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The Story of Super Mario Bros. 2 | Gaming Historian

-Arcadia-

Banned
Was a little hesitant to make this thread, as we don’t usually post ‘news’ from 2015. With the 35th anniversary, though, and how well-made this video is, I thought it might be a fun watch for many of you. I think most of us know this general gist of this story, but I didn’t know all the little details here.




I didn’t get into this game until the GBA version released. To me, it had always been the weirdo, an imposter of a game that tricked people wanting to play Mario, into playing some other strange thing entirely. However, having the awesome new GBA, and wanting something new to play on it besides endless F-Zero... I kind of finally gave it a chance on its own merits (it being visually awesome for a handheld game at that time, didn’t hurt), and just absolutely loved it.

It’s just enough Mario to not feel out of place (some of the little touches are actually impressively appropriate, for a game that had nothing to do with it originally), but does its own wonderful thing that’s unlike any other sidescrolling platforming or action game I’ve ever played.

Then there’s this

E1AjH8m.jpg


We don’t talk about this

Anyway, Gaf, submitted for your enjoyment, and I’d love to hear some of what you thought about the game (or the proper Mario version that didn’t hit the US).
 
il_570xN.1414704850_3g71.jpg


I got it for Christmas that year. The uniqueness of the game is really exaggerated in my opinion. I don't think anyone I knew even slightly suspected that it was from a different series. Zelda also had a sequel that was wildly different from the first game, and so did Castlevania. I don't know anyone that expected anything in games to be a certain way. It was all new, and people played whatever they could get their hands on. People played Fester's Quest and Paperboy if that tells you where the gaming community was at that time.

As for the game, it was neat but pretty difficult. I never knew anyone that finished it. Seemed intimidating at the time compared to the 1st and later, the 3rd game. The art style being a little more creepy was definitely noticed.
 
This video is the tits, nice thread Cadia! The game itself is fantastic, but it's outshined by Mario 3 and rightfully so. However it does show how willing Nintendo was to take a big risk on their flagship title which is how they have stayed ahead of the game for so long. I think they saw the difference between The Lost Levels and US SMB 2 and correctly chose the latter as their core design philosophy moving forward. Don't settle, push the envelope and never get stale.

All the stuff I love about Nintendo can be traced back to this game in a way.
 

Orenji Neko

Member
Even though we had DokiDoki and Mario 2 I feel DokiDoki and Mario USA is better and more fun。

I do not think Mario 2 is very good but I enjoy when Mario USA came and prefer Mario characters in it to DokiDoki even if already play it before。

Mario 2 was too much like first and annoying。By Mario 2 I mean FDS game。

I think USA Nintendo office made good choice for you on this。^ - ^
 

Orta

Banned
The first Mario game I ever played and though nostalgia is strong with this one it was such a unique experience having endured horrendous Atari 2600 games before I got this with my nes. It was a proper videogame and I loved every moment of it. At the time I could only get videogames twice a year (birthday and christmas) so I played it religiously between May - December as you do when you are a kid. I knew every square inch of it, knew every glitch and have probably completed it more than any other game I've played. I've just googled a few speed runs and see it can be done in 9-11 mins. I'm not at that standard but reckon I could do it in 15, give or take.

All time top 10 for me, I still play it to this day on GBA & All Stars but nothing will touch the charm of the nes original.

Oh yeah, has Wart ever popped up since?
 
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StormCell

Member
I remember playing this a little bit on my NES. I don't think anyone ever suspected that it wasn't the true successor to Super Mario Bros., and that cheesy American cartoon really did wonders to help bridge any gap between the two games. I didn't really get to fully play this game, though, until Super Mario All-Stars, and once I did it really grew on me. I really like the concepts of having vases that you can go inside of and potions that create doorways to a hidden dimension. All that kind of stuff makes this game cool. And when I think about stuff that doesn't really make sense and doesn't need to make any sense or have any explanation, I think of Mario 2 and that bird face on the wall that opens after you beat a boss or that creepy mask that chases you after you steal the key. Like, who thinks of these things? No one nowadays....
 

Sethbacca

Member
Pretty solid watch. Nice Share.

I'd like to see Nintendo return to Subcon with Mario at some point. Would be a nice break from Bowser and crew.
 

Jeeves

Member
Don't have time to watch right now, and the video probably answers this, but...I always wondered if Japan ever got the US version of SMB2? They must have, right? In which case, does Japan just have two SMB2s?
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
Don't have time to watch right now, and the video probably answers this, but...I always wondered if Japan ever got the US version of SMB2? They must have, right? In which case, does Japan just have two SMB2s?

Yeah, many years later. It was just called Super Mario USA there, fixing the weird double 2s problem.
 
Gaming Historian sometimes does some good stuff but also gets a lot things wrong which makes me question his information center. He seems to be biased toward Nintendo and that seems to be where he's the most accurate so he should call himself the Nintendo historian.
 

Komatsu

Member
The original (Japanese) Super Mario Bros 2 is one of the most infuriatingly obtuse games ever made.

Xl57272.png


You start! 1-1. First level in the game. Oh, is that a Mushroom? It's poisoned, you're dead.

Super Mario Bros "USA" (aka "2", aka a reskin of Doki Doki Panic) is much more entertaining.
 
I played this for the first time in decades recently. I do not really like it at all. The platforming is just very lacklustre and the overall variety in the game is pretty abysmal as well. I replayed SMB3 right after it and it’s still one of the GOATs.
 
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