The peaceful island chain of Sarasa Land is made up of the Birabuto desert kingdom, the Muda ocean kingdom, the Easton mountain kingdom and the Chai oriental kingdom. A mysterious alien named Tatanga appears and takes over Sarasa Land by hypnotising the inhabitants and kidnapping Princess Daisy. Mario finds out about the plight of Sarasa Land and sets off to defeat Tatanga and rescue Daisy.
Each kingdom of Sarasa Land is made up of three stages. As Mario, you have to run and jump through each stage and reach the goal door at the end. At the end of the third stage of each kingdom you have to defeat a boss.
Mario can collect power-ups to improve his abilities: The Super Mushroom, Starman and Coins return from earlier games. The Flower is similar to the Fire Flower, only the Super Balls that Mario shoots bounce around the screen and pick up Coins. The Heart replaces the 1-Up Mushroom (due to the colour limitations of the Game Boy). On stage 2-3 Mario rides the Marine Pop, a missile-shooting submarine. On the final stage 4-3 Mario rides the Sky Pop, a biplane.
At the end of the first and second stages in each kingdom, there are two Goal Doors. Go through the higher door to access a bonus stage where you can earn extra lives or power-ups.
