Super Mario Land 2 – 6 Golden Coins – User Article

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2024 will be the year in which I finally catch up on as many games from my pile of shame as possible. The new episode lets me jump way back to the early 90s with a platform game.

I like playing on the original hardware and have several versions of the Game Boy at home. The decisive reason, Super Mario World 2 The only way to catch up was to buy an Analogue Pocket. This handheld, compatible with the old games, promised to relieve my eyes a little with its larger and illuminated display. At the same time, the FPGA-based hardware emulation in conjunction with the original module still ensures a largely authentic experience.

Retro snack for in between meals?

As is often the case when trying out such old games, the whole thing could have been fun, but still be over after half an hour. However, things turned out differently and I can already say that I had a surprising amount of fun. Why surprising? Well, last year, Super Mario Bros. Wonder released what I consider to be the best 2D jump 'n run of all time. Never before have I experienced so much joy in playing, crazy ideas and a perfectly polished implementation of the same in this genre. The fall is huge. At the same time, I do have positive memories of Super Mario WorldHowever, due to the limitations of the hardware, the game's presentation and implementation are largely extremely simple. Accordingly, the planned foray into the second spin-off on the Game Boy could have been quite sobering.

The individual zones are selected in the overview map.

The first surprising highlight is the departure from the strictly linear progression of the predecessor. Antagonist Wario has conquered the castle in Mario's absence and sealed the entrance with the eponymous six golden coins. These are distributed across a corresponding number of worlds and are carefully guarded by his minions. Super Mario Bros. 3 Using the well-known overworld map, you can freely navigate to the parts of the game known as zones and decide for yourself in which order you want to overcome the challenges. If you get stuck at one point, you can simply leave the zone in question, try another one and start again later. The level progress within each world is retained and saved.

Bells serve as reset points after screen death.

Variety is key

As expected, the zones differ thematically from one another. This is of course reflected in the backgrounds, but also in the enemies. While ants and moles attack you in the tree zone, scary ghosts and demons stand in your way in the pumpkin world, waiting for a neat jump on your head. The whole thing is of course complemented by the well-known shooting plants or the Gumpas. But it is not only this framework that provides a change from the routine of collecting as many coins as possible. The feel of the game itself and various clever ideas also bring a breath of fresh air to the process.

Sometimes the focus is on jumping passages in the foliage of a tree, then again I float in a soap bubble between enemies, balance on a ball over dangerous spikes on the ground or fight with the lower gravity in space. The level design is sometimes classically structured from left to right, but often enough you can freely explore levels in all directions, discover secret hiding places and have to look for the exit. At the end of each zone, corresponding boss enemies like a large octopus await you and each one requires a special tactic.

If you don't touch any enemies, the soap bubble will carry you through the entire level.

Technically and playfully convincing

The module also surprised me in terms of graphics. This is of course to be seen in the context of the limited hardware capabilities of a Game Boy and relates above all to the direct comparison with its predecessor. It is immediately noticeable that the sprites are significantly larger and the camera is closer to the action. Individual backgrounds such as water are even slightly animated. However, if too much is happening on the screen at the same time, it slows down significantly and even causes stuttering. Fortunately, this happens very rarely.

In my opinion, the difficulty level is generally very moderate. In addition, you can get a lot of extra lives after the levels by playing small games of chance. A one-armed bandit in a house that is accessible at all times even gives you the chance to get 20 extra lives in one go if you spend 200 coins. I only needed this cushion once, but all the more urgently, in the final level for my many, many attempts. It also feels a bit like Dark Souls, when you have to get through a number of dangers on the way to the seemingly overpowering boss each time. You won't find any reset points in the form of a bell, like all the other areas have. But the sight of the liberated castle at the end, many hours later, is all the more satisfying.

Various bonus items can be won in mini-games.

What a wonderful time travel adventure. I wanted to have some fun. But investing every evening for two weeks in a Game Boy game from 1992 to finish it completely wasn't really on the agenda. I'm particularly impressed by this, especially given the many great Mario games that have been released in the last 32 years and seem to offer so much more in every respect. But feelings don't lie. And so I'm going to look around on the second-hand market to see if I can buy the third part too.

New residential communities have already been formed in the wreck of a submarine.