User:Czar/drafts/SML1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Super Mario Land[1] is a 1989 side-scrolling platform video game, the fourth in the Super Mario series, developed and published by Nintendo as a launch title for their Game Boy handheld game console. In gameplay similar to that of the 1985 Super Mario Bros., but resized for the smaller device's screen, the player advances Mario to the end of 12 levels by moving to the right and jumping across platforms to avoid enemies and pitfalls. Unlike other Mario games, Super Mario Land is set in Sarasaland, a new environment depicted in line art, and Mario pursues Princess Daisy. The game introduces two Gradius-style shooter levels.
Super Mario Land | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Nintendo R&D1 |
Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
Director(s) | Satoru Okada |
Producer(s) | Gunpei Yokoi |
Composer(s) | Hirokazu Tanaka |
Series | Super Mario |
Platform(s) | Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console) |
Release | Game Boy 3DS (Virtual Console)
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Genre(s) | Platformer |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
At Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi's request, Game Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi's Nintendo R&D1 developed a Mario game to sell the new console. It was the first portable version of Mario and the first to be made without Mario creator and Yokoi protégé Shigeru Miyamoto. Accordingly, the development team shrunk Mario gameplay elements for the device and used some elements inconsistently from the series. Super Mario Land was expected to showcase the console until Nintendo of America bundled Tetris with new Game Boys. The game launched alongside the Game Boy first in Japan (April 1989) and later worldwide. Super Mario Land was later rereleased for the Nintendo 3DS via Virtual Console in 2011 again as a launch title, which featured some tweaks to the game's presentation.
Initial reviews were laudatory. Reviewers were satisfied with the smaller Super Mario Bros., but noted its short length. They considered it among the best of the Game Boy launch titles. The handheld console became an immediate success and Super Mario Land ultimately sold over 18 million copies, more than that of Super Mario Bros. 3. Both contemporaneous and retrospective reviewers praised the game's soundtrack. Later reviews were critical of the compromises made in development and noted Super Mario Land's deviance from series norms. The game begot a series of sequels, including the 1992 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, 1994 Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, and 2011 Super Mario 3D Land, though many of the original's mechanics were not revisited. The game was included in several top Game Boy game lists and debuted Princess Daisy as a recurring Mario series character.