Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

Gameplay

The objective of Super Mario Land 2 is to reach the end of each level, defeating or avoiding enemies while doing so. The game retains several enemies from the Mario series, such as the Goomba and the Koopa, and also introduces several new enemies. Enemies can usually be defeated by jumping on their head, but also may need to be defeated in different ways, such as a fireball. Other famous mechanics include Warp Pipes, which allow the player to enter hidden areas or find shortcuts, coins, and ? Blocks, which hide coins and items. Unlike in previous Mario games, coins are not used to get lives; instead, they are used to play games in a special area that awards lives and other power-ups. To gain lives, instead, the player must find hearts like they did in the original. After killing 100 enemies, a star comes flying down which provides a short period of invincibility. The star can also be found at other places in the game. While being invincible, the 5th and each subsequent enemy killed will provide one life.

While its predecessor was similar to the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Land 2 has more in common with Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World: there is an overworld map, the player is no longer restricted to moving only right in a stage, many stages contain higher and lower areas instead of entire stages all at a single level, and any stage (except for the introductory stage and "boss" levels) can be replayed multiple times. At the end of a level, there is a door that must be touched to clear a level. In addition, there is also a bell high above the door which, if touched, activates a mini-game where the player can try to get either a power-up or 1-ups. The six worlds can be played in any order unlike in most Mario games that feature overworld maps. The game saves the player's progress after beating a stage, being the first Mario game released on a portable system to have a save feature.

There are 32 levels in total, based in several different themed zones. There are some secret levels that can only be accessed by finding alternative exits found in regular levels. Once a player clears or loses a life in these secret levels, they are returned to the level where the secret exit was found. Each zone has its own boss, which must be defeated to get one of the 6 Coins. If the player loses all of Mario's lives, all of the 6 Coins are returned to the bosses, which must be defeated again to retrieve the coins. From the beginning of the game, the player may choose to complete the zones in any order.

Super Mario Land 2 features three returning power-ups—the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman. The Super Mushroom increases Mario's size, the Fire Flower gives him the ability to shoot fireballs, and the Starman makes Mario invincible for a short time to anything besides pits. Both the Super Mushroom and the Fire Flower also allow Mario to do a spin jump like in Super Mario World. Due to the grayscale palette, Fire Mario is differentiated from Super Mario by having a feather in his cap, a feature not seen in any other Mario series game. Also unique to Super Mario Land 2 is the Magic Carrot power-up, which turns Mario into Bunny Mario. Bunny Mario can jump higher, jump repeatedly by holding down the jump button, and descend slowly using his ears.

Like its predecessor, this game also incorporates unique sound effects that are mostly different from the main Mario platformers. The most noticeable are the Starman sound and the 1-Up fanfare.

Plot

Super Mario Land 2 takes place immediately following Super Mario Land. While Mario was away in Sarasaland, his old childhood friend Wario put an evil spell over Mario's castle and his world, Mario Land, brainwashing its inhabitants into believing Wario is their master and Mario is their enemy. Wario's motive behind this sudden attack on Mario's castle was his desire to have a palace of his own. After traveling through Mario Land and collecting the six Golden Coins, Mario regains entry to his castle. Mario enters and defeats Wario, who flees, breaking his spell and causing Mario's castle to revert to its normal form.

Development

The music was composed by Kazumi Totaka, and it is one of his earliest works. "Totaka's Song" is also hidden in the game and can be heard in the Game Over screen after waiting for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

Reception

Official Nintendo Magazine ranked Super Mario Land 2 44th on their list of the "100 Greatest Nintendo Games". Nintendo Power listed it as the seventh best Game Boy/Game Boy Color video game, praising it for its improvements over Super Mario Land and for having impressive visuals for a handheld game. Allgame also commented on the graphics, stating that the similar platform game Donkey Kong Land displays "more detailed graphics, the downside to this is that levels tend to blur quite a bit more when in motion. So in this respect, you get a fair trade off." The review concluded that "In overall fun and enjoyment, it's hard to go wrong with this title. It's not a very long game, but even experienced players should find a little challenge in it. It's excellent for road-trips where you may only play in short sessions."

Game Informer's Ben Reeves called it the fourth best Game Boy game and praised its levels' creativity. Before it became available, GamesRadar listed Super Mario Land 2 as one of the titles they want in the 3DS Virtual Console. The UK-based magazine Total gave the first Super Mario Land game 94%, but only gave the sequel 70%.

Re-release

The game was released for the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console service eShop on September 29, 2011, in North America and Europe, and was released on October 12, 2011, in Japan.