Slashdot Mirror
Reviewing the Real Super Mario Brothers 2
An anonymous reader writes "When Mario Brothers 2 for the NES came out in the U.S. in 1988, many people were surprised at how different than the original Mario Brothers it was. The second Mario Brothers title that U.S. audiences know was never designed to be a Mario title at all. Instead, it's a game called Doki Doki Panic that's been modified with Mario sprites. Here's a review of the original Super Mario Brothers 2 as designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and released only in Japan. Nintendo felt that the poison mushrooms, blowing wind, and warps that took you backwards made it too difficult for North American audiences."
I think most of us knew this ages ago. The "real" Super Mario Bros. 2 has been available in collections since the SNES era.
Yeah...this was news in 1988. It's been pretty widely known for a very long time. Good job, Slashdot -- way to keep up on the times.
He basically reviews a really old game that wasn't released in the US initially, but did find its way into super mario all stars (what was it, 10 years ago?)with updated graphics. Why review the original is beyond me unless you really wanted to see if Nintendo made any gameplay differences(the author never talks about the differences, if they exist)
Monstar L
the same reason that geeks look at porn...
As mentioned at the end of TFA, a SNES reworking of the real SMB2 came out on the Super Mario All Stars cartridge as the Lost Levels. Also, hunting down a copy of the Doki Doki Panic ROM for NES emus is worth the time. It's kind of bizarre playing that game again without the cast of Mario characters.
This guy's the limit!
I've always found it odd that even though the US SMB2 wasn't considered canon, some parts of it have managed to make their way into the real Mario world anyway, Birdo, Shyguys, the fact that Luigi can jump higher than Mario, Princess Peach floating...
...was Ric Romero laughing his ass off, for a change.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
"Super Mario All-Stars" for the SNES contains this game, retitled "The Lost Levels." The Japanese version of All-Stars, called "Super Mario Collection," contains this game as "Super Mario Bros. 2" and the American Mario 2 as "Super Mario USA."
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
The Mushroom Kingdom is the best site I've seen for the Marioverse... they have a very good Doki Doki and SMB2 comparison.
Nintendo had a few oddball "2"s... I'm one of those oddball gamers who preders Legend of Zelda 2 to the original, I really dig SMB2 (it was the first game that made me think 'wow, THIS is a VIDEOGAME???', it looked that good).... and the way that Starfox 2 was never released is a serious tragedy, it really was poised to take the series in some interesting directions, N64 is just pedestrian eye-candy in comparison...
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
I do have to agree... is there ANYONE who reads not just slashdot, but a games-specific section of slashdot, who DOESN'T know about SMB2?
I've gotcher 'Women In Gaming' RIGHT HERE!
Sadly, Slashdot is losing what once made it cutting edge.
I didn't, but then again I don't play games.
Super Mario All-Stars (SNES) has an updated version with a graphical facelift (game titled "Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels"), and even as an unlockable in Super Mario Bros. DX for the Game Boy Color.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see it re-appear (the original NES version) on the Nintendo Revolution via its Virtual Console once it launches. We may very well get to see an official launch of the NES original (hopefully).
I don't recall seeing Birdo in any of the later SMB games (though I have never owned a Nintendo portable, so can't speak to any gameboy mario games). Bob-ombs first appeared in SMB2, and have definitely been a mainstay of the series since. They were even in SMB3, if I recall correctly.
The enemies of Democracy are
I'm surprised THIS is newsworthy, while an updated version of "Out of this World" isn't.
Huh? Slashdot covered the Out of this World remake.
Me. I didn't really start gaming until SNES.
I remember when Super Mario 2 was released and I rushed home to play it. At first I was like, "What the fuck?", but the game grows on you. It was cool to be able to play as different characters with their different abilities. I also enjoyed the change in gameplay and level design and it was nice to see different backgrounds from the ubiquitous black in Super Mario.
I have the All Stars cartridge and have played the "Lost Levels". Some of them are pretty hard (and I really didn't get past the first few), but I think overall the US version of SMB 2 was needed to push the series into new territory.
