Today, Nintendo releases another trio of games, all technically Mario games, on their Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy app. Let’s have a look at them!
Here’s what I thought of each of these games:
Game Boy App
| Game | Genre | # of Players | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alleyway | Arcade Brick Breaker | 1 | C |
tl;drThis is a respectable but largely unspectacular Arcade Brick Breaker | |||
| Baseball | Sports (Baseball) | 1-2 Competitive (Local Wireless / Online) | C- |
tl;drThe original Game Boy version of Baseball is a slow-paced version of the sport, but a functional one. It’s not without its charms, but this is far from a great version of the sport. | |||
| Super Mario Land | Platformer / Shmup | 1 | B |
tl;drIt’s much shorter than a typical Mario game, and the physics are a bit “off”. Yet it still has a lot of charm, a memorable world, a great soundtrack, and wonderful level design. Plus it has the odd distinction of being a Mario game with Shmup levels. It’s far from the best Mario game, but it’s a classic nonetheless. | |||
I previously reviewed all three of these games last year on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, and apart from this release allowing players to participate in the games’ multiplayer mode online, not much has changed
The star here is naturally Super Mario Land, and it’s honestly odd that it took this long for us to get the game. This is far from Mario’s best adventure – in fact, as far as mainline Platformers in the series go, this game ranks among Mario’s worst thanks to odd physics and an extremely short length. However, even a Mario Platformer at his worst is still a must-play Platformer (at least, if we stick to those developed by Nintendo).
For the other two games, Alleyway is perfectly fine but bland and not especially interesting for an Arcade-style Brick Breaker, and baseball works but there are so many better options for Baseball games on Nintendo Switch. Each has their appeal, but neither comes close to what Super Mario Land has to offer.
tl;dr – The Game Boy app gets three more games featuring Mario this month. Super Mario Land is clearly the star here, despite the game’s issues. The other two games have some enjoyment to offer, but compared to similar games on Nintendo Switch they’re somewhat bland and pointless. Still, at least Super Mario Land makes this a decent month for the service.
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