Super Mario Land

Super Mario Land
North American box art
Developer(s)	Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Satoru Okada
Producer(s)	Gunpei Yokoi
Designer(s)	Hirofumi Matsuoka
Programmer(s)	Takahiro Harada Masao Yamamoto
Artist(s)	Hirofumi Matsuoka Masahiko Mashimo
Composer(s)	Hirokazu Tanaka
Series	Super Mario
Platform(s)	Game Boy
Release	JP: April 21, 1989 NA: July 31, 1989 EU: September 28, 1990 AU: November 21, 1990
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

The Super Mario Land^[a] is a 1989 platform game developed by Nintendo R&D1, the same team that designed the Game Boy. It was published by Nintendo as one of the first four games released for the console. It is the first handheld entry in the Super Mario series and the first mainline title not designed by series creator Shigeru Miyamoto. Modeled after Super Mario Bros. (1985), the game adapts side-scrolling gameplay for the Game Boy's smaller screen, with players guiding Mario through 12 levels to rescue Princess Daisy—in her debut appearance—from the alien Tatanga in the new setting of Sarasaland.

Nintendo developed Super Mario Land under the direction of Game Boy creators Gunpei Yokoi and Satoru Okada, intending it to be the system’s pack-in game. However, during development, Tetris captured their attention, and they recognized its potential for a handheld platform. Henk Rogers, who held the rights to the game, convinced Nintendo of America that Tetris would appeal to a broader audience than Mario. As a result, Tetris was bundled with the Game Boy instead.

Super Mario Land is notable for its distinctive sound effects, minimalist line-art visuals, inconsistent use of familiar Mario elements, and the inclusion of shooting stages inspired by titles such as Gradius. Despite its short length, critics praised the game for successfully adapting the Mario formula to portable hardware.

The game launched alongside the Game Boy, first in Japan in April 1989, followed by North America later that year, and Europe in 1990. It sold over 25 million copies worldwide, making it the fourth best-selling game on the console, and played a key role in the Game Boy’s commercial success. It was later re-released via the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011 and on Nintendo Switch Online in 2024.

The game received two sequels: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) and Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (1994), the latter of which launched the Wario Land sub-series. Super Mario Land has been widely recognized as one of the most influential Game Boy titles and introduced Princess Daisy as a recurring character in the franchise.
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