NES #20: Super Mario Bros. 2

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date: October 1988

You have to admit, this is some beautiful box art

 Ah Super Mario Bros. 2, the game that made my dad’s shoes explode. As the story goes he was fighting the second Mouser when he exclaimed “If I beat this boss my shoes will explode” or something to that effect. Sure enough that’s exactly what happened. The good old 80’s: when people used to buy shoes inflated like tires that were prone to blowouts and when people would readily accept sequels that played like complete inversions of the original game. Hey why not? Dig Dug 2 moved above ground and Super Pac-Man had Pac moving through tunnels within a maze. Inversions weren’t that uncommon at the time. Of course everyone now knows the true reason for this is because the actual Super Mario Bros. 2 was deemed too difficult for American audience so we actually got a re-skinned version of a game called Doki Doki Panic. It’s ironic because I think our SMB2 might actually be harder than the original SMB2. At the very least it doesn’t have unlimited continues and therefore is the last game in the main Mario series with permadeath. It’s strange to think of a Mario game that is actually difficult, but everything about this game defies expectations.

Can you see this without hearing the music?

 The first notable change from the previous title is the ability to choose characters before every level. Mario, Luigi, Princess, and Toad all have their strengths and weaknesses which will be useful in certain levels. Oddly though there aren’t any levels that specifically call for Mario. He’s decent at everything, but he doesn’t excel at any one skill. I think most people play as Luigi in most levels. This is a Mario game that can be played without using Mario. The first game was all about breaking blocks and collecting coins. In the second game you pull up vegetables and only collect coins to play a bonus slot machine game. The whole concept of collecting 100 coins is one that went obsolete generations ago, but they still keep it around. It’s only in this one odd game that coins are relegated to cameo status. Even the enemies from the first game are gone. There’s nothing familiar except the occasional koopa shell. Mario can’t even jump on enemies to defeat them. Nintendo changed very little to make this feel like a Mario game. They changed a few sprites but mostly kept it intact and unleashed it onto an unsuspecting American audience expecting more flagpoles and lava pits.

 But of course in 1988 everybody loved it. I was very little back then, but I don’t remember anyone complaining that it was different. That’s probably because it’s a great game in its own right. The original SMB came out in 1985, but it was probably a couple years later when most people played it. That means the gap between the first and second game was very short. It was stunning how much the graphics were improved between games. The world of Super Mario Bros. 2 is one of vibrant color and wonderful abstraction. Everything fits into place even if it doesn’t seem quite right. It’s a game that moves up and down as well as left and right. It has great environments that are much more interactive than in the previous games. Who doesn’t love getting to dig in the desert levels, or blow up walls to reveal secret areas, or riding on the water from the whales’ blowholes? The levels are bigger and more mysterious than the first game, and this time time around they are not restricted by time limits. You are somewhat free to wander around and try different techniques. I always loved being able to trap all the shy guys in the wrong path in the desert levels. That’s the kind of thing you couldn’t do in the first game, and it’s what really makes the second game stand out.

 

However the openness of the levels can also be a challenge. The game is wonderfully balanced through the first four worlds and then the difficulty ramps up too much. There’s a reason it took me until I was in college to beat this game. It gets really hard really fast, and that makes some of the charm melt away just a little. Mario games are typically more about having fun than being challenged. Of course I love a good challenge so I see it as only a minor flaw. Still, it’s going to take many tries going through the same levels over and over before it is completed, and this might turn some people off.

Even with its minor flaws it is going to be ranked very high. Every time I play this game I have fun, and the years haven’t dulled it much. Maybe it’s because I have such fond childhood memories of it, but it’s going right up to number six. It’s not quite as good as Donkey Kong, but I will give it the edge over the fun but harder to play Ultima: Exodus. I have now ranked twenty NES games so that’s a nice little milestone. I still have no idea what the overall quality is going to be like though. I am tempted to do all the fun classics first because I always want to play them again. The end of this blog might see one bad obscure game after another. Stick around to find out. It should be a wild ride.

 

NES Quality Percentage: 11/20 or 55%

1.  Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

2. Super Mario Odyssey

3. The Legend of Zelda

4. Galaga

5. Donkey Kong

6. Super Mario Bros. 2

7. Exodus: Ultima III

8. Pac-Mania

9. Wrecking Crew

10. Super Pac-Man

11. Pac-Man

12. Viva Pinata

13. Dragon View

14. Excitebike

15. Drakkhen

16. Todd’s Adventures in Slime World

17. Arc the Lad

18. Clu Clu Land

19. Tails’ Adventures

(images from mobygames.com)