Don’t let Mario get the 6 Golden Coins...don’t let Mario reach the palace…
Obey Wario...DESTROY MARIO!”
- Wario, hypnotizing the viewer in theTV commercial
The Facts
Release Date: October 21, 1992 (Japan) November 1, 1992 (USA)
Original Platform: Game Boy
Director: Hiroji Kiyotake and Takehiko Hosokawa
Producer: Gunpei Yokoi
Also Playable On: Virtual Console (3DS), Nintendo Switch Online
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| More like Yōkai Watch Out! |
What's the Deal
While Mario was off rescuing Princess Daisy in Sarasaland, an “evil creep” named Wario (having been jealous of Mario’s popularity since they were children) breaks into Mario’s Castle, and casts a magic spell over the people of Mario Land, taking the island for himself.
The 6 Golden Coins that guard the entrance to Mario’s Castle have been scattered across the land and placed in the possession of Wario’s troops.
It’s time for Mario to take back what’s his!
Background/Development
Development of the game took ten months, starting in November 1991.
Hiroji Kiyotake mentioned in 1992 that the team wanted to go a different direction than the previous Super Mario games, with their first draft being rejected due to disagreements on whether the product properly represented Mario's character and his established world.
Realizing they were on the wrong path, they reworked the concept into something that feels more Super Mario, though still wanting a change of pace.
Hence the idea of the castle. Instead of rescuing a princess and going on this adventure “for someone else’s benefit”, Mario is fighting to take back something that belongs to him.
Takehiko Hosokawa entered the project as an assistant character designer, but as it went on, he gradually evolved to a co-director position.
Kiyotake also came up with the idea of Wario. He ran Wario (and the other characters he designed) past Hosokawa for approval.
Wario’s name was derived from combining “Mario” with “悪い”(“Warui”, Japanese for “bad”).
The character was inspired by Bluto, Popeye’s archenemy (which is rather fitting, since Mario was originally intended to be Popeye in Donkey Kong)
The idea of Wario’s cap having a W instead of an M was instantly and enthusiastically approved by the rest of the staff.
Originally, the power-up sound effect from Super Mario World was to play when grabbing a Super Mushroom, but it was nixed because it’d remind players that the game is running on inferior hardware to the SNES.
Kiyotake was very fond of the Bee Fly enemy, laughing out loud upon encountering it in the level.
The developers felt the game was too easy as they were making it, but were pleasantly surprised to find that the testers found it difficult, and spent about 2-3 months fine-tuning the game based on their notes.
My History With It
If memory serves, I got my copy of Super Mario Land 2 for Christmas 1998, along with my Game Boy Pocket.
I really wanted the first Super Mario Land, but I was still very happy to get this one, and loved it.
I had heard of Wario at that point, but didn’t know much about him. I’d seen Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman and Wario Land II for sale at stores, as well as seen that the character replaced Koopa Troopa in Mario Kart 64. From his name, it was clear he was connected to the Super Mario franchise, but I didn’t actually know how, nor did I understand how he got his several of his own starring roles (before even Luigi did!).
Part of my excitement of getting this game was “a new Super Mario platformer!’ and part was “now I’ll finally know what the deal with this Wario guy is!”
I have a distinct memory of playing through Turtle Zone while sitting with my family in a booth at Pizza Hut, as well as visiting my grandparents and sitting in their den while playing the Pumpkin Zone.
I finally beat the game while in the backseat of (I wanna say) my aunt’s car? I remember going through Wario’s Castle when we pulled over at a restaurant.
From what you’ve learned about me so far, it should be no surprise that, upon getting a portable Super Mario game, I took it just about everywhere with me. I looked forward to class field trips so I could play Super Mario Land 2 on the bus. One of those field trips is where I first maxed out my coin counter so I could play the 999-coin bonus game.
In the mid/late-2000s or so, I mentioned in several online conversations that Wario had hired Tatanga to kidnap Daisy, in order to distract Mario long enough for Wario to take over Mario Land, and it ended up spreading and being accepted as fact.
It's not actually, by the way. The manual mentions that Wario took over Mario Land while Mario was off rescuing Daisy, and Tatanga is one of the bosses in this game, but there's nothing indicating that the invasion of Sarasaland was part of Wario's plans and that Tatanga was working for him.
