This review is for the Nintendo 3DS version, which is an emulation of the Game Boy version.
I’m fascinated by games that adapt a proper console game onto a handheld platform. The creativity that’s necessary to compensate for the drop in technical power can result in entirely new concepts and gameplay styles that would never have even been considered without the limitations imposed by a weaker system. Imposing restrictions breeds creativity, in short, which is why it’s a miracle that Super Mario Land for the Game Boy does so little to try and introduce remedies for the problems its primitive platform introduces to its adaptation of the NES’s Super Mario Bros.. There are a few obvious changes and a lot of cut elements to compensate for the Game Boy’s limited colour palette and low technical capacity, but the new elements it brings to the table are nowhere near enough to make the franchise’s handheld debut feel like anything but a weak imitation of the series’ shining console entries.
That’s not to say it hasn’t tried to be its own thing. Super Mario Land shifts the action away from the series-standard plot in which Mario must travel across the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Peach from the evil sorcerer Bowser to a bold new direction in which Mario must travel across Sarasaland to rescue Princess Daisy from the evil alien Tatanga. Sarasaland’s level count is cut from the typical eight worlds down to four, each based on a different ancient civilisation, and considering the technical shortcomings of the Game Boy, each is well-characterised and has an interesting variety of enemies, from the stereotypical Egyptian sphinx to the somewhat more unique Chinese jiangshi.
Unfortunately, this is where Super Mario Land’s creativity ends. Most enemies are straight out of Super Mario Bros. to the point where it’s hard to see this as the unique take on the same formula that it clearly wants to be, and the most unique thing the game does is turn water levels into auto-scrolling arcade-style shooters that feel… out of place, to say the least. None of what Super Mario Land does is particularly impressive, and between the creative limitations imposed by the need to adhere to the series’ formula and the technical limitations imposed by the Game Boy itself, it struggles to find its own voice in a meaningful enough way to make the single hour it takes to finish feel worthwhile.
Dylan's Morsels 