I finally beat Super Mario Bros. 2, what are your memories/opinions on it?

[samred]

If you were around when this game was being released, you bore witness to Nintendo's first nationwide, mega-marketing campaign. Nintendo Power was all about SMB2, and you couldn't go into any toy store or watch any TV show without seeing ads. This grew even further with Super Mario 3, so it's interesting to look back and think of what game promotion looked like back then, when Nintendo was still arguably an "upstart."

As far as gameplay, it really was unique among the era's platformers with its whole "pick stuff up" system. That alone made it really feel like a sequel, a fact that Howard Philips at Nintendo recognized when he pushed back on the original SMB2 as a USA release. Since Doki Doki Panic was an internal Nintendo game anyway, its Mario-like heritage works even with all the kooky ways they shoehorned Mario and pals into it--and the heroes' sprites were goddamned impressive (arguably better than SMB3).

 

[Deleted member 33057]

Toad was the MVP with his fast pick up and throw tactics. He was a total badass in the right hands. Princess was second favorite with her floating, dead last is Luigi with his silly feet movements

I loved it and finished the NES version on my friends copy & console. Did not own it before all star edition. What we ended up doing for a lot of the time was gambling for more lives all the time. I don't know why, we had so many. We came with these techniques and systems for winning the slot machine

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Share your secrets lol. I was terrible at the slots and felt like there had to be some way to rig it.

 

[Deleted member 42484]

I played it as a kid but was too young to ever beat it. It's a fantastic game, but I just found it harder than other 2D Mario's. Those flying heads scare the crap out of me snd still do.

But I'm an adult now and I think it's time to finally beat it, no warps. Thanks for the motivation OP.

 

[Ryuhza]

Always thought it was more interesting than the surrounding Mario games. Certainly the one I would revisit the most.

 

[Kernal 64]

*Sigh* I feel old. I remember being 8 yrs old, having a room with my brother. I played SMB2 on one of those tube tv VCR combo units.

I feel myself almost slipping back to then. I wish I could. =/

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Man, I feel this so hard. Whenever I think of the few NES games I had back then, I feel like if I close my eyes and let myself drift, I'll find myself back in front of my family's Zenith TV in our living room, sitting on the floor, controller in hand. I spent so much time with that system as a kid.

As far as SMB2 goes, I remember having mixed feelings as a kid. When I first played it at my uncle's house (I was probably around 8 or 9 at the time), we didn't have the manual for some reason. And maybe we were dumb, but it never occurred to us to press a button when jumping on an enemy to pick it up. We'd jump on them and ride them around and be like WTF is happening. A little while later, I got my own copy, with manual and finally learned how to play, lol. It was so different from SMB1 and I wasn't initially a big fan. I liked the graphical improvements and thought the art was wonderful. I also liked the story in the manual, but the game play was something I had trouble connecting with. It just didn't click, but back in those days, you played what you had and you didn't have much, so you learned to like what you had. And so it went. Years later, when I got SMB All Stars, I played it again and I liked it a little more. And over the years, I found that the game wasn't really so bad. Different, but still kinda cool. 8 year old me wasn't too hot on it, but 16 year old me loved it. I remember SMW being the first Mario game I actually beat, and I went backwards from there, beating SMB3, and then SMB2. I eventually beat SMB1, but there was a pretty big gap between it and the others. For whatever reason, that was always the hardest 2D entry for me. Later on, I remember happily picking up the GBA port when it was released, but being absolutely repulsed by the voice clips they added into it. I've always hated all the random chatter Mario does post-SNES.

PS: Phanto can fuck off right into the sun, lol. I got so nervous whenever I had to pick up a key.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

If you were around when this game was being released, you bore witness to Nintendo's first nationwide, mega-marketing campaign. Nintendo Power was all about SMB2, and you couldn't go into any toy store or watch any TV show without seeing ads. This grew even further with Super Mario 3, so it's interesting to look back and think of what game promotion looked like back then, when Nintendo was still arguably an "upstart."

Click to shrink...

Yeah, people that weren't there often think that the NES and SMB exploded into everyone's homes in North America in 1985/1986 but that wasn't the case. That marketing was nothing like the level of SMB2 in the 1988 Christmas season.

 

[D.Lo]

Sorry for story time, but you asked..

I think people who weren't around for the NES and look it up on wikipedia see a 1985 release date and may be lead to some false conclusions that I don't believe line up with many US people's experience. I got mine xmas 1987, which as far as I can tell is considered relatively early adoption for the NES. Unless you were in certain test market regions or were incredibly tied in to electronics very few people had one in 85-86. For example, by the time my friends and I got to it (as well as any discussion I have had with anyone about it over the decades) the black box games were a weird relic of the near past you might see in old catalogs or in the discount bin (maybe.)

