Super Mario Bros. 2

Super Mario Bros. 2 is the sequel to the popular NES pack-in title Super Mario Bros. Unbeknownst to gamers at the time, the title is not the Super Mario Bros 2 that was released in Japan and was a completely different title designed to appeal more to a western audience. The game was very different from the previous title, and still very unique in comparison to all of the Mario games that have come since.

When Nintendo of America reviewed the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros 2, they felt that the increased level of difficulty and the lack of gameplay changes from the previous title would turn players off the flagship franchise. They cancelled the release and instead opted to turn another Nintendo platformer, a Japanese Family Computer Disk System game called Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, into the North American version of Super Mario Bros 2.

Despite the common belief that the game is completely unrelated, Doki Doki Panic was actually conceived as a Super Mario title by Kensuke Tanabe. A prototype was developed which focused on vertically scrolling levels and a two-player co-op experience in which the players helped each other climb the stages. The prototype was shelved by Nintendo of Japan, who felt the game wasn't fun enough, only to be revived when asked to create a game for Fuji Television to promote the broadcaster's Yume Kōjō '87 event which showcased several of their latest TV shows. The game was changed to feature mascots of the Yume Kōjō festival and gameplay was tweaked. The two player gameplay was dropped to focus on a single player experience.

Super Mario Bros. 2 takes place in the dream land of Subcon in which Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstood travel through Subcon to free the world from the evil King Wart.

The game features 7 worlds, each with 3 stages. Each world is based on a different theme including ice and desert themes, though the game retains its overall Arabian Nights theme from Doki Doki Panic. The game allows the player to choose a character at the beginning of each world. Each player plays differently. Mario is a well balanced character, Luigi is faster and can jump much higher than the rest of the characters, Toad is stronger than the other characters and pluck items faster but moves slower, and the Princess can hover in the air for a short distance but moves slower and plucks items slower. This game makes the first time there has been a difference in size between Mario and Luigi creating the now common look of Luigi being taller and skinnier than Mario.

Gameplay is very different from the original title, the levels are less linear and many feature several paths through. Doors can lead to cavern areas which connect to other areas of the stages. There is also more emphasis on vertical platforming in the stages. Certain doors are locked and require the player to find a key which they must carry to the door while avoiding enemies. 

Replacing the pipes from the first Super Mario Bros are tall pots which can hold hidden underground screens in which the player can find additional enemies and items. 

The players begin with 2 health points, but that number can be increased by finding hidden mushrooms in the game. Cherry's are scattered in the stages, and for each 5 collected a star will appear which will grant the player temporary invulnerability. Also from the original games are POW blocks and turtle shells.

Enemies are no longer killed by jumping on their heads, instead the player can jump on top of an enemy and then pick them up and carry them around. Enemies can be through at other enemies or off ledges, but will get back up if they don't make contact with anything. Vegetables in the stages can be plucked out of the ground and can be thrown at enemies to defeat them as well.

A potion can also be found hidden in vegetable patches which can be dropped to create a door into subspace. Subspace is a dark world version of the same screen the potion is dropped on. The player has a time limit to pull up any roots on the screen to get coins. Also certain screens in subspace contain hidden warp zones that allow the player to skip ahead in the game. 

For each coin collected the player gets a spin of a slot machine between worlds which can earn the player extra lives.

Enemies have completely changed from the original title, however certain characters such as Birdo, Bob-Omb and Shy guy have made it into the true Mario cannon.

Each world contains a boss, which must be defeated by throwing bombs or blocks. Blocks can be strategically stacked to help protect the player from enemy projectiles. Bosses include different colored Birdos (3), Mouser (2), Triclyde, Fryguy, Clawgrip, Hawkmouth, and Wart.

In Doki Doki Panic the player had to complete the game with all four characters to see the ending and was not able to switch characters between worlds. Super Mario Bros 2 was changed so that the player would beat the game after beating Wart once with any character. 

Despite the major changes from the first game and the negative impact the game had on some fans, Super Mario Bros. 2 sold ten million copies and was the third highest-selling game released on the NES at the time.

Super Mario Bros 2 was released in Japan as Super Mario Bros USA, the game also had a 16-bit remake in the SNES title Super Mario All-Stars. The SNES version was also released with the first game in Super Mario Advance, a Gameboy Advance launch title.

The original Super Mario Bros 2 eventually made it to North America as Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels available on Wii Virtual Console, a 16bit remake was included as part of Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES. Super Mario Bros USA was included on the Japanese release of All-Stars as well. This version of Super Mario Bros. 2 also inspired many aspects of the cartoon series in North America which featured characters, enemies, and settings from the game.

The game if followed up with Super Mario Bros 3, one of the most popular entries in the series also for the NES.