Today, I'll talk about a franchise
that deserves a lot more love, and that's the Super Mario Land games. The games were Nintendo's way of bringing
Super Mario Bros. onto the Game Boy. There were only three games, and in one of them, you don't even play as Mario. But they were all solid titles, and they introduced a few characters to the Mario universe that have become staples. Between the ages of 6 and 12, the Game Boy was my life! And I had all the Super Mario Land games. They were some of my favorites on the system, and I feel like they're a bit... underappreciated today? You don't hear about 'em that often. I mean, there's a few references to the series in Super Smash Bros., but that's about it. But I have many fond memories
of playing these games growing up, and they deserve more love. So today, I'll share the history
of the Super Mario Land series, and what makes these Game Boy
games so wonderful. The Super Mario Land series began during the development of the Game Boy. The Game Boy was created by
Research & Development 1, Nintendo's oldest internal development team. Their previous inventions included the Game & Watch, the D-pad, and R.O.B. the Robot. Legendary Nintendo engineer Gunpei Yokoi
and his co-worker Satoru Okada came up with the idea for the Game Boy. According to Okada, Yokoi originally envisioned the Game Boy as a successor to the Game & Watch. It was more of a toy than a gaming system, and would play simple, quick games. Okada disagreed and thought the
Game Boy could be more like the Famicom, or the Nintendo Entertainment System, a full-fledged system
with third-party developers. Yokoi eventually gave in. The new system needed games to go along with it, and Gunpei Yokoi knew just what to make. However, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto
wouldn't be involved. He was too busy working on his own
projects for the Super Nintendo, like Super Mario World and
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. So, development of the new
Mario game would fall to R&D1, the same team developing the Game Boy. It made sense. They knew the system inside and out, as well as its limitations. They also had experience in game development, having made several NES titles, including Kid Icarus and Metroid. Yokoi was pretty familiar with
the Mario franchise as well. Miyamoto consulted with Yokoi when he made
the original Mario Bros. arcade game, as well as Super Mario Bros. From a design perspective, Miyamoto said Yokoi was the
biggest influence on his career. It was the first time Miyamoto wasn't involved in a Super Mario game. Director duties were given to Satoru Okada. Okada was more of an engineer than a game designer, and that came in handy. They had to shrink the colorful world of
Super Mario into a handheld system that could only display four colors. Being co-creator of the Game Boy, Okada was more than capable of the job. Because it was a brand new development team, R&D1 created a whole new land for Mario to explore. Thus the game's title:
Super Mario Land. It launched alongside the Game Boy
on April 21st, 1989 in Japan, July 31st, 1989 in North America, and September 28th, 1990 in Europe. Super Mario Land was originally planned
to be the pack-in title with the Game Boy, but Nintendo famously decided
to include Tetris instead, gambling that Tetris would
appeal to a bigger market. In Super Mario Land, Mario explores the world of Sarasaland. Its inhabitants have been hypnotized
by an alien named Tatanga. He has also kidnapped Princess Daisy, who makes her debut in this game. Mario must traverse through the four kingdoms of Sarasaland and rescue Daisy. This is the first Super Mario game not to feature
Luigi, Toad, or Princess Peach. Now, when you first start playing, the game definitely looks... small, but compared to the other launch titles, it's actually pretty impressive. All the Game Boy launch titles
had a somewhat similar look. Considering most of them were developed by R&D1, that makes sense. If you look a little closer, though, R&D1 came up with a few tricks to get around some of
the Game Boy's limitations. For example, there are no 1-Up Mushrooms. Why? In previous Super Mario games, a red Mushroom made Mario bigger,
and a green Mushroom gave Mario an extra life. With only four gray colors on the Game Boy, that's impossible to implement. So in Super Mario Land,
Mushrooms make Mario bigger while hearts give Mario extra lives. Each of the four Kingdoms look more like real-life locations than anything from the Mushroom Kingdom. It's got hieroglyphics, pyramids, the works. Muda-- I'm honestly not sure
what this is supposed to look like. It could be either the lost continent of Mu, which is supposedly in the Atlantic Ocean, or maybe the island of Bermuda. Either way, there's a bunch of water in this kingdom. Easton is definitely based on Easter Island, considering the large number of moai statues situated throughout the level. And finally, there is Chai, which is based on ancient China. The music definitely has a Far East sound, and the level is filled with bamboo, and--
pardon my Chinese-- Jiangshi, which are basically hopping vampires. At the end of each level, there are two exits. If you can reach the top one, you'll get to play a Chutes and Ladders-style bonus game to earn extra lives or a power-up. While exploring Sarasaland, you'll hear catchy tunes by Hirokazu Tanaka, the game's composer. Tanaka is mostly known for his work
