8 games similar to Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins — handpicked for fans of Platformer games.
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins perfected the Game Boy platformer formula with its large, expressive sprites, non-linear world map, and a toybox variety of themed stages that kept every level feeling fresh. Fans of its tight controls, charming portable scale, and imaginative design will find plenty to love in these picks — games that nail that same blend of accessible platforming, surprising depth, and handheld personality.
Game Boy | 1989 The direct predecessor that started Mario’s handheld legacy, Super Mario Land trades the lush visuals of its sequel for a globe-trotting adventure through Egypt, China, and beyond. It’s a leaner, stranger game — complete with shoot-em-up bonus stages and a tiny aesthetic all its own — but the core jump-and-stomp satisfaction will feel instantly familiar. Playing both back to back shows just how dramatically Nintendo levelled up the formula.
Game Boy | 1994 Born directly from Super Mario Land 2’s antagonist, Wario Land flips the script by making you a greedy, unstoppable brawler rather than a nimble jumper. The treasure-hunting structure and emphasis on exploration over pure speed scratches the same non-linear itch as 6 Golden Coins while adding Wario’s unique shoulder-charge momentum. It is the most natural next game to play after finishing this one.
Game Boy / Game Boy Color | 1998 Wario Land II deepens the formula with invincibility-based puzzle platforming — Wario cannot die, but enemy effects transform him in ways you must exploit to progress. The branching story paths and hidden exits reward thorough exploration much like hunting all six golden coins does. Its cartoon confidence and mechanical creativity make it one of the finest Game Boy platformers ever made.
Game Boy | 1995 Kirby’s Dream Land 2 brings full copy ability mechanics to the handheld screen for the first time, pairing them with three animal friends that dramatically alter each power’s behavior. The colorful world map and bite-sized stages mirror Super Mario Land 2’s pacing almost exactly, and the Rainbow Drops collectible hunt gives completionists a satisfying long-term goal. Its gentle difficulty curve and surprising final challenge make it a perfect companion piece.
SNES | 1996 If you want a console counterpart that captures the same playful variety, Kirby Super Star delivers eight distinct game modes covering everything from action platforming to arena combat. The same sense of constant surprise — no two stages feel alike — that defines 6 Golden Coins runs through every mode here. It is the definitive showcase of Kirby’s charm and remains one of the most joyful platformers on any system.
SNES | 1994 Donkey Kong Country shares 6 Golden Coins’ knack for themed worlds that feel genuinely distinct, from stormy ship decks to freezing snowfields, each with their own mechanics and enemies. The buddy system adds a layer of strategy reminiscent of managing power-ups, and the hidden bonus rooms reward curious players who push beyond the obvious path. Its pre-rendered visuals were jaw-dropping in 1994 and the platforming holds up completely today.
SNES | 1995 Yoshi’s Island takes the same creative freedom that lets Super Mario Land 2 set stages inside a pumpkin or on the moon and pushes it to an extreme, conjuring a hand-drawn storybook world unlike anything else on the SNES. The egg-throwing mechanics and baby-carrying tension replace straightforward jumping with a more deliberate, puzzle-tinged rhythm. Hunting every red coin and flower in each stage scratches the same completionist drive that chasing golden coins inspires.
Game Boy | 1993 Link’s Awakening proves the Game Boy could host a full, emotionally resonant adventure, and its compact island of themed dungeons — a whale, an eagle, a turtle — echoes the zone-by-zone structure of 6 Golden Coins perfectly. The game shares Mario Land 2’s willingness to break the rules of its own universe, sneaking in platformer cameos and a genuinely surprising story. Any fan of what Nintendo could conjure on that tiny screen owes it to themselves to play this masterpiece.
All of these games share Super Mario Land 2’s core design philosophy: a world map that lets you choose your own path through a set of imaginatively themed zones, tight and responsive controls that reward practice without punishing newcomers, and a commitment to keeping every single stage feeling distinct from the last. Whether it is the treasure rooms of Wario Land, Kirby’s animal friends, or Donkey Kong Country’s mine cart stages, each game trusts variety and creativity over repetition.
There is also a shared sense of portable or compact scale — even the console entries on this list feel like they were designed for focused, satisfying sessions rather than sprawling open-world commitment. These are games built around the joy of movement and discovery, where the next screen always promises something you have not quite seen before. That quality, more than any specific mechanic, is what made Super Mario Land 2 a landmark and what makes every game on this list worth returning to.
| Feature | Platform | Year | Score | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Mario Land | GAME-BOY | 1989 | 8.4 | Platformer |
| Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 | GAME-BOY | 1994 | 8.8 | Platformer, Action |
| Wario Land 2 | GAME-BOY-COLOR | 1998 | 8.8 | Platformer |
| Kirby's Dream Land 2 | GAME-BOY | 1995 | 8.5 | Platformer |
| Donkey Kong Country | SNES | 1994 | 9.3 | Platformer |
| Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island | SNES | 1995 | 9.4 | Platformer, Action |
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The Game Boy launch title that proved Mario could thrive on handheld hardware. Super Mario Land takes Mario to four exotic kingdoms — Sarasaland — in a globe-trotting adventure to rescue Princess Daisy. Shorter and quirkier than console Mario games, it was an essential early showcase for the Game Boy.
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Wario's starring debut — a greedier, braver Mario that collects treasure instead of rescuing princesses. Wario Land established one of Nintendo's most creative and underappreciated franchises.
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The Game Boy sequel that established Wario as one of Nintendo's most inventive platformer protagonists. Wario Land 2's invulnerability mechanic — Wario can't die, but getting hurt transforms him in useful ways — and its multiple branching story paths through the same levels encouraged complete exploration and replay.
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HAL Laboratory's superb Game Boy sequel introduces the beloved animal friends Rick, Kine, and Coo — a hamster, fish, and owl — who transform Kirby's copy abilities into entirely new forms depending on which companion he rides. The game's clever mechanic depth and consistently inventive level design make it one of the most feature-rich platformers on Nintendo's portable hardware, rewarding thorough players who seek out the Rainbow Drops needed to unlock the true final boss.
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The graphical revolution that shocked the world. Donkey Kong Country's pre-rendered 3D graphics seemed impossible on SNES hardware, and the game underneath matched those visuals with excellent level design and music.
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A SNES technical masterpiece — Yoshi carries Baby Mario across 48 stages in a hand-drawn art style that pushed the SNES hardware with real-time sprite scaling and rotation that defined the series' visual identity.
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A deeply personal and surprisingly melancholic Zelda adventure that sees Link stranded on the mysterious Koholint Island. Link's Awakening transcends its Game Boy limitations with clever design, a memorable cast, and one of the most emotionally resonant endings in Nintendo history.
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Eight games in one cartridge, each with a distinct mode — Spring Breeze, Gourmet Race, Great Cave Offensive, Revenge of Meta Knight, Milky Way Wishes, and more. Kirby Super Star's unprecedented content breadth, polished co-op, and satisfying copy ability system made it the most complete game on the SNES at launch.