It makes sense and is certainly plausible, but the games themselves don't actually state it. But I take credit for that idea spreading through the fandom.
I feel like I misplaced my cartridge for the longest time, because there was a period of several years where I have no memory of playing it. Not really experiencing it again until '08 when my best friend gave me a Super Game Boy.
And even then, I didn't do a full playthrough again until, uh...now.
Speaking of...
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| Mario went to town/Going on a journey/Stuck a feather his his hat/And then set your stuff burning |
Playthrough
Played On: Nintendo Switch Online
The title screen is a tad bland. I prefer the Japanese one. I like the sign pointing to a Warp Pipe reading “To Mario Land”. Very charming.
The title for this game is a little awkward. Immediately following up the “2” in Super Mario Land 2 with the “6” in 6 Golden Coins? Having two different numbers right next to each other kinda bugs me, as does the fact they're both Arabic numerals. At least write out the word “Six”. That'd help a little.
Also the fact the subtitle specifies that these coins are “Golden”, implying that all the coins we've seen in the series so far are made of something else?
I know, I'm being nitpicky. I'm a geek, it's what I do. And besides, if this is the stuff I have to complain about, that must mean the the game itself is really good, right?
(spoiler: it is)
Bomb Mario sounds like a cool power-up that has a neat look...until you realize it's only to delete save files.
Bada-bing, bada boom
The first area in this game is usually just called “Start”. Okay then.
A 1999 strategy guide names it “Mushroom Zone”, which tracks with the rest of the game's naming conventions.
Pretty basic level. Nothing terribly new here for Super Mario veterans. Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Piranha Plants, Para-Goombas...
Super Mushrooms, Coins, Fire Flowers, 1-Ups, and a Star, too.
Since this was my first Game Boy Super Mario, I was very curious how the B&W Game Boy would handle the green 1-Up Mushrooms and the white outfit of Fire Mario.
I found the 1-Ups being Hearts and Fire Mario having a stylish feather in his cap to be very clever workarounds.
Something I think is important to note about this game is that it has kind of a cartoonier-than-usual aesthetic. Stomping on Goombas causes their eyes to bug out humorously, the Three Little Pigs are bosses, Mario can grab a carrot and grow bunny ears on his cap that allows him to hover, the moon in the sky has a grouchy face after a star crashes into it, one of the worlds is a giant Mario-themed robot...it's great! I love the wacky, 90s cartoon vibe this game has.
We're gonna go clockwise around this map!
First up is the Tree Zone!
I know I've remarked on previous games giving the player a really good sense of space and location, but I think this game does an especially good job of that.
Like, it's clear by playing the levels that Mario is navigating his way up a giant tree. The first level is at the roots, the second one is inside the trunk with it being dark and filled with sap, the third level is either leafy branches or a giant beehive...
Holding down A as Bunny Mario will cause him to hop repeatedly. I think this helps him travel pretty much anywhere he wants to go while in the tree sap.
The Perfect Edition of the Great Mario Character Encyclopedia, from 1994, describes the Heavy Zed owls with “Mr. Owl looks a little sleepy. He is a very big character, which makes one nervous when meeting him for the first time, but he is not an enemy. He is a kind character who carries Mario on his head.” Maybe I'm just tired, but that's adorable.
I always liked this image of Spikey. He looks like he was about to do something cool, but someone saw him, and then suddenly froze up.
The Bigbee enemies are Thwomps in all but appearance.
This “Big Bird” boss is laughably easy.
That's one Golden Coin out of the way!
Everybody's heard about the bird
There's a certain YouTuber who did a “With Lyrics” video for this game, and while it's not one of my favorites of his videos (most of the jokes in it just fall flat to me), I can't help but hear the lyrics as I play through these levels.
No raccoon or Tanooki selections
But the bunny ears will give ya wings
Pretty soon, you'll exhume a complete collection
Based on every type of flying thing!
Next, the Hippo level...which leads us to Space Zone!
You know how you have to hold the A button to have Mario just float to the top of the screen when inside the Hippo statue's bubble, and you can just stay there until reaching the end? I didn't realize that as a kid, and remember tapping A furiously to stay aloft, even tilting the top of my Game Boy towards the floor, subconsciously hoping that real life gravity will help keep Mario up there.
Space Zone is significant because outer space travel had never happened in the Super Mario series before. And this is a Zone I replayed a lot as a kid for that novelty.
