Super Mario Bros. On the Go
Sometimes a simple thing can make a purchase worth it. The NES was basically sold under the assumption that you wanted Super Mario Bros and would purchase the system to play the game, Super Mario Land wasn't quite the same assumption, but the game very much made it worth buying the game boy. It wasn't the reason you bought it, I feel like Tetris was already there for you at launch, but I feel like the reason a lot of us bought our first game boy's was because you could play Super Mario Bros. on the go. Tetris was cool, but Mario was on top of the world and the idea of being able to play Super Mario Bros. wherever you were, was an idea so ingenious it would have been hard NOT to sell millions of game boy's.
Mario Land plays out a lot like the original Super Mario Bros. graphically, it's blocky and it's almost tech-demo'ish compared to later games on the game boy, it definitely sets itself up as a Mario game but like every game in the series at this point, it makes itself stand out in certain ways. For one, Miyamoto did not work on this game and it shows. The worlds in this game are unlike anything in any other Mario game thus far, just as surreal, but a different strand of surreal. The soundtrack is incredible and as catchy as any Mario game that came before it. The controls are a little more clutsy than its NES counterparts, but still leaps and bounds ahead of its competition in virtually every field.
Mario Land was a lot of peoples introductions to the game boy and it's understandable. With a fantastic world, great graphics and addictive soundtrack, it was easily the standout of the launch titles for the game boy. It's a game boy classic.
