Super Mario Land 2

[kainemaxwell]

Started playing through this a bit tonight. Damn fine Mario game for the GB! I haven't played a true Mario game in some time, and playing this brought me back.

[InsaneDavid]

Some of Gunpei Yokoi's finest work and a game I wish would have a direct sequel based upon the feel and look of this title.

[bangtango]

It is a good one, well great actually. Really reminds me of Super Mario Bros 3. This your very first playthrough of the game or are you going back to it?

The only criticism I could ever give Super Mario Land 2 is the difficulty level. Some of the levels are a little short, especially if you rush straight to the end without exploring or grabbing coins. There are way too many coins, power-ups and free lives sprinkled around. Plus, the rabbit power up makes some of the levels way too easy since you can fly right through most of them untouched.

But that is all nitpicking. The graphics are great for a Gameboy game, especially compared to the first Super Mario Land. The level design is pretty good, with a lot of variety in the various stages/worlds. The six golden coins concept is kind of cool. The boss fights are a little challenging, too.

Of all of the Mario games that maintain their price ($10 or above) either online or in game stores, Super Mario Land 2 is one of the cheaper Mario games out there.

I really enjoyed the first two Super Mario Land games for Gameboy, even though they are really two different beasts.

[kainemaxwell]

Honestly the graphics are the first thing that attracted me to playing this on my gb collection. They're damn good for a pre-GB Color game! That and the grapihcs seemed to have kept their touch and gotten nicer with the Wario games!

I'll agree the levels do seem too short and playing through a few levels so far they're not as difficult as I'd like, per say.

What happens when you get 999 coins anyhow? This is my first actual play through, used to mess around with it early in my emulation days.

Now slightly off-topic, I have a game in the collection I made called Mario Land 4 which looks like it was never released here. Any thoughts or anything on this?

[MrRoboto19XX]

You know, I've never played this game, but have always wanted to. Perhaps I'll pick it up sometime this week.

Going only by gameplay time, how does it compare to New Super Mario Brothers?

[Push Upstairs]

I'd compare SML2 closest to SMB3 or SMW. It's an odd game (level and enemy wise) to "regular SMB games (except 2) but its classic Mario. And it is way too easy to collect coins and lives in the game


What happens when you get 999 coins anyhow? This is my first actual play through, used to mess around with it early in my emulation days.

The counter just stays at 999 I believe.

I'd just like to say that the music in "Space Zone 2" is the single greatest musical composition to ever come out of a Gameboy system.

[kainemaxwell]

I'll admit the game does seem on the easy side, but it's fun. That's what counts with a Mario game. :)

[ScourDX]

I enjoy Mario Land 2 very much. I used to play it to death as a kid. I did find a level increase glitch in the game where you can get 99 level count.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

It's original Gameboy games like Super Mario Land 2 that make me wish Nintendo would put gameboy games on the Wii's virtual console.

A great, and often overlooked Mario outing.

Feather hat FTW!

[Jorpho]

Indeed, a fine game and really quite creative at times, but as others have said, it's much too easy. The final boss(es) and perhaps the Three Little Pigs were the only tricky bits.

The Wario Land games that followed were considerably superior in many respects. (A "Wario Land All-Stars" compilation would be a fine thing indeed.)

[bangtango]

Super Mario Land 2 is more like a "regular" Mario game than the first Super Mario Land was. Plus the fireballs do not ricochet all over the place in Part 2. Both of them are still great games, though, but the stages from the first Super Mario Land are more challenging.

I am quite surprised to learn that so many people in this thread are either trying Super Mario Land 2 for the first time or have never played it before.

I'll end on this.

To this day, people still scratch their heads wondering why an underpowered, black and white portable system like the Gameboy could soundly beat competitors like the Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear. Easy. Games like Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2 and Link's Awakening were just plain better than anything on the competing portables from that era. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Gameboy may have had a ton of crap in the library but they also had just enough good games, which was a problem with their competitors from the early 1990's.

[InsaneDavid]

Plus the fireballs do not ricochet all over the place in Part 2.

They were Superballs and the flower turned you into Superball Mario in the original Super Mario Land. ;)

[bangtango]

They were Superballs and the flower turned you into Superball Mario in the original Super Mario Land. ;)

Bah, same difference :) Truth is, I've owned the game nearly 20 years now, since the Gameboy's launch ('89?), and don't think I have ever read the SML manual (which I've managed to keep). Still have the very same copy of the game/manual.

