Super Mario Bros. 2
This article is about the version of Super Mario Bros. 2 released outside of Japan. For information on the Japanese game with the same name, see Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.Super Mario Bros. 2 is the third official
sequel to
Super Mario Bros., and the first to be released to on the
NES outside of
Japan, and was released in
North America in October 1988 and in
Europe in 1989.
Super Mario Bros. 2 is a remake of
Doki Doki Panic, a Japan-only Famicom Disk System game.
Nintendo licensed Mario to
Hudson Soft, who developed the first official sequel to SMB, the wholly obscure
Super Mario Bros. Special and only released on the NEC PC88 Japanese PC. Nintendo then developed their own sequel to
Super Mario Bros. and released it in Japan as Super Mario Bros. 2. The Japanese SMB2 was released in America and Europe in
Super Mario All-Stars as
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and later in the
Game Boy Color Super Mario Bros. remake. Nintendo decided that this game was too difficult and chose not to release the game in North America and Europe. They instead remade
Doki Doki Panic as a Mario title. This game was later released as
Super Mario USA in Japan in 1992.
It was succeeded by
Super Mario Bros. 3.
Players choose from four characters each time they start or restart a level:
Mario,
Luigi,
Princess Peach, and
Toad. Each has a special ability: Luigi can jump very high, Princess Peach can remain temporarily suspended in the air (levitate), Toad can pick up things quickly and is very agile, and Mario is balanced. In future Mario games in which multiple characters were playable, Mario would always be the most balanced character. A unique ability in this game is the "power squat", by holding Down on the control pad for a few seconds, players could build power for higher jumps.
Most enemies are defeated by throwing vegetables and other items which the character plucks from the ground. Unlike other Mario games, simply jumping on enemies does not accomplish anything. In fact jumping on an enemy may do more harm than good. Most enemies may also be picked up and thrown. Many enemies which first appeared in this game (such as
Shy Guys) would reappear in later sequels and related games. This is the first time that Princess Peach appears as a playable character.
This is the first Mario game to make use of a life meter, which initially has two segments but can be extended to four through the collection of special items. (In
Super Mario Advance, the limit was upped to five.) This allows Mario and his friends to be hit more than two times before dying.
Many power-ups and items from the original game make appearances here, often serving similar fuctions in slightly different ways. For example, mushroom collected add segments to the life meter, and coins are used to play a slot machine minigame at the ends of levels that grants the player up to five extra lives at a time based on different combinations of symbols. (Later ports of the game increased this number.)
New power-ups and items also appear in this game. Potions, which are pulled up from the ground like vegetables, can be dropped to make a door appear. This door leads to a non-scrolling, enemy-free, un-lit "mirror-image" version of the current screen in which any remaining vegetables are replaced by coins when uprooted. In addition, if the door is created in the specific areas within a level, the player will discover mushrooms. Some jars (this game's equivalent to the original's pipes) also become "warp zones" in the negative plane, allowing the player to skip to another world. For each coin collected while in these "door levels," the player will get a chance at the bonus slot machine at the end of each level. These areas are referred to as Sub-Space in the first issue of
Nintendo Power. There are no fire flowers or feathers to transform into fire Princess Peach, Toad, Luigi, or Mario. (Princess Peach in the cartoon transforms occasionally into Fire Princess Peach.)
Another aspect that differentiates this game from other contemporary Mario games is the fact that there is no time limit within the stages. In addition to this, players are allowed to back track. The frame will move left and right to follow the player. In other games, once the player had passed an object he or she could not return to it.
At the end of each level, the player is presented with a slot machine-type game, in which the player is given one chance for each coin collected. Like a real slot machine, depending on what symbols come up, the player can get anywhere from 0 to 5 extra lives for each try. (More extra lives could be gained from the game in the SNES and GBA remakes.)
