July 2019 Playthrough - Super Mario Land & Super Mario Land 2

[douglie007]

I need to start, lol I almost forgot it was July

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[Crabmaster2000]

Any checkpoints for discussion this month?

[Mr_Stubbes]

Any checkpoints for discussion this month?

I was wondering this as well. I’ve beaten both games already and don’t want to jump the gun on the discussion for this month.

[bombatomba]

I just started playing Super Mario Land.  For a bit o' history, I played a tiny portion of this game back in the day and ridiculed it (why?), then tried again when I got a Super Game Boy and ridiculed it again.  I've thought about this all day and I have no idea why I was so against this game.  Sure, the physics are a little weird (jumping is a little floaty, Mario is kind of hard to control when dashing, and mushrooms have a weird way of dropping off after traveling forty-five degrees through a ninety-degree arc) but otherwise I love this game!  The music is really amazing, and I have been humming the theme for 2-1 and 2-2 for an hour now.

I've also been putting a lot of thought as to why I didn't like the GB when it was released due to blur and the lack of a backlight.   I used to play a ton of those Tiger handheld games (Simon's Quest and Thunder Blade come to mind) and they certainly didn't have any backlight and pretty much looked terrible. What a bummer, as I think about all the fun I could have had playing on a GB versus futzing around with the Super Mario Brothers Game and Watch instead of enjoying a superior title (plus other games).  Well, at least I am playing now.

[bombatomba]

Finished Super Mario Land.  Short and sweet, and I finished it on my second try (after killing all my continues on 3-2).  Overall quite a bit of fun, and once I got used to the jump fairly easy.  I missed quite a bit on my initial run, so I plan on going back over it and messing about with the levels.  I'll hold off a day or so for Land 2 though.  I tried playing it right away and only lasted a few steps.  I had forgotten how right on the money the physics are in it.  I will be playing the DX mod.  As far as I know it is just the basic game but with color.  This was one of the first GB games I remember playing a loving right off the bat, so I am looking forward to it.

[Mr_Stubbes]

Finished Super Mario Land.  Short and sweet, and I finished it on my second try (after killing all my continues on 3-2).  Overall quite a bit of fun, and once I got used to the jump fairly easy.  I missed quite a bit on my initial run, so I plan on going back over it and messing about with the levels.  I'll hold off a day or so for Land 2 though.  I tried playing it right away and only lasted a few steps.  I had forgotten how right on the money the physics are in it.  I will be playing the DX mod.  As far as I know it is just the basic game but with color.  This was one of the first GB games I remember playing a loving right off the bat, so I am looking forward to it.

I was able to beat Super Mario Land fairly quickly as well. Especially if your able to stock pile extra lives playing the bonus “ladder game” at the end of each level. The controls did feel a little loose, especially the jump, but the hardest thing for me to get used to was the exploding turtle shells. I lost a good number of lives forgetting that the blow up after you jump on them. Other than that the other enemies didn’t cause me to much trouble. I also played through the hard mode, but by stockpiling lives in the first few levels and learning the new enemy placements I eventually made it through the game again. I really enjoyed this game and I’m glad I finally got to play it.

[Mr_Stubbes]

Also I’m not sure if we’re posting our scores or not, but....

Here is my final score for regular mode:

[img width=700 height=629]http://i.imgur.com/FlSNddD.jpg[/img]

And my score for hard mode:

[img width=700 height=487]http://i.imgur.com/lMbxL49.jpg[/img]

[bombatomba]

@Mr_Stubbes - Well, you certainly beat mine.  In regular my high at finishing was 278360, and this was with collecting most coins that I could find.  I'll post a pic when I get a chance.

[douglie007]

I just finished the first one. This was my first play through and it doesnt really feel like a mario game, I dont think I'll replay it again, the controls are not even close to the nes game. I wouldn't say it's a bad game, just nothing special.  I'm looking forward to the 2nd one.[img width=700 height=340]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190710/d5e28e0b90238f50cfa908e08ee7c4ce.jpg[/img]

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[singlebanana]

Nice work guys!  Plan on starting tonight while my kids are at soccer practice. NERD DAD IN THE CAR ALERT!