Also, yes, Mario needs a space suit and helmet to survive out there, unlike in later games.
One of these days, Alice...
As mentioned earlier, the Moon on the map screen is smiling normally, until the secret level is found, after which a star-shaped meteor crashes into its head, making it look annoyed.
Completing the secret level has the Moon looking kinda sad for the rest of the game.
The star stage is fun because while the Moon has less gravity, there's practically none here, and Mario can essentially swim through the area with his jumps.
The boss for Space Zone is...Tatanga! I don't need the Sky Pop to take him down this time, I can do it the old-fashioned way, with three stomps to the head!
Didn't expect to see you again!
To Macro Zone!
My childhood best friend pointed out that “Micro Zone” would be more appropriate, since Mario shrinks down to an inch or so in height when in this Zone.
I get what he's saying, but I think the name still works since, because Mario himself is so tiny, everything else is huge, relatively.
Like with the Tree Zone, this one is very cool in how every level is set in a specific location within the greater setting (a house, in this case).
The first level is an anthill in the front yard.
The second begins outside in what seems to be a garden full of potted plants, before Mario enters the house via the plumbing (something he's probably used to).
The third is inside the house, with the goal being inside the chimney.
The final level is in the attic, with the boss battle being against a mouse in the wall.
Book 'em, Mario
Now for the horror-themed Pumpkin Zone.
The first level here is a cemetery, and the first enemy seen is a little guy wearing a hockey mask that has a knife sticking out of it. It's English name is simply “masked ghoul”, but in Japanese, it's called “J-son”, referencing Jason Voorhees, of the Friday the 13th series of slasher films.
The Perfect Edition of the Great Mario Character Encyclopedia suggests that the J-son is actually a normal Goomba wearing a mask.
Also in this level is a vampire, named Kurokyura. I believe there's only one Kurokyura in the entire game, and it took me completely by surprise as a kid, since I think I didn't go up to that area very often, and one doesn't run into humanoid enemies like that in Super Mario very often.
Well, this bites
The second level here is a monastery filled with yōkai!
As a kid, it was fun reading on themushroomkingdom.net how each enemy is based on a specific yōkai: the Bero are chōchin-obake, the Karakara are kasa-obake, the Fireball Boys are the hitodama flames, Kyororo are hitotsume-kozō, Piranha Plants are...uh...Piranha Plants, Boos are Boos...
As a kid, this level, I believe, is where I first got a Star from defeating 100 enemies.
The haunted house level is kinda neat in that there appears to be bottomless pits, which have been mostly absent in this game so far (aside from a few places in Tree Zone)...but there's actually floors to each one.
The Ghost Goombas are a cruel trick. You can't defeat them with a Fireball or stomp, even though they're Goombas.
I like that the background music is a new arrangement of the bonus room theme from the first Super Mario Land.
The final level in Pumpkin Zone is titled “Witch's Mansion Course”, according to the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia my friend got me for Christmas last year (thanks, Drew!). It's got some neat aesthetics with cauldrons hanging over fires and shelves of potions.
The Witch boss was relatively easy to take out, though she does join Kurokyura as being a surprisingly humanoid enemy.
The next area is the Mario Zone, or as they should've called it, “The MariZone”.
Actually, that's dumb. Good thing they didn't call it that.
Boy, this Zone is just plain odd. It's a giant Mario robot, which the player can NOT take control of at any point. What a tease.
That said, there is a theme of toys for this Zone, which is fun. Enemies include teddy bears and wooden soldiers, plus there's a level made entirely out of Nintendo's LEGO knock-offs.
The first level (the foot) is full of gears and clockwork, continuing this game's tendency of every level having its own unique identity.
Gears of War(io)
The second is set in the belly, and is composed entirely of rubber balls. I always took this as a joke about Mario's somewhat rounded build.
There's a few parts where pincers grab Mario by the head and drag him safely over spikes. He doesn't take any damage, but still...that can't be comfortable.
For some reason, I remember there being a secret level in Mario Zone, and it's reflected on the map screen by one of the robot's ears detatching, but...nope. Doesn't exist.
The final level in Mario Zone is made up of, as indicated by a logo hidden in the level, N&B Blocks, a product from Nintendo's pre-video game days (1968-1972 to be precise). The Blocks were intended to compete with LEGO, and the latter company even sued Nintendo, but lost the case.