The reason this is relevant is while my system came with Super Mario Bros. and I enjoyed it very much, Super Mario Bros 2 was an overall bigger deal because I was there when it dropped. Playground discussion, taking it over to friends house, all of it. Every member of my immediate family played and finished SMB2 back in '88 including my parents. And because all the weird little secrets, pathing shortcuts, debates over which character to use on what level, it was a particular good one for discussion since finding out little tricks could get you through the game quicker. Proto-speedrunning, I guess, since spending an afternoon playing through the same game for the 30th time was extremely common.

It is one hell of a video game that occupies that weird fundamental space that is impossible for me to evaluate never being there.

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Yep this is it.

SMB2 is the perfect balance between accessibility and full of secrets and tricks. Your Zelda IIs and Battle of Olympuses are impenetrable to parents or very young kids. But Mario 2's non-linearity, secret doors and branching pathways were the perfect gateway to broader adventure games.

 

[TOM 2]

Man, I feel this so hard. Whenever I think of the few NES games I had back then, I feel like if I close my eyes and let myself drift, I'll find myself back in front of my family's Zenith TV in our living room, sitting on the floor, controller in hand. I spent so much time with that system as a kid.

As far as SMB2 goes, I remember having mixed feelings as a kid. When I first played it at my uncle's house (I was probably around 8 or 9 at the time), we didn't have the manual for some reason. And maybe we were dumb, but it never occurred to us to press a button when jumping on an enemy to pick it up. We'd jump on them and ride them around and be like WTF is happening. A little while later, I got my own copy, with manual and finally learned how to play, lol. It was so different from SMB1 and I wasn't initially a big fan. I liked the graphical improvements and thought the art was wonderful. I also liked the story in the manual, but the game play was something I had trouble connecting with. It just didn't click, but back in those days, you played what you had and you didn't have much, so you learned to like what you had. And so it went. Years later, when I got SMB All Stars, I played it again and I liked it a little more. And over the years, I found that the game wasn't really so bad. Different, but still kinda cool. 8 year old me wasn't too hot on it, but 16 year old me loved it. I remember SMW being the first Mario game I actually beat, and I went backwards from there, beating SMB3, and then SMB2. I eventually beat SMB1, but there was a pretty big gap between it and the others. For whatever reason, that was always the hardest 2D entry for me. Later on, I remember happily picking up the GBA port when it was released, but being absolutely repulsed by the voice clips they added into it. I've always hated all the random chatter Mario does post-SNES.

PS: Phanto can fuck off right into the sun, lol. I got so nervous whenever I had to pick up a key.

Click to shrink...

Exactly. I find myself closing my eyes real hard sometimes in hope that I'll be back in my old room. I'll be going to elementary again. Drinking those chocolate milk cartons...ugh. I have fond memories of getting the original GBA with Mario 2 as well. Agreed with Phanto. Fuck that. I didn't like those cobrats either. Bastards.

 

[mute]

I really loved the enemy and boss designs.

 

[ghibli99]

Didn't finish it until about a decade ago. What I remember the most is that the animation in it is really good!

 

[Deleted member 54073]

I remember it being the worst part of Super Mario All-Stars.

 

[Dinzy]

It was a great NES game. I obsessed over it as a kid and it was the thing I wanted the most for Xmas. I got it for Xmas. My cart was flaky but worked after a few tries. My parent's took it away from me to punish me for something. Stupid thing to do because I don't have a clue what I did wrong or whether I deserved it, but I remember being deprived of something I wanted so bad 32 years later.

Nintendo really should have tried to follow it up with something like it on SNES or GBA.

 

[Benzychenz]

Had the GBA version of this, Yoshi's Island, and SMW as a kid. I beat SMB2 but it was definitely my least favourite of the bunch. The difficulty put me off a bit and the masks were scary for me.
Should revisit it, especially seeing the NES and SNES versions are both on Switch.

 

[Birdie]

It gave us Birdo, Shy Guy, Bob-Omb, Ninji, and Pokey.

That's like the best enemies in the franchise.

 

[Ubik]

My favourite NES Mario game. We need a new one in this style with similar mechanics. The Princess's glide is so good.

 

[Birdie]

I'd actually love to see Nintendo somehow work out a way to bring back the Doki Doki Panic characters---imagine a Mario 3D World 2 with Imajin and family as unlockables!---but sadly unlike everything else in the game it seems that they were characters Fuji TV created for advertising.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

Yep this is it.

SMB2 is the perfect balance between accessibility and full of secrets and tricks. Your Zelda IIs and Battle of Olympuses are impenetrable to parents or very young kids. But Mario 2's non-linearity, secret doors and branching pathways were the perfect gateway to broader adventure games.

Click to shrink...

And on top of that stuff, a lot of girls and women liked having a playable female character option.

