Very good analysis! There's something about Mario Land 2 that I just really like. It was my first Game Boy game – my poor sister got a Gameboy that year too and was stuck with Mario Land 1 lol. The music (final space level, boss music, athletic theme, and Wario's castle), the sound effects (bunny ears, powering up, the witch cackling), the character designs (especially Wario who is rather large and sports two differently sized eyes), the little "W" emblem that flips around multiple times before going right side up before the end credits. The length is just perfect – I could start it and beat it on a long car trip (and did, many times!). Now that I'm a dad, I just completed it again on the Switch with my kids – we took turns until we beat it. As a graphic designer, I cannot get enough of the box art for all the Mario Land – and Wario Land games (especially the first 3). The composition, the colors, the iconic style of the characters. It makes me wish there would be an HD remaster of the first 3 games – not in 3D but 2D, complete with fluid hand-drawn animations and layered, painterly backgrounds – where the elements and characters look just like the box art. A man can dream, right? :) Thanks for your thoughtful take on this jewel of a game.
Very good analysis! There's something about Mario Land 2 that I just really like. It was my first Game Boy game – my poor sister got a Gameboy that year too and was stuck with Mario Land 1 lol. The music (final space level, boss music, athletic theme, and Wario's castle), the sound effects (bunny ears, powering up, the witch cackling), the character designs (especially Wario who is rather large and sports two differently sized eyes), the little "W" emblem that flips around multiple times before going right side up before the end credits. The length is just perfect – I could start it and beat it on a long car trip (and did, many times!). Now that I'm a dad, I just completed it again on the Switch with my kids – we took turns until we beat it. As a graphic designer, I cannot get enough of the box art for all the Mario Land – and Wario Land games (especially the first 3). The composition, the colors, the iconic style of the characters. It makes me wish there would be an HD remaster of the first 3 games – not in 3D but 2D, complete with fluid hand-drawn animations and layered, painterly backgrounds – where the elements and characters look just like the box art. A man can dream, right? :) Thanks for your thoughtful take on this jewel of a game.