# Super Mario Land
**Super Mario Land** (スーパーマリオランド) is a 1989 side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the [Game Boy](https://www.edgepedia.org/game-boy), and the first Mario game made for a handheld console. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989, one of four launch titles for the Game Boy, and it was built not by [Shigeru Miyamoto](https://www.edgepedia.org/shigeru-miyamoto)'s team but by Nintendo's Research & Development 1 division under [Gunpei Yokoi](https://www.edgepedia.org/gunpei-yokoi), the inventor of the Game Boy itself.[1](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n02/dmg/mla/index.html) • [2](https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/why-super-mario-land-felt-different-from-the-other-games) • [3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Japan April 21, 1989; North America July 1989; Europe September 1990[1](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n02/dmg/mla/index.html) • [3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) |
| Developer | Nintendo R&D1, led by Gunpei Yokoi, rather than Miyamoto's console team[2](https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/why-super-mario-land-felt-different-from-the-other-games) • [3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) |
| Setting | Sarasaland, whose four kingdoms Mario crosses to rescue Princess Daisy from the alien Tatanga[4](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Game-Boy/Super-Mario-Land-275902.html) |
| Length | 12 levels in four worlds, about a third of the 32 levels in Super Mario Bros.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) • [5](https://www.kelleherbros.com/blog/2025/5/9/super-mario-land-review) |
| Distinctive feature | Two shooter-style vehicle stages using the Sky Pop aeroplane and Marine Pop submarine[4](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Game-Boy/Super-Mario-Land-275902.html) • [3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) |
| Music | Composed by Hip Tanaka; the star power-up theme is a rendition of Offenbach's Infernal Gallop[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) |
| Hardware constraints | Built for the Game Boy's Sharp LR35902 chip and 8 KB of RAM, with a 160×144 pixel monochrome screen[2](https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/why-super-mario-land-felt-different-from-the-other-games) • [6](https://as.com/meristation/noticias/una-de-las-sagas-mas-emblematicas-de-nintendo-nacio-gracias-a-las-limitaciones-del-hardware-de-game-boy-n/) |
| Sequels | Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) and Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (1994)[6](https://as.com/meristation/noticias/una-de-las-sagas-mas-emblematicas-de-nintendo-nacio-gracias-a-las-limitaciones-del-hardware-de-game-boy-n/) |
## Development and hardware
The game was made by a different team from the one behind the first three console Mario games. R&D1, the division that had designed the Game Boy hardware, built Mario from scratch within severe technical limitations, including the Sharp LR35902 system on a chip and just 8 KB of RAM.[2](https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/why-super-mario-land-felt-different-from-the-other-games) Gunpei Yokoi, who had created the [Game & Watch](https://www.edgepedia.org/game-and-watch) portables and the Game Boy, led the division; his design philosophy of using cheap, well-understood technology in new ways shaped the handheld itself.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml)
The Game Boy's 160×144 pixel screen forced a choice between large sprites with slow play or small sprites with a clear field of view. Super Mario Land chose small sprites, keeping the same on-screen proportions as Super Mario Bros. on the NES so that Mario had a comparable amount of ground ahead of him despite the tiny display.[6](https://as.com/meristation/noticias/una-de-las-sagas-mas-emblematicas-de-nintendo-nacio-gracias-a-las-limitaciones-del-hardware-de-game-boy-n/) • [3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) The result is a game in which the scenery scrolls quickly, the jumps are large, and the sprites are among the smallest used in any Game Boy platform game.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml)
## Gameplay and setting
Mario travels through the four kingdoms of Sarasaland, Birabuto, Muda, Easton, and Chai, to defeat the evil space monster Tatanga, who has hypnotized the people and kidnapped [Princess Daisy](https://www.edgepedia.org/princess-daisy).[4](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Game-Boy/Super-Mario-Land-275902.html) Unlike the Mushroom Kingdom settings of the console games, the four worlds have clear real-world analogs: Egypt, the [Bermuda Triangle](https://www.edgepedia.org/bermuda-triangle), Easter Island, and China, with mythological touches such as sphinxes and jiangshi-like enemies.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) • [2](https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/why-super-mario-land-felt-different-from-the-other-games)
The game is short: 12 levels against the 32 of Super Mario Bros., roughly a third of the content.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) • [5](https://www.kelleherbros.com/blog/2025/5/9/super-mario-land-review) This length set a template that many later Game Boy games followed.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) The screen scrolls only to the right, as in Super Mario Bros., and never up or down, which allows levels with distinct upper and lower passages on the same screen.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml)
