Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
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| Super Mario Bros.:The Lost Levels (Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan) | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | |
| Designer(s) | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Composer(s) | |
| Platform(s) | Famicom Disk System Game Boy Advance Virtual Console |
| Release | Famicom Disk System JPN June 3, 1986Game Boy Advance JPN August 10, 2004 Virtual Console Also released worldwide as part of Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe   Was withdrawn from sale on the Virtual Console on 1 October 2007 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, known in Japan as Super Mario Bros. 2 (スーパーマリオブラザーズ2, Sūpā Mario Burazāzu 2), is a video game produced by Nintendo, first released in Japan on June 3, 1986 for the Famicom Disk System. The game is very similar to Super Mario Bros., both graphically and in terms of gameplay, and is generally considered the most difficult game in the NES leg of the series. Because of the game's difficulty and its similarity to the first Super Mario Bros., and because then-chairman of Nintendo of America, Howard Lincoln, personally disliked the game, Nintendo originally decided not to release it in the United States. Instead, they localized an original Japanese game, Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, replaced the characters with those of the Mario universe, and released it in the U.S. under the title Super Mario Bros. 2. This game was not released outside Japan until a remake was included in Super Mario All-Stars for the Super NES. Super Mario Bros. 2 was released for the Virtual Console in Japan on 1 May 2007, and in Europe and Australia on 14 September 2007. In both Europe and Australia, it was withdrawn from sale on 1 October 2007 and cost 600 Wii Points. It was released on the North American Virtual Console on October 1, 2007.
Gameplay
The game is far more difficult than the original Super Mario Bros., due to slightly modified gameplay mechanics and more difficult level design. Unlike the original, Super Mario Bros. 2 does not have a two-player mode. Instead, the player chooses to play either as Mario or as Luigi in the single-player. Also unlike the original, Mario and Luigi differ in abilities. Luigi can jump higher and farther, but Mario is a more agile runner and has better traction (allowing him to stop moving more easily). The game's storyline, on the other hand, remains virtually unchanged. In many aspects overall, the game is very similar to its predecessor. The sprites are mostly similar to those from the first game, but the backgrounds are generally somewhat more detailed. While the music and sound effects were entirely the same as those from the first game, the overall quality of the music and sound is better, owing to the FDS's improved sound capabilities (the first level music in particular features a more noticeable drum beat than in the first game).
The Mario Brothers' primary attack is simply jumping on top of their enemies, which kills the mushroom traitors, known as Goombas, and sends the turtle soldiers known as Koopa Troopas into their shells. Mario and Luigi can then kick these shells into other enemies, which will conveniently dispatch them; but conversely, kicked shells can bounce back off walls or other vertical obstructions and hit them. Some enemies can be killed only by fireballs or shell impact; stomping them will hurt the Mario Bros. Jumping on enough enemies in succession or kicking a shell into enough enemies in succession (combos) results in double points earned with each enemy killed, eventually earning Mario or Luigi a 1-up - an extra life - another chance to pass the level. Mario and Luigi can also obtain 1-ups through finding 1-up mushrooms and by collecting 100 coins.
As in the original, Mario and Luigi can obtain power-ups which give them special abilities: Super Mushrooms transform the brothers into Super Mario/Luigi, increasing their size, and giving them the capability to break certain bricks, and Fire Flowers transform them to Fire Mario/Luigi, adding the ability to throw fireballs. Mario can also collect a Starman and become invincible. Invincible Mario is impervious to the touch of enemy characters and most obstacles, although he will still die if he falls in a pit, falls into lava, or if time runs out.
Mario or Luigi can be hurt by touching an enemy. If he takes a hit from an enemy as Super Mario/Luigi or Fire Mario/Luigi, he simply reverts to regular Mario/Luigi and the game continues. However, if he takes a hit as regular Mario, he loses a life. A life is also lost by falling down a pit or into lava (regardless of status), or if the time clock runs out. The point where Mario restarts after losing a life depends on how far he progressed through the level before dying. If Mario passed an invisible "checkpoint" partway through the level, he starts there. Otherwise, he starts the level from the beginning. There are no checkpoints in castles or in world 8, the final world.
Level organization
The game consists of eight worlds with four levels in each world. Though each world is substantially different, there are basic similarities: typically the first sub-world is a generic above-ground (overworld) level, the second is in an underground dungeon on Worlds 1 and 5 or underwater on Worlds 3 and 6 (or in the overworld with a unique challenge), the third is a series of platforms suspended high in the sky, and the fourth is always a fortress or castle. The second and seventh worlds take place at night, and all other worlds take place during the day. At the end of each castle level, Mario fights "King Koopa" (who, until the final level, is actually a lesser enemy disguised as King Koopa) across a bridge over a pool of lava. In the later worlds (worlds 6, 7, and 8), King Koopa throws hammers as well as occasional jets of fire breath. King Koopa may be defeated in one of two ways: either by touching the ax at the edge of the bridge (thereby dropping King Koopa into the lava) or, as Fire Mario, throwing fireballs at him to defeat him directly, revealing what enemy is in disguise. At the end of each world save the last, Mario is greeted with the words, "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!", spoken by a Toad retainer, which became a popular quotation among gamers.
Players may get to the beginning of any world with a relatively small amount of effort by using hidden warp zones in a number of levels.
