Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 2 is the name applied to two video games, both sequels to Super Mario Bros.. The Japanese game was a followup to the original and featured the same style of gameplay and level design as the original, and was released in the United States as part of the Super Mario All-Stars collection as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. The American game was a massive departure from the original's gameplay and style, and was eventually released in Japan as Super Mario Bros. USA.
The remainder of this article is concerned with the US game named Super Mario Bros. 2. For information about the Japanese game of the same name, see Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.
History
A game entitled Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in 1986 for the Famicom Disk System, the Japanese equivalent of the American NES. It featured the same gameplay and level design as the original Super Mario Bros., with the addition of poison mushrooms and a much higher difficulty level than the first game.
Due to the similarity in gameplay to the original, and its increased difficulty, this game was not brought to the US. It was later available in the Super Nintendo game collection Super Mario All-Stars, with redone 16-bit graphics.
Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA)
The American game called Super Mario Bros. 2 is the most unusual game in the Mario series. In this game Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach Toadstool, and Toad have to save Subcon from Wart (by fanon, cousin of Bowser) and his minions.
The reason that the American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 is so unusual is that it was made by making small changes to a Japanese game called "Doki Doki Panic: Yume Kôjô" (a loose translation is "Heart Thumping Panic: Dream Factory"). Although Doki Doki Panic was originally set in a storybook and had an "Arabian" theme completely unrelated to Mario, it was modified to use Mario sprites and music. With these small revisions, it was released to the U.S. market in 1988.
The American version of Super Mario Brothers 2 was eventually released in Japan for the Nintendo Family Computer under the name Super Mario Bros. USA. It was also released as part of the Super Mario Collection (U.S.: Super Mario All-Stars) in Japan.
Gameplay
The game is made up of 7 worlds, each of which contain 3 levels, except for world 7 which only has 2.
You choose from four characters each time you start or restart a level: Mario, Luigi, Princess, and Toad. Each has a special ability: Luigi can jump very high, Princess can remain temporarily suspended in the air, Toad can pick things up quickly and is very agile, and Mario is balanced.
Enemies like Birdos and Shy Guys are defeated by throwing vegetables and other items which the character plucks from the ground. Most enemies may also be picked up and thrown. Many enemies which first appeared in this game would reappear in later sequels and related games.
In each level, there are places where the player can pick up potions, which he can drop make a door appear. This door will lead to a left-right reversed non-scrolling section of the level with no enemies. If a door is created in the right place, there will be coins planted in the ground which the player can pick up, and sometimes a mushroom which will add another unit to his maximum health and re-fill his health.
At the end of each level, the player is presented with a slot machine-type game. He gets to try as many times as he has coins collected from the level he just completed, and depending on what combinations come up, he can get anywhere from 0 to 5 extra lives for each try.
Super Mario Bros. 2 received a graphical, audio, and gameplay upgrade under Super Mario All Stars (Super Mario Collection) on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and on the Super Famicom. On the NES version, the player can only continue twice. On the Super NES/Super Famicom version, a player can continue any number of times and can also save the game. As for that slot-machine type game, the icons are bigger on the Super NES/Super Famicom version. The player can get up to 10 extra lives on the Super NES version of Super Mario Bros 2, compared to getting up to 5 five extra lives on the NES/Famicom version. That is because the "7" symbol is an addition to Super NES/Famicom version. On the NES/Famicom version of Super Mario Bros 2, the player can select a character and must play as that character at the length of the level. On the Super NES/Super Famicom version, the player can select a character at the beginning of each level and after losing a life.
Super Mario Bros. 2 received a second enhanced remake as Super Mario Advance, the first Super Mario title for the Game Boy Advance. It included several graphic and sound enhancements in the form of enlarged sprites, multiple hit combos, and digital voice acting.
Impact on other games
While Super Mario Bros. 2 had the distinction of being "apart" from the main series in terms of gameplay, being set an alternate dream world, and being based off of a non-Mario game, it has so far made a continuous impact on the entire Super Mario Bros. series. Notable examples include:
- Bob-ombs have appeared in several other Mario games, starting with Super Mario Bros. 3.
- Super Mario World, featuring "Pokey" from Super Mario Bros 2. Other enemies from SMB2 that are found in Super Mario World include jumping "Ninji" (in Bowser's castle), the ladybug-like enemy "Hoopster" that is tethered to cable loops, and "Pidgit" (occurs as "Pidgit Bill" if the player completes the SPECIAL levels; the Pidgit Bill is a transformed version of Bullet Bill).
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: Despite being a "prequel" to the Mario series, it features multiple enemies from Super Mario Bros 2 such as the Shy Guys, with multiple variations.
- Yoshi's Story: Continued appearance of "Shy Guys" from Super Mario Bros 2.
- Super Mario 64: Pokey and other enemies from Super Mario Bros 2.
- Super Smash Bros. Melee -- in 2001 a section of Super Mario Bros 2 was turned into a 3-dimensional stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee. This was officially the first time that any part of the game had been made 3-D. (However the characters are still locked in 2-D motion.) The stage is initially locked, and you need a Birdo trophy to open it. It is called Mushroom Kingdom II, though it should properly be called Subcon, the Dream World's real name.
Originally, all enemies in Super Mario Bros 2 were intended to exist in the "Dream World," but later games have not explained if their appearance in the regular series is the result of these enemies migrating into the normal Mario world, or if they have always existed there beforehand. There has also been no further mention of the "Dream World" or its main boss, "Wart."
Trivia
- Super Mario Bros. 2 was featured on the cover of the very first issue of Nintendo Power Magazine.