New Super Mario Land

The “Anonymous” Christmas Gift

Released in November 2019 to celebrate the Game Boy’s 30th anniversary, New Super Mario Land is a technical marvel that runs on actual Super Nintendo hardware. Developed in secret by an anonymous coder and initially distributed on just 30 physical cartridges as a Christmas gift to friends, the ROM was eventually dumped online. It completely reimagines the Game Boy classic with the visual style of New Super Mario Bros. (DS/Wii) while adding features never thought possible on the SNES.

Key Features

• 4-Player Co-Op: The standout feature is the inclusion of simultaneous 4-player multiplayer (via Multitap). Friends can play as Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi, bringing the chaos of New Super Mario Bros. Wii to a 16-bit console.
• Pre-Rendered Visuals: The game uses a unique art style that converts 3D models into 2D sprites, effectively “demaking” the modern “New” aesthetic to work within the SNES’s color and memory limits.
• Modern Physics (v1.5): Unlike the stiff Game Boy original, this remake adds wall jumping, ground pounding, and tighter air control. The v1.5 update specifically polished the physics to feel less “slippery” than the initial release.
• Restored Content: All 12 levels from the original Game Boy game are faithfully recreated, including the scrolling shooter stages (Marine Pop and Sky Pop), now enhanced with Mode 7-style rotation effects.

External Resources

• Internet Archive (Download v1.5)
• Nintendo Life Interview (Developer Story)