 = Super Mario Land = 
 
 Super Mario Land is a 1989 side @-@ scrolling platform video game , the first in the Super Mario Land series , developed and published by Nintendo as a launch title for their Game Boy handheld game console . In gameplay similar to that of the 1985 Super Mario Bros. , but <unk> for the smaller device 's screen , the player advances Mario to the end of 12 levels by moving to the right and jumping across platforms to avoid enemies and pitfalls . Unlike other Mario games , Super Mario Land is set in Sarasaland , a new environment depicted in line art , and Mario pursues Princess Daisy . The game introduces two <unk> @-@ style shooter levels . 
 At Nintendo CEO Hiroshi <unk> 's request , Game Boy creator <unk> Yokoi 's Nintendo R & D1 developed a Mario game to sell the new console . It was the first portable version of Mario and the first to be made without Mario creator and Yokoi protégé Shigeru Miyamoto . Accordingly , the development team shrunk Mario gameplay elements for the device and used some elements <unk> from the series . Super Mario Land was expected to showcase the console until Nintendo of America <unk> Tetris with new Game Boys . The game launched alongside the Game Boy first in Japan ( April 1989 ) and later worldwide . Super Mario Land was later <unk> for the Nintendo 3DS via Virtual <unk> in 2011 again as a launch title , which featured some tweaks to the game 's presentation . 
 Initial reviews were laudatory . Reviewers were satisfied with the smaller Super Mario Bros. , but noted its short length . They considered it among the best of the Game Boy launch titles . The handheld console became an immediate success and Super Mario Land ultimately sold over 18 million copies , more than that of Super Mario Bros. 3 . Both contemporaneous and retrospective reviewers praised the game 's soundtrack . Later reviews were critical of the compromises made in development and noted Super Mario Land 's <unk> from series norms . The game <unk> a series of sequels , including the 1992 Super Mario Land 2 : 6 Golden Coins , 1994 Wario Land : Super Mario Land 3 , and 2011 Super Mario 3D Land , though many of the original 's mechanics were not revisited . The game was included in several top Game Boy game lists and debuted Princess Daisy as a recurring Mario series character . 
 
 = = Gameplay = = 
 
 As a side @-@ scrolling platform game and the first in the Super Mario Land series , Super Mario Land is similar in gameplay to its forebears : as Mario , the player advances to the end of the level by moving to the right and jumping across platforms to avoid enemies and pitfalls . In Super Mario Land , Mario travels to Sarasaland to save Princess Daisy from <unk> , an evil <unk> . Two of the game 's twelve levels are " forced @-@ scrolling " <unk> @-@ style <unk> where Mario <unk> a submarine or airplane and fires projectiles towards oncoming enemies and bosses . Levels end with a <unk> challenge to reach an alternative exit located above the regular exit . The former leads to a bonus minigame that awards extra lives . 
 Unlike other Mario games , which take place in the Mushroom Kingdom , Super Mario Land is set in Sarasaland and drawn in line art . Mario pursues Princess Daisy , in her debut , rather than the series standard damsel in distress , Princess Peach . Koopa shells explode rather than slide , Mario throws bouncing balls rather than fireballs , 1 @-@ Up Mushroom power @-@ ups are depicted as hearts , and the level @-@ end <unk> are replaced with a <unk> challenge . Some elements recur from previous Mario games , such as blocks suspended in <unk> , pipes that lead to other areas , and <unk> enemies . 
 
 = = Development = = 
 
 Super Mario Land was developed by Nintendo R & D1 and published by Nintendo in 1989 as a launch title for their Game Boy handheld console . Nintendo CEO Hiroshi <unk> believed that fun games sold consoles , so when the company created the Game Boy handheld console , he wanted a fun game that would feature Nintendo 's mascot , Mario , and subsequently sell consoles . The job fell to Nintendo R & D1 , a development team led by Game Boy inventor <unk> Yokoi . Yokoi had previously created the Game & Watch series and worked with his protégé , Shigeru Miyamoto , on the game that invented Mario , <unk> Kong . Super Mario Land was the fourth Super Mario title , the first portable Mario game , and the first in the series to be made without Miyamoto . 
 <unk> Miyamoto 's direction , the development team used elements new and inconsistent with the series as Super Mario Land shrunk elements of the series to fit the portable device 's small screen . Yokoi , the head of R & D1 , served as producer , and <unk> <unk> served as director . They had previously developed <unk> ( 1986 ) and Kid Icarus ( 1986 ) together , and the two subsequently designed the Game Boy — Yokoi on its industrial design , and <unk> on its engineering . Their Super Mario Land was planned as the portable console 's showcase title until <unk> Rogers brought Tetris to Nintendo of America and convinced <unk> <unk> that the addictive computer game would help Nintendo reach the largest audience . The company subsequently chose to bundle Tetris with every Game Boy purchase . 
 The Game Boy was released in Japan in April 1989 , North America in July , and Europe in September 1990 , and Super Mario Land was a launch title . The game 's official first released was on April 21 , 1989 , in Japan , and its North American release followed in August . About 22 years later , Super Mario Land was released for the Nintendo 3DS via Virtual <unk> on June 6 , 2011 , as one of its opening titles . Its added features include an increased size ( about 60 percent <unk> ) and an optional " shades of green " color palette to match the effect of the original Game Boy 's monochrome . 
 
