Super Mario Land

Super Mario Land is a game for the Game Boy. Unlike preceding Mario games, the game takes place in Sarasaland and not in the Mushroom Kingdom. Super Mario Land also introduced the player and Mario to Daisy, this game's damsel in distress. An evil alien named Tatanga is the main villain, and the enemy names (even of familiar Goomba-looking creatures) are different (it should be noted that most of them are simply given their original Japanese names as opposed to the English ones). The most probable reason for the vast amount of changes is that the game wasn't made by Shigeru Miyamoto, but rather his mentor, Gunpei Yokoi.

The game is the first of three Super Mario Land games, followed by Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins and Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.

Gameplay
The game is very much similar to previous Mario Platforming games. The A Button allows the player to jump, while the B Button will make Mario run faster. The Directional Pad controls where Mario walks or runs. Jumping on an enemy will defeat it, and the player will earn points for doing so. When Mario is Superball Mario, or if he is driving the Marine Pop or Sky Pop, the B Button will fire out projectiles at Mario's enemies. All the Bosses, except for Biokinton and Tatanga, can either be beaten by physical attack, or by jumping on a switch behind the Boss. Collecting 100 coins will gain Mario an Extra Life, and if he manages to earn 100,000 points (Done by defeating enemies, as mentioned above), he will gain an extra continue. This is in case he loses all of his lives. Mario is vulnerable in his small size, but when he gets a Mushroom, he will grow slightly in size, and is now able to take damage without losing a life. However, if he does get hit in this state, he will turn back into normal Mario. If Mario collects a Flower, he will become Superball Mario, and will be able to shoot Superballs at his enemies. If Mario happens to find the rare item, the Starman, he will become invincible, and be able to defeat any enemy just by touching it. The effects wear off over time, however. At the end of every level, the player has a choice of two exits. The bottom exit, which takes Mario to the next stage, or the top exit, which takes him to a Bonus Stage first. When Mario reaches the top exit (which is usually a difficult task), the Bonus Stage will allow him to earn a Flower, one extra life, two extra lives, or three extra lives.

The Story


The Story from the Instruction Booklet:

"Once upon a time, there was a peaceful world called Sarasaland. In this world there were 4 kingdoms named Birabuto, Muda, Easton and Chai. One day, the skies of Sarasaland were suddenly covered by a huge black cloud. From a crack in this cloud, the unknown space monster Tatanga emerged to try to conquer Sarasaland. Tatanga hypnotized the people of all the kingdoms so that he could control them in any way he liked. In this way he took over Sarasaland. Now, he wants to marry Princess Daisy of Sarasaland and make her his queen. Mario came to know of these events, and he has started on a journey to the Chai Kingdom where Princess Daisy is held captive, in order to restore peace to Sarasaland. Can Mario defeat Tatanga, release people from his interstellar hypnosis, and rescue Princess Daisy? It's all up to you and Mario's skill. Go for it Mario!"

Tatanga kidnaps Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, intending to force her into marriage. He hypnotizes all of the residents of Sarasaland's four worlds - Birabuto; Muda; Easton; and Chai. Little did Tatanga know, Mario was coming to rescue her. Mario made his way through all of the four worlds, and defeated the enemies that lurked in each world. The journey was difficult, as Mario had never seen these creatures before. Eventually, Mario managed to defeat Tatanga's four lieutenants, King Totomesu, Dragonzamasu, Hiyoihoi, and Biokinton. However, after beating Biokinton, Mario had to battle Tatanga in his heavily armed ship, the Pagosu. After a tough battle, Mario defeated Tatanga, and rescued Daisy, but Tatanga managed to escape with his life. Daisy rewards Mario with a kiss, and is taken back to her Castle. However, it turns out that Tatanga did know Mario was coming, and was actually hoping he would.

It is revealed in the sequel, Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins, that the events in this game were merely a diversion created by Wario while he took over Mario's castle. Wario paid Tatanga to kidnap Daisy, which would distract Mario long enough, so that Wario could steal his castle.

References to Other Games

 * Mario Bros.: The Fighter Fly enemies (or enemies that look and act very similar to them) make an appearance.


 * Super Mario Bros.: Many of the boss battles in Super Mario Land, especially the first one, were very similar to the battles against Bowser, where you would either run or jump over them to press the switch behind them, or you could kill them by constantly shooting them. Also, the concept of the fake Princess Daisies is similar to the fact that Princess Toadstool was at another castle almost every time Mario defeated a boss. Also, when the game is beaten, the player gets to replay the game with a few changes made (and also get to select your stage).

References in Later Games

 * Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins: Tatanga reappears as a boss in this game.


 * Super Smash Bros. Melee: Daisy has her own trophy, which also makes mention of Tatanga. Also, Daisy's brown hair and yellow dress is an alternate costume for Peach.


 * Super Princess Peach: Princess Peach rides a submarine in the underwater stages of this game, just as Mario does in Super Mario Land.


 * Wario Land: The Shake Dimension: As with Super Princess Peach, Wario pilots a submarine in the underwater stages, as well.


 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Daisy also has her own trophy in this game, along with another mention of Tatanga. Once again, Daisy's brown hair and yellow dress was an alternate costume for Peach.

Trivia

 * This is the first Super Mario title to not feature Luigi or make a single reference to him.
 * This is the second Super Mario title (with Super Mario Bros. 2 being the first) to not feature Bowser as the main villain (or appear in the game at all).
 * Super Mario Land is currently the first and only Super Mario title to feature the superball power-up.
 * This is the only game in the Mario series where enemies kept their original Japanese names despite the fact that the game was released in the U.S.