The only flaws this game suffers is from the hardware limitations of its time, but it's still enticingly entertaining
Story
What story? This is a Mario game you shouldn't care about saving a princess, but enjoy the progress it takes to reach the end. Probably the biggest draw for modern gamers to visit this classic title is finally figuring out where the hell Princess Daisy come from. That's right, Mario must venture through the kingdoms of Sarasaland to rescue Daisy from the evil alien Tatanga...sounds familiar no?
Gameplay
The gameplay in Super Mario Land is relatively simple with only the basic commands of run, jump, and move. Unfortunately, this game features no new innovation like its predecessors and is very similar to the original Super Mario Bros. The difficulty in this game has also increased, but it seems that the culprit may very well be the poor controls. But the real source of the enjoyable difficulty is from the crazy amount of obstacles and enemies barraging you from everywhere, every time. The game itself has no save feature and runs on batteries, so you must flawlessly play this game in one sitting (about two hours) to finish it...or you have to start from level one all over again. But luckily (or unluckily) the game is short and only has twelve levels for you to explore and conquer. Mario may be jumping on walking mushrooms one moment and then be zooming underwater or in the skies with a submarine or airplane shooting down enemies as they fly at you the next moment. Expect nothing more than a worthwhile game.
Appeal
Although this game is a classic title that appeared on the Game Boy in 1989 and sold 18 million copies...I never played it until now. So with no nostalgia blinding my view, I say that Mario Land has a charm unlike his other games. You fight enemies and visit lands never before seen and never again seen in the Mario Universe. The four kingdoms are based off of settings found around our own world like Egypt, some watery place, the Easter Islands, and even China. Each world has a twenty second song played in an infinite loop over and over again, that somehow is catchy and enjoyable. The graphics for this game are simplistic at best and the sprites on the screen are sometimes unrecognizable. This adventure is also in black and white so some may not find that appealing at all, but for those who can overlook these things they will find a game with an everlasting charm.
Conclusion
For those who have been reading my review thus far may notice that the only faults I found were from the technological limitations of that time period. But expect nothing less than a full fledged Mario game with all the craziness you crave. A remake with more levels, a save feature, and updated graphics with color would certainly do this game justice, but don't expect that anytime soon. Instead, look at this game in a new light and appreciate the fun times it brought you. Super Mario Land brings it's own version of princess rescuing adventure to the table and will entrance you with its simple-yet-enjoyable appeal.