The plot for
Super Mario Bros. 2, according to the game's manual:
One evening, Mario had a strange dream. He dreamt of a long, long stairway leading up to a door. As soon as the door opened, he was confronted with a world he had never seen before, spreading out as far as his eyes could see. When he strained his ears to listen, he heard a faint voice saying "Welcome to 'Subcon', the land of dreams. We have been cursed by Wart and we are completely under his evil spell. We have been awaiting your arrival. Please defeat Wart and return Subcon to its natural state. The curse Wart has put on you in the real world will not have any effect upon you here. Remember, Wart hates vegetables. Please help us!"At the same time this was heard, a bolt of lightning flashed before Mario's eyes. Stunned, Mario lost his footing and tumbled upside down. He awoke with a start to find himself sitting up in his bed. To clear his head, Mario talked to Luigi, Toad and the Princess about the strange dream he had. They decide to go to a nearby mountain for a picnic. After arriving at the picnic area and looking at the scenery, they see a small cave nearby. When they enter this cave, to their great surprise, there's a stairway leading up, up and up. It is exactly like the one Mario saw in his dream. They all walk together up the stairs and at the top, find a door just like the one in Mario's dream. When Mario and his friends, in fear, open the door, to their surprise, the world that he saw in his dream spreads out before them!In the end, Mario and his friends trounce Wart and open a
secret room containing one of Subcon's characteristic
vases. After pulling a stubborn cork from the mouth of the vase, eight red
fairies spring out. The four heroes are lauded for defeating Wart, whose beaten body is passed over the crowd and tossed aside. Immediately after, the screen shows Mario snoring, indicating that the entire adventure had been a dream. However, it is possible that it was a dream with more reality than normal, and that if Wart had not been defeated, Mario would have been plagued with nightmares.
Setting
The game takes place in a new setting, "Subcon" (derived from Freud's 'subconsious'). This land is inhabited by many denizens that have since become regulars in the Mario series, such as
Shy Guys and
Snifits. This game also introduces many game-exclusive bosses, such as
Tryclyde,
Mouser, and most notably
Wart. The land apparently (in the game) takes its name from the pixie like inhabitants of this land (also called "Subcon") which have been captured by Wart.
Despite being a new, supposedly unrelated land from a game not initially intended to be a
Mario game, Subcon is not all that unlike the
Mushroom Kingdom. Instead of brick castles and giant mushrooms, however, Subcon is characterized by palm trees and red-and-white vases dotting the landscape. Though it lacks any underwater stages,
Super Mario Bros. 2 introduces other concepts to the series â€" like
desert stages complete with
quicksand and ice stages. Level 3-1 is notable for taking place against an enormous
waterfall which the heroes must ascend.
Super Mario Bros. 2 consists of seven "worlds," each one containing three stages except for the last, which only has two.
Levels progress in a linear fashion, but for the first time Mario can backtrack â€" in the original
Super Mario Bros, the screen scrolled only to the right, but in
Super Mario Bros. 2, the screen can scroll both right and left, as well as vertically from one screen to another â€" thus, many levels have sequences involving climbing or descending long distances, and the final level in particular is a large and mazelike fortress, in contrast to the linear Castles in
Super Mario Bros.
This land has never made an appearance since Super Mario Bros. 2, but several enemies appear in other games, such as
Birdos and
Pidgits. The last reference to Subcon was the
Super Smash Bros. Melee stage Mushroom Kingdom II.
There are four playable characters in the game, each with a score of 1-5 stars for speed, jump and power.
*
Mario - Mario is the balanced character, and is thus the most user friendly of the four characters. All three stats (jump, speed and power) are at four stars.
*
Luigi - Luigi has the best jump of the lot, with a five in that category, while his speed and power are only a three.
*
Toad - Both Toad's speed and power are higher than anyone's, with a five in both categories. However, he is the worst jumper of the four, with only a two in that category.
*
Princess - The Princess does not excel in strength or power, with a two for both, while her jump is only a three. However, she has the ability to float in the air for a couple of seconds, making her jumping skills superior for horizontal jumps.
The Lost Levels was released in
1986 for the
Famicom Disk System, a Japan-only disk-based add-on for the Famicom (a.k.a
NES), under the name
Super Mario Bros. 2. It featured the same gameplay and similar level design as the original
Super Mario Bros., with the addition of
poison mushrooms and a much higher difficulty level (through trickier jumps, timing challenges, tougher obstacles, etc.) than the first game.
Due to the similarity in gameplay to the original and its tremendously increased difficulty, this game was not brought to the West. It was later available, with improved 16-bit graphics, in the
Super Nintendo game collection
Super Mario All-Stars. In
1999, when
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe was released on the Game Boy Color, the now-dubbed "Lost Levels" were an unlockable extra (after obtaining 300,000 points in the original 1985 version).
The American/European game called
Super Mario Bros. 2 is the most unique game in the Mario series. In this game,
Mario,
Luigi,
Princess Toadstool, and
Toad have to save Subcon, the land of dreams, from
Wart and his minions. Other changes include Birdo actually being a male in the original version of this game.