Ah... I quickly scanned the section main page when I should've done a search... -1: D'oh
Insert Sig Here
I never, even back when it was comming out, understood the rabid popularity of Super Mario Bros. I thought it was cute, but never any comparison with Metroid and other games on the NES.
SMB is one of those games that has me seriously wondering if, while I may personally be a fan of ultra-violent games, it may be easier for a more neutral game... something safe, secure, and guiltily cute... might always have a better chance of achieving lasting fame.
Think about the most "famous" games of the past few decades. It seems with few exceptions that it's only recently that violent games have become the dominant ones, and I'd bet much of that is due to the publishers, not the audience. Mature gamers automatically are drawn to mature subjects, but it seems that immature games have usually had the longest run.
Do not confuse "Freedom of Choice" with "Free Will".
The only reason Mario ended up with a mustache was because programmers needed some sort of feature to show that he had a mouth.
Can someone explain to me why a game released in Japan was thought to be "too difficult" for players in the U.S.? Are we American's just wimps when it comes to video games? Are the Japanese really that superior to us in the arena of manipulating a pixelated plumber?
Super Mario 3 Clone for Windows (should work with Wine too).
Like Ebaums World? You'll love Shizzville
It may not be bleeding edge news, but original NES titles like this are worth talking about and appreciating. Shigeru Miyamoto is, IMO, one of the most brilliant game designers ever... obviously, right? I don't remember where I read/heard this, but one of his game design "virtues" is eliminating everything between the player and the game; i.e., there's no controller in your hand, no TV, no console... just you and a game. Some games today do this well; with such sophisticated 3D graphics and surround sound, it seems like it should be easy. But the NES has only a few colors and rinky-dink sound, it's hardly accurate in any regard (simulation or otherwise). But Miyamoto and Nintendo accomplished this virtue amazingly well; they still do as far as I'm concerned. And no, I'm not a Nintendo fanboy, the last Nintendo product I bought was a SNES.
;) Even without an article at all, old game history like this is a lot of fun to talk about, IMO. If you don't think it's interesting, or you already know everything there is to know about classic video games, you don't have to read the article or post a reply.
Nintendo in and of itself isn't like any other game company, and I think they're particularly interesting. They're over 100 years old... have been in everything from playing cards, to a taxi service at one point, and minute rice... and are still one of the big three game console manufacturers (the oldest one that remained successful, I might add). To rant a little... this is why when people talk about "gee, Nintendo's all washed up, Sony and MS have way better hardware", you've got to be kidding me - they're not going anywhere! And hardware isn't everything; but "fun" is almost everything. Their game console might drop in and out of popularity, or the state of the art; but it's not like MS is going to come out with the Xbox 720 and Nintendo will just fold up and go home.
(to rant a little more
Hooray for fun games and game history!
however all the text is in English, and of course gba games are region free, so you can still have a chance to play it in (close to) the original format if you can find an import copy.
Monstar L
I remember playing it on the NES on one of those 'illegal' chinese cartridges containing all marios. This mario was called Golden Mario or something though.
.... it was great :P
I also remember it being released on Mario All-stars a few years later. However, All-Stars had a 'save' function... playing the 'real' mario bros on the nes was far more difficult, thanks to the missing save function
The Dutch will inherit the earth. If not, we'll settle for a bit of ocean. Beta delenda est!
The article was /.ed for me. Does anyone have the article text?
In SMB2J for the Famicom Disk System, if you beat the game 8 times (8 gold stars on the title screen), hold A+Start at the title to start at World A-1. You can play up to D-4. Only the best of the best can clear these levels.
so you can still have a chance to play it in (close to) the original format if you can find an import copy.
Oy, just download FCE Ultra, an open source NES/Famicom emulator, and play the actual original, as well as the original Doki Doki Panic.
You'll need to find the ROMs, of course (no, I don't have them - Why keep an illegal copy around when it only takes about 30 seconds to find and download any game ever created?), but that shouldn't present much pf a problem.
While the Japanese SMB2 had some interesting new features -- wind/weather, bad powerups -- it lacked the whimsy and mystery that SMB2 provided. It was really just more of the same.
