Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

Super Mario Bros. 2 (also named Super Mario Bros. 2: For Super Players), as it is known in Japan, is a Mario game that closely resembles the original Super Mario Bros. It is now known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and is not to be confused with the European and American Super Mario Bros. 2.

This game was released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System as Super Mario Bros. 2. It uses Super Mario Bros.'s engine with different levels and minor new features – for instance, its graphics were changed. Nintendo of America deemed this game too challenging and too much like the original to sell well in Europe and America, so it adapted an unpopular Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic, editing its sprites to turn it into a Mario game, released as Super Mario Bros. 2 in the western world.

The first time the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in Europe and America was its remake in Super Mario All-Stars for the Super Nintendo. Here it was named Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, as this sequel had beforehand been "lost" to western audiences.

Differences and Additional Features
Although the mechanics in The Lost Levels adhere closely to those of Super Mario Bros., it did feature some significant changes and additions.


 * The background graphics are different.
 * Poison Mushrooms are introduced. Eating one is equivalent to colliding with an enemy, except the mushroom also disappears.
 * Bloopers can float above water. They behave normally, but may be stomped for 1000 points.
 * Koopa Troopas are found in the water in some levels (such as World 3-1). They walk more slowly than usual and cannot be defeated without a fire flower or starman.
 * Red Piranha Plants are introduced in World 4-1 and replace their green brethren thereafter. Red plants pull in and out of their pipe more frequently and do not yield, as green ones do, if Mario or Luigi stands next to their pipe. They hide, however, if Mario or Luigi stands atop their pipe.
 * Piranha Plants of either color may be found in upside-down pipes. They attack and retract more frequently than normal, and continue to attack even if the player stands directly under their pipe.
 * Some Hammer Bros. behave differently from normal. They continuously walk forward, throwing Hammers. They occasionally jump. If Mario passed them, they turn around and stop walking, but continue to jump and throw hammers.
 * Green Jumping Boards are introduced. They bounce Mario or Luigi so high he disappears from view for about ten seconds.
 * A strong wind blows in certain parts of some levels. It blows the player forward, enabling longer jumps but making it difficult to space them.
 * A "fake" Bowser is found in the corridors of two castles. He has darker coloration and does not stand on a bridge over lava. The player does not need to defeat this Bowser, but merely needs to run past him. In the Super Mario All-Stars version, encountering this enemy cues music that's not heard anywhere else in the game.
 * Vines sometimes lead to a Warp Zone or to the Flagpole as well as Coin Heavens.
 * Some Warp Zones will warp Mario to a previous world.
 * There is no two-player mode. The player can instead be Mario or Luigi. Mario controls as in Super Mario Bros. Luigi jumps 1 block higher than Mario but has significantly worse traction.
 * Sometimes, Luigi can jump over the flagpole, which often leads to a Warp Zone.
 * If the player beats the game eight consecutive times, he or she continues to Worlds A through D. These levels may be accessed after just one successful play-through in the Super Mario All-Stars re-release and were removed from the Super Mario Bros. Deluxe remake.
 * If the player beats the game without warping, he or she continues to World 9. World 9 features underwater levels with almost every character in the game as well as an underwater flagpole and castle. These levels were removed from the Super Mario Bros. Deluxe remake.

Reception in America
The Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 was intended to be a game for expert gamers that had mastered the original SMB and were looking for a new challenge. At the time video game sequels were still something of a new idea, and today a sequel is not always presumed to offer greater challenge than the original game it follows.

In the book Game Over by David Sheff the author quotes then-Nintendo of America CEO Howard Lincoln relating his considerable frustration over SMB2, describing it as an irritatingly challenging game with many "cheap" gimmicks that add excessive difficulty (such as changing winds that can easily ruin precise jumps). Believing the game would not sell well in America due to this, the decision to ignore the original SMB2 in favor of a new, special American SMB2 based on the considerably simpler Famicom game Doki Doki Panic was made.

All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.
This game, another Super Mario Bros. remake, used many graphics from Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

Super Mario All-Stars
The Super Mario All-Stars version of this game had a few differences from the original. Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels did not have the same graphics as each other to begin with. For instance, the ground is covered by blocks in most of the levels of the original, whereas in the Lost Levels, the ground is mainly covered by dirt. In Super Mario All-Stars, the graphics of all the games were improved, and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was made to look exactly the same as the graphically-improved version of Super Mario Bros. released on the same cartridge.

Also, the game could be saved anytime. Unlike the Super Mario Bros. on the same cartridge, the game would remember the exact level the player was on, and not just the world. This was possibly because this game was much harder than the original.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe was a remake on the Game Boy Color of Super Mario Bros. If a player gets on the high score table with 300,000 points or more, a Luigi head appears on the main menu. Players may select the Luigi head to play The Lost Levels under the name of Super Mario Bros. for Super Players.

In this game, as in the Super Mario All-Stars version, the player may save and resume at any level. However, most changes removed features from the original release. This remake removes the graphical changes from The Lost Levels and thus looks just like Super Mario Bros. Additionally, Luigi's higher jump and lower traction, the wind, and Worlds A through D were removed. As a result of the lack of wind, some levels are modified to make the jumps possible.

Famicom Mini: Super Mario Bros. 2
Released in Japan only, this is an exact duplicate for the Game Boy Advance of the original game.

Virtual Console
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was also released on the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on May 1, 2007. To celebrate the Japanese Hanabi Festival, it was also released in Europe and Australia on September 14, 2007, alongside with Mario's Super Picross and Neutopia II. Unlike other games, however, it was removed from the Wii Shop Channel on October 1, 2007, before being re-added permanently on August 22, 2008. The game was released on the Virtual Console in North America on October 1, 2007. Outside Japan, it costs 100 Wii Points more as usual for imported games.

This is the first time the original version of the game was released outside of Japan.

Wii Shop Description
''Originally released in Japan as Super Mario Bros.® 2, this game has previously made only brief cameo appearances in the Western hemisphere. Now available on the Virtual Console in all of its original splendor, Mario fans will appreciate the familiar look and feel of the game, while finding that its updated game play creates an entirely new challenge. No longer content just to wear different-colored overalls, Mario and Luigi also possess different skill sets (Mario can stop quicker, while Luigi can jump higher). In addition to the classic enemies already known to fans worldwide, there are also Poison Mushrooms, backward Warp Zones, and the occasional wind gust (which can help or hinder your progress) to take into account. And if that's somehow not enough, expert players can go looking for the game's secret worlds. So get ready to put your Mario skills to the ultimate test, and save the Princess again. Just don't be surprised if she's in another castle!''

Trivia

 * In Worlds 3-1 and 3-2, it is possible to jump over the flagpole by jumping on a trampoline and hitting invisible blocks, respectively. In World 3-1, jumping over the flagpole will take the player to a backwards warp zone to World 1.  In World 3-2, when the player is on the other side of the flag, they can finish the level by simply touching the flag, the same way as normal.

References to Other Games

 * Super Mario Bros.- A direct sequel to this game, with even the same sprites being used.