on Earthbound and Dr. Mario. But his jingles in Super Mario Land
are, as usual, very good. It's amazing how he can make a 30-second tune, and it never gets repetitive. The ending theme is also one of
the best compositions on the Game Boy. [Super Mario Land ending theme playing] NORM:
Now, gameplay-wise, Mario feels off. Don't get me wrong. It's definitely a Mario game. There's Stars, Mushrooms, jumping,
stomping on enemies-- Everything. But the physics are a little different than the NES games. Mario's movement is much more stiff. Almost tank-like. He won't be skidding off the edge of a cliff in this game. Mario stops on a dime. Mario also has a new power-up, as well. No, it's not a Fire Flower. Although it definitely looks like one. It's the Superball! Firing a Superball bounces a projectile all over the screen, destroying enemies in its path. It can also collect coins. While going through Sarasaland, you'll encounter a whole bunch of new enemies. Fun fact: The Super Mario Land manual kept all the Japanese names for the enemies. No, that's not a Koopa Troopa. It's Nokobon! These are also known as Bombshell Koopas, since their shells explode after you jump on them. Oh, you think this is a Goomba? Nope. It's Chibibo! I mean, come on. This is a Goomba. There's Pakkun Flowers,
Sarasaland's version of the Piranha Plant. But most of the enemies are new here, including my favorite: Chicken. Besides platforming levels, there are also some shoot-'em-up levels where Mario is in either
a submarine or an airplane. These levels are a nice change of pace. Even the final boss stage where you fight Tatanga
is a shoot-'em-up level. Interestingly enough, Miyamoto wanted these kinds of levels in the original Super Mario Bros., where Mario would ride a rocket and fire a beam gun. But when he couldn't make the controls work, he abandoned the idea. At just 12 levels, Super Mario Land is a short game. An average player can beat the game in under an hour. Once you beat it, you can play it through
again in Expert Mode. There's no save system, but I doubt you'll need it. At the time, critics praised Super Mario Land. Computer and Video Games Magazine said: Electronic Gaming Monthly said: Now, I've got a few gripes with the game. You can't go backwards in a level. And I don't really like how Mario handles. It's also just way too short. It hasn't aged as well
as the other games in the series. By the time the sequels came out, Nintendo had a better grasp of the Game Boy and what it could do. Nevertheless, Super Mario Land
is still a decent platformer. And it showed the potential of the Game Boy. And that's important for a launch title. You might be shocked to learn that Super Mario Land sold more than 18 million copies worldwide, making it the seventh best selling
Super Mario game of all-time, and the fourth best-selling
Game Boy game of all-time. It sold more units than Super Mario Bros. 3! I'd probably chalk that up to the game
being a launch title for the Game Boy. Super Mario Land proved to be very popular, even spawning toys, comics,
a board game and drinking glasses. The Ambassadors of Funk
even made a song about it. It was enough popularity for Nintendo
to begin working on a sequel. In November of 1991, a new group of employees
at R&D1 were assigned a project: Super Mario Land 2. Hiroji Kiyotake was given director duties. He had previously worked on. Dr. Mario, but he was more well-known for being the original character designer of Samus in Metroid. At first, Kiyotake and his team wanted to follow
in the footsteps of the previous game. Make a whole new world for Mario to explore. But they made it a little too new, and the feedback wasn't great. Kiyotake said: And when you play Super Mario Land 2, it definitely feels more like a Mario game. I'd say it's pretty close to Super Mario World
on the Super Nintendo. There's battery saves, an overworld map,
secret levels, bonus games, six unique worlds, and graphically, it just looks more like Mario. One interesting change to the
Mario formula is the storyline. For once, Mario isn't rescuing a princess. Kiyotake stated: In this instance, Mario tries to take back his castle from a new villain named Wario. Wario made his debut in Super Mario Land 2, and has become a mainstay in the Mario universe. He began simply as a name. R&D1 wanted to create a new villain for Mario. Well, Mario's a good guy,
so what's the opposite of good? Bad. The word for bad in Japanese is "warui". Flip the M upside down in Mario,
and you get Wario! R&D1 imagined Wario as a Bluto-type enemy, if Mario was Popeye. This time, you'll explore a world called Mario Land. I don't know where this is
in relation to the Mushroom Kingdom, but it's apparently where Mario lives. He's done pretty well for himself
to afford this massive castle. While Mario was in Sarasaland saving Daisy, Wario, who has always been jealous of Mario, took over his land. So technically, this is a direct sequel. Within Mario Land are six unique worlds to explore. Conquering each world gets you a coin, and you need six of them
to unlock the door to the castle, setting up your final battle with Wario. Takehiko Hosokawa, a relative newcomer to Nintendo, designed the whole look of the game. He'd only been with the company for a year and a half before starting work on Super Mario Land 2. But this was the first game he got to work on