**Vehicles and shooter stages.** Super Mario Land is unique among early Mario games for introducing vehicles Mario can ride: the Sky Pop aeroplane and the Marine Pop submarine.[4](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Game-Boy/Super-Mario-Land-275902.html) Two of the twelve levels are shooter stages in these vehicles, including the final level, which ends with a shmup-style boss fight.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) • [7](https://indiegamerchick.com/2025/01/04/marioland/)
The controls differ from the NES games: Mario's jumps are higher and shorter, giving a floaty feel, and his momentum is limited.[2](https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/why-super-mario-land-felt-different-from-the-other-games) • [3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) Reviewers have generally judged the game easier than Super Mario Bros., with generous checkpoints and extra lives.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml)
## Music
The soundtrack was composed by Hip Tanaka, Nintendo's veteran game music composer, writing a portable counterpart to [Koji Kondo](https://www.edgepedia.org/koji-kondo)'s Super Mario Bros. score.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) In a rare case of musical borrowing for the series, the star power-up music is a rendition of Offenbach's Infernal Gallop, the cancan; the Game Boy's limited palette could not reproduce the color-cycling effect of the NES Starman, which may explain the substitution.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml)
## Reception and legacy
At release, the game was received as a portable Super Mario Bros. derivative rather than judged against later franchise conventions.[3](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml) Later retrospective criticism has been mixed: some accounts regard it as an oddity beside mainline titles such as [Super Mario Bros. 3](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-mario-bros-3) and [Super Mario World](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-mario-world), and Eurogamer's Chris Schilling described it in his retrospective as an act of in-house rebellion, if not outright sabotage.[8](https://www.denofgeek.com/games/super-mario-land-underrated-classic/) Others emphasize its historical role as the first portable Mario game and a Game Boy launch title.[9](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gameboy/585933-super-mario-land/reviews/173289) Despite the game's oddities, many players still rate it as their favorite Mario game.[2](https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/why-super-mario-land-felt-different-from-the-other-games)
The game spawned a subseries. [Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-mario-land-2-6-golden-coins) followed in 1992, introducing Wario as an antagonist, and [Wario Land](https://www.edgepedia.org/wario-land): Super Mario Land 3 in 1994 turned that character into the lead of his own series; after 1994 there was no new portable 2D Mario title until [New Super Mario Bros.](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-super-mario-bros) in 2006.[6](https://as.com/meristation/noticias/una-de-las-sagas-mas-emblematicas-de-nintendo-nacio-gracias-a-las-limitaciones-del-hardware-de-game-boy-n/) Princess Daisy, introduced here, went on to appear in the main Mario games.[2](https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/why-super-mario-land-felt-different-from-the-other-games)
## References
1. [スーパーマリオランド, Nintendo official site](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n02/dmg/mla/index.html)
2. [Why Super Mario Land felt different from the other games, Creative Bloq](https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/why-super-mario-land-felt-different-from-the-other-games)
3. [Super Mario Land, Game Boy Essentials](https://gameboyessentials.com/articles/dmg-ml)
4. [Super Mario Land, Nintendo UK](https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Game-Boy/Super-Mario-Land-275902.html)
5. [Super Mario Land review, Kelleher Bros.](https://www.kelleherbros.com/blog/2025/5/9/super-mario-land-review)
6. [Una de las sagas más emblemáticas de Nintendo nació gracias a las limitaciones del hardware de Game Boy, MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/noticias/una-de-las-sagas-mas-emblematicas-de-nintendo-nacio-gracias-a-las-limitaciones-del-hardware-de-game-boy-n/)
7. [Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land DX, Indie Gamer Chick](https://indiegamerchick.com/2025/01/04/marioland/)
8. [Super Mario Land: The Brilliance of an Underrated Classic, Den of Geek](https://www.denofgeek.com/games/super-mario-land-underrated-classic/)
9. [Super Mario Land Review, GameFAQs](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gameboy/585933-super-mario-land/reviews/173289)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Video games and digital play › Games and gameplay › Individual game titles › Individual Nintendo-platform game titles › NES and SNES titles*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license