Super Mario Land

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Super Mario Land is a game for the Nintendo Gameboy. 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 swith 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 mentioined 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

File:SML1 Title Screen.PNG

The title screen.

Tatanga kidnaps Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, intending to force her into marraige. 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. It is unknown on what grounds Mario came to rescue her, but it is likely because of Peach. 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 Mario's Castle.