MetalFRO's Blog

Posted on Oct 7th 2017 at 12:00:00 PM by (MetalFRO)
Posted under Super Mario Land, Dramatic Readings, Game Boy Guru, Game Boy, Nintendo, Gunpei Yokoi, Hip Tanaka, launch title game review


Super Mario Land is a launch title for the Nintendo Game Boy, and the first portable entry into the flagship platforming game series.  Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto wasn't directly involved with the design, so while the game was relatively faithful to many conventions of the original game, this particular entry took a few liberties with the formula, and created a fun, unique, and rewarding experience, to help sell Nintendo's then-new handheld game console to the Mario faithful.  Did they succeed?  Watch, and discover for yourself!


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Comments
 
Great review! I liked in particular that you made the historical aspect of the game a central viewpoint, that means you made it clear what this game meant at the time for the GB, for Nintendo, its economic meaning and the gameplay for handhelds. Well done!
 
I didn't understand the pull of this game until I played it on my old Super Game Boy.  I just couldn't see enough of it on my friend's Game Boy to get into it; too much blur for me.  When I finally did play it, I truly enjoyed its quirk and uniqueness it brings to the franchise.  That being said, I don't think I have the same nostalgia for it as I do with say, Super Mario Land 2.  Oh well.  The box cover rocks, though.  Closest we in the US would get to Japanese box art for a long time.

Very nice, FRO, and looking forward to the next episode.
 
@lendelin: Thank you!  I feel like, with some of these more well-known games, there's already been plenty said about the game play, graphics, design, etc. so I sometimes want to concentrate on historical significance, innovative nature, etc.  Thanks for watching!

@bombatomba: The blur was a factor for me as a kid, but having grown up with the Game Boy, I don't think it was as big a deal as it seems to be now that we have quality screens.  People bemoan the Game Gear for its blurry screen, but honestly, the Game Boy didn't fare much better.  That said, I think that the blur worsens over time due to the nature of the dot matrix screen, so this new trend of doing a bivert mod to cut down on the blur makes the screen much closer to the GB Pocket, which had an infinitely better screen than the original model.  And yes, I know that, objectively speaking, SML2 is the superior game, but my heart will always be with the original, nostalgia goggles and all.  Thanks for watching, and for your feedback!
 
Perhaps it is long overdue that I finally try to beat this game?
 
@Link41: Absolutely!  It's a short game, and should only take you about 30 minutes to work through.  Definitely worth taking the time!

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