that really showed off his designs, and it's really superb work. Super Mario Land 2 feels and looks more like a Mario game. Each world feels pretty unique. They can be accessed at any time,
so there's no certain order you need to beat them, meaning their difficulty is about the same. Kiyotake and his team claimed
getting the difficulty level just right was the hardest part in making the game. You've got Pumpkin Zone, which has some spooky enemies, my favorite being the walking Jason mask, literally named J-son in Japan. Mario Zone has you explore
a giant mechanical Mario statue. I guess Mario built this to worship himself. One cool Easter egg are the N&B blocks in one level. Back in the 60s, Nintendo made these
to compete against Legos. One level is built completely out of these blocks. Gunpei Yokoi worked on the N&B toys, and was a producer on Super Mario Land 2. Neat! Turtle Zone is the
required-by-gaming-law underwater world. As a kid, I always thought being
inside the whale was kinda creepy. Look at those teeth! Oh, and the sharks are wearing boxing gloves. Macro Zone has Mario shrunk down to a microscopic size, exploring a house,
and fighting off ants and mice. Whose house is this? We don't know. We'll probably never know. Space Zone was a unique area
in that you can't just go to it on the map. You actually have to beat a level to get there. Gravity is gone, and Mario can float around in space. It makes for some cool level design. Also, the world boss is Tatanga
from the first Super Mario Land. And finally, there is Tree Zone, where you battle flies and bugs and eventually defeat a massive angry bird. Seriously, his name is just Bird. It's almost as good as Chicken from the first game. After you collect all six coins, you've gotta take back your castle. This level is pretty challenging,
as it's full of traps. Wario in his crazed look awaits you
at the end of your journey. One interesting change to gameplay is coins. Instead of getting 100 and resetting to zero, you can collect up to 999 coins. You can spend these coins on bonus games to win extra lives, power-ups, and more coins. Killing 100 enemies earns you a Star power-up. Speaking of power-ups, there are plenty to find
in Super Mario Land 2. The bunny ears are very cool, but it can also make levels very easy. You can literally flap your ears
across areas and barely fall. The Fire Flower power-up is finally back. To get around the lack of colors, Mario grows a feather out of his hat
to signify he can shoot fireballs. He also has this new spin move, which is handy for breaking blocks below you. R&D1 did bring back a few things from the first game. If you reach the top area of the exit, you get to play a bonus game. And 1-Ups are still hearts. Kazumi Totaka, another newcomer, composed the music in the game. And if that name sounds familiar, it should. Totaka is famous for Totaka's Song, a simple little jingle he likes
to hide in the games he works on. He's still at Nintendo today. So he's hidden his song in a ton of games. For Super Mario Land 2, just wait on the "game over" screen
for two minutes and 30 seconds. [Totaka's Song playing] NORM:
Totaka's work here is incredible. Catchy tunes and classic sound effects. [Space theme playing] Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
was released on October 21st, 1992 in Japan, November 2nd, 1992 in North America, and January 28th, 1993 in Europe. It was the largest Game Boy game up to that point. A whopping four megabits! Like its predecessor, Super Mario Land 2 was a hit with critics. Electronic Gaming Monthly
summed it up pretty well by stating: The game would go on to sell more than 11 million units, making it the sixth best-selling
Game Boy game of all-time. This is my personal favorite
of the Super Mario Land games. They fixed all of my complaints from the first game. You can go back in a level now. There's way more stages. Mario feels like Mario again. My only real complaint is, in some areas, there's some slowdown. It's also a fairly easy game. Now, when I first beat Super Mario Land 2 as a kid, I thought for sure Mario had peaked. It can't get any better than this on the Game Boy, right? Well, in a way, Mario did peak with Super Mario Land 2, because the next game in series stars, not Mario, but Wario! WARIO:
You're getting very greedy. You are me, Wario! You're very handsome. I'm the bad guy in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, where being bad is good, and greed is good! NORM:
Yes, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 was the third installment in the series. There is no doubt in my mind that Super Mario Land was added to the title for brand recognition. When the first two games sell more than 29 million units combined, it's a smart move. This was Wario's first game all to himself. Many of the same people who worked
on Super Mario Land 2 returned, including director Hiroji Kiyotake
and designer Takehiko Hosokawa. After getting kicked out of Mario's castle, Wario hears a rumor that
the Brown Sugar Pirates of Kitchen Island-- Yeah, there's a food theme in this game. --stole a statue of Princess Peach. Wario's goal is to find the statue and sell it for a hefty price tag to buy his very own castle. It seems the developers kept with the theme of "opposite of Mario". While Mario games are generally
