins, and mini-games to gamble your treasure away. This game has enough elements to suck you in and keep you for at least, at the very least, a few hours (the first time you play it). It has a replay value in that there are hidden treasures in each level that you have to get to truly beat the whole game. That task added you can get a good car trip out of this game.
I think this is probably my favorite of the Mario Land games if it counts as a Mario game which it shouldn't. It really isn't a Mario game in nature; it's really Wario Land 1 (though it can't hurt to tie Mario to the project [as if the Mario/Wario connection isn't entirely apparent]). In fact this is directly followed by Wario Land II (which isn't quite the same but still roxMysox!). That said if you don't like this then you probably won't like the next 3 in the series. Although they each have their own elements and play differently this game is golden because you can die and thus there is a structure other than just figuring out how to get past the respective level. I highly recommend this to anyone with the appropriate system and would like to ask Nintendo to make more of them or rerelease them on one handy cart for a handheld or port them to a console.