N&B Blocks later would show up in Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal Versions, plus the Japanese-only Nintendo DS title Slide Adventure MAGKID.
The Three Little Pigheads (as named in the Mario vs Wario comic) are the bosses of Mario Zone, and each of them is inside a small house resembling a cookoo clock, made of straw, wood, and bricks, respectively. A neat little nod to the fable that inspired them.
Cowabunga! Turtle Zone, here we come!
...and to access this Zone, Mario has to be swallowed whole by a giant turtle. Okay.
Note the lack of turtles on the map screen. There's not even a greater concentration of Koopa Troopas in this Zone.
First level is a standard underwater-with-platforms-on-the-surface kinda stage.
The second level is a sunken submarine. This one's really cool, not only because it's a setting we've never seen in Super Mario before, but the small screen of a Game Boy combined with the small compartments within the level make it feel very cramped and claustrophobic, really leaning into the submarine motif.
The Turtle Zone's secret level has a neat palm tree motif, as well as blocks and coins that spell “WARIO LAND 2”, unless the player breaks the blocks and uncovers the hidden ones, turning it into “MARIO LAND 2”.
That's not to say you shouldn't play Wario Land II. You totally should. It's my favorite Wario game.
I originally assumed that the skeletal fish enemies in this Zone are the Fish Bone enemies from Super Mario World. However, the Perfect Edition of the Great Mario Character Encyclopedia has two separate entries for Fish Bone, and these Honebons.
There's also a separate entry for the Honen fish skeletons from Super Mario Land.
Whale, whale, whale...what have we here?
Super Jonah Land 2.
As a kid, I assumed the long, curved spikes were supposed to be the whale's teeth, but I realize now that it's doing the cartoon trope of animals having visible ribs inside their stomach.
Ever seen the 2020 Looney Tunes Cartoons? There's one where Sylvester swallows Tweety alive, and while inside, an oblivious Tweety does some frankly horrifying things with Sylvester's ribs. There'd been other shorts in that series that I'd found more disturbing than funny before that point, but that was where I had to stop watching.
Sorry, not entirely relevant, but I had to get out my issues with those cartoons.
The octopus boss here is a bit tricky in how it spits out smaller octopuses that are completely invincible and get in Mario's way.
“Octopuses” doesn't sound right, but apparently it's the correct word. Huh.
All right, here we go! Got all six Golden Coins, and it's time to take back Castle Mario!
The player can check out the exterior of Wario's Castle at any time, but they can't enter until collecting all 6 Golden Coins.
The way Wario proudly marches back and forth on the roof while on the map reminds me a lot of Bowser flying around his castle on the Super Mario World map.
Enjoy being up there while you can, big guy
The melody of the background music here reminds me a lot of “Duel Zone” from the original Super Smash Bros.
As a child, I almost always played this game in “Easy Mode”. I'm man enough to admit that now.
I play on normal difficulty now, though. That's why stuff like most of the Piranha Plant Statues spitting Fireballs took me by surprise, since I'm used to most of them not.
Some tricky platforming here.
Lots of weird enemies, too. Like the giant, mechanical, brass knuckle-wearing Wario fists that crash down if a floor tile is activated, or the floating balls with Wario's face on 'em.
Bit of advice: Fire Mario can determine which tiles trigger the mechanical fists. Throw some fireballs. Wherever the fireballs disappear is the one to avoid.
Well folks, here we are! The battle of the century! Mario vs Wario! Place your bets!
Too bad that little musical jingle at the start of each phase didn't become Wario's leitmotif. I always found it memorable.
I've noticed that the throne room here seems to be the only part of Mario Land not affected by Wario's spell. The windows have “M” designs, and the walls have designs of Carrots and Super Mushrooms, plus there's an untouched statue of Mario in the second phase.
Took me forever to realize that the sound Wario makes at the beginning of each phase is supposed to be his evil laughter.
Since his design is a grotesque, exaggerated parody of Mario, it makes sense that Wario's attack pattern consists of trying to jump on Mario, and then using power-ups.
There's something bunny going on here
When I first reached this point, my mind was blown by the way Wario used a Carrot to become Bunny Wario, and then became Fire Wario thanks to a Fire Flower. I remember being concerned about what the next phase would be: he'd grab a Star and become Invincible Wario?!
