By Drew Wilson
This review takes a look at one of the many Super Mario Games released in the legendary Super Mario franchise. It’s called Super Mario Land 2 – Six Golden Coins. This particular game was released on the Game Boy.
Super Mario Land 2 – Six Golden Coins was released in 1992.
The game revolves, as usual, around Super Mario. However, unlike many other Super Mario games which features a fight between Mario and Bowser, this game pits Mario against Wario.
The player must go throughout the land and collect six golden coins from six different worlds. This includes a world featuring a giant tree, a world featuring a Halloween pumpkin and a world that forces Mario to go into outer space.
One particular twist that I found intriguing about this game is that, unlike other versions of Super Mario Brothers where collecting 100 coins means you get a free life, this game allows you to collect up to 999 coins. You can take the coins you’ve accumulated as you go through each level and cash them in at the area under a giant grass hill. Cashing in these coins allows you to have the chance to win prizes that can prove helpful to the rest of your quest. The more coins you cash in in a single time, the bigger the prizes can be. At one point, I was able to collect 50 free lives for cashing in 999 coins.
One positive I can give to this game is that there is more than one way to beat some of the worlds. The tree level, for instance, allows you to take two different paths to the main boss. In other levels specifically, there is more than one path you can take to reach the goal. This greatly increases the replay value of this game because you can choose to have a different experience as you play through the levels.
The mini-games are also an interesting feature. If you ring the bell at the end of each level, you can play a mini-game that can rely on chance to allow you to get certain prizes ranging from a mushroom to three free lives depending on what end level game you get.
The graphics are quite well done in this game. Even though it is all more or less grey scale, the shading throughout the game is well done enough to allow you to easily get past the lack of colours in the game. The details are also very nicely done considering how much screen space is permitted in these kinds of games.
The audio is also a major plus in this game. In spite of the limitations of a game boy, some of the music can be very enjoyable. One example of this is that, in spite of the sometimes frustrating aspects of the second level in the space world, the music is really well sequenced. The sound effects employed throughout the game are also nicely done.
Overall, this is a game that is quite worth playing at least once. In fact, if this is the first game you have ever played on the game boy, you are off to a very good start.
Update: This game is the 1992 game of the year.
Overall
Furthest point in game: Beaten the whole game.
General gameplay: 22/25
Replay value: 9/10
Graphics: 10/10
Audio: 5/5
Overall rating: 92%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85
