Back in the late 80s, Mario was just as ubiquitous as today; his fledgling library overshadowed by cartoons and ridiculous merchandise. The only Super Mario games accessible to Americans were the aging, yet eternally engaging original and its odd, sometimes frightening, but nearly as enjoyable sequel. In 1989, today's overlooked Super Mario Land was once a tremendous spectacle, launching with Nintendo's new Game Boy portable and arriving half a year before Mario 3 sky-rocketed the bar for quality. After liberating the Mushroom Kingdom and Sub-Con, Mario made his sole trip to Sarasaland. This mysterious realm contained worlds resembling the most fascinating spots on Earth: Egypt, Bermuda, Easter Island and China; overflowing with interesting baddies never to be seen again. Uniquely perplexing...koopas explode, fireballs ricochet and you must even contend with the awkwardness of rescuing a different Princess.
Between the intriguing destinations, submarine and plane shoot-em-up stages and a greater variety of enemies and bosses, Super Mario Land appears like it would at least be a step above the original Super Mario Brothers. Upon playing it, you'll soon realize why this game's status hovers between obscurity and embarrassment. The controls and physics, while fair, are by far the least engaging of all Mario games. Not only lacking the precision and versatility of later titles, even the satisfying momentum and weightiness of the NES original is missing. Controlling Mario is merely a means to an end, not fun in itself. With a jankiness uncharacteristic of Nintendo, boulders and mini Moai heads choppily tumble out of sync with everything else. The allure of bizarre lands with hopping jiangshi Chinese vampires, giant tarantulas and fire breathing Sphinxes won't easily distract the player from noticing this Mario isn't quite up to standard.
The solid, large Switch display better showcases the highly distinct graphical style, which prioritized replicating the console experience over later titles more appropriately zoomed in for the Game Boy's low-tech screen. The tiny button mushrooms, cereal-like brick blocks, squat pipes and ghostly, white-eyed goombos give off a unique charm that helps craft Sarasaland into its own remarkably distinct universe.
The one part of the game that holds it's own is the music. Birabuto Kingdom, perhaps the best known track of early Nintendo composer Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka, is as catchy and cheerful as any other main Mario melody. The peppy Muda Land is similarly excellent. Easton and Chai Kingdom convincingly deliver ancient-Egyptian and Chinese style 8-bit music. Showing a greater emotional range, the slightly melancholy ending theme starts somber before exploding with triumph.
Lacking the critical supervision of Shigeru Miyamoto during Nintendo's early days, the inexcusable dullness of Super Mario Land's controls ironically became its greatest distinction as the years advanced. Nonetheless, the exotic presentation and top notch soundtrack carry the passable gameplay enough that it's easily worth an hour of any Mario fan's time. There's still an untapped reservoir of potential in a revisit to Sarasaland. Will Nintendo give us another entanglement with Tatanga? Perhaps, whenever the aliens finally come down to earth.
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