 = = Reception = = 
 
 Critics saw Super Mario Land as a " smaller " and shorter version of Super Mario Bros. IGN 's Lucas Thomas wrote that the protagonist , enemies , and overall game were shorter , and noted that Mario himself was just 12 <unk> in height on the Game Boy 's small screen . With this in mind , Thomas was concerned about player " <unk> " in <unk> of the game . Still , IGN 's Levi Buchanan thought the game made no compromises in its size reduction . At the time of its release in 1989 , reviewers were excited to have a portable Mario game . Paul Rand of Computer and Video Games called the game " an arcade machine in your pocket " and the graphics " remarkable " for their size . French games magazine Player One felt that Super Mario Land adequately compromised where necessary to bring Mario to a portable device . Electronic Gaming Monthly 's Steve Harris considered the game " fantastic " and " very fun to play " , albeit short . Ed <unk> and Donn <unk> of the same outlet both declared Super Mario Land " easily the best Game Boy cart " of the time . Complex 's Gus Turner wrote that the graphics were " simple " , and Official Nintendo Magazine said the game was " ridiculously short " . Eurogamer reported that the game could be finished in under an hour . 
 Complex 's Gus Turner wrote that the game had the fun , <unk> , and difficulty associated with the series , and Tony <unk> of <unk> said the game proved that Nintendo 's Game Boy " had <unk> to match " its competitors . Matt <unk> of Mean Machines agreed : " <unk> to the <unk> degree ! " British magazines Mean Machines and The Games Machine both commented on the game 's number of secrets to find . Eurogamer 's Chris Schilling called <unk> Tanaka 's soundtrack " surely one of the all @-@ time greats " , and Official Nintendo Magazine said it was among the " greatest <unk> music ever composed " . Player One , Eurogamer , and Complex too complimented the music . Player One further pronounced Super Mario Land a " masterpiece " , " the pinnacle of portable video gaming " . 
 Following the Game Boy 's " overnight success " , Super Mario Land sold over 18 million copies — more than that of Super Mario Bros. 3 . 
 
 = = Legacy = = 
 
 The game <unk> a Super Mario Land series of portable Mario games . Super Mario Land 2 : 6 Golden Coins added a non @-@ linear overworld and introduced Wario , an evil version of Mario , as the game 's villain . The subsequent Wario Land : Super Mario Land 3 began the Wario franchise . After 19 years , the 2011 title Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS became Mario 's first game in stereoscopic 3D . <unk> Drake of IGN argued that both Wario Land and Super Mario 3D Land were not " legitimate sequels " , and wrote that the latter felt more like " Super Mario Bros. 3 with Mario Galaxy influences " than a successor to Super Mario Land 2 . 
 Super Mario Land is remembered for its <unk> Super Mario elements and " twist on just about every Mario mainstay <unk> " . Many of its new elements did not recur later in the series , making Super Mario Land strange compared to the rest of the series , or what IGN 's Thomas described as a " singular <unk> " . IGN 's Marc Nix felt <unk> that Super Mario Land was the only <unk> Mario game , with " <unk> <unk> of white " and <unk> instead of the " strikingly original " Mushroom Kingdom . Mean Machines was also put off by the alien theme , easy difficulty , and dot matrix screen blur . IGN 's Travis <unk> wrote that the game was comparatively not as " ambitious " as Super Mario Bros. 3 . Mean Machines felt as if it was not " a true Mario game " , not worth its originally high review score , and " in <unk> , not really a classic " . 
 Eurogamer 's Schilling wrote that Mario felt different — lighter , with more friction — and that the game felt " radical and distinctive " for the risks it took . IGN 's Thomas cited " out of place " gameplay elements like the shooter levels , exploding Koopa shells , non @-@ <unk> fireballs , and non @-@ Princess Peach plot as departures from the series . Thomas attributed this to Mario creator Miyamoto 's lack of involvement in the game 's development , which he described as " famously hands @-@ off " . Schilling of Eurogamer instead blamed the Game Boy 's technical limitations . But he too was <unk> by the new sphinx , <unk> , and <unk> head enemies , and considered the exploding Koopa shells a " cruel trick " <unk> of the series ' core gameplay . Super Mario Land 's shooter levels , new to the series , were not revisited in subsequent series games . And subsequent series games such as Super Mario Land 2 both dropped the original 's tiny scale and chose the classic fire flower fireballs over the first installment 's bouncing balls . 
 The game was included in multiple rankings of top Game Boy games , and Official Nintendo Magazine listed it at 73 in its top 100 Nintendo games . After her debut in Super Mario Land , Princess Daisy <unk> as Luigi 's girlfriend and appears in later Mario series sports and racing games . 
 
 