That being said, I know of lots of people who would've loved to have "more of the same". I knew people that played SMB1 inside and out and would've definately bought the Japanese version had it been available. I think *both* versions should've been sold here.
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
I remember the first time I turned on the US version of SMB2 and thinking..."Wait, did I rent the right game here?"
I liked the music, but was disappointed that it didn't play like SMB1, the new look were awesome for the time and were enough to keep me interested through the rental period, but once I took it back I never looked back.
I still hum the music to this day, however.
It was just too different for me I guess, never considered it a real Mario game even then, and years later (well, when the story broke like 10 years ago) now I know why. It wasn't the real SMB2! I knew something was fishy, even as a punk kid.
Would the real SMB2 been too hard for me? At the time, I can say yes. I had enough trouble timing the jumps in SMB1 without wind and rain helping me out! Then again, I was about 18 years under it's Japanese target audience...
-Buddy of DoQ
While historically the japanese version was the "real" SMB2, the US version had IMHO much more impact on the Mario series as a whole, plenty of enemies got taken over to the main series and some charakter behaviour as well, while with the japanese version there is pretty much nothing left. The insane difficulty hasn't been seen in other Marios, neither have the evil-bonuses. In the end SMB2(jp) really was more like a Add-On to SMB then a fully new part, so while SMB2(us) might have its faults, I am very happy that Nintendo did create it instead of just releasing SMB2(jp).
Since my NES died a long time ago, and I never could find my files for NESTicle, I eventually took up SuperTux (http://supertux.berlios.de/wiki/index.php/Main_Pa ge) as a substitute. I wonder if now we'll be treated to a SuperTux 2.
OTOH, I've heard that there's a new Nintento coming out - N64? SNES?
The Kai's Semi-Updated Website Thingy
I had no idea. I was just playing SMB2 on my original NES last night. There's a PS2 and an XBox in my house, and I'll take my old NES over either of them 9 times out of 10. I'd never heard of this about SMB2. But then, I'm not really a geek. I just enjoy a good video game here and there.
"I have never won a debate with an ignorant person." -Ali ibn Abi Talib
Oh wow I would never have had that Idea.....
Some people just prefer to have a game they bought on an official cartridge, and played comfortably on a console.
Try sites like Console Classix.
They offer NES emulation for free, and other consoles (e.g. SNES) for a fee.
It's also legal, so they can (and have) told the IDSA to piss up a rope, because they only let people emulate games they actually have in stock, acting like an online game rental place.
Some people just prefer to have a game they bought on an official cartridge
... [ca-chick] ... [ca-chick] ... [blow blow blow] ... [ca-chick] ... [ca-chick] ... [blow blow blow] ... [wipe wipe wipe] ... [ca-chick] ... [ca-chick] ... [blow blow blow] ... [slam slam slam] ... [wipe wipe wipe] ... [ca-chick] ... ... [ca-chick] ... [ca-chick][ca-chick][ca-chicka-chicka-chicka]
I own a LOT of actual NES cartridges. But y'know, they just never released the "real" SMB2 in the US, and even if they had, you can't buy them new anymore anyway. So about 10 years too late to go out and buy a cartridge, in another country, in a language I don't know.
and played comfortably on a console.
[scrrrrrrrch]
"Grrr"
[scrrrrch]
"Grrrrrrr!"
[gachunk]
"Goddamn piece of"
[GCHK]
[ca-chick]
[resignedly] "Fuck it." [Fires up emulator]
Yeah. Played comfortably on the original hardware. What-ever!
I have three real NES consoles, two originals and one mini, and I'll still download a game I own to play it before I'll fight with one of them to make a game work.
An anonymous dipshit who started visiting Slashdot after the OMG Ponies!!1! episode writes "When Penguin-Kun Wars came out at the arcades in 1985, many people were perplexed and vaguely disoriented at how different than "normal" table tennis it was. This game was never designed to be a table tennis title at all. Instead, it's actually a game loosely based on table tennis, in that there's a table, and two players, one at either side of the table. Hey, finding enough stories to keep all you oldskool First Posters busy is hard! Here's a review of the original Pong as designed by Nolan Bushnell. UPL Company Limited felt that the blocky graphics and 'outdated mechanics' made it too primitive for audiences of the futuristic, progressive-thinking mid-1980s."l
http://rr.cheats.ign.com/rr/009096/005/005100.htm
Am I the only person who genuinely misses seeing a bunch of crap copy-and-paste FPs at the beginning of every article? Looks like the latest batch of banal, clueless editors finally alienated the one thing that gave visiting Slashdot some sense of tradition.