Luckily, there's only three phases to the battle, so it didn't come to that.
Continuing the parallels, defeating Wario causes him to shrink down into a smaller form, crying. Then he throws a shoe at Mario, and flees while sticking his tongue out. Mario then, uh, undoes Wario's spell and returns the castle to what it originally was.
I always assumed the castle was red. That doesn't seem to be the case, according to official artwork.
I almost feel bad for him. Almost.
Power-Ups
Returning:
Super Mushroom
Fire Flower
Star
1-Up Heart
New:
Carrot
3-Up Heart
Moneybag
Milestones
The biggest one is undoubtedly the debut of Wario.
The final Super Mario Land game where Mario is playable.
Second and final appearance of Tatanga.
First time a final boss from a previous game returns as a regular boss.
The last “traditional” 2D Super Mario until 2006’s New Super Mario Bros.
First time a final boss can use the same power-ups as Mario.
Trivia
On the Moon stage, there's some stars in the background that spell out “HAPPY”, but they're so high up only the last letter can be seen in-game.
Finding the Tree Zone secret level and beating it will cause blooms to appear on the map screen.
Uh...most of the other Trivia I already mentioned in the “Playthrough” section, like the Pumpkin Zone yōkai and the N&B Blocks.
Image and caption joke borrowed from tcrf.net 
Good question
Conclusion
If Super Mario Land was the Game Boy equivalent of Super Mario Bros., then Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is the Game Boy equivalent of Super Mario World.
The graphics are much improved, looking more like the SNES game, as well as providing a nonlinear map screen, and hidden level exits to find.
While the controls aren't quite as precise as the console games, they're a marked improvement over the previous Super Mario Land.
The gameplay is zoomed in a bit more, allowing the detailed spritework and backgrounds to shine, although it does make some of the platforming a little more difficult.
Though this is mitigated by more forgiving level design, so if the player does make a mistake, it's easily fixed due to things like very few bottomless pits.
Every level has a unique identity and a definite sense of location, with no two stages using the same theme or motif.
The Carrot power-up turing our hero into Bunny Mario is fun, but it does lack the utility of the Tanooki tail or Cape, giving Mario no offensive capabilities or flight.
It's cute, makes big jumps easier, and makes me say “Hey, it's SML2!” when I'm playing Super Smash Bros. and I give either Mario or Wario the Bunny Hood...but that's pretty much it.
As mentioned before, there's a bit of a wacky 90s cartoon aesthetic that I love, and there's a clear attempt to make something that definitely feels like a Super Mario game while having it's own identity that sets it apart.
No Bowser, no Princess in peril, no Mushroom Kingdom...and the only usual Super Mario enemies appearing being Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Bullet Bills, Boos, and Piranha Plants.
Everything else is new, with a lot of enemies drawing from folklore and mythology (particularly in Pumpkin Zone).
New settings that we've never seen before: outer space, a submarine, a giant house, the inside of a whale...
There's some gameplay changes, like coins not automatically giving the player an extra life at 100 (instead you use the coins to operate a roulette for 1-Ups), and receiving a Star for defeating a certain number of enemies.
Even the story's doing something new: Mario fighting to take back his castle from a twisted counterpart of himself, instead of rescuing someone else.
But, despite this, the mechanics, physics and core gameplay are all still the Super Mario style we know and love. Power-ups, blocks, coins, stomping enemies, Warp Pipes, ect.
As mentioned a few times already, this is where Wario, a character I'm very fond of, makes his grand debut, so you gotta give it points for that.
While it's not the best Mario game on Game Boy (that honor goes to the Donkey Kong remake), it is the best Super Mario game on Game Boy. Recommended.
“Now bonus levels are packed with
gifts
Power-up, extra life, it's hit and pick
Armored with
fireballs, be well prepared
But better yet, grab those bunny
ears
Fight against witches and dirty rats
And you can stomp the
other bosses when they attack
On and on the story unfolds
On
the search for those six pieces of gold ”
- Ambassadors of Funk, "Six Golden Coins"
Next time: We're going to the movies to see Mario and Luigi hit the big screen! No, not the new film from Illumination. Learn to trust the fungus as we cross the dimensional border for 1993's Super Mario Bros.!
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