Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (named Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan, and more recently Super Mario Bros. 2: For Super Players), is a Mario game which closely resembles its predecessor, Super Mario Bros. and is not to be confused with the European and American Super Mario Bros. 2.

Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in 1986 for the Famicom Disk System to Japan only. It uses a slightly altered Super Mario Bros. ' s engine, with different levels and new features including altered graphics and new enemy behavior. Nintendo of America originally deemed this game too challenging and too much like the original to sell well in western countries, so it adapted a popular Japanese game called Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and released it in those parts as Super Mario Bros. 2.

The first time this game was released in Europe and America (and Australia) was its remake in Super Mario All-Stars. Here it was named Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels with text under the box title reading For Super Players. Unlike in all the other games included though the game lets players save the level of the world they are on.

Story
After Mario and Luigi saved Princess Toadstool, the Mushroom Retainers and the Mushroom Kingdom from the evil King Koopa's evil spell, Bowser kidnaps her with the Mushroom Retainers and invades the Mushroom Kingdom again. This time, Mario and Luigi have to travel in many different and dangerous worlds of the kingdom to rescue the princess and the inhabitants from the False Bowsers. Though the lands seem very familiar to Mario and Luigi, they are much more dangerous and inhabited by more enemies than they had ever experienced before. Despite that, the Mario Bros. go through the nine new lands of the Mushroom Kingdom, fighting the Koopa Troop and False Bowsers in each castles when freeing the mushroom retainers until they reach the real Bowser and Princess Toadstool. After that, they defeat him and rescue the fair princess once more.

Gameplay
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is divided into thirteen new worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom, which each have four levels like in its predecessor. Mario and Luigi have to get to the end of the level by jumping over various gaps and avoiding or defeating the members of the Koopa Troop on their way. The Mario Bros. can use several platforms (some of them collapse when Mario lands on them), stairs in the level, as well as Jumping Boards. There are also Warp Pipes along the way, some of which Mario can enter to visit various secret coin rooms before returning to the level, a bit further ahead than when he left. At the end of each level, a castle stands with a flagpole nearby. When Mario reaches the flagpole, he takes down Bowser's flag and enters the castle, completing the level. The higher the spot that Mario hits the flagpole, the more points he receives.

Unlike Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels doesn't have two-player mode in the game. Mario or Luigi has to be played alone. Mario retains the same abilities as Super Mario Bros., but Luigi returns with the ability to jump higher than Mario can. Fortunately, Luigi's high jump capability is available in the USA version of Super Mario Bros. 2 and other Mario games, except Super Mario Bros. 3, although his high jump was later included in its Game Boy Advance remake, Super Mario Advance 4.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels includes the same enemies from Super Mario Bros., Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Buzzy Beetles, Koopa Paratroopas, Bullet Bills, Hammer Bros., and jumping Cheep-Cheeps. However, all of Bowser's Koopa Troop have improved to be harder to deal with after their first invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom. All these enemies can be defeated when Mario jumps on them once, except for Koopa Troopas and Buzzy Beetles, which now run faster than in Super Mario Bros. and cover in their shell when jumped on, which Mario can kick to defeat other enemies, hit blocks or Brick Blocks with. Koopa Paratroopas also lose their wings and fall to the ground when Mario or Luigi jumps on them. Other enemies include Piranha Plants (including new red Piranha Plants, which are now the most common in the Mario series) found in pipes, the Spiny-throwing Lakitus and the Hammer Bros., and Mario has to either shoot fireballs at them or just avoid them. There are a few levels which take place underwater. In the water, Mario can swim freely from the top to the bottom of the screen. The enemies in underwater levels are Bloobers, Cheep-Cheeps with the included Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Buzzy Beetles, Koopa Paratroopas, Hammer Bros., Podoboos, Firebars and Piranha Plants, Mario can only defeat these creatures by shooting them with fireballs. In some levels, Bloopers are found floating in the air.

Mario or Luigi can get special power-ups out of ? Blocks or, uncommonly, Brick Blocks. Most of the ? Blocks in which Mario can find these items are visible, but some are hidden and only become visible when Mario hits them from beneath. With the Super Mushroom, he turns into Super Mario. As Super Mario, he can survive the hit of an enemy one time, at the cost of turning back to Small Mario. He may also destroy empty Brick Blocks by jumping beneath them. Although the tricky opposite versions of the Super Mushroom, the new Poison Mushrooms, injure Mario or Luigi by simply touching one. Additionally, he can also get the Fire Flower. With the Fire Flower, Super Mario turns into Fire Mario, which allows him to shoot fireballs at enemies to defeat them from a distance. With the 1-Up Mushroom, he gains an additional life; he can also get an extra life if he collects 100 coins. With the rarest item of all, the Starman, which can only be found in Brick Blocks, Mario turns invincible for a short amount of time, and can defeat enemies by simply touching them.

If Small Mario takes a hit, falls down a pit, takes a Poison Mushroom or if the Time Limit runs out, he loses a life, and restarts the level. The point where Mario continues depends on how far he ran through the level before getting defeated; either from the beginning, or at one of several invisible "checkpoints" throughout the level.

The fourth level of each world plays inside a castle. They are usually filled with Firebars, and Podoboos. At the end of a castle level, Mario is confronted with a False Bowser in Worlds 1 - 7, A - C and the real Bowser in World 8 - 9, D. Mario ordinarily has no way to hurt a False Bowser or the real Bowser, and has to either use