Super Mario: Every Game Ranked From Worst To Best

17. Super Mario Land

Mario Feat Copy
Nintendo

Mario's first trip beyond the Mushroom Kingdom - the somnolent soiree to Mario 2's Subcon notwithstanding - saw him take a well-earned vacation to the monochromatic confines of Sarasaland. Turned out to be a bit of a busman's holiday in truth, as no soon as the Italian acrobat had touched down than the local princess was ensorcelled. Man's a curse.

The mustachioed mushroom muncher's Game Boy bow is a bit of an oddity, all things told. The parallel universe gives it a unique flavour, with tastes of Mesopotamia, East Asian, and Polynesia mixed in, and there are side-scrolling shooty bits entirely unique to the series.

It's over pretty quickly - there are just twelve stages overall - but the scaled-down side-scroller cleverly plays to the handeld's strengths, moving just as smoothly as its bigger brothers despite the limitations.

Diced mushrooms, but still tasty.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.