As we continue the 35th Anniversary of Mario, I have one of my early reviews to show from the first year of this site. In 2016, Super Mario Land was among my early reviews posted back when it was just Retro Corner Reviews. The best thing about the Plumber’s first outing on Game Boy was taking the SMB1 formula and making it portable. The game was released in 1989 as a launch title alongside Tetris and the ports of the NES Black Box sports titles. With the combination of Tetris and SML would make this a big hit more so then the Game and Watch Handheld series. Of course, the first to challenge the success of the Game Boy was Atari with their Lynx handheld system. Unlike Nintendo’s monochrome portable, the Lynx was in full color and had better visuals. As we all know that means nothing when the games make the system and not what it could do. That is why the Lynx ended up in bargain bins at Toys R Us, and KB Toys as the Game Boy continued having better games.
For SML itself, it’s not the biggest title in the series as the NES releases held more importance. Even though this was a prelude to SMB3’s massive push in the US, Mario Land gave the system a killer app next to Tetris. In 1989, there weren’t that many titles among the lineup that didn’t include what’s was already listed. Maybe Castlevania: The Adventure is the only other release that could come off as a big title. However, Tetris might have sold more but Mario's latest adventure was still a massive seller that year and even after. That speaks volumes especially when SML2 was out and still sold more copies. Of course, the Player’s Choice where Nintendo reduced the price to $19.99 by then probably played a factor. Now, the theme is about Mario going through the neighboring kingdom of Sarasaland to save Princess Daisy from an alien named Tatanga. That is what made SML unique and instead of saving Peach in the Mushroom Kingdom, he goes someplace else. Has Super Mario Land aged to the point of no return being a launch game on limited hardware? Super Mario Land (Game Boy) Review
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A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up and as the 35th Anniversary of Mario continues we check out The Lost Levels for the NES. When us Golden Age Gamers think of SMB2 we see the one that came here first for the NES in 1988. However, when Super Mario All Stars released on the Super NES in 1993, we were taken back to see a different Mario game included. Through the 90s many of us wondered if this was a bonus game Nintendo put together for the collection’s release. Today, it’s no secret what happened with the Japanese SMB2 being too hard for North American players. That is the reason North American gamers got the Doki Doki Panic version because it was easier to digest. Pulling this move only helped the series continue its success and why SMB3 would sell 18 million units in 1990. The thing that makes the Japanese version stand out is it’s actually a true Mario game unlike the American version.
Now, there are at least three different variations of the Japanese sequel and these only have a few key difference I came across. These are the original Famicom title, the remake on All Stars and the one in SMB Deluxe on GBC. All three play exactly the same with the difference being visuals or screen resolution. The first time I tried the original Famicom title was through Deluxe on GBC and it felt different from All Stars. The screen size being smaller with no back light made playing Deluxe difficult. It wasn’t until the Game Boy Player came out that made the port easier to enjoy. Just playing something that never came to the States but only through a remake gave me a different outlook on this game. When the TLL came to the Virtua Console in 2007 on the Wii, I finally experienced the Famicom version. If anything, this title comes off more of a true second quest mode then a sequel. Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels (NES) Review |
Welcome to Retro CornerIn this section I review retro gaming hence my name and talk about what made the Golden Age so amazing. From the 8-bit era of the NES to the first 3D generation of PC and N64, no classic title will get overlooked. Archives
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