Editing Super Mario Land (section)

== Gameplay ==
[[File:Sml2.png|thumb|Mario standing atop a platform]]
{{See also|Super Mario#Gameplay}}

As a side-scrolling platform game and the first in the ''Super Mario Land'' series,<ref name="IGN: building" /> ''Super Mario Land'' is similar in gameplay to the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' series.<ref name="IGN: Bad" /> As [[Mario]], the player advances to the end of the level by moving to the right and jumping across platforms to avoid enemies and pitfalls,<ref name="Nintendo Life: SMB" /> the screen only scrolls to the right, as the player advances, but will not scroll back to the left, and sections of a level that have passed off screen cannot be revisited. Mario travels to Sarasaland to save [[Princess Daisy]] from Tatanga, an evil spaceman.<ref name="Game Informer: 25 best GB p5" /> Two of the game's twelve levels are "forced-scrolling" ''[[Gradius]]''-style [[shooter game|shooters]] where Mario helms a submarine or airplane and fires projectiles towards oncoming enemies, destructible blocks and bosses.<ref name="IGN review" /> Levels end with a platforming challenge to reach an alternative exit located above the regular exit, the former leading to a [[bonus stage|bonus]] [[minigame]] styled after a [[Ghost Leg]] lottery that awards 1 to 3 [[Life (gaming)|extra lives]] or a Superball Flower power-up.<ref name="Eurogamer: retrospective" />

Unlike [[Mario (franchise)|the other ''Mario'' games]], which take place in the [[Mushroom Kingdom]], ''Super Mario Land'' is set in Sarasaland<ref name="IGN: imposter" /> and drawn in [[line art]].<ref name="IGN: building" /> Mario pursues Princess Daisy, in her debut, rather than the series standard [[damsel in distress]], [[Princess Peach]].<ref name="IGN review" /> When jumped on, [[Koopa Troopa|Koopa]] shells explode after a small delay, Mario throws bouncing balls rather than fireballs (referred to as "Superballs" in the manual),<ref name="Eurogamer: retrospective" /> 1-Up Mushroom power-ups are depicted as hearts, and the level-end flagpoles are replaced with a platforming challenge.<ref name="IGN: imposter" /> Compared to ''Super Mario Bros.'', which contains 32 levels subdivided into 8 "worlds" with 4 levels each, ''Super Mario Land'' is smaller, with 12 levels subdivided into 4 "worlds" with 3 levels each. There are five unique bosses, one at the end of each of the four worlds, and a fifth and final boss being Tatanga, who appears when the fourth boss is defeated. The first three bosses may be destroyed with projectiles, or the player may move past them to the exit without destroying them first; the last level has no regular exit, and the two bosses at the end of that level must be destroyed with projectiles to complete the level and the game. Some elements recur from the previous ''Mario'' games, such as blocks suspended in midair, moving platforms that must be used to traverse pitfalls, pipes that lead to other areas, collectible coins that grant an extra life when 100 are collected, and [[Goomba]] enemies.<ref name="IGN review" /> After the player has completed the game they may [[New Game Plus|play through again]] on a harder mode, in which the levels are the same apart from enemies being more numerous; if the player completes the harder mode, the game allows the player to start another play on any level in the game.