* Great diverse music Cons * Levels aren’t too hard (except the final castle) * Some boss fights are uninspired (three little pigs, a rat) My first Game Boy was from a garage sale in the early 90’s. It came with Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden coins and I was instantly blown away when playing it. It had that same play feel to it as other Mario titles, but still offered power ups, mini games, and interesting level designs I had never seen.
Presentation : A
Graphics / Animation / Sound
The games artistic style in the outer world map is straight from Super Mario World for SNES. This immediately blew me away because its chalked full of detail. Each section has its own little theme. For example, the ‘Pumpkin Zone’ is inside a Jack o Lantern and contains graveyards, hot cauldrons, and a flying witch boss. The ‘Mario Zone’ is a robotic like Mario that you must play through, and inside there are gears and Legos to traverse. When playing the game its hard to believe it’s for Game Boy, because there is so much detail that no two levels look even close to the same.
The Mario sprite is pretty big, and is the same design used for Super Mario Bros. 3. The animation of him running or obtaining power-ups looks really neat, and you can even duck when your ‘tiny’ Mario. There are a lot of different bad guys in the game, all designed and animated well, letting you know exactly what they are, and what you need to do to kill them.
The music in the game is really one of my favorite parts. It is very memorable and for a Game Boy cartridge has a lot packed in it. When you are playing an outside level in the daylight, the music has a light feeling, when you are fighting a Boss, the music is dark. The music sets the tone and creates an atmosphere that really helps keep you focused on whats going on.
Single Player : A
Game mechanics / Length / difficulty
This game plays like all of the other Mario titles from the era. You can lightly jump, or press A harder, and you will jump higher. You hold down B to run faster and shoot fire balls. The mechanics are the same, so it is easy to pick up and play. The mushrooms and fire flowers are back, and one new power up is a “magical carrot” that gives you bunny ears so you can glide. This works in the same way as Mario’s cape in Super Mario World. You can also use the spin jump from Super Mario World. One interesting thing that they did in the game is put a few levels in space. Not only does it look cool, but the gravity has been affected so it changes the timing of your jumps and attacks.
There are a few mini-games that you use to earn more coins, power ups, or more lives. You can find these by either reaching bells above the exit doors or playing the stand alone mini game in the middle of the outer world map. There is no tradition points counter like in the other titles, instead there is an enemy counter, and once you kill 100 enemies you earn a ‘Starman’ which makes you invincible. Just like in Super Mario World, there are secrets hidden in the levels, and some levels have alternate exits that lead to extra levels.
There are 32 levels, and each zone has a Boss to defeat. When you defeat that Boss, you earn a golden coin, which acts like keys to Mario’s castle which the main villain Wario has overtaken and transformed into his palace of doom. Defeating all of the boss’s and earning all of the golden coins isn’t too hard of a task..but once you play that last castle…man is that difficult. It actually may be the hardest final level I have ever played. There is no half-way bell like in all the other levels, and after you go through a series of perilous traps you fight Wario who takes 9 hits to kill, all while he is dropping bombs on your head, and getting fire flower and bunny ear power ups. It’s tough.
Multiplayer : –
Game mechanics / features / Online features
Released for Game Boy, so there is no online features. No two player mode, even with the Game Boy system link cable.
Replay Value : A
Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC
This game contains a lot of replay value as the level design and over all content makes it fun for any fan of side scrolling games. There are unique settings to play through, and mini games to play.
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is 20 years old now. It still is as enjoyable to go back through and play now as it was then. This game was ahead of its time in many aspects. Not only can play it on Game Boy, Game Boy color, or Super Game Boy, but now the 3DS, so there are a variety of ways to play with color and back light.
In my opinion this game is in the top five all time greatest Game Boy games. I highly recommend playing this game, especially for any Mario fan who may have missed this title.
Overall : A
