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Fun Club The curious case of "Tenbodai Course," the extra level in Super Mario Land 2

Mekanos

SUPER ASIA
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On the Mario Land 2 map there's an extra level on the map that Japanese guidebooks refer to as "Tenbōdai Course," aka "Lookout Course." You don't unlock anything to access it, it's just there. It's a straightforward autoscroller with Goombas, and when you complete it, you don't unlock anything either.



The commonly suggested reason for its existence is that it allows the player to grind for extra lives. But that seems odd with the casino right there as an option, and likely a less time consuming method for this. Is there more to this mysterious level? What secrets does it hold? Why does it have a Japanese name that's half English? Many questions abound.
 
I think it’s probably just as simple as them designing an extra course in the basic overworld theme and throwing it wherever on the map just so it could stay in the game. Maybe they were just too attached to Goomba Autoscroller Land.
 
I have no idea, but look at this game. It's gorgeous. Is this the most gorgeous black-and-white Game Boy game? The art in this game is so good.

On one hand, I want Nintendo to put a team on a remake a la Link's Awakening, but on the other hand, it looks good just as it is in 2022.
Have you played the unofficial DX version?




By the way, this afternoon I finished my Wario Land 1 playthrough and the black and white aesthetic was terrific.
 
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I have no idea, but look at this game. It's gorgeous. Is this the most gorgeous black-and-white Game Boy game? The art in this game is so good.

On one hand, I want Nintendo to put a team on a remake a la Link's Awakening, but on the other hand, it looks good just as it is in 2022.
the latter is also true of the original Links Awakening tbf

I seem to say this a lot, but the loss of these pixel art styles -- and further facilitated by their removal in remakes! -- is most unfortunate.

If nothing else, and I've said this about Link's Awakening in the past, I wish there would be a toggle so we can still keep that.

Link's Awakening should have had such a toggle.
 
I seem to say this a lot, but the loss of these pixel art styles -- and further facilitated by their removal in remakes! -- is most unfortunate.

If nothing else, and I've said this about Link's Awakening in the past, I wish there would be a toggle so we can still keep that.

Link's Awakening should have had such a toggle.
Like redrawing the entire game with HD 8 bit sprites? That would be way too laborious for Nintendo to bother with. Unless you mean just having the original game on it as a bonus.
 
Remakes and Originals
Like redrawing the entire game with HD 8 bit sprites? That would be way too laborious for Nintendo to bother with. Unless you mean just having the original game on it as a bonus.
Inclusion of the original game. Redrawing the whole thing doesn't do so much for that and thus circumvents the purpose.

With some of the changes that ended up being made (the fairy bottles, for instance), an actual toggle to switch between the versions might have been a bit more troublesome to implement, but I maintain the original and DX should have been included in some form.

the latter! you can say a lot of bad things about zero mission but it got this right

I certainly appreciate Zero Mission's inclusion of the original Metroid -- I have such a soft spot for that game, but I'd want it available regardless.

That's something I've mentioned for a hypothetical collection of mainline Metroid games pre-Dread: that the originals should also be included for those games which have received remakes. Not that I expect such a collection to be released.




Tenbōdai Course

As for the main topic, it seems plausible that this was an extra stage the developers put together -- whether simply because they could or because it fulfilled some purpose (perhaps testing or some such) -- and decided to keep in the final product, not necessarily for any particular reason; perhaps they simply wanted to sneak something in.

It's actually a concept I'm rather fond of, that of additional levels or -- especially -- sub-games, especially those which might go without being discovered for some time or by the majority of players though this instance is right in the open).
 
I love this game with all my heart, and even I have it on the 3DS, I have been holding without playing it for years just waiting the moment it eventually comes out on switch. That day I know I will be again a kid at Christmas with his fat game boy.
 
Very mixed feelings about this game - it looks great but the move to chunkier sprites means less of the course is visible, it always felt like it was mostly a memorization game, to know what obstacles are hidden off screen. This leaves me as one of the few people to prefer the first Mario Land.

This is a strange little level though, partially because it's just so boring. Usually when Nintendo introduces a simple idea like that you expect variations and escalating difficulty. But this is "two goomba, a block, two goombas, a block"
 
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It was always kinda interesting how that level was just... there.

One of these days I'll have to play the fan-made DX version of Super Mario Land 2. It's such a charming game.
 
Like redrawing the entire game with HD 8 bit sprites? That would be way too laborious for Nintendo to bother with. Unless you mean just having the original game on it as a bonus.
If Dragon Quest 11 can handle it, Nintendo can lol
 
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Been a long time since I played, but is that not the starting level? So it starts you off on "neutral ground" rather than directing you to one of the major worlds.
 
Been a long time since I played, but is that not the starting level? So it starts you off on "neutral ground" rather than directing you to one of the major worlds.
No, that's a different level. What you're talking about is the mushroom on the bottom-center of the map. This level is the red box highlighted.
 
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I have no idea, but look at this game. It's gorgeous. Is this the most gorgeous black-and-white Game Boy game? The art in this game is so good.

On one hand, I want Nintendo to put a team on a remake a la Link's Awakening, but on the other hand, it looks good just as it is in 2022.
It's beautiful, but I think Wario Land is a touch more beautiful.
 
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