 

[Lindsay]

I didn't like it at all. It looks weird and plays weird and isn't Mario. But it was one of the games we had back then so I played it alot anyway for lack of variety. Would unquestionably put actual Mario 2 over it any day.

 

[xir]

8 (?) year old me got it, was surprised at how different it was, remember getting stuck in the first room, not knowing to press up on the red door, or that it was even a door.

Found the warp zones all by myself loved it, hated Luigi, was 80% toad for fast pickup and a bit of Peach, think on time i beat it I had mario for one level, not sure why and zero luigi, unless is hter one level where his high jump essential?

loved Mouser. Loved the falcon doors. As someone who read the manual, I lvoe it gives gentle hints (even if its obvious) on how to defeat Wart.

Spaceship and Whales were really cool. Replayed it a bit maybe ......6 eyars ago? Level design is really smart.

I remember Nintendo Power saying how every level had the little jump from log to log moments, but they look different. Budding interest n level design from that, er or maybe just getting nintendo power with its screenshots maps.

 

[Deleted member 5127]

I love it and definitely prefer it over the first game at least. I wish they'd do something more with this gameplay, they could give this gameplay to Peach for her own game, and focus on her floating ability more.

 

[nopattern]

I loooove Mario 2. It's so bizarre and different then most other entries even today. I loved how you could play different characters, each with their own strengths

 

[FrakEarth]

I always loved the end credits... both NES and SNES versions

Also, while trying to find those images, I have just discovered that someone has made a MLP version - Pony Poki Panic

 

[ascii42]

I had SMB1 and 3 for NES as a kid. Oddly never played SMB2 until GBA. I think I beat it on that, but I don't remember.

 

[JaseMath]

First NES game I beat on my own. Holds a very special place in my heart.

 

[Kasey]

I played Mario 1 and 3 first so 2 felt like it was breaking core Mario rules. I still haven't played past level 2 despite not thinking it's a bad game or anything. Would just rather play other Mario games.

 

[mopinks]

fantastic game, even though it's FAKE MARIO

 

[Damaniel]

It was - and is - a good game. I actually liked it more than SMB3, but I know that puts me in the minority.

I didn't know its origin at the time, mainly because my only exposure to games media was Nintendo Power - so 9 year old me had very little idea about what was even being made exclusively in Japan and how SMB2 came to be. All I know is that it didn't 'feel' like a Mario game, but I still loved it.

 

[BigTime_2018]

It's fun, but there's no way I would've been able to beat it without the rewind feature. Not even suspend points alone would've been enough.

 

[Murlin]

It's a great game. I kinda wish it hadn't been turned into Mario, cause otherwise it could have been another one of Nintendo's big franchises.

Click to shrink...

The playable characters of Doki Doki Panic are owned by Fuji TV as far as I can tell.

 

[DIE BART DIE]

It is the black sheep of the NES Mario games, but like Zelda 2, it is a very good game in its own right. As is the case with Zelda 2, its impact can be felt in later entries and I'm glad it exists.

 

[ced]

I have really weird memories of it, that's about all I can say.

 

[Kurekure Takora]

While far from my favorite Mario game, it was a huge part of my childhood. It was the first game I beat and had the first game music I could recall as "emotional" (The Ending). Games like Metroid and especially Final Fantasy were too intimidating at that age, so Mario 2 provided plenty of time for exposure to the slower paced, explorational gameplay which would become so important as the years passed. I even watched the cartoon largely based off Mario 2 and had the sticker album.

I remember renting the game at first, and getting stuck on the second stage, not yet knowing you could give Pidgit the boot and take his flying carpet, heh.

The Japanese commercial with the Birdo is nuts too!

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

Picture it: Australia, late 1980s/early 1990s.

You're dealing with a very isolated country with less than 20 million people. If you're going to try and sell a console, you're competing with the most beautiful beaches in the world, virgin forests the size of European countries, a thriving pub rock scene and a golden age of cinema. When you're a kid in this environment, you're at the mercy of whatever hodgepodge of games your local store happens to have in stock. There was no internet. How was I, as a small child, to know there was MORE F$#@ING MARIO GAMES?!?

So after learning of Mario 2 at a friend's house, my mum bought it for me for my birthday. I absolutely loved it. I chose it over SMB3 and I had no regrets. I adored it, and still do. It's the first game I ever finished. The art style, multiple characters, unique aesthetic, the ending cut scene and new mechanics were a breath of fresh air, and very ahead of their time. Having a playable female character was a pretty big deal too, and she was my favourite for that sick hover mechanic. While I now think SMB3 is the better game, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for SMB2. I cannot wait for my daughter to be old enough to play this game.

 

[UltimateHigh]

it was actually my favorite as a kid (mario 3 nowadays), we rented it a lot for nes and then finally owned it through snes all stars.

its still fantastic.

