erase what we know-
no princess rescuer here;
time to save your home
Additional Comments:
Whether or not it's actually the case, it's always seemed to me that the Game Boy Mario titles got a bit of a bad rap as either straying too far from canon or simply being perceived as kiddie games thanks to their simplistic play and ease of difficulty. But, to be fair, aren't all Mario games guilty of difficulty erring on the side of leisure as opposed to edge of your seat turmoil? Well, at least the 2D titles. I can't exactly speak for any of the 3D stuff, because frankly, I just don't care for them.
I love the Game Boy Mario titles, though I've never played beyond 2. Of course, they're really no longer Mario titles as they are Wario titles by that point. Super Mario Land was a delightful departure from the original Mario games, yet somehow felt familiar enough to prove, in my eyes, a better sequel than Super Mario Panic...er, 2 on the NES. And Super Mario Land 2 was a fantastic reinvention of Super Mario World for the small screen - at least, that's how I always viewed the game thanks to its basic layout. Not unlike Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2 was a dramatic deviation from Mario's console titles. Sure, he still jumped his way through fantastic landscapes filled with a myriad of beasts of all shapes and sizes either meeting their fate by Mario's own foot or a fiery flower-induced sphere of pain. Again, there's a certain familiarity to everything, despite exploring the insides of a whale, a giant house - or at least it appears giant to our now miniaturized hero - the moon, or even a nearby star. Surely, these are unknown landscapes for our intrepid plumber, but seeing how Mario games have come to follow a very distinct formula: grasslands, deserts, ice lands, mountains, forests, and volcanic wastelands, I welcome these unique domains with open arms. Even if it is a tad disturbing, I'll gladly navigate the interior workings of a giant whale.
There's still more than enough similarities, even if we aren't on the usual princess rescue mission for the nth time, to merit Super Mario Land 2 as a true to heart Mario game. We're still popping mushrooms out of conveniently placed question blocks and kicking koopa troopas to an untimely demise - though markedly fewer in population it appears. But then, there's the irregularities that sets the game apart as an inside tip for quirkiness and blatant disregard for well known Mario dogma. From Mario's humble beginnings as simple plumber magically warped into the strange Mushroom Kingdom out to liberate the ever so unlucky Princess Toadstool, we've been indoctrinated that 100 coins equates to a 1-up. Ok, ok, Super Doki Bros. Panic already turned our mindsets upside-down by introducing a health system and other such nonsense, but I've never considered that game a proper Mario platformer anyway. Blame laziness on the parts of Nintendo for creating a vast pool of uncertain vagaries muddling up what should be proper Mario mechanics. But that's not the point. Here, the developers chose to drastically change everything we've ever known about Mario's resurrection system. Just because you fancy yourself a coin collector doesn't mean they're going to give out backup lives willy-nilly. No. Instead, life's an investment. You need to save that hard earned cash and gamble it all away much like any poor schmuck throws away a quick hundred on twenty. Then again, you proffer 99 lives for a mere 999 coins - any other Mario game would delegate 9 measly lives for such wealth. So, what's wrong with gambling now?
But truth be told, despite life's riches in comparison to a typical Mario game, the gambling hall feels awkward. Even the poor man's casino offering fire flowers and carrots seems inappropriate, especially considering Super Mario World's start+select feature is carried over. Not only that, on the whole, lives are very easy to come by; surprising considering the 100 coin / life conversion ratio is lacking. Following in the footsteps of the original Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2 carried over the bonus game, now tradition, upon level victory. You've got to ring a bell to guarantee eligibility, but that's the least of Mario's worries when it comes to any sort of difficulty. Nearly half of the bonus game bells are practically in Mario's preferred trajectory. Play a few bonus games, obtain a few hearts, and before you know it, Mario is hauling around a sizable trunk of donor hearts should he ever fall victim to a wee beastie or an ill-fated leap to his doom. In some respects, with perhaps the exception of Super Mario World itself, or the New Super Mario Bros. series, Super Mario Land 2 is one of the easiest games to farm lives without even trying.
Another interesting quirk includes altered physics. Perhaps this isn't that phenomenal when you consider something like, say the Frog Suit in Super Mario Bros. 3 which suddenly negates Mario's swim physics, but then again, that's alteration by powerup. Super Mario Land 2, with its epic journey taking Mario into the dark unknown depths of space, alters Mario's ability without the use of aids. But is it really that odd, or unsuspected? After all, science tells us that gravity is lessened on the moon, therefore it only makes sense that Mario bounds without care across the cratered surface. It's the attention to detail that I love, but it's Mario's weird floaty behavior in The Star that makes one question the mechanic. I suppose it's not so much the general floatiness, but how it's controlled. I can't help but feel something more akin to SMB3's frog suit mechanics would have worked better. Instead, the controls lack confidence. It works when Mario is trapped in the hippo's bubble, but it just feels off in the far reaches of space.
Overall, though, the game is a blast. I loved the game as a kid when it first came out, and I still find it to be one of my favorite Mario games. Sure, the game errs on the easier end of the difficulty spectrum, but interestingly enough, for the purpose of Beat All Games, this is the first time I've ever beaten the game. Despite long car trips allowing me to soldier on through this mysterious new world, I time and again faltered upon reaching Wario's castle. For one reason or another, that level got the better of me. I think Mario's wonky jump physics and general slipperiness is to blame for the most part. I know for a fact that the fourth propeller lift on the second floor ended a majority of my attempts. Others - most likely short-lived out of stupidity. Even now, that one sprite bested me a few times, but it turned out the crushable skull platforms proved to be my bane this round. Dubious jumping be damned and carrots a godsend. Sadly, the third floor was an anticlimactic run to victory guarded by what appeared to be a rather threatening boss but turned out to be a three phase letdown when you consider those who preceded him, namely Tatanga and the Three Little Pigheads - neither of which are worthy of the term difficult; perhaps more so annoying. I think though, knowing what has come to be Wario's bag of dirty tricks, I expected more from his battle. I know it's his first appearance, but I didn't expect obesity to be the only trait traced back to his origins. Oh well.
One last note I must make. I never knew the game had an alternate Easy Mode. The game's already easy enough. Was this really necessary? I find this to be one of the most bizarre departures taken by the developers. Of course, there isn't exactly a sizable list of comparisons to draw upon - Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Land both offered B Modes once the game was completed which equated to an extra generous helping of evil denizens for Mario's stomping pleasure. With Super Mario Land 2's Easy Mode, however, the levels become near vacuums devoid of all life. The amount of sprites stripped from the game is simply astounding, to the point where I felt foolish playing it. Stranger still, there's no options prompt letting you know such a mode exist. This can be normal in regards to harder difficulties, especially on older games where those in the know were privy to the truly challenging, but to hide away a less challenging variant is just...perplexing.
Nano-Win:
Star Maze. That is all.
Rating: 4.5 J Sons out of 5
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