Super Mario Bros. 2
1988 · Platform · NES
Overview
Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988) is Nintendo's Western NES sequel, rebuilt from Doki Doki Panic: pluck vegetables and throw enemies as Mario, Luigi, Toad or Peach.
Deep Dive
Rather than release Japan's punishing Super Mario Bros. 2 abroad, Nintendo reworked Doki Doki Panic into a new Mario game set in the dream world of Subcon. Before each level players pick one of four heroes — Luigi jumps highest, Peach can float, Toad digs and carries fastest, Mario is balanced — and defeat enemies by pulling up vegetables and throwing them, or by lifting enemies themselves. The villain is Wart, and the ending reveals it was all Mario's dream. It was later released in Japan as Super Mario USA.
Developer Story
Super Mario Bros. 2 (Western version) was developed by Nintendo EAD in 1988. The Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 was considered too difficult for Western markets, so Nintendo reworked Doki Doki Panic — a licensed Fuji TV game — with Mario characters. The result was a game structurally unlike any other Mario game: four distinct characters with different abilities, no Koopa Troopas, and a dream-world framing device.
Did You Know?
- Super Mario Bros. 2 was originally a different game — Doki Doki Panic — with the characters reskinned as Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach.
- The four playable characters each moved differently: Luigi jumped highest, Peach could float, Toad ran fastest, Mario was balanced.
- Enemies were defeated by picking up and throwing objects rather than jumping on them — a complete departure from the Mario formula.
- The "it was all a dream" ending, where Mario wakes up and the adventure is revealed as a dream, became a beloved gaming cliché.
- The real Japanese sequel (Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels) was eventually released in the West as part of Super Mario All-Stars.
Sources & further reading
- Super Mario Bros. 2 — Wikipedia
