Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
North American box art
Developer(s)	Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Hiroji Kiyotake Takehiko Hosokawa
Producer(s)	Gunpei Yokoi
Composer(s)	Kazumi Totaka
Series	Mario
Platform(s)	Game Boy, 3DS Virtual Console
Release date(s)	Game Boy JP October 21, 1992 NA November 2, 1992 EU January 28, 1993 3DS Virtual Console[1] JP October 12, 2011 NA September 29, 2011 EU September 29, 2011
Genre(s)	Platforming
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	K-A: Original release E: Virtual Console re-release

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (スーパーマリオランド2 6つの金貨, Sūpā Mario Rando Tsū Muttsu no Kinka^?) is a platforming video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1992, in North America on November 2, 1992, and in Europe on January 28, 1993.^[2] Like its predecessor, Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2 was created by director Hiroji Kiyotake rather than Mario series creator Shigeru Miyamoto.

In Super Mario Land 2, the player assumes the role of the protagonist Mario, whose main objective is reclaim his castle, stolen by the antagonist Wario. However, the magical seal that Wario placed on the castle entrance can only be undone by collecting the six Golden Coins, which are guarded by Wario's henchmen in various locales of the game's setting, Mario Land. Mario's quest thus revolves around retrieving each of the golden coins in order to regain access to his castle and defeat Wario. Super Mario Land 2 is notable for its debut of Wario, who became the protagonist of the spin-off Wario series starting with the game's sequel, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.

At 4 megabits, it was one of the largest games on the Game Boy at the time of its release and eight times larger than its predecessor's capacity.^{[citation needed]}

Gameplay

Screenshot from Super Mario Land 2

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: The player is no longer restricted to moving right in a level, and any level (except for the introductory stage) can be replayed. 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 above the door which, if touched, activates a mini-game where the player can try to get either a power-up or extra lives.

There are 32 levels in total, based in several different themed zones. Some of the levels can only be accessed by entering in secret exits found in regular levels. Once the player clears or loses a life in these secret levels, he or she is 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.

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 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 ear (Interestingly, this shows a similarity to the "Super Leaf" power-up in Super Mario Bros. 3).

Like Super Mario World, instead of going through a series of stages through each world, the player navigates a large overworld map that contains an additional map for each world with its own series of stages followed by a boss. However, the six worlds can be played in any order unlike in most Mario games that feature overworld maps. The game also saves the player's progress after beating a stage, though this is the first Mario game released to a portable console to have a save feature.

Plot

Super Mario Land 2 takes place immediately after the original Super Mario Land. While Mario was away in Sarasaland, Wario put an evil spell over Mario's world, Mario Land. The inhabitants are now brainwashed into thinking that Wario is their master and Mario is their enemy. Wario's motive behind this sudden attack was to take control over Mario's castle to have a palace of his own. As the instruction manual states, he is an overgrown manchild who has been jealous of Mario since they were children. To stop Wario, Mario must find the 6 Golden Coins throughout Mario Land to reclaim his castle.

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 exactly 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
Game Rankings[3]	77.42%
Electronic Gaming Monthly[3]	87.5 of 100
Nintendo Power[3]	3.7 of 5

Official Nintendo Magazine ranked Super Mario Land 2 44th on their list of the "100 Greatest Nintendo Games".^[4] 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.^[5] GamesRadar listed Super Mario Land 2 as one of the titles they want in the 3DS Virtual Console^[6] which is currently available.

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 has been released on October 12, 2011 in Japan.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins". Nintendolife.com. http://3dsvc.nintendolife.com/games/gameboy/super_mario_land_2_6_golden_coins. Retrieved 2011-09-25. 
2. ^ Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins Info - Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins Information - Super Mario 6 Golden Coins Release Date
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Game Rankings Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins Reviews". GameRankings.com. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/585934.asp. Retrieved 26 August 2008. 
4. ^ East, Tom (2 March 2009). Feature: 100 Best Nintendo Games. Official Nintendo Magazine. Retrieved on 18 March 2009
5. ^ (Magazine) Nintendo Power - The 20th Anniversary Issue!. Nintendo Power. 231. San Francisco, California: Future US. August 2008. p. 72. 
6. ^ "12 classic Game Boy and Game Boy Color games we want on 3DS". GamesRadar. Jan 19, 2010. http://www.gamesradar.com/f/12-classic-game-boy-and-game-boy-color-games-we-want-on-3ds/a-20110119172340571046. Retrieved 2011-01-27. 

External links

Nintendo portal

• Official Nintendo Japan Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins site (Japanese)
• Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins at MobyGames
• Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins at NinDB
• Information about Super Mario Land 2 on GameFAQs