Wow. Super Mario Land 2 was already an impressive game, but this hack elevates the game to such incredible heights that the original game now pales in comparison.

The coloring job that toruzz did is stellar, and it’s clear that a lot of thought went into how to get the graphical elements in each stage to look right. Everything pops with a vibrancy that we have come to expect from a Mario title, and each area looks so much more alive than when everything was drenched in murky shades of pea-soup green. I also didn’t notice any visual latency, which is sometimes a problem with colorization hacks for Game Boy games.

Mario also gets fresh colors that come with the Fire Flower. One change that I thought was particularly clever was the removal of the feather in Mario’s cap, which originally served as a visual reminder to the player, but isn’t needed here, since the new colors now serve the same purpose.

The cherry on top is being able to play as Luigi, which is an absolute treat for a game that I’ve beaten numerous times. The fact that he comes with his own signature physics sweeten the deal even more, and it adds so much more replay value to a game that has made countless rounds for years.

Unless you’re feeling nostalgic and want to experience the monotone shades of the original, this hack’s features are so significant that this DX version easily replaces the base game in my collection. Definitely give this one a download.