"Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins" (Game Boy)

Sequel to the million-selling hit, introducing an expanded set of stages each with their own set of puzzles and obstacles to solve and overcome. Instead of saving Daisy, Mario is set to have a showdown against the reign of Wario.

He's back! Back again! Mario's back! Tell a friend! ....okay, just don't report to the dance floor.

The sequel to the popular hit Super Mario Land comes with a twist and an increase in difficulty. Instead of Bowser, it's Mario's brand new nemesis: Wario! This can only end one way, so let's take a look:

Immediately, you see a large world map, similar to the console variant Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo. You're now free to explore but must defeat all—yes, ALL—stages on each world. Even more cryptic, some stages have secondary exits which enables you to access the world's hidden stages. Some aren't required but it helps you get that much closer in collecting the coins, while some include power-ups and the chance to stock on extra lives. Oh, and about the coins: you acquire them when defeating the bosses of that particular world. These coins are placed in Wario's castle that when collected, they open the front gate welcoming in your challenge against the evil Wario. Six coins means you must defeat six worlds and its provided stages. All that should keep you busy, huh?

Game controls are spot on. Nothing funky about that. Music? Very cool, and are tracks you'd hear in a typical platforming game. Graphics? Quite good and much better detailed compared to its predecessor; Mario, the level design and the enemies look nicely drawn out and animated. Whether you care for it or not: this game DOES NOT keep score. Some may feel this may help you better concentrate on beating the game, while some feel indifferent.

With six worlds, they are as follows: Turtle Zone, Mario Zone, Pumpkin Zone, Space Zone, Macro Zone, Tree Zone and "Hippo" which must be beaten to access Space Zone. When reaching the end of the level, you get a chance to ring a bell. Doing so brings you to a bonus game giving you a chance to win power-ups and extra lives (similar to the upper and bottom portals from Super Mario Land). When you access the exit without ringing the bell, you simply beat the level and move on to the next. Along with the worlds are little stops where you can challenge yourself and win more lives and more power-ups. In order to do so, they require coins—ones you've accumulated throughout the levels you played in the worlds. The highest game costs 999 coins, and it consists of a little slot machine containing from 1UP to 30UP. Along with the slots is a witch-like icon, and when landed on, you don't win any prize(s). Do your best to get the pattern down and timing, so you can land that prize you've been wanting. Another bonus game is a crane game similar to what you see at arcades where you can win stuffed animals. Another involves two mice and getting the electrical current to the prize to fall from the ceiling. The two mice are there to bite off the wires, blocking off the current's pattern; this game takes a few extra tries to try and get down, but it's not too difficult.

After getting all six coins, you can now enter in Wario's lair. This final stage, unless you're using a tool-assisted program, may take several tries before you finally defeat Wario. Even more difficult, there are no checkpoints, and not enough chances for power-ups—at least, not until near the end in your showdown against Wario. Go get 'em!

When you enter in the first room against Wario, you must attack him above the head 3 times. After doing so, he runs off into another room; Along the way you can get yourself a Bunny power-up for Bunny Mario. KEEP THIS POWER-UP! I'm serious because nothing gets in your way when you're above ground. I say that because, occasionally, Wario will stomp the ground making Mario unmovable for a few seconds which leaves you vulnerable to getting attacked. Stay above the ground while trying to attack Wario the same way you did in the first room, then he'll run off into the third and final room. This time, Wario is powered with both the Bunny AND the Fire Flower power-ups, making him dangerous as ever. Well, not really, just as long as you have the Bunny power-up, you'll be just fine. Defeat Wario, and peace has reigned supreme! Game ends with credits, with the infamous words "THANK YOU MARIO YOUR QUEST IS OVER".

The directors of this game are also the graphic designers. Amazing work, gentlemen!

With an added challenge, and being a million-selling hit, there's no question fellow handheld gamers ought to tackle their platforming skills on this game. I'm sure even the most experienced retro gamers will undergo a little struggle playing this game; that's how much difficulty there is. Only thing I feel is that this game frequently gets overshadowed by its predecessor, frankly because critics many find this game to be a re-hash of its Super Nintendo variant. Nevertheless, because it's easily overlooked, take a chance and test your skills with this game!

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

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