 Super Mario Land was developed by Nintendo R & D1 and published by Nintendo in 1989 as a launch title for their Game Boy handheld console . Nintendo CEO Hiroshi <unk> believed that fun games sold consoles , so when the company created the Game Boy handheld console , he wanted a fun game that would feature Nintendo 's mascot , Mario , and subsequently sell consoles . The job fell to Nintendo R & D1 , a development team led by Game Boy inventor <unk> Yokoi . Yokoi had previously created the Game & Watch series and worked with his protégé , Shigeru Miyamoto , on the game that invented Mario , <unk> Kong . Super Mario Land was the fourth Super Mario title , the first portable Mario game , and the first in the series to be made without Miyamoto . 
