NES Games I Beat #57: Super Mario Bros. 2

After the classic Super Mario Bros., which revitalized the video game industry as well as began the boom around the platforming genre and brought the NES to the forefront of entire entertainment, there was a lot of hype for the sequel. Nintendo, not wanting to saturate our market with the same game, spared us from what we now call the Lost Levels which to Japan is the true successor to the original game by giving us a reskin of a game called Doki Doki Panic. Unfortunately, like Zelda 2, the different style of gameplay turned off a lot of fans and thus there’s a negative stigma by some that consider this game to not be a true Mario game. This is mostly wrong however as originally this game was developed as a Mario title but later shelved and reskined for that IP for a festival in Japan. Aside from that, Super Mario Bros. 2 is a superb title that deserves to be seen on its own merit and on its merit as a sequel.
While I don’t usually start on this, it is a beautiful looking and sounding game for 1987 NES and it holds up very well today. As a marked improvement to its predecessor definitely shows aesthetically how far development had come in that time. All the 7 worlds now feel unique as there are actual environments like deserts, mountains, waterfalls, night levels, caves, etc. This gives an advancement to the theming in a significant way. The music also made a huge leap and all the new tracks are incredibly memorable from title to the last screen. The characters and all of the enemies look vastly more defined through this clean, crisp style of graphics and overall it’s just a well done upgrade to the presentation in general. In terms of story, it’s bare bones. It’s all a dream though so there’s that.
The gameplay is a vast step up too taking on a different direction. No longer will you be jumping on enemies to kill them rather you’ll just stand on top of them at which point you can pick them up and throw them at other things. There are also radishes everywhere that can be picked out of the ground to be used for this same purpose though this can also lead to picking up bob bombs, 1 Ups, etc. One of these items, the potion, allows travel into a world called the Subcon which if done in the right area can reveal mushrooms that permanently increase your two hit health bar for the rest of the level or warps which can be useful in skipping worlds. The tricky part is finding these spots as often their a bit of a ways from where the potion is discovered.
Also the radish spots can be picked for coins which get used in a minigame that is the main way of getting lives through chance. This is kind of a flawed system as there’s barely skill to getting them and the difficulty ramps up in a lot of spots so not being able to get lives can lead to death. While you have two continues, anytime you have to continue you go back to the beginning of world you’re on. The continue function is a marked improvement but I often felt the three life standard you then are set with was often not fair to counteract the amount of areas and deaths the player would then need to take on again. This is relevant to players who want to experience every level and beat the game in chunks like I did but it also affects places like the final world wherein if you die its almost impossible to make it back to and through Wart’s castle due to how deadly it is.
That’s pretty much my biggest complaint though as the rest of the game, while difficult, is a very enjoyable experience. Through the platforming and unique puzzles based around your abilities to pick things up, the charge jump, and the mechanic of standing on enemies it is clear that there’s enough solid, fun, and interesting things going on here to keep a player engrossed. The variety is nice too given that there is another improvement in that you can choose one of four characters at the beginning of a stage with separate play styles and speeds each. Mario is well balanced and a bit faster than Luigi who has an elongated jump. Toad is extremely nimble and picks things up faster while Peach is slower but has an essential temporary floating ability that comes in handy for some of the trickier platforming. Another neat aspect is the vertical platforming that was similar to Kid Icarus in design and even would introduce vines and ladders with enemies to keep you on your toes. While it is a cool feature especially in its time, I always chose Peach because of her maneuverability.
While the platforming brings a lot of unique elements to the table, the boss battles are what stood out to me as they were always designed in such a way that you had to think about how to get the weapon (be it a mushroom stool or and egg) to the enemy and hit them at the right time as to not be hit. The pacing of these bosses and their stages was brilliant too as we start with a standard Birdo fight that will evolve based on the environment as the levels go on as well as Birdo himself becoming faster and later shooting fireballs instead of eggs. Mouser takes this to the next level by throwing bombs that can only be caught and must be timed perfectly when thrown back making for a sense of tension and panic constantly. Tryclyde isn’t to challenging but plays with the concept of a still boss that has massive fire breath wherein the timing of dodging that and the ability to block his fire breath by building a barrier of mushroom blocks make for even more interactivity. Clawgrip is devilish as the player must dodge and then jump onto thrown rocks which is rather challenging. Finally, Wart is a culmination of these concepts and a reverse Birdo wherein the player has to dodge his screen filling bubbles and still catch falling vegetables then throwing them into Wart’s mouth as he attempts another bubble attack. All of these bosses are memorable and follow a natural progression in difficulty and concepts which is excellent game design a deserves its fair share of praise.
In conclusion, this is a very fun game to just play with a very inviting and vibrant, colorful world. The presentation and music is really good, the gameplay mechanics are well realized and implemented, and the bosses are epic and memorable. The continue system can be a pain but at least it’s there and incentivizes getting better at levels. This is an absolute gem of a game and is thus far my favorite of the Mario NES trilogy as in my opinion it just has so much to love and experience here. Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 are benchmark titles and paved the way for so many games to come but all the innovation here also seems to be often vastly underlooked which is a shame as those games garner unreal but somewhat deserved praise leaving this on in the dust. All the unique flair and charm this game has and its ambitious attitude for an earlier NES title is admirable and shows how this game is leagues beyond just being some game with a Mario reskin.
For these reasons I’m proud to award it a 9/10 as its not only one of the great underlooked Mario games but also a very underrated NES platformer.