I'm just waiting for the next idiot clueless Zork copy/paste - for instance, one that reads "PowerPlay seems to be a promising step forward for internet gaming - apparently it will make your modem feel like a LAN party!?" or maybe one about how "the Playstation 2's 'Emotion Engine' will hopefully allow programmers the ability to enhance AI with human-like traits".
Duke Nukem should do this instead of making their own game. Just take half life 2, and swap out the dialogue and a few face textures, and wala.
Wrong. They're built around strong stories and strong actors. Violence is part of the story, which makes these movies unsuitable for children, but violence does not automatically make a movie "mature".
If you want a movie built almost entirely around violence, watch "Final Destination", or maybe "House of the Dead". Very mature movies, eh?
But y'know, they just never released the "real" SMB2 in the US, and even if they had, you can't buy them new anymore anyway. So about 10 years too late to go out and buy a cartridge, in another country, in a language I don't know
... [ca-chick] ... [ca-chick] ... [blow blow blow] ... [ca-chick] ... [ca-chick] ... [blow blow blow] ... [wipe wipe wipe] ... [ca-chick] ... [ca-chick] ... [blow blow blow] ... [slam slam slam] ... [wipe wipe wipe] ... [ca-chick] ... ... [ca-chick] ... [ca-chick][ca-chick][ca-chicka-chicka-chicka]
Which is why the original poster suggested ordering the GBA classic version from Japan. They're still sold, can be ordered online, but I suppose the overly complicated text heavy game would give you so much trouble (it isn't any different on an emulator)
[scrrrrrrrch]
"Grrr"
[scrrrrch]
"Grrrrrrr!"
[gachunk]
"Goddamn piece of"
[GCHK]
[ca-chick]
[resignedly] "Fuck it." [Fires up emulator]
Played much GBA?
I wasn't trying to accuse you of anything, I just felt that your overly hasty and obvious recommendation was a bit superfluous.
The original poster was recommending a GBA Version I didn't know existed.
Played much GBA?
Actually, I meant that to refer to the original NES.
And I do apologize, I didn't mean to come off so caustically - I meant that very tongue-in-cheek.
I do, however, still assert that a GBA (or the older SNES) remake doesn't replace the experience of playing the original... Better than nothing, but it tends to give a very rosey tint to the memory of playing it.
For example, I've played both SMB2(E) and DDP, and SMB2 looks SO much more well-done. I've also played the "real" SMB2(J), and while it has a few features not found in SMB1, the SNES combo calling it "lost levels" seems more appropriate than calling it a proper sequel to the original - It has almost the exact same gameplay, level patterns (flag,flag,flag,castle, repeat), even the same (or at least VERY similar) sprites.
Playing the SNES version, you'd think they made SMB2(J) after SMB3, with a deliberately "retro" look. I haven't played the GBA version, but expect it has the same enhancements. Now, I have no problem with enhancing a classic game - For example, when I played Final Fantasy II (J, not II(E)==IV(J)), I chose to go with the PSX remake. But I have most certainly tried out both the proto and the Demiforce translation from the Japanese to see what it felt like on the original NES.
Watch the Farscape episode, "Thank God It's Friday, Again." Am I the only one thinking that the episode holds more than a cursory resemblence to Super Mario 2?
Well, if you define "mature" as "not suitable for children", then I could agree with that. But then you're making a statement on children (children can't play mature games). However, the orignal quote did the opposite: It made a statement on adults (adults want to play mature games). You said "Mature gamers automatically are drawn to mature subjects", which is absolutely not how you defined "mature" just now.
The first definition ("children can't play mature games") I can agree with. The second ("adults want to play mature games") I can't.