Super Mario Brothers 2
As most people know, in Japan, the sequel to Super Mario Brothers for the Nintendo Entertainment System was actually very similar to the original. But back in the 80's when it was first released, creators deemed to both 'too difficult' and 'too similar' to the original and instead released a version of Doki Doki Panic redesigned to look like a Mario game for export. The best part was that this 'Mario for the rest of the world' did so well that they actually released it locally as Super Mario USA. And of course, likewise during the release of Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES we saw the import of the original Super Mario Brothers 2 titled: Lost Levels.
Super Mario Brothers 2 (USA) stood out as being extremely different from it's predecessor. Without knowing at the time that it wasn't originally a Mario game it simply seemed like a bizarre departure from the original.
Until Super Mario Brothers 3 rolled around, 2 was easily my favourite. You got to choose from four different player characters instead of just the one and they were each well defined. Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Peach, each of which handle differently making the game a slightly different challenge depending on your pick. Of course, I never picked anyone but Peach and I don't know why anyone would choose differently. She was simply the best choice since she offered the ability to jump and 'float' for a few seconds giving you that extra bit of leeway when trying to make jumps. It's kinda disappointing that Nintendo didn't stick with the multiple character scenario, especially one that included Peach as a playable character and not the 'goal' at the end of the game. It was great to see them bring her back, along with her float jump in Super Mario 3D World for the Wii-U and as a bonus, Rosalina; another female playable character.
So much about Mario 2 was wildly different. The whole game takes place in a weird dream world; a world full of flying carpets, evil flying masks, transvestite egg-shooting dinosaurs, giant bird doors and mysterious doors created by a mysterious flask. There was almost nothing that carried over from the first game. You still pick up mushrooms to grow bigger, but there is no fire flower or similar. You also collect floating hearts to help fill a 4-bar life meter, unlike the older game. You pick up vegetables from underground to throw at enemies to kill them as well as bombs and other bits that are placed strategically.
In the end there were a number of crazy bits and pieces introduced in Super Mario 2 that awesomely enough made it into the rest of the series. The introduction of Peach and Toad as playable characters became more and more regular is side-series games, the snakes and shy-guys reoccur in later games as well as the infamous Birdo that we all know and love. I'd like to think that Nintendo's decision to rebrand Doki Doki Panic as a Mario game inadvertently added a bunch of popular new content and in a way kind of changed the path Mario has taken over time. But really I just loved the absolutely wacky game that ended up as solid platformer that may have otherwise been overlooked if it had not carried the Mario label.
As most people know, in Japan, the sequel to Super Mario Brothers for the Nintendo Entertainment System was actually very similar to the original. But back in the 80's when it was first released, creators deemed to both 'too difficult' and 'too similar' to the original and instead released a version of Doki Doki Panic redesigned to look like a Mario game for export. The best part was that this 'Mario for the rest of the world' did so well that they actually released it locally as Super Mario USA. And of course, likewise during the release of Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES we saw the import of the original Super Mario Brothers 2 titled: Lost Levels.Super Mario Brothers 2 (USA) stood out as being extremely different from it's predecessor. Without knowing at the time that it wasn't originally a Mario game it simply seemed like a bizarre departure from the original.
Until Super Mario Brothers 3 rolled around, 2 was easily my favourite. You got to choose from four different player characters instead of just the one and they were each well defined. Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Peach, each of which handle differently making the game a slightly different challenge depending on your pick. Of course, I never picked anyone but Peach and I don't know why anyone would choose differently. She was simply the best choice since she offered the ability to jump and 'float' for a few seconds giving you that extra bit of leeway when trying to make jumps. It's kinda disappointing that Nintendo didn't stick with the multiple character scenario, especially one that included Peach as a playable character and not the 'goal' at the end of the game. It was great to see them bring her back, along with her float jump in Super Mario 3D World for the Wii-U and as a bonus, Rosalina; another female playable character.So much about Mario 2 was wildly different. The whole game takes place in a weird dream world; a world full of flying carpets, evil flying masks, transvestite egg-shooting dinosaurs, giant bird doors and mysterious doors created by a mysterious flask. There was almost nothing that carried over from the first game. You still pick up mushrooms to grow bigger, but there is no fire flower or similar. You also collect floating hearts to help fill a 4-bar life meter, unlike the older game. You pick up vegetables from underground to throw at enemies to kill them as well as bombs and other bits that are placed strategically.
In the end there were a number of crazy bits and pieces introduced in Super Mario 2 that awesomely enough made it into the rest of the series. The introduction of Peach and Toad as playable characters became more and more regular is side-series games, the snakes and shy-guys reoccur in later games as well as the infamous Birdo that we all know and love. I'd like to think that Nintendo's decision to rebrand Doki Doki Panic as a Mario game inadvertently added a bunch of popular new content and in a way kind of changed the path Mario has taken over time. But really I just loved the absolutely wacky game that ended up as solid platformer that may have otherwise been overlooked if it had not carried the Mario label.
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