Super Mario Bros. 2

The Good
How do you follow up the best platformer ever made? Easy: just come up with an even more fantastic and colorful design! It’s next to impossible to execute this kind of plan successfully, but in the case of Super Mario Bros. 2 (SMB2), that is precisely what Nintendo did.

As with the first SMB, the soundtrack launches a major charm offensive right off the bat. The sound effects are terrific – every plucked vegetable registers a big, juicy “shploop!” – and the musical themes bounce along, going from happy-to-whimsical-to-Egyptian-to-frantic-to-happy whenever it’s appropriate.

But of course, the gameplay is what matters. This time around, there are four different playable characters, each with different attributes. The utility of the different characters in different situations (and on different levels) gives the game an RPG-like quality that wouldn’t show up again in a Mario game for many years. The greater freedom to move around and explore environments will also appeal to your inner roleplayer. While SMB2 is, in many ways, another “run-to-the-right” game, there are just enough occasions when you have a choice about how to proceed to make the game world more interesting than that of SMB1.

Lack of challenge was a damning charge in gaming circles back in the late 1980s, and some did point the finger at SMB2. This was not completely unwarranted; SMB2 really is a somewhat more forgiving game than its predecessor. (It took me years to beat SMB1 without cheating, but only months to beat SMB2.) Still, I would put SMB2’s low difficulty in the plus column. Gaming was still a rather cliquish and arcane pastime in the 80s; the emergence of more casual games like SMB2 went a long way towards mainstreaming the hobby.

Finally, the between-stage gambling segments were a clever innovation. They break up the pace and add some variety to the proceedings. They don’t seem purely luck-driven, either; proper timing leads to greater success, which leads to more in-game rewards (one-ups).

The Bad
There is only one real problem with SMB2: the lack of a password or save function. I don't care how forgiving a game is in its difficulty, if you can't turn off a game of this length and return to it later where you left off, it's a design flaw.

Aside from that, the most frequently cited "problem" with SMB2 turns out not to be a problem at all. Some cranky gamers simply cannot appreciate the fact that SMB2 is a departure from the first game in so many ways. They claim it is a not a true sequel, being too different in terms of gameplay mechanics and too easy to beat compared to the first. According to these nattering nabobs, Nintendo really dropped the ball on this title.

The popular explanation for all this – repeatedly endlessly by snobbish Japanophiles – is that Americans were too lazy and stupid for the “real” sequel released in Japan, which copied the design of the first SMB and upped the difficulty level. I couldn’t disagree more. Nintendo was extremely wise to expect that discriminating American consumers (even children!) would turn up their noses at more-of-the-same.

The result was SMB2—a breath of fresh air that helped keep home video gaming from getting stale and losing its post-crash momentum. And while it is certainly true that SMB2 is not as difficult as the first SMB, that really doesn’t make it any less fun to play. At any rate, the naysayers who don’t like SMB2 can simply skip it and go play the excellent Super Mario Bros. 3 instead.

The Bottom Line
With Super Mario Bros. 2, Nintendo’s designers broke the Big Rule: Don’t tamper with a perfect formula. And what did their audacity get them? Only the most surprisingly good sequel to a platformer ever made. If you like this kind of game and haven’t played it yet, you simply must do so.

The Good
There are two different versions of Super Mario Bros. 2 that exist. The version released in Japan looks and plays like its predecessor, and new mechanics were introduced. The one for American audiences, however, was actually based on Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic for the Famicom Disk System. Nintendo's headquarters in Japan said their own SMB2 would be too difficult for American consumers, so they ordered Nintendo of America to replace all four characters of a popular show on Fuji Television with characters from the Mario universe, and leave the rest intact.

The story is already explained in the game, so I won't go into it in detail here. Four characters that made their appearances in the first game find themselves in a strange land controlled by Wart, an evil being who has placed a spell on Subcon. It is up to Mario and the gang to defeat Wart and restore Subcon to its former glory. The characters have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and switching between them provide some variation to the game.

