Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Gameboy/eShop Review) by Carl B.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
System: Gameboy, 3DS eShop
Release: November 2, 1992

October 18, 2011, by Carl B. - Following the commercial success of Super Mario Land in 1989, Nintendo and director Hiroji Kiyotake returned in 1992 with a sequel to Mario's first handheld adventure, titled Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Super Mario Land 2 was a much larger and expansive game than its predecessor, as evidenced by its file size that was eight times larger than the first Super Mario Land. Nintendo added the classic Gameboy adventure to the Nintendo 3DS eShop for $3.99, but does Super Mario Land 2 hold up well over 19 years?

Super Mario Land 2 marks the first appearance of Wario in the Mario franchise. Wario, who is literally four times larger than Mario in this game, has taken over the plumber's castle and has spread six golden coins across Mario Land that are required to re-open the castle's doors.

Super Mario Land 2 isn't quite as weird as Super Mario Land was. Koopas no longer drop bombs after they're killed, and there aren't aliens in flying saucers. But Super Mario Land 2's level design is still largely different from other Mario platformers. The end of each of the game's 32 levels features a bell placed higher than the level's exit, and if players hit the bell they'll be able to play a mini-game that offers awards such as extra lives or power-ups.

6 Golden Coins makes use of an overworld system similar to 1990's Super Mario World. The big difference this time around, however, is that players are able to move around the entire world map at will and complete the six different zones in any order they wish.

Zones themselves are more unique than most Mario games. There's a zone set in space and one inside of a giant Mario toy, among others. Levels are based off of their respective zones, so levels set in space lack gravity and levels in toy Mario are mechanical based.

Three classic power-ups return in Super Mario Land 2: super mushroom, fire flower, and starman. One new power-up also makes its way into the game in the form of the magic carrot, which transforms the hero into Bunny Mario. This form allows Mario to jump higher and even fly in the air, similar to the magic leaf in Super Mario Bros. 3.

Super Mario Land 2 is a major visual improvement over the first game. Mario no longer looks like a midget – in fact, everything in the game looks gigantic and takes up plenty of space on the screen. It looks much, much nicer than the first game and really shows what the Gameboy was able to do.

The Verdict

Sound
12/15 - A nice soundtrack with a variety of tunes.

Graphics
18/20 - One of the better looking Gameboy games. It's a shame that it's black and white.

Appeal
18/25 - 32 levels that are pretty challenging give Super Mario Land 2 plenty of replay value.

Gameplay
32/40 - Classic Mario gameplay with excellent level design and some cool new power-ups.

Overall
80/100 - Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is a massive improvement over its predecessor and an essential title for any Gameboy collector or Nintendo 3DS owner.