#40: Super Mario Land (Nintendo, Game Boy, 1989/1990)

For all of its weird departures and dead ends, there are things in this game that gesture towards the future of the series. The fact that each levels ends with two exits, with the harder to reach of the two leading to a bonus level, for example, is clearly a precursor to the more exploration focused play that would later be developed in the likes of Super Mario World. And while I don’t think the series ever again goes quite as far as the shoot-em-up levels into a completely different genre, even those aren’t a million miles away from things like the ball-rolling levels in Super Mario Galaxy in the way they divert from the basic Super Mario formula.

It’s also important to remember that this was a launch title and look at it in that context, in which it absolutely comes out on top. Because if you bought a Game Boy in 1990, Tetris aside (and that came included with the console anyway), Super Mario Land was almost certainly the first game on your wish list. If you bought a Game Boy in 1992, it was probably still first on your list. It may be a lesser title among Super Mario games, but in terms of early Game Boy releases, Super Mario Land was an absolute giant, and rightly so. Before the Game Boy came along, handheld gaming devices more resembled pocket calculators than home consoles. The idea of one providing a remotely functional Super Mario game would have seemed like a preposterous fantasy.

So, yes, Super Mario Land is one of the lesser Super Mario games. Not only does it all feel a bit off, it’s also decidedly short and easy – so easy that even in my younger years I had no trouble beating it. But as a category, “worst Super Mario game” is akin to “driest ocean” in its staggering failure at the level of basic premise.