4.5/5 ★ – TNGLiam's review of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.

Platform: Game Boy (Emulated) Time Played: 2.3 hours Status: Completed Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is such a great improvement when comparing it to the original Super Mario Land. Instead of feeling like a Mario game that's been turned tiny, it's like they did the best they could to fit an entire home console 2D Mario game on the original Game Boy, and they certainly succeeded. Just like the first game, this game is so original in its concepts and ideas. Each world theme seen in this game is truly original, and never seen before, or since. You can travel through levels based on the insides of a giant Mario robot, an ant hill/colony, and several levels based on horror tropes that aren't similar to the Boo Manors seen in previous and future entries. Enemies based on Japanese yokai, Goombas that wear Jason Voorhees' mask, Dracula himself, witches, spirits, lots of different animal-themed enemies, some great bosses, along with many other enemies that are unlike anything seen since. These Halloween/horror-based levels were honestly my favorite. Climbing up a large tree, exploring the inside of a whale, and even going into outer space in a spaceman suit. All of the levels themes and ideas that are seen in this game are just so creative. Each level, each enemy, and their design were so original, and it just made me wish that the New Super Mario Bros. series that followed this were just as creative and original as this. The gameplay has also been improved greatly, as Mario controls a lot better than he did in the first Mario Land, or even in the NES games. The controls are absolutely great, especially for the Game Boy, and sure I was surprised by being hit by certain enemies and their hitboxes but it honestly wasn't a problem. There were also a few select moments where Mario wouldn't run as fast as I wanted him to, and it made it a bit hard to avoid obstacles. But other than that, Mario was a joy to control, and I usually never found issues when jumping from one platform to another or jumping to a high height. I would like to mention that the water levels and controls in this game are definitely the low point, and are clearly the worst levels in the package. Controlling Mario underwater is more inconvenient than it is fun, as the obstacles and enemies put in Mario's way in these water levels make it unfun to play through these levels, but thankfully there are only two levels like this. This was aided by this game's two main power-ups: the Fire Flower and the Super Carrot. Fire Mario controls excellent in this game, shooting fireballs at enemies feels great, and it honestly feels better than most other games in the series. It's also cool that they added a feather to Mario's hat to differentiate the forms without needing the use of color. Rabbit Mario is also one of the best correctional power-ups in the entire series. I personally found it better to control and use than the Racoon Leaf from Mario 3 or Cape Feather from Mario World. Being able to jump and hold or tap the A button to slowly float down. Not to mention the bubble from the level with the hippo, or the controls on the second space level where you can just infinitely float upwards. To conclude, Super Mario Land 2 is one of the best entries in the 2D Mario series of games. It is so original with all of its concepts, level designs, and enemy designs. Each level feels unique and inspired, same with the enemies and bosses; and all of the concepts in this game were never repeated afterward, or seen in previous games. It feels like most Mario games released after this didn't even put in any effort to be as creative as this game, or even Mario Land 1 (and part of me thinks that this is due to Miyamoto's absence). But all in all, this is a great Mario game, and a great 2D platformer in general, and I wish it was re-released just as often as the other retro 2D Mario games, as it deserves as much, if not more, recognition as those ones. I recommend getting it before the 3DS eShop closes down. Please check out this game if you haven't already!!