The reason that the American/European version of
Super Mario Bros. 2 is so unusual is that it was created by making small changes to a Japanese game called
Doki Doki Panic: Yume KÅjÅ, a loose translation is "Heart Thumping Panic: Dream Factory". Various Nintendo of America employees personally despised the original Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, which they found to be frustratingly difficult. Knowing such a game would likely sell poorly in the United States, they wanted to release a different sequel they thought would be friendlier to American audiences. 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. (As such, it is sometimes said that the game is not really a 'proper' Mario game at all.) With these small revisions, it was released to the U.S. market in
1988 and made the cover of the very first issue of
Nintendo Power magazine.
The American/European version of
Super Mario Bros. 2 was eventually released in Japan for the
Nintendo Family Computer under the name
Super Mario USA. It was also released as part of the
Super Mario Collection (in the U.S.,
Super Mario All-Stars) in Japan.
Differences between Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2
|
A screenshot from Doki Doki Panic. |
|
Equivalent scene in Super Mario Bros. 2. |
|
Equivalent scene in Super Mario All-Stars |
Most of the other differences between
Doki Doki Panic and
Super Mario Bros. 2 are small graphical changes, such as animation being added to the
POW blocks,
cherries, and
vegetables for the localized version, mushrooms replacing hearts as health boosters, and the characters shrinking when reduced to only one unit of health. The save feature was also taken out of the NES version of
Super Mario Bros. 2, due to the limitations of the NES system compared to the Famicom Disk System. (Battery-backup was also very expensive during those days.) But it was restored in the
Super Mario Collection/
Super Mario All-Stars version of
Super Mario Bros. 2.
Other changes include:
* In
Doki Doki Panic, one must beat the entire game once with each character (four times, that is) to view the ending.
* In the manual that comes with the original
NES cartridge for
Super Mario Bros. 2, Phanto (the head that chases the player's character around when he or she has a key) looks a little different. Nintendo inadvertently placed a screenshot of its appearance in
Doki Doki Panic.
* Furthermore, Phanto begins its pursuit only after the character leaves Phanto's chamber, unlike
Super Mario Bros. 2, in which it chases the character once the character retrieves the key from the chamber.
* Waterfalls, especially the enormous one in level 3-1, move much more quickly in
Doki Doki Panic.
* Extra lives were originally representations of the character's face;
1-Up mushrooms are a feature specific to the
Mario series. The traditional "1-UP sound" was originally the short tune played when you pick up a crystal ball or earn an extra life playing the slot machine.
* The large hawk head at level entrances and exits was originally a large African tribal mask.
* The mushroom blocks were originally small African tribal masks.
*The character select and overworld music is much shorter in
Doki Doki Panic.
Super Mario Bros. 2 has a new section added to where the music would originally loop.
*In
Super Mario Bros. 2, the underworld music has an added drum sample.
* Invincibility and sub-space music is different, and there are some minor differences in other songs (the
Doki Doki Panic songs give an Arabian feel).
*Most sounds featured in
Super Mario Bros. 2 use the NES' synthesizer, and a number of PCM audio samples, rather than the Famicom Disk System's synthesizer, which is used prominently in
Doki Doki Panic. The changed audio includes the sound effects for picking up and throwing objects, grabbing hearts, receiving damage, defeating enemies, bombs exploding, the ticking of the stop watch, damaging a boss, Catherine (
Birdo) shooting eggs, and the rocket.
* The potions (for entering sub-space) were originally Arabian lamps.
|
Papa fighting the third version of Mouser. |
* In
Doki Doki Panic, the boss of level 5-3 is not the rock throwing crab
Clawgrip, as it is in
Super Mario Bros. 2, but a third
Mouser.
* The
Albatoss's animation has seven frames, in comparison to the two in
Doki Doki Panic.
* Holding down "B" to run is a feature specific to the Mario series.
* When a bomb explodes, it says "BOM", as opposed to "BOMB" in
Super Mario Bros. 2* In
Doki Doki Panic, cherries, grass, vines, POW blocks, bomb fuses, spikes, seas, clouds, and crystal balls are not animated.
*The slot machine minigame (which appears after you collect coins) is the same in both versions, but has a green background in DDP, as opposed to the title screen variant in SMB2.
*The shell you use in
Super Mario Bros. 2 to kill enemies was a
shrunken head in DDP.
*The story was changed for the U.S./Europe localization.
The music of this game is reminiscent to basic
ragtime with traces of
dixieland jazz and March. The theme is also the music that plays in underwater levels in
Super Mario Bros. All music was written by
Koji Kondo.
 |
The game experienced an enhanced remake on the SNES in Super Mario All-Stars. |
Super Mario Bros. 2 received a graphical, audio, and gameplay upgrade in
Super Mario All-Stars (in Japan,
Super Mario Collection) on the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the
Super Famicom. In the NES version, in the case of losing the last life, the player can only continue twice. In the Super NES/Super Famicom version, a player can continue any number of times, because he or she can continue from a saved game. As for that slot-machine type game, the icons are bigger in the Super NES/Super Famicom version. The player can get up to 10 extra lives in the Super NES version of
Super Mario Bros. 2, compared to getting up to 5 extra lives in the NES/Famicom version. That is because the "7" symbol is an addition to the Super NES/Super Famicom version. In the NES/Famicom version of
Super Mario Bros. 2, the player can select a character and must play as that character until the end of that level. In the Super NES/Super Famicom version, the player can select a character at the beginning of each level and after losing a life.
There was also a remake similar to the All-Star version for the
Satellaview in
1997 titled
BS Super Mario USA.
Super Mario Bros. 2 received another
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. Two notable additions are the new character,
Robirdo, a robotic
Birdo who acts as the boss of the third world, and the
Yoshi Challenge, which encourages players to revisit stages and search for Yoshi eggs.
 |
This homage to Super Mario Bros. 2 appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee in the form of a playable stage. |
Due to its unique style of gameplay and set in a completely different world,
Super Mario Bros. 2 has become one of the most popular games for the NES and has made a continuous impact on the entire Super Mario Bros. series. Notable examples include:
*
Bob-ombs have appeared in just about every other Mario game, starting with
Super Mario Bros. 2.
*
Super Mario World featured Pokey, Ninji, (in Bowser's castle), 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 features multiple enemies from
Super Mario Bros. 2 such as the Shy Guys, with multiple variations, as does
Yoshi's Story.
* Many variations of Shy Guys have appeared in all of the Mario RPGs, including
Paper Mario and
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
Super Mario RPG and
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga also had appearances of Birdo.
*
Super Mario 64 featured Pokey, Bob-omb, Fly Guy, and Snufit, the latter two are variations of Shy Guy and Snifit.
* In
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World,
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, and
Super Mario 64 DS, Luigi is played with a higher, more "floaty" jump as in
Super Mario Bros. 2.
* In
Super Smash Bros. and
Super Smash Bros. Melee, Bob-ombs are used as explosive items that can be thrown at opponents. If not picked up in time, they would come to life and roam about dangerously, blowing up the first player to bump into them.
*
Super Smash Bros. Melee features a stage derived from
Super Mario Bros. 2. This was the first time that any part of the game had officially been rendered in
3D. (The stage's characters, however, are still two-dimensional.) The stage is initially unavailable; however, if the player manages to get a
Birdo or Pidgit trophy, it is unlocked. The stage is called Mushroom Kingdom II, though it should properly be called Subcon, the Dream World's real name. Bob-ombs also appeared as items in the same manner in
Super Smash Bros. Melee as in its predecessor. As a playable character, Peach retained her ability to float and could pluck vegetables (and occasionally other items) from the ground and throw them.
* Birdo and various
Shy Guys appear in several Mario sports games, sometimes playable, sometimes in the background; for example, in
Mario Superstar Baseball, Birdo is a team captain, while a Shy Guy is an available player.
*Shy Guy appeared in the
Mario Party series as a host, and in
Mario Party 7 as a secret playable character. Birdo is also a playable character in
Mario Kart: Double Dash*Birdo appears as a playable character in
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and in
Mario Kart: Double Dash.
*The Princess' unique 'floating' ability is used as gameplay elements in
Super Smash Bros. Melee and
Super Princess Peach.
Super Mario Bros. 2 has also been referenced in a variety of non-video-game media featuring Mario:
* Many elements from the game showed up regularly on
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, although Wart did not make an appearance.
* The game's elements were utilized generously in the Super Mario Bros. comic books, published as part of the
Nintendo Comics System by
Valiant Comics* Bob-omb was featured in
the Super Mario Bros. movie.
This is the first game in which Luigi is portrayed not as an identical twin of Mario, but instead, as being taller and thinner. This was because his design had to be altered to coordinate that of "Mama" from Doki Doki Panic. The "Identical twin" design returned in
Super Mario World, but beginning with "Super Mario USA" in Japan, and
Super Mario Kart in the U.S. and Europe, the "Super Mario Bros 2." design became the "official" version of Luigi.
*
List of best selling computer and video games*
List of Mario games*
Play Super Mario Bros. 2*
Screenshot Gallery (German)
*
Super Mario Brothers 2 Transmogrificator, a
GPL'ed
level editor for Super Mario Brothers 2 on the
Nintendo Entertainment System*
BS Super Mario US*
Speed Demos Archive -
Speedruns