As you might remember, the style of gameplay actually supported that. I always liked positioning myself in the perfect place to angle a Superball shot at an enemy sitting just out of reach or a bunch of coins on a platform above me.

[rkotm]

amazing gb game. the coins are used to play minigames and win items at the cave next to the first level. best gb music ever.

[jb143]

SML2 and Zelda are my favorite GB games of all time. Although I did play Tetris to death.

I tried SML1 but years after SML2...so I never got into it. I only played the first couple levels. It seemed more like a calculator version of Mario to me. Maybe I should give it another shot.

[CreamSoda]

Super Mario Land 2 is an incredible GB title. Even to this day I love it to death, SML2 was the second game I got for my original gameboy. I remember my Dad taking me to K-Mart to get it on a saturday evening. Good memories indeed!

I try to play through SML2 every couple months, and even after all this time it still holds up very well. The graphics are superb for a GB title, the music is catchy, the worlds are varied and interesting, and I found the powerups to be fun to use/aquire. The only real downside? The game is a bit on the easy side, and I wish it was longer. Overall a 10/10 in my mind! :)

My top five GameBoy games...

1.Pokemon Red/Blue
2.Donkey Kong '94
3.Super Mario Land 2
4.James Bond 007
5.Wario Land 2

very Close runner up: Link's Awakening

[Jorpho]

So, does everybody have a favorite zone? They all have their charms, I suppose. I think the Turtle Zone probably comes out on top in my book, what with those nifty submarine and whale-interior levels. The variety of enemies in the Mario Zone was pretty cool too; I often liked trying to take out some of the gears and such by throwing koopa shells at them.

[Chuplayer]

So, does everybody have a favorite zone?

I liked the zone where you enter RoboMario's crotch.

Nah, I'm just kidding. It's been forever since I played SML2. And I mean forever. I don't think my copy has seen female cart contacts since the 90s. I played the hell out of it before I completely beat it, though. It was one of my favorite GB games. I was hooked for years. I still remember playing it in bed late at night after watching Nick at Nite in the summers when I was younger and my fingers going numb from the awkward positions I had my arms in so I could see the screen through the big magnifying light accessory I had.

[Push Upstairs]

So, does everybody have a favorite zone?


Not really for the level, but the previously mentioned "Space Zone 2" has the sweetest music to come from a Gameboy speaker.

[kainemaxwell]

Not really for the level, but the previously mentioned "Space Zone 2" has the sweetest music to come from a Gameboy speaker.

Having just beaten Space Zone 2 I have to agree. Found a mp3 of the stage's music too!

2 more levels to go for me- Wario's Castle and Space Zone Secret. So far the game's easy, but it's fun! About the only spots I've had issues in were Space Zone 2 and fighting either the Witch or the Three Little Pigs. Other then that I'm still having fun!

[Fuzzball24]

I used to borrow that game from my friend all the time. One of the best Mario games of all time, easily.


Still don't have a copy for myself though.

[rkotm]

the ghost levels. love the music, love it. I have to go play this again.

[boatofcar]

No love for the pumpkin zone?

Like others have said, this was the first Game Boy game that really blew me away with its graphics. The jump from SML to SML2 was astounding.

[bangtango]

No love for the pumpkin zone?

I love that zone. Actually this thread inspired me to play through a few stages yesterday afternoon and I ended up finishing the whole pumpkin zone in my most recent saved game.

Know what is sad? I've owned SML2 since its release pretty much and have played it dozens of times. It wasn't until yesterday that I learned you can shoot the boss witch at the end of the pumpkin zone with fireballs. I always thought you had to jump on her head to kill her. Hitting her with fireballs makes that fight a whole lot easier.

I've lost track of the number of times she has killed me over the years when I came into the stage as rabbit Mario, instead of getting the fire flower right before her entrance, and had to rely with jumping on her head to beat her which is actually not that easy. I used to think that was some stupid designer thing, try and trick the player into grabbing a fire flower, which was probably useless, before facing the witch while they were playing as rabbit Mario with the ability to "fly."

[Jorpho]

Indeed, Tatanga (the Space Zone boss) goes down after just three fireball hits.

A really nice touch, throwing Tatanga back in there. The original SML might as well have never existed (and Princess Daisy might as well have come from nowhere) except for that one solitary, subtle nod.

[Push Upstairs]

The SML games have some really memorable music (1 more than 2). IMO, these two games have music that is far, far more memorable than that contained in both SMB3 & SMW.