[EZ Racer]

Stuck on level 3-3 on SML1 so popped in SML2 and have made my way to the castle.

[singlebanana]

So I started the game last night at my kids' soccer practice.  I did pretty well on my first playthrough, but had a little trouble with glare from the sun setting.  Popped it in my Super Game Boy when I got home and beat it in one run. 

I've heard about and seen some posts about the game having poor controls. I really disagree and don't feel a lot of difference between it and NES SMB titles. However, I did notice a bit of a difference on how it plays on the Game Boy as compared to the Super Game Boy.  I have to say that I think the issue lies not in the game, but in the console.  At no point did I have any issue with jumping or notice any rigity.  I dunno, maybe it's just me, but that was my experience.

I also completely disagree with the statement, "it doesn't feel like a Mario game."  Yeah, it's a little different stylistically, but it feels more like "a Mario game" to me than SMB 2....which was not even originally a SMB title. Though named differently, many of the enemies are the same and transverse an environment from left to right like you do in the others.  I'd like to hear from you guys on why it does or doesn't feel like a Mario game. Would make for a good discussion on the podcast.

I have other thoughts on the game, but of course, will save those until the show.

[img width=700 height=525]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D_KUanFWwAAHSj5.jpg[/img]

[MetalFRO]

I haven't played SML yet, but having played through it dozens of times in the last 30 years, I'll say that it does feel like a Mario game, but perhaps more of a "gaiden" than a traditional game. Keep in mind, when it released in 1989, there wasn't still a defined formula for Mario games. You had SMB, which was the original template, and the disparate releases of SMB2 between Japan and the West gave the 2 regions very different takes on what we knew of as a "Mario" game. SMB3 had released in Japan by 1989, but that didn't hit American shores until the following year. Even then, the formula that carried forward didn't really solidify until SMW, and SML2 after that. So taking the original SML in that context, it was just another take on the Mario idea. The physics are a touch goofy, such as the relatively lack of inertia, and Mario drops like a rock after a fall, but overall, it still looks and plays like you would expect a SMB successor to play. It's still one of my favorite games on the Game Boy, and despite knowing that, objectively, SML2 is the better game, my nostalgia for the original runs deep. I'll offer more thoughts after I give it another play through, but I thought I'd add something initial here, to keep the discussion going.

[Disposed Hero]

I wasn't planning on participating in this playthrough, but I've been bringing my GBA with me to work everyday to play on breaks, so I figured why not?

[img width=700 height=525]https://i.imgur.com/kQSePk4.jpg[/img]

Finished the first Super Mario Land. It was alright, but probably not something I would ever revisit considering I have easy access to the NES titles. I did really enjoy the shmup-inspired autoscrolling levels though and wish there had been more than two of them. Sure, it was short, but I was ok with that. I think I would have really enjoyed this game if I had it back in the day, and it's a good effort and pretty much what you'd expect from a Game Boy launch adaptation of Super Mario Bros.

As far as the controls and whether or not it feels like a Mario game, I can see both points. To me, it feels like the core mechanics are similar enough to the original SMB, but certain mechanics do feel a bit different. MetalFRO hit the nail on the head with the lack of inertia and sharp falling compared to SMB. I also felt like the hit detection was a little off at times regarding enemies and platforms, but that could have just been my imagination from playing on a small screen. Some of the enemies were different, but every Mario game has its unique enemies.

I'm planning on playing SML2 before the month is over, but we'll see if I get to it.

[douglie007]

I did enjoy sml2 more than 1 but it ramps up the difficulty at the castle. But I might have been hard on the first game. I played it on the 3ds, but when I played it on the gba it wasn't as bad. I dont know if it's something in the emulation.[img width=700 height=662]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190711/61be4ab58996885c2a96559e5f6d0ad9.jpg[/img]

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