is a

platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

released by

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

in arcades in 1990. It runs on the Namco System 2 hardware. The game was published for the

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

in 1991, with the European version renamed ''Talmit's Adventure''. The game shares its name with the fictitious kingdom where the 1986 Japan-only

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

game '' Valkyrie no Bōken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu'' takes place, but has no connections with it otherwise. Likewise the game has no connections with

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

or any of their associated characters either. In December 2022, the arcade version of ''Marvel Land'' was re-released exclusively in Japan on the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

and the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

on the ''

Arcade Archives is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s developed and published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called focuses on re-releasing Neo Geo titles in their original arcade format, unlike many s ...

'' lineup of digital arcade titles. It was originally planned for worldwide release at one point but was ultimately cancelled due to licensing issues with

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

(who then copyrighted the

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

brand in 2009) and

Hamster Corporation is a Japanese video game publisher, with office located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The game division of Toshiba-EMI Limited spun off Hamster Corporation in November 1999. On the Japanese PlayStation Store, more than 360 titles are distribut ...

Gameplay

In ''Marvel Land'', the player must take control of Prince Paco (Talmit in English), who is on a quest to save Princess Luxie (Wondra in English) from the evil Mole King (Japanese: 魔王モウル; ''Maō Mōru''); the gameplay is similar to that of

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

's ''

Super Mario Bros. is a 1985 Platformer, platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series. It was origi ...

''. Power-ups make it easier for Paco to defeat enemies and collect various items to increase his score; these include dragon wings which allow Paco to jump higher and fly (to a certain extent), shoes that can allow him to walk faster for a while, and a clone powerup which allows him to whip multiple copies of himself at enemies in a line. Each of the game's four worlds take place in an amusement park (which is the eponymous "Marvel Land"), and most areas are set outside with various obstacles that must be overcome; other areas include a ride on a

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

, and even a walk through a

funhouse A funhouse or fun house is an attraction found in amusement parks and funfair midways, equipped with various devices designed to surprise, challenge, or amuse visitors. Unlike thrill rides or dark rides, fun houses are participatory attractio ...

. At the end of the regular outside levels, Paco must jump through a huge target to earn between 100 and 7650 (Namco's

goroawase In Japanese, numeric substitution is a common form of by which numbers are substituted for homophonous words and phrases. Numeric substitution may be done as wordplay, but it is more commonly used to produce abbreviations and mnemonic devices. R ...

number) extra points; the remaining time will also then be added to the score. The game's enemies are an army of moles known as "Mogles", along with a wide range of other creatures. A

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

must also be fought at the end of the last area of all four worlds; they are unique in that they are played more like a

minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...

(

rock paper scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors (also known by #Names, several other names and word orders) is an Intransitive game, intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstret ...

for Worlds 1 and 4, and

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport in which two teams compete by pulling on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal of bringing the rope a certain distance in one direction against ...

for Worlds 2 and 3). After Paco defeats a boss, he rescues a

fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

(Luxie after he defeats the Mole King) and is treated to a bonus stage, where he must catch falling stars for points in a float

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

at night. Some rides featured in the various levels, along with the bonus stage parade floats, contain several of Namco's earlier characters, such as ''

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

'' (1980), Pooka from ''

Dig Dug is a maze arcade video game released by Namco in 1982. It was distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player digs underground tunnels to attack enemies in each level, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them underneath rock ...

'' (1982), Solvalou from ''

Xevious is a 1983 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It was released in Japan by Namco and in North America by Atari, Inc. Controlling the Solvalou starship, the player attacks Xevious forces befor ...

'' (1982), ''

Mappy is a 1983 platform video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It runs on Namco's '' Super Pac-Man'' hardware modified to support horizontal scrolling. The name "Mappy" is likely derived from , a slightly pejorative Japanese sl ...

'' (1983), ''

Grobda is a 1984 multidirectional shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. It is a spin-off from ''Xevious'', as the player's tank first appeared in that game as an enemy. It runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware but with a video syste ...

'' (1984), Gilgamesh and Ki from ''

Tower of Druaga is a 1984 action role-playing maze game, maze video game developed and published by Namco for Arcade video game, arcades. Controlling the golden-armored knight Gilgamesh, the player is tasked with scaling 60 floors of the titular tower in a ...

'' (1984), Paccet from ''

Baraduke renamed ''Alien Sector'' in some regions, is a run and gun video game released for arcades by Namco in 1985. A home version was published for the X68000. Gameplay The player takes control of a spacewoman in a biohazard suit. Player 1 is Kissy ...

'' (1985), Valkyrie of ''

Valkyrie no Bōken is a video game developed and published by Namco. It was released in Japan for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Family Computer on August 1, 1986. It was also released for the Virtual Console of multiple Nintendo consoles, for the Wii on Marc ...

'' (

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

, 1986), ''

Wonder Momo is a 1987 beat 'em up arcade game that was developed and published by Namco exclusively in Japan. It was ported to the PC-Engine in 1989, with both versions of the game later ported to the Wii Virtual Console, and ported to Nintendo Switch and P ...

'' (1987), Amul (in "one-headed" form) from ''

Dragon Spirit is a 1987 vertical-scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco. In North America, it was distributed by Atari Games. Controlling the dragon Amur, the player must complete each of the game's nine areas to rescue the princess A ...

'' (1987) and '' Beraboh Man'' (1988). The pink-and-silver female robot who appears at the start of each world, (受付小町; ''Uketsuke Komachi''), also appears in the

Namco System 12 The is a 32-bit arcade system board developed jointly by Namco and Sony Computer Entertainment. Released in 1994, the System 11 is based on a prototype of the PlayStation, Sony's first home video game console, using a 512 KB operating system ...

-era '' World Stadium'' games as the Nikotama Gals' catcher and in the ''

Namco Museum is a series of video game compilations developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for home video game consoles. The first title in the series, ''Namco Museum Vol. 1'', was released for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation in 1995. En ...

'' series at the information desk.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Marvel Land'' on their March 15, 1990 issue as being the eighth most-successful table arcade game of the year.

Legacy

Marvel Land reappears as the setting of one of the chapters of the 2015

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

game, ''

Project X Zone 2 ''Project X Zone 2'' is a crossover tactical role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft for the Nintendo 3DS and Bandai Namco Entertainment. Despite the game being the sequel to ''Project X Zone'', the plot is a homage to the events of ...

''. The game's party ends up visiting the park due to the park's name being confused with Marvel Land from ''Valkyrie no Bōken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu''. The game also showed up as an occasional Video Challenge on the early-1990s

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

game show ''

Nick Arcade ''Nick Arcade'' (also stylized ''Nickelodeon Arcade'') is an American game show, children's game show created by James Bethea and Karim Miteff and hosted by Phil Moore (actor), Phil Moore, with Andrea Lively announcing, that aired on Nickelodeo ...

''.

References

External links

* {{KLOV game, id=8633 1990 video games Arcade Archives games Arcade video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Namco arcade games Sega Genesis games Tose (company) games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Yoshiki Nishimura Video games set in amusement parks Virtual Console games