PixlBit

Oh yes man, Mario Land 2 is my jam! I'm so glad I gave it chance when it was brand new. I felt like I had discovered something truly great on the Game Boy.

@SanAndreas: Good story-- though not for you at the time, I'm sure. That makes total sense that a miscommunication like that would occur. I can imagine how heartbroken you probably were upon finding out that you could have had the Game Boy with you the whole time. I'm sure it didn't help that adult military personnel were having a great time on their Game Boys...you know...for scientific purposes of course.

@Matt Snee: Agreed. I remember not buying into Sega's attacking the Game Boy's lack of color next to the Game Gear. Plus, when my brother finally got the GG, it required more batteries than the GB and drained them super quickly. Definitely needed a power adapter for the GG, which defeated the purpose of it being portable.

I think we were all amazed on some level at the notion of being able to play a Mario adventure on the go. I still prefer this over Sonic the Hedgehog on the Game Gear.

Yes, that musical score for this game is great! I can forgive Super Mario Land for not quite being the Mario game I expected back in the day since Super Mario Land 2 came as a result of it and was much better in every way.

Stage Select
1. Feena (Grandia 1)- Much like Tifa in FF7, Feena is a super capable partly member that could hold her own in a fight. She had that awesome whip and flame magic abilities. While she did eventually become the love interest of Justin (the protagonist), the relationship felt more natural because it develops over the course of the game instead of being established immediately.

2. Prince Harry (Dragon Quest V)- He was a great character because, when you first meet him as a child, he's a spoiled brat that treats the hero like crap. But after spending roughly 10 years as a slave together, he softens up and becomes one of your greatest allies in the game. I had never played an RPG where the annoying character actually learns a life lesson and changes for the better because of it. DQ V was such a great recent new experience for me.

3. Sylvando (Dragon Quest XI)- He's fierce. He's fabulous. He's one of the most capable swordsmen I've seen in an RPG. I love how well his character was written. Sylvando really stole the show for me, in the best way possible. 

Cage Match
As Exrian noted, the Super Mario Bros. can bust Tetris blocks all day, every day. They're Nintendo's flagship duo. And without Nintendo, Tetris wouldn't be here in the ring at all. BUT WAIT, what's this?!....Tetris tags in a buddy from the early PlayStation years- it's the Intelligent Qube blocks!!

Mario and Luigi- being the original NES version of themselves- are no match for rolling blocks in a 3D space. The IQ blocks steamroll over the Super Mario Brothers, tagging Tetris back in for the finishing blow. It's a bloodbath, ladies & gentlemen! The biggest upset in history!

Wow, I didn't know Big Lots sold PC equipment. That's pretty rad.

I wnet back and forth a while before scoring it. The truth is that it does things well enough to be playable and I understadn why so many enjoy this game. I saw merit in giving it 3 stars. I tried not to be too mean with my thoughts on the game. I really don't think it's that great.

Yeah, I felt bad writing this review because other players and reviewers really love this game. But it just didn't connect with me that way I had hoped.

However, I would love to try Shinobi World. I also heard that was the best one.

Yeah, He definitely looks like Son Goku, despite the US box art making him look like a normal blond kid.

Also, I believe that story about Nintendo being the only console that could side scrolling well back then is true. That's why Commander Keen on the PC was a big deal in 1990 becuase John Carmack of id Software figured out a way to implement smooth side scrolling on the PC platform. They actually made a PC version of the first area in Super Mario 3 and showed it to Nintendo in hopes that they would allow the game to be ported to personal computers.

Of course, Nintendo said "no" and id Soft decided to take the concept and turn it into Commander Keen, which also gave birith to other side-scrollers from the publishers Apogee Software.