 

[Kernal 64]

Exactly. I find myself closing my eyes real hard sometimes in hope that I'll be back in my old room. I'll be going to elementary again. Drinking those chocolate milk cartons...ugh. I have fond memories of getting the original GBA with Mario 2 as well. Agreed with Phanto. Fuck that. I didn't like those cobrats either. Bastards.

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This may sound nuts, but I haven't thought about chocolate milk in forever, let alone those little school lunch milk cartons. It was always a treat getting those. Tomorrow, I'm going to get some chocolate syrup or something and make myself some chocolate milk! Ah, nostalgia. It's a hell of a drug, lol.

Those damn Cobrats! What a pain they were. That said, these days I kinda wish we'd see them come back in another game. There were a few enemies I'd like to see return. Pidgets and their carpets, Autobombs (those cannons on wheels Shyguys would ride around on sometimes), Triclyde, Flurries, and everyone's favorite neglected mouse, Mouser. I doubt it'll ever happen though.

 

[Crayon]

First game I ever beat. I used the guide in Nintendo power.

 

[super etrian odyssey]

It's fun, but there's no way I would've been able to beat it without the rewind feature. Not even suspend points alone would've been enough.

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are you sure you're talking about the right smb2

 

[Rodney McKay]

First GBA game and I remember really liking it.
Before that I remember playing it a bit at daycare before going to elementary school around kindergarten or 1st grade.

Did the game ever let you know where to throw the potions to get the doors? I don't even remember what was in them, but I do remember always using a guide to figure out where they were.

I think the GBA version had a lot of extra stuff to unlock artwork I think, like finding a Yoshi egg or red coins, but maybe I'm confusing that with Super Mario DX on Gameboy Color (my first time playing through SMB1 and the Japanese SMB2 (at least I think that's what the hard mode of that game was, it had the poison mushroom and was stupid hard, but I beat it!)

 

[BasilZero]

Hated it when I was younger but I started liking it later on.

Its enjoyable , not as fantastic/legendary as say Super Mario Bros 3 or Super Mario World but still a good game.

 

[Meatwad]

Congrats it's among my favorite of the Mario series. I remember I got this game in 1990 shortly after I got my NES. Having already fallen in love with Super Mario Bros which was the pack in game I was on the lookout for Super Mario Bros 3. Unfortunately, SMB 3 was brand new at the time and full price and my dad did not want to pay full price for a new NES game and asked me to pick out something cheaper. Well SMB2 was right there and it was cheaper and so I settled for it. Best decision of my life because it became an instant favorite and I might have skipped it entirely if I managed to get SMB 3 like I wanted.

 

[BigTime_2018]

are you sure you're talking about the right smb2

Click to shrink...

Game's hard man.

I know we got the version we got because the original was too difficult, but the version we got was still very difficult!

 

[Deleted member 59109]

I can't get into it, I always end up losing interest pretty early

 

[super etrian odyssey]

Game's hard man.

I know we got the version we got because the original was too difficult, but the version we got was still very difficult!

Click to shrink...

haha, it's all good. just making sure! i guess i can get it — especially levels with flying enemies

 

[BigTime_2018]

haha, it's all good. just making sure! i guess i can get it — especially levels with flying enemies

Click to shrink...

I recently played through it for the first time. Honestly wasn't expecting to struggle with it as much I did haha. SMB3 is much easier in my book.

 

[arcadepc]

Being completely new to the later worlds, I was so surprised when I stumbled on the warp from World 5 to World 7. I felt like a kid finding a new secret in that moment lol.

Also Toad sucks in this game lol. Luigi 4eva

Click to shrink...

If you want to get more extra coins and lifes, Toad is the best.

 

[Deleted member 46804]

The best 2D Mario.

 

[RedOnePunch]

As a kid I played SMB because it was one of the few games I owned but I didn't like it much. SMB 2 was great through. My grandmother bought it for us for Christmas and I played it a lot and beat it. I got good at the slot machines too. It's a great game.

SMB 2, Legend of Zelda, and Mike Tyson's Punchout are the three games I really enjoyed playing.

 

[PuppetMinion]

Share your secrets lol. I was terrible at the slots and felt like there had to be some way to rig it.

Click to shrink...

lol, yeah pretty sure we were deluding ourselves into thinking it worked.

 

[Forkball]

Never played it until Super Mario Advance. It's fun but very un-Mario of course. It had some tremendous contributions, such as differentiating the characters and classic enemies such as Shy Guy and Ninji. I would rank it below the original SMB and SMB3. It's certainly better than the real SMB 2.

 

[onpoint]

It's among my favorites. Just a really unique adventure with its own flavor especially when compared to the original SMB and SMB3 retroactively. 8 year old me LOVED looking for warp zones in the shadow world -- the world felt so alien and strange so the possibilities seemed endless.