Secret worlds
The game also features a total of five secret worlds with four levels each. To access World 9 (or "Fantasy World" as it is also known in the original release), the player must complete every castle from Worlds 1-8 in the course of the game, though in the All-Stars version having entered one warp zone in the course of the game will also disqualify the player. The other four secret worlds are labeled A through D. To access these worlds, the player needs to finish the game eight times, then hold the A button and press Start on the controller at the title screen. A yellow star will appear on the title screen each time the game is beaten. (In the Super Mario All-Stars version, World A simply appears after World 9. If the player does not qualify for World 9, it appears after World 8.)
Enemies and obstacles
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels includes various new obstacles and enemies to make it more difficult and diverse, although there are not very many new ones, making it extremely similar to the original game. The new obstacles and enemies found throughout the game are:
- The Poison Mushrooms, which yield the same effect as being touched by an enemy.
- Backward warp zones which warp the player to a previous level. For example, World 3-1 has a warp zone that warps the player back to World 1. Backward warp zones still count as warp zones, thus not allowing the player to access World 9 if they have taken one.
- Strong green-colored jump trampolines which bounce Mario and Luigi much higher than normal red-colored jump pads.
- Red Piranha Plants which come out of their pipes even if the player is standing next to them. They still do not come out if the player is standing on top of them. They also come out of upside-down pipes even is the player is standing under them.
- Bloopers which float through the air.
- Strong gusts of wind which blow intermittently, and often must be used in order to make long jumps, but which make controlling movement more difficult.
- Bowser may be encountered twice in a castle, near the midpoint of the World 8-4 and World D-4. He appears darker than the normal King of the Koopas.
Rereleases and reissues
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario Bros. 2 first came to the United States in 1993 in its inclusion in the Super NES title Super Mario All-Stars. The name used in the American version was Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, while the Japanese version renamed it to Super Mario Bros. 2: For Super Players (the subtitle taken from the ribbon on the box).
Several changes were made to this version of the game. Worlds A through D are present, but not hidden. World 9 remains as well, and is still unlocked by beating Worlds 1 through 8 without warping. World 9 lacks the loading text of the original. Worlds A through C no longer have checkpoints in the middle of stages. When all lives are lost, the player can restart in the level he or she lost on; whereas in the original version, the player had to start at the beginning of the world. Also, the duplicate Bowser looks the same as the regular one, and Poison Mushrooms were altered in appearance to stand out more. Like the other games on the cartridge, the graphics and sound were upgraded to SNES standards. This version directly shares the same graphics as the version of the original Super Mario Bros. included in the All-Stars compilation. Worlds A through D now have the behavior of the Star Courses in the original Super Mario Bros (all Goombas are replaced with Buzzy Beetles, and all enemies move faster).
The box for the Super Mario All-Stars version was the Japanese box changed to read "Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels" in English, but close examination reveals Japanese text under the English text. In the Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World version, the Japanese text was removed and replaced with a message saying "Unreleased in Europe/the USA."
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was also released on the Game Boy Color as part of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, under the title of Super Mario Bros. For Super Players. Like the All-Stars version, the player could save the game and continue from the last level played (or any level completed up to that point), not just from the beginning of a world, like in the original. It was compatible with the Game Boy Printer. However, the game did not feature any upgraded visuals (aside from some graphics such as water and lava now being animated rather than static), and since the screen resolution of the Game Boy Color was smaller than the NES, the view distance of the player is reduced. In this version, the worlds are called the Extra Courses, and Worlds 9-D are not included (though they can be accessed with a GameShark).
Unlike the All-Stars version, which was mostly faithful to the gameplay of the original, this game was changed to play more like Super Mario Bros. The gameplay differences between Mario and Luigi were removed. The strong winds were removed, and jumps were shortened so that the player wasn't required to bounce off enemies to make them. Also, since the Game Boy has a smaller pixel area than the Famicom, the field of view in this version was somewhat smaller than that of the original.
The game differed from the original graphically as well. Instead of the updated graphics of the original, this version used the Super Mario Bros. graphics, with slight graphical and audio updates. The color of Bloopers out of water was different, and the Poison Mushrooms were changed to look like those in the All-Stars version, but were green instead of blue, which was the original color.
Changes in both versions
Neither of these re-released versions of the game are absolutely true to the original. Aside from the save feature and improved graphics, extra power-ups and 1-ups were peppered throughout the levels, and hidden power-ups were placed in plain sight.[citation needed]
Famicom Mini version
On August 10, 2004, the game was re-released as part of the Game Boy Advance Famicom Mini series. This version is an emulation of the original, and so all levels are present, including hidden levels, and the difficulty level has been untouched.
There are several minor changes familiar across the whole Famicom Mini range.
- The graphics have been compressed to fit on to the Game Boy Advance's lower-resolution display.
- Sound quality is not as high.
- A save feature has been added.
Virtual Console
The game has been available in Japan on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console since May 1st 2007 and was available in Europe and Australia from September 14 2007 until September 30 2007 and in North America on october 1, 2007. The version available is based on the original Famicom Disk System game (not the Super NES update included in Super Mario All-Stars) and costs the standard 500 Wii Points in Japan or 600 Wii Points in all other regions due to having never been released in the North American and European markets in its original form.
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