[Chuplayer]

The SML games have some really memorable music (1 more than 2). IMO, these two games have music that is far, far more memorable than that contained in both SMB3 & SMW.

SML1 is the Mega Man 2 of the Game Boy, IMO. All of the music is just plain good. If they sacrificed visual quality for the audio quality, I'm glad they did.

*hums the Oriental level music*

[PresidentLeever]

A good game and a huge improvement over the original, but I have a few gripes with it. Apart from the Moon stages and the final level, it's very easy. It's very slow, much slower than SML1. The music isn't very memorable. The bosses are pretty generic, why didn't they do classic Mario-style bosses instead of stuff like the three little piggies?

Wario is a cool final boss though. Actually I like Wario Land 1 a lot more. It's pretty similar but better in all areas.

Wario Land games had music with a very unique style to it, but it's hard to pick out just 1 track that stands out.

[InsaneDavid]

The bosses are pretty generic, why didn't they do classic Mario-style bosses instead of stuff like the three little piggies?

Um... you mean like Tatanga, who was the boss at the end of the Space Zone. It's the same Tatanga that was the final boss in the original Super Mario Land - which I suppose would make him a classic Mario boss. Also the bosses in Super Mario Land 2 match their levels. The Mario Zone enemies are mainly toys and childhood themed, so the Three Little Pigs work out perfectly.

[kainemaxwell]

bad link

[Chuplayer]

Uploaded a copy of the mp3 for Space Zone 2 if anyone wants it:
http://www.geocities.com/bahamut23/sml2-space_zone_2.zip

Cool. Let's see if I recognize it.

Okay, I recognize it, but I don't really care for it.

[PresidentLeever]

Um... you mean like Tatanga, who was the boss at the end of the Space Zone. It's the same Tatanga that was the final boss in the original Super Mario Land - which I suppose would make him a classic Mario boss. Also the bosses in Super Mario Land 2 match their levels. The Mario Zone enemies are mainly toys and childhood themed, so the Three Little Pigs work out perfectly.

Yes that's One boss, and it's a rehash. I didn't mean they should've used something old but instead come up with something in the style of the Mario universe that is more interesting than Bird, Witch, Mouse, Squid.

And the big bad wolf would have made more sense than the three little piggies.

"Uploaded a copy of the mp3 for Space Zone 2 if anyone wants it:
http://www.geocities.com/bahamut23/s...ace_zone_2.zip"
The moon music is awesome though, I had almost forgotten about that one. The final level music is also pretty cool.

[kainemaxwell]

Have to say it was pretty fun to play! Easy, but fun like a Mario game should be. Only tough spots I ended up using a couple save states for were one or two of the Secret Zones and the part in Wario's Castle with the pounding fists. Wario was tough to fight, but not so and the ending music is pretty catchy. Full completion of 32 levels. I give it least 4 1/2 stars, half star lost for not much of a challenge.

[JSoup]

I used to have a copy of this game, but it disappeared a long while ago (I'm given to think it was stolen). I remember never being able to get to Wario. Some of the castles traps kept giving me problems.



Gameboy may have had a ton of crap in the library but they also had just enough good games, which was a problem with their competitors from the early 1990's.

More to the point, the GameBoy had a vastly larger library of games, all being at a vastly more reasonable price, then the majority of the competition. The fact that a large number of them are gems didn't hurt things either.

[kainemaxwell]

I used to have a copy of this game, but it disappeared a long while ago (I'm given to think it was stolen). I remember never being able to get to Wario. Some of the castles traps kept giving me problems.

Same here, I think due to a graphic breakup or something I had issues getting past the pounding hammers until someone the 2nd one never showed up so I snuck through. ^^

[JSoup]

Same here, I think due to a graphic breakup or something I had issues getting past the pounding hammers until someone the 2nd one never showed up so I snuck through. ^^

I just generally sucked at games like these when I was little. :sob:

Although, in hindsight, I was playing a majority of these games between the ages of 3 to 6. Might have something to do with it. :D

[Push Upstairs]

Uploaded a copy of the mp3 for Space Zone 2 if anyone wants it:
http://www.geocities.com/bahamut23/sml2-space_zone_2.zip

Link didn't work for me.

[kainemaxwell]

I redid the upload for the Space Zone 2 mp3 to megaupload:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5DN4ON40

[Jorpho]

Failing that, the 23-kb .GBS file for SML2 is available at http://www.zophar.net/gbs/ (along with appropriate Winamp plugins (http://www.zophar.net/utilities/gbs.html)).