Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan) is a video game produced by Nintendo. The game is the second sequel to Nintendo's Super Mario Bros.. The first sequel, Super Mario Bros. Special, was developed by Hudson Soft and only released on the obscure NEC PC88 Japanese PC. The Lost Levels were 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. It is generally considered the most difficult game in the NES Super Mario series.

Changes

Title screen for the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2

The game is far more difficult than the original Super Mario Bros. due to a slightly modified game engine and more difficult levels. 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. Unlike the original, Luigi can jump higher and farther, but Mario is a more agile runner and stops moving more easily.

The game includes various new obstacles to make the game more difficult. The new obstacles 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
*Super-strong jump pads which bounce Mario and Luigi much higher than normal jump pads
*Red Piranha Plants which come out of their pipes regardless of whether the player is standing next to 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 is seen twice, near the midpoint of the World 8-4 and World D-4. His appearance is a bit darker than the normal King of the Koopas. His appearance is the same in the All-Stars version.
*A minor change is the actual ending. There is even a new remix of Princess Peach's theme. This change is only in the original.

Warp zone in level 5-2 of Super Mario Bros. 2

The game also features a total of five secret worlds with four levels each. World 9 (or "Fantasy World" as it is also known in the original release) can be accessed by completing the game without using any warp zones. 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.

The game's storyline remains virtually unchanged. In many aspects, the game is very similar to its predecessor.

Rereleases and reissues

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels title screen, on the Super NES

Super Mario All-Stars

The Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 first came to the United States in 1993 in its inclusion in the SNES title Super Mario All-Stars. The name used in the English 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. Level 9 remains as well, and is still unlocked by beating levels 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 you lose all your lives, you can restart in the level you lost on; whereas in the original version, you 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. However, unlike the original FDS version, this version directly shares the same graphics as the version of the original Super Mario Bros. included in the game.

The box for the Super Mario All-Stars version was mocked up. It was changed to look like an English video game box, but if you look very closely under the English text, you will easily see Japanese text under it. In the "Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World" version, the Japanese text was whited out and replaced with a stamped on 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 his or her game and continue from the last level they were on (or any level beaten up to that point), not just from the beginning of a world, like in the original. In this version, the worlds are called the Extra Courses, and it did not include World 9 and A-D.

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. Worlds 9 and A-D were not included in this version. 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.

Changes in both versions

Neither of these rereleased 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. Red Piranha Plants, which would originally come out even if Mario or Luigi were next to or on the edge of the pipe, would not emerge if the player was standing on the center of the pipe.

Famicom Mini version

Scan of: Super Mario Bros. 2 Japan (GBA)

On August 10, 2004, the game was re-released as part of the Game Boy Advance Famicom Mini series. This version is almost a direct port of the original. All the levels are present, including the hidden ones. While a save feature is again available, the difficulty level has not been altered. While this game is exclusive to Japan, the text once again is entirely in English, with the exception of the error screen for loading a save. It can also be played on a GBA from anywhere in the world, unlike the original, which could only be played using the Famicom Disk System.

However, this version does have some differences from the original. The graphics are noticeably compressed, and the sound quality isn't as good.

This game is extremely hard to find nowadays. Due to its rarity, there are very few sites that sell this game. When this game is sold, it can reach as high as $100.

Trivia

* In the place of the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, Nintendo remade the Japanese game Doki Doki Panic into what US fans know as Super Mario Bros. 2. This remake would later be released in Japan under the name Super Mario USA.