Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins[a] is a 1992 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It is the sequel to Super Mario Land. In Super Mario Land 2, the player assumes the role of the protagonist Mario, whose main objective is to reclaim his personal island, Mario Land, from the clutches of his greedy rival Wario. The gameplay builds and expands on that of its precursor with innovations carried over from Super Mario World.
Super Mario Land 2 received critical acclaim upon release and sold over 11 million copies, becoming one of the most successful and highest-rated titles on the Game Boy. Reviewers emphasized that the game surpassed its predecessor in all aspects. Super Mario Land 2 marks the debut appearance of Wario, who would become a prominent character in the Super Mario series as the antihero of several games, the first being this game's sequel Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. Super Mario Land 2 was re-released in 2011 as a downloadable title for the Nintendo 3DS, and the Nintendo Switch in 2023, as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service.
Plot
Super Mario Land 2 takes place immediately following the events of Super Mario Land.[1] While Mario was away in Sarasaland, a jealous childhood acquaintance named Wario puts an evil spell over Mario's private island, Mario Land. After several prior unsuccessful attempts, he finally takes over Mario's castle with the spell,[2] brainwashing its inhabitants into believing Wario is their master and Mario is their enemy.[3] Wario's motive behind this sudden attack is to steal Mario's castle out of a desire to have a palace of his own.
After traveling through Mario Land and collecting the six Golden Coins, Mario regains entry to his castle. Inside, Mario confronts and defeats Wario, who shrinks and flees, breaking his spell and causing Mario's castle to revert to its normal form.
Gameplay
In-game screenshot
The objective of Super Mario Land 2 is to reach the end of each level, defeating or avoiding enemies while doing so. The game retains several enemies from the Mario series, such as the Goomba and the Koopa Troopa, and also introduces several new enemies. Enemies can usually be defeated by jumping on their head, but also may need to be defeated by different means, such as by use of fireballs. Other established mechanics include Warp Pipes which allow the player to enter hidden areas or find shortcuts, coins, and? blocks which hide coins and items. Unlike in previous Mario games, coins are not accumulated to automatically grant extra lives; instead, they are used to play games in a special area that awards lives and other power-ups. To gain lives, instead, the player must find hearts like they did in the previous Game Boy entry. After killing 100 enemies, a star drifts down to provide a short period of invincibility when touched. The star can also be found in other places in the game. While Mario is invincible, the 5th and each subsequent enemy he defeats will provide one extra life.
While its predecessor was similar to the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Land 2 has more in common with Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World: there is an overworld map, the player is no longer restricted to moving only right in a stage, many stages contain higher and lower areas instead of entire stages all at a single level, and any stage (except for the introductory stage and "boss" levels) can be replayed multiple times.[4] At the end of a level, there is a door that must be touched to clear a level. In addition, there is also a bell high above the door which, if touched, activates a mini-game where the player can try to get either a power-up or 1-ups. The game saves the player's progress after beating a stage, being the first Mario game released on a portable system to have a save feature.
There are 32 levels in total, based in several different themed zones.[3] There are some secret levels that can only be accessed by finding alternative exits found in regular levels. Once a player clears or loses a life in these secret levels, they are returned to the level where the secret exit was found. Each zone has its own boss, which must be defeated to get one of the 6 Coins. If the player loses all of Mario's lives, all of the Coins Mario retrieved are returned to the bosses, which must be defeated again to retrieve the coins. From the beginning of the game, the player may choose to complete the zones in any order.
Super Mario Land 2 features three returning power-ups—the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman. The Super Mushroom increases Mario's size, the Fire Flower gives him the ability to shoot fireballs, and the Starman makes Mario invulnerable for a short time to anything besides pits. Both the Super Mushroom and the Fire Flower also allow Mario to do a spin jump like in Super Mario World. Due to the grayscale palette, Fire Mario is differentiated from Super Mario by having a feather in his cap, a feature not seen in any other Mario series game. Also unique to Super Mario Land 2 is the Magic Carrot power-up, which turns Mario into Bunny Mario.[5][6] Bunny Mario can jump higher, jump repeatedly by holding down the jump button, and descend slowly using his ears.
Upon collecting all Golden Coins, Mario's Palace is unlocked, where Mario must fight Wario in the castle throne room. To defeat Wario, Mario must jump on his head three times, a process that must subsequently be repeated in two additional rooms where Wario uses power-ups identical to Mario's.[2]
Release
In the United Kingdom, the game was released on November 28, 1992. Nintendo UK marketed it with a print ad and slogan that states: "Why did the Hedgehog cross the road? To get to Super Mario Land 2".[13]
Super Mario Land 2 DX: 6 Golden Coins
A Fan-made ROM hack of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins was released by toruzz in December 2017,[14] entitled Super Mario Land 2 DX: 6 Golden Coins, which removed lag and screen flickering issues present in the original game, as well as adding color and the ability to play as Luigi, who, much like he does in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, jumps higher than Mario at the cost of having worse traction than Mario.[15]
Re-release
The game was released for the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console service via the eShop; in 2011 on September 29 in North America and PAL regions, followed by Japan on October 12, and on June 1, 2016 in South Korea.[6] When Game Boy games were added to the Nintendo Switch Online service on February 8, 2023, the game was one of nine titles made available at launch.
