if i were to make an estimate, i would say that about 90% of gamers have an experience with a Mario game sometime or another. and most will end up finding something they love. maybe a cheeky Mario Kart tournament with friends or family. or yourself, if you will. maybe one of the variants of Mario RPGs. maybe Mario Party. or maybe, you go where the plumber's roots are, platforming games. almost all of them are remembered fondly, each one a blast to play through. while i would agree with that a lot of the time, the Super Mario Bros series definitely has some weak links. and this game here might be one of them.
Super Mario Land was released in 1989/1990 (depending on where you live) for the Nintendo GameBoy, as was developed by, well, Nintendo. and ever since, it has been met with a lot of praise. it isn't seen as the best, but just as an overall solid experience. but if you couldn't tell from what i've already said, i'm not quite sure it lives up to its GameSpot user average of "8.1", so let's go already.
so, starting off, the level design is on-par for a Mario game, but that's all i can say about that. where the game really goes mouldy is the controls. you run, jump, shoot fireballs, simple enough. but the jumping is really heavy. kind of like in "Lilo & Stitch: Trouble in Paradise", when i explained that Lilo can get airborne for a brief moment, but then falls like a brick. that's what Mario does. but then sometimes, the jumping goes all floaty, & then you jump into an enemy that you should've jumped on top of. and also, this is a nitpick, but why, even when you have fire, do you go to small Mario when you get hit? luckily this was fixed in the game after this, Super Mario Bros 3. seriously, though. that, in the first game, took 5 years to fix? really? oh, AND the odd occasion where you walk into a coin, but it doesn't register it, & you have to do it again. and the bosses? they're passable, & luckily quite short. like the rest of the game. though it can get tricky. a lot of it's cos of the crap, though.
so, yeah. sorry if there's not enough in this review, but that's what i have to say. it's a very middle-of-the-road game that there isn't much reason to ever play. especially when the game it's based off of, Super Mario Bros on NES, is honestly better. so, good riddance to you, Super Mario Land. and good day to everyone else here.