And now by special request, here's Super Mario Bros. 2! I honestly wasn't sure if I wanted to play through this one yet, but I'm glad I did. This is one of those popular games that will ensure me many page views. I like to spread those out, but I'm doing this one right after Super Mario Bros. 3. The two most popular NES games right in a row. What was I thinking? I bet I get twice as many for this one as I'm going to get when I play through something like Widget or Wurm. At least I've still got Super Nintendo.
And now for the disclaimer. I know that this games was originally Doki Doki Panic and not SMB2. It was converted for the US after the Japanese SMB2 was deemed too difficult and too much like the first game. It was later released as the lost levels on Mario All-Stars and several other carts. I don't want to dwell on this too much though. As a kid playing this game it was nothing but the next Mario game. I think it deserves to be treated that way too. It's certainly earned it.
I love the early days of the NES. The developers really seemed fearless, and everything was new. I mean, they turned Legend of Zelda into a pseudo side-scroller, and they weren't afraid to do the same for their most important character. Japan can keep their sequel, we want a game that is completely different.
Actually the game couldn't be much more different than the first one without completely switching genres. It has none of the same enemies, radically different levels, and completely different play mechanics. It's a little shocking when you think about it. The first game was all about what was above you. All the items were hidden in blocks over you heads. To kill enemies you had to jump on them. In the second game, it's all about what's under you. You don't break up blocks but pull up plants and mushrooms. Jumping on enemies does no good unless there's something hidden above their heads. Probably the most famous difference, however, is the ability to change characters from level to level. Each one has their own pros and cons. I'm a Luigi man, but when I play through this game I use everyone but Mario. This has got to be the only Mario game where you can play through it without even seeing him. You have to admit, that is pretty shocking.
All of these changes could've made the game playing public angry, but all I remember from the time is love. This game had something that the first one didn't have. It had much better advertising. When I was real little Mario was everywhere. He had that great cover picture that got pasted on just about everything. I wish I still had my Mario belt and lunch box, but they've been lost. The first game came out and Mario was the game to play, but by the time the second one came along Mario was already becoming a legend.
I have many memories of this game. It was the first game we ever rented back in that glorious time when you could rent Nintendo games cheap. At our local place the trick was to rent the games on Saturday because the store was closed on Sunday, and you could keep it an extra day. This started a tradition of me and my brother renting a game every week for years. Right up to the Dreamcast era actually. That's a long time when you think about it. This was also a game I got on my 7th birthday. I know this because I've seen the pictures. This would make it 1991, so I must've played it for a while before I ever owned it. I think I already had Mario 3 by then, but there is no picture of me getting that one.
What I'll always remember about this game is its difficulty. If the real SMB2 was too hard for Americans, it must've been by only a couple of spiny eggs. I spent more time playing this game than just about any other, but I never beat it till I was in college. College! I'm not sure what my hang up was as a kid. I remember getting past world 4 with no trouble, but after that my mind gets a little fuzzy. Fry Guy was pretty tough, and those mushroom power-ups get much more difficult to find, but I don't remember a specific level that hung me up.
Anyway, I had a much easier time of it here in 2011. I had plenty of lives and actually got through it quite quickly. I of course skipped all the warp zones, but they're there if you need them. I would say my favorite world in this one is world 4 with the ice and those whales that shoot the streams of water, but the worlds aren't connected in this one like they are in the other games. They are much more random.
I remember in college I used to hear people complain about the ending to this one, but I gotta tell you something. Even going into this game you know how it's going to end. I knew it when I was seven, and I didn't even know how to tie my shoes. If you read the prologue then it shouldn't be a surprise for you. So if you want to complain about this one, find something real to complain about. I actually don't have many negative comments about this one. Go figure.
Well I think I've said my peace about this one. It's a really special game to me that I've had longer than just about any of them. 800 games later and it still has a special place in my heart. I miss the days when Nintendo wasn't afraid to be bold and made sequels that weren't just carbon copies of the previous game. Well there it is. I hope you enjoy it. And please come back when I'm out of cool games to play and have to play through Demon Sword or Code Name: Viper. I would really appreciate it.
I have always been a loyal Princess player, even on levels when it makes no sense. I don't care if she's the slowest digger and the entire world consists of digging through sand, I play Princess!
ReplyDeleteWe would rent this game all the time when I was kid. My father and I both played it (we would play a lot of NES games together back then), but we couldn't beat the first level. We just could NOT figure out how to beat Ostro (now known as Birdo)! We tried jumping on him, picking him up, nothing worked. After what seemed like months of trying (likely two days), I made a startling discovery. While trying to dodge one of the deadly egg bullets, I was hit! The impact caused me to bounce up.. and land on the egg. We had no idea you could land on and subsequently pick up the eggs. I instantly ran through my grandmother's house yelling as loud as I could that I figured it out, but no one really cared. Hell, I don't think I've ever been as proud as something in my entire life.
I also used to have the Mario 2 coloring book, which was a treasured possession for sure. I ended up losing it somehow, maybe my mom threw it out when she was cleaning, who knows. For years I would look for another copy almost every time we went to the grocery store, since as a small child I didn't understand that the book only came out to market the game. For some reason the hunt for this coloring book stayed with me well into my adult years, when as a college student in my early twenties it finally hit me that the internet might hold my answer.
It did.
http://npc.captainn.net/golden_smb2.html
When SNES time rolls around I'll have to tell you about my Link to the Past comic I ordered from Nintendo Power. That thing was amazing.
Yeah I used to have a lot of cool old Nintendo stuff that I've lost over the years. I suspect it's still around somewhere because we never throw anything away. I was one time working on a list of all the old Nintendo collectibles on a forum, but that forum shut down so I had to stop. I should start doing that again. It would be totally pointless which is my favorite reason to do anything.
ReplyDeleteOh and I already wrote about Link to the Past. I guess the only classic Zelda game I have left to play through is Link's Awakening. Then I guess it's on to OOT which of course I'm not looking forward to.
P.S. I also remember a SMB3 book that we used to have as a kid. I remember being a little disappointed because it talked about them jumping on flagpoles and going into those little castles. That was Mario 1! They couldn't fool me even as a little kid.
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