fast-paced with lots of platforming, Wario Land is a little slower paced with more exploration. And instead of Mushrooms making you grow, it's garlic. The name of the game in
Wario Land is collecting treasure. Wario collects coins, which are
tallied up at the end of each level. You'll also have to spend money. You can't use checkpoints or even leave a level without ponying up some dough. You can even attack enemies with coins. Hidden throughout stages are treasures,
which Wario admires after beating a level. He's just like a retro game collector. This aspect of the game
really drew me in as a kid. It might have been the beginning
of my love for collectibles in games. Wario can jump on enemies, but he has special hats that give him powers. The bull hat allows him to ram through
blocks easily and ground-pound, which stuns nearby enemies. The dragon hat lets Wario shoot out
flames for a short period of time. And the jet hat lets you jump higher,
run faster, and fly through the air. With 40 levels, it's a much bigger game
than Super Mario Land 2. There's plenty of secrets in here, as well. One cool feature is how the levels interact with the map. For example, in Rice Beach, one level will alternate between water and no water, depending on the tide. Wario Land is also a fairly decent challenge. I can breeze through the first two Mario Land games, but Wario Land always gave me a good fight. The final boss is against this
absolute unit of a genie. And once you defeat him, the map reveals the missing statue of Princess Peach. But here comes Mario,
who did nothing, flying in to steal your prize. I actually feel bad for Wario. However, the genie decides to grant Wario one wish. And, of course, he wants a castle! The size of the castle you get depends on how much treasure and coins you collected during your journey. My first playthrough, I got a tree stump. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 was
released on January 21st 1994 in Japan, March 13th, 1994 in North America, and May 13th, 1994 in Europe. Critics once again loved the game. Wario even got his own cover
of Nintendo Power on issue 58 The game sold more than five million copies. This game marked the beginning of the Wario Land series, and sadly, the end of the Super Mario Land series. In 1995, Nintendo hyped up their newest console: The Virtual Boy. It was basically a headset that played games. Everything was rendered in red and black, but it did have some cool 3D effects. Nintendo treated it as a successor to the Game Boy, but it was ultimately a disaster. During the Winter CES show of 1995, Nintendo teased a few titles, including a new Mario game. It went by several different names. Some called it "Mario Adventure". Others called it "Mario Bros. Virtual Boy". But it's most commonly referred to online
as "Virtual Boy Mario Land". This game never came out, so we don't really know too much about it. But it looked like a standard Mario game that utilized some 3D effects. The Virtual Boy did get a Wario Land game, though. And it's quite good. In fact, Nintendo kept making Wario Land games, the last one being Wario Land: Shake It on the Nintendo Wii. In 2011, Nintendo released
Super Mario 3D Land on the Nintendo 3DS. Was this a return to the Mario Land series? Uh, no. It has a similar name, but as far as I can tell, it has nothing to do with the Super Mario Land series. Nintendo took a gamble
handing off the reins of Mario to a team that did not
include Shigeru Miyamoto. But it ultimately paid off. Are these games revolutionary? Not really. But they were important. They clearly helped make the Game Boy a success by selling more than 34 million units combined. I have wonderful memories
playing these games growing up, and I'm sure anyone else
who played them feels the same way. In fact one fan by the
name of Torruz released a ROM hack that turned Super Mario Land 2 into a Game Boy Color game. It even added Luigi as a playable character. Very cool. But let's not forget that these games established
new characters into the Mario universe. I mean, think about it. Without Super Mario Land, we might not have Daisy, or Wario. And without Wario, we would have never
gotten everyone's favorite character: Waluigi. WALUIGI:
Waluigi! #1! NORM:
That's all for this episode of the Gaming Historian. Thanks for watching! FEMALE NARRATOR:
Funding for Gaming Historian is provided
in part by supporters on Patreon. Thank you! [Totaka's Song playing]
Wario Land is my favorite GB game. Followed by Mario Picross.
3 of my all-time favorite games. Especially 6 golden coins and Wario Land. Holy crap so many hours playing those as a wee child.
I freakin' love this guy. So excited every time a new video comes out
Mario Land 2 was my shit. I remember getting that for my birthday. So much of my life spent playing that game. I played them all, but I only ever owned 2. I borrowed the other two from friends.
He mentions the game as being somewhat easy, but I certainly found it very challenging as a 10 year old.
I found the first Mario Land extremely hard, actually. I made it to the final level, but would always die and lose all my lives by the time I made it to the last level. I think in large part to how stiff the controls were.
Now Wario Land was just an odd game to me. I liked how in depth it was, but there was something about it that I didnt like. I dont know if it was the backtracking to get all the missed loot or what. It was enjoyable, though.