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Developed by Nintendo R&D4 and released by Nintendo in
September 1988, Super Mario Bros. 2 changes up the Mario Bros.
2D side-scrolling formula, and sends its characters to a dream
world
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I remember the first time I ever played it. I saw a bad guy. I jump on
him...and nothing happened. The bad guy...er, Shy Guy just walked away...with me
on top of him. After smashing buttons, suddenly I lifted the the Shy Guy into
the air. "Now what do I do with him?!" I smashed buttons again, and this time I
threw the Shy Guy at another oncoming Shy Guy, killing them both. Did someone
accidentally give me the wrong game?
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Well, it says Super Mario Bros. 2...
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Like many, I was initially confused by
Super Mario Bros. 2. As
they would do several times during their flagship, 8-bit era, Nintendo used
the second entry in a long-running series to try something completely
different. I'd played many Atari 2600 and arcade games up until the point that
I first played 1985's
Super Mario Bros. for the NES, but the moment I
took control of Nintendo's mustachioed plumber in the Mushroom Kingdom, I
thought, "
Okay, now THIS is a video game." Just three years later, and
Nintendo was already changing the formula?
Super Mario Bros. 3 was
released just a few years after
2, returning to and some would say
refining, or at least augmenting the formula from the original 1985 game. The
gameplay from
Super Mario Bros. 2, admittedly just a reskin of a
completely different, non-Mario Japanese game (
Doki Doki Panic), was
dropped. I could barely make it past World 4 in
Super Mario Bros. 2,
but I was able to smash Bowser in both the original and
Super Mario Bros. 3. Those were
my games, and
Super Mario Bros. 2 was the bastard child. Sometimes, I would look at
it on the shelf and chuckle. "
Ha. I forgot I even have that game." Many
years later, and my NES is back, and plugged into my CRT. My powers have
doubled since
Super Mario Bros. 2 and I last met. Time to give the game
another go.
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This time we will take him together
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Super Mario Bros. 2 will immediately make any older gamer who
dabbles in modern games nostalgic when it boots up so quickly and gets right
to the character select screen. At the start of each of the game's 20 levels,
spread across seven worlds, the player is allowed to choose between four of
Nintendo's mascot characters: Mario, Luigi, Toad, and the Princess (aka
Princess Toadstool, aka Princess Peach). In a touch that feels quite modern,
all four characters control quite differently. Mario is the balanced one, who
jumps well, runs well, and lifts objects fairly quickly. Toad runs and lifts
faster, but he can't jump very high. Luigi can jump very high, but his jump is
unwieldy. The Princess can glide through the air, meaning she can jump very
far, but she takes a long time to lift an object. Different characters are
better at different levels, though Princess definitely seems to make the game
easiest...though, in my opinion, this game is not easy.
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Let's face it, there's only one real choice here
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Unlike the other two NES Mario games,
Super Mario Bros. 2 is set
in the dream world of Subcon. As stated, jumping on foes no longer kills them.
The player now needs to either pull an item from the ground to throw at a foe,
or to throw another enemy at that foe. There are still platforming jumps to
make (and now the player can high jump by holding "down" for a few seconds),
but that element is lessened just a bit for more diverse elements. For
instance, now the player sometimes enters caves where they'll have to dig or
bomb their way through. Sometimes they'll have to go on a key hunt to open a
locked door. Also, every level now has a boss (generally Birdo), not just the
last level in each world, though the last levels of each world here do each
have a Big Boss. Also, the final boss of the game is no longer Bowser, the
King of the Koopas, but Wart, a tyrannical toad who has cursed Subcon.
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Hey, only one Princess get to wear pink in this game!
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Luigi's got some JOWLS in this game!
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In
Super Mario Bros. and
Super Mario Bros. 3,
the player can use exploits to pile up extra lives. For instance, the player
can throw a koopa shell into a tight space and bounce on it to get as many
extra lives as they want, in select moments of those games. Also, collecting
coins means that for every 100, the player earns an extra life. Extra lives
are also hidden throughout the levels. In
Super Mario Bros. 2, there is
no way to pile up extra lives within levels, since jumping on enemies does not
do anything. Collecting 100 coins does not even give the player an extra life.
