The gameplay builds and expands on that of its precursor with innovations carried over from Super Mario World.

Super Mario Land 2 received critical acclaim upon release and sold over 11 million copies, becoming one of the most successful and highest-rated titles on the Game Boy.

The objective of Super Mario Land 2 is to reach the end of each level, defeating or avoiding enemies while doing so.

Other established mechanics include Warp Pipes which allow the player to enter hidden areas or find shortcuts, coins, and ?

To gain lives, instead, the player must find hearts like they did in the previous Game Boy entry.

After 100 enemies are defeated, a star drifts down to provide a short period of invincibility when touched.

In addition, there is also a bell high above the door which, if touched, activates a mini-game where the player can try to get either a power-up or 1-ups.

Hosokawa initially came onto the project as "assistant character designer" before ultimately becoming "half a director" alongside Kiyotake.

[8] Development for Super Mario Land 2 began in November 1991, lasting about a year and ending in September 1992.

The game's antagonist, Wario, was designed by Kiyotake, who described the character as "the Bluto to Mario's Popeye".

The name "Wario" is a play on "Mario" and the Japanese word warui, which literally means "bad".

Additionally, the creation of Wario is said to have been representative of R&D1's attitude towards having to work on Super Mario Land at the time of development.

Apparently, the R&D1 team had little creative passion for the Super Mario series, which was originally created by Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD) team led by Shigeru Miyamoto, who was busy working on Wave Race and Super Mario Kart; thus, Wario was created by R&D1 out of the disdain they felt towards having to work on a game starring a character that they didn't create.

Nintendo UK marketed it with a print ad and slogan that states: "Why did the Hedgehog cross the road?

[13] The game was released for the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console service via the eShop; in 2011 on September 29 in North America and PAL regions, followed by Japan on October 12, and on June 1, 2016, in South Korea.

[15] Before it became available for the Nintendo 3DS, GamesRadar listed Super Mario Land 2 as one of the titles that they want on the 3DS Virtual Console.

In the comic, Mario's childhood playmate Wario invites him over to his castle to "catch up on things".