SMB2 introduces new gameplay mechanics that more or less get re-introduced into future games. Mario's ground-pounding attack is replaced with the ability to lift vegetables from the ground and use them to knock enemies off the screen; and during the course of the game, your character can ride magic carpets and other enemies. You can also enter Sub-space, a mirror image of what you see on screen before you enter, where you can lift plants up to get coins needed for a gambling game at the end of each stage. My favorite mechanic is throwing eggs back at Birdo after she spits them at you. (Later, it is even necessary to ride one of these eggs over a series of hazards.)

There are seven worlds that Mario and Co. must traverse through, and each of them is set in a specific location. Each of the locations brings about many challenges that you must deal with. World 4, for instance, is set in snowy areas, so your character needs to navigate icy surfaces., as well as getting onto a sprout of water from a whale that you can reach a platform. No matter which world it is, the scenery looks excellent. I like the waterfall in World 1, as well as the falling logs directly in front of it. A common occurrence in SMB2 are locked doors, but carrying a key causes an evil being called Phanto to hunt you down as long as you are carrying it.

The memorable soundtrack reflects the environment you're in, with a specific soundtrack used for indoor and outdoor areas. Every tune sounds much better than Doki Doki Panic thanks to the NES's own synthesizer. I was impressed by the short melody that plays in the caves, consisting of what sounds like drums. The sound is excellent as well, as they consist of PCM audio samples; most of them are new, while others are similar to the sound effects in the first game.

The replayability of the game is quite high. The stages can be replayed with different characters, but unless you are using an emulator that supports save states, this means restarting the game. Also, chapter seven presents several ways of reaching Wart, so it's worth playing the game again anyway. Multiple routes through the game was re-introduced in Super Mario World.

The Bad
Besides SMB2 being virtually a non-Mario game? I can't think of anything.

The Bottom Line
In conclusion, SMB2 is totally different to its predecessor. The real sequel wasn't released in America due to the high level of difficulty. What audiences got instead was a version of Doki Doki Panic, which is slightly modified so that it was suitable for American audiences. But back when it was released, people had no idea that the actual sequel was only released in Japan. Nevertheless, American SMB2 is great fun. The graphics and sound is excellent, and the use of multiple characters and routes throughout the game ensures that the game can be played more than once. If you want to play the actual sequel, you need to either use an emulator or hunt down a Famicon, along with the Disk System add-on.

The Good
This game has a bit of a history to it. Super Mario Bros. 2 was originally released as Doki Doki Panic in Japan. The original Super Mario Bros. 2 was only released in Japan and is internationally known as Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels. Nintendo back then thought that this game is too difficult for players in Europe and the US, so they changed Doki Doki Panic and turned it into a Mario game. Let's take a look to see if this still holds up like the Mario games.

This game actually has somewhat of story, if you can believe it. One day, our Italian plumber Mario had a strange dream, where he finds a door that transports him into a dreamworld called Subcon. In this world, the people of Subcon ask Mario for his help because they got cursed by a gigantic villainous frog known as Ward. Mario, of course the good guy that he is, decides to help the people of Subcon. Meanwhile, Luigi, Toad and princess Peach have a picnic and suddenly discover a cave that leads to the world of Subcon. The group decide to help the people and defeat Ward once and for all. I have to say, i am impressed that a Mario game has a story, although the story is just there. It's a Mario game, so what do you expect? So let's talk about the gameplay.

Super Mario Bros. 2 plays a lot differently from the first SMB. You still have the same controls like in the first game, but there are new mechanics in this game. You don't defeat enemies by jumping on them like in the first game. Instead, you can pick up enemies and throw them at other enemies, which is very useful for killing multiple enemies at the same time. Another thing is that if you hold down d-pad, the character blinks and he or she can jump higher.
Mario, Luigi, Toad and princess Peach have their own unique strengths. Mario is the allrounder in this team, but he doesn't have anything unique to him. Luigi can jump higher but his traction is really weak. Toad is the fastest one in the group and he can pick up vegetables and plants much faster. He is actually my favourite character in the game. Princess Peach is the slowest one in the group and i generally don't like playing with her, but she has the best ability. She can hover for a short period of time and it sometimes breaks the game because it takes away the challenge, but to me it wasn't really an issue.
There are other things you can collect. If you see a heart floating in the air, pick it up and get back your health. Yes, this game has a health bar. You can take hits up to four times if you collect the mushrooms in the bonus levels. These bonus levels are only accessible through a bottle which you can pick up from plants. The world turns black and the remaining plants turn into coins. These coins are used for the slot machine at the end of every level. Sometimes if you throw the bottle at the right place, you can discover a warp pipe which leads you to another world. Also there are doors in this game which lead to another area. Those doors are locked sometimes, so you have to search for a key to unlock them. If you have found the key, a mask will chase you until you use the key.
I like these new mechanics but there are a few problems which i address later.

The level design is much better than in the first game. Every world has its own theme, for example a desert world or an ice world. The characters and enemies are much more detailed and everything in the backgrounds moves, which makes the level design more fluid. The general look of this game is more appealing to me than the first game.

The soundtrack is just as catchy as in the first game. I really like the overworld theme, but not quite as much as the first game theme. The other tracks are good too, but very short.

The Bad
There are a few problems i have. If you hold down the b-button you can run, but the acceleration is a tiny bit too fast for me. If you aren't careful, you can fall down a pit.

Another problem is that most of the enemies you encounter don't do anything but walk or jump, which makes you think, why should i defeat those guys in the first place? Because of this, these are just boring and i wished they would at least attack you. Even the mask that follows you if you have a key is easy to dodge if you throw the key away.
The boss battles are the best thing when it comes to the enemies. There are different enemies, such as a mouse, who throws bombs at you, a three headed dragon who spits fire and Birdo, a transgender enemy who shoots eggs and later fireballs. Nintendo actually included a transgender in a Mario game. Birdo appears in a handful of Mario spin off games such as Mario Kart. The boss battle, as i said, is the best thing about the enemies but they are not very challenging either. Even the final boss, Ward, isn't really a challenge. He is pretty easy to beat because the machine which cursed the people of Subcon actually helps, which is really weird. An evil machine helps you in defeating his own master. Won't say no to that but still, what an odd machine.

The Bottom Line
Despite these problems it has, i still love this game. It's very different from the first game and it's a real breath of fresh air if you played it all these years later. If you are new to Mario games, you can play this to start with because it's not so challenging, unlike the first game, and you can get a feeling of what Mario games are about.

That's it folks, see you later.

The Good
A very good game, lots of sound, easy to beat. Good graphically and sounding. A good original and a good keeper.

The Bad
This game is a fake Mario game, as it is originally Doki Doki Panic in Japan, which is a totally different story and concept. The Japanese game is much harder, as you can not run and go through some of the loopholes there are in the American version. Every player has to beat the game, not just 4 beating it once.

Nintendo kept us in the dark about the fact that they released Super Mario 2 in 1986 when it was released as a Mario game. They kept it in Japan because it was too hard for us. I think it was a little too late when they compiled it in Super Mario All-Stars.

The Bottom Line
Its good, dont let my feelings towards Nintendo's Japan Vs. American marketing and their point of view that Japanese kids are smarter get in the way.

The Good
I liked virtually everything about Mario 2. I honestly could not have lusted for any NES game more than I ever did for Mario 2! Everything today is still so colorful, so wacky, so fun. The Land of Dreams is a very real place to me, and this game will always have an eternal place in my heart as being "that Mario game". The one that hooked me, converted me to Mario-ism, and made me a fan for life.

The Bad
This game has no flaws. None whatsoever. People who complain about how Doki Doki Panic had its graphics change, and therefore this isn't a real Mario game, need to get a life.

Mario is what Mario is. As far as I'm concerned, there are two Super Mario Brothers 2 video games, and I love this one even more than the other. :)

The Bottom Line
Brilliant.

Mind-blowingly brilliant. If you can't have fun playing this game, do yourself a favor and quit playing video games. How miserable it would be to always be waiting for that "one game" to arrive, the game that would be the most you've ever had, when really such incredible fun could only be found in a game as simple as this one is.