In fact, the player does not even really collect coins. Throughout each level,
there are a few magic potions. If the player throws these on the ground, a
door appears to a "sub-space" which is essentially a color-inverted version of
the screen where the player is currently standing. If the player manages to
throw the potion down on a screen featuring a bunch of items to pull up, they
can pull up coins instead (sometimes the area will also contain a Magic
Mushroom, which adds an extra meter to the player's life bar for that level
and brings them back to normal size if they've been hit once). These coins are
used in a slot machine at the end of every level. The slot machine works like
one in real life--get three like items and win an extra life. Get a cherry as
the first item and win an extra life, two cherries for two lives, and three
for five lives. The slot machine requires a lot of luck, though there is a
pattern that can be slightly taken advantage of. At best, the player might
stockpile 20-30 lives while playing through
Super Mario Bros. 2, but
that's after mastering not only how to get the most coins out of each level
(i.e. where the potions are, and where to best throw them...also you can only
get coins from a sub-space twice in each level), but the slot machine itself.
There are a very, very small amount of extra lives hidden throughout the
levels too, but those are few and far between.
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Help me out, whale, this potion's not gonna carry itself
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Ironically, the sub-space is the only place in the game where the
classic Mario theme plays
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Continuing the slot machine theme, there are cherries strewn about each
level. Collect five without dying and the classic Mario invincible star will
come up from the ground. Grab it and be invincible for a very short while.
There are also POW blocks scattered around that, when thrown, wipe out every
enemy on the screen. Overall, though, this is quite a different experience
from every other Mario game. Sure, the way each character controls here is
used later in such games as
Super Mario 3D World, but what you do with
those characters, just like with Link in
Zelda II, is not. Some love
this change. In fact, this is a vocal minority's favorite of the original NES
Super Mario Bros. trilogy. It's not mine...but now, for this review, I've
finally beaten Wart...and I greatly enjoyed finally playing through the entire
game.
Super Mario Bros. 2 might not be my favorite, but there are
plenty of things to like here.
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Loose slots!
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Loose pyramids!
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Loose Pterodactyls!
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| Toad! |
First of all , the graphics are wonderful. I think they show a nice technical advancement over the
Super Mario Bros. graphics (though I do think
those are perfect as they are, and a bit cleaner than the ones found here).
Super Mario Bros. 2 features plenty of wild colors. I
particularly like how rocky much of this world is. In a way, it feels the most
NES. I also like that there's a hint of the themed worlds to come in
Super Mario Bros. 3. Not every world has a visual theme, but some, like
the icy World 4, do. I particularly love World 4's Ice Whales. Secondly, Koji
Kondo yet again hits the soundtrack out of the park. The music here is highly
memorable and never gets tiring, even though there are only a few themes. Much
of the music is unique to this game too, as well as the sound effects. The
visuals and sound certainly set the game apart.
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Using bombs sets the game apart (BOMB)
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Using keys, as well as Luigi's jowls, sets the game apart too
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And the digging...I guess that sets the game apart too...though
that mechanic is not my favorite
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However, it's that vastly different gameplay that makes
Super Mario Bros. 2 worth playing. While I do prefer jumping on enemies
to kill them...or grabbing a fire flower and blowing them away, the gameplay
here for the most part has that tightly tested, Nintendo Seal of Approval
feeling of excellence. I find certain elements here, particularly the
wall-bombing and digging portions of the game, to sometimes feel a bit
finnicky. Some of the moments those elements are worst utilized (particularly
the bombing in level 3-2) are very frustrating. For the most part, though,
Super Mario Bros. 2 is very fun. The level design is tight and
satisfying. Things, outside of my complaints, just feel right. It's difficult,
but not quite Nintendo Hard, like
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, the American name for what Japan got as their
Super Mario Bros. 2.
Having played through both games, I can easily say I prefer the American
Super Mario Bros. 2. The Japanese game
is Nintendo Hard, but
much of that is due to the fact that the game is absolutely mean and meant to
make players miserable. It's not a fair challenge, and Nintendo was right to
try something different in America. I'm glad we got our
Super Mario Bros. 2. And as I said, it might not be Nintendo Hard, but
it
is difficult. Run out of lives and use up your continues, and it's
game over. There's no trick to keep going. You've got to start over from level
1-1.
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It's a testament to how fun this game is that this screen never
gets old
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Mario is actually the most underrated character in his own game. I
find him the easiest and most fun character to use, after Princess.
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It's not a Mario game unless you've gone up in the clouds at least
once!
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Thankfully, though, the game, like its two NES brethren, contains
secret warps and shortcuts within levels themselves. I liked finding these gradually, generally after I'd already
made it to World 7 and died. That way, using them felt sort of like utilizing
a more modern password system, cutting out roughly half of the game--like I'd
earned them.
Super Mario Bros. 2 contains
many secrets. It
is a Nintendo game. And while it may not quite measure up to
its younger or older brother, this rowdy middle child sure is memorable. It's
also a lot fun--I'm glad I finally returned to it...and finally put Wart in the
ground.
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| And here's some visual proof that I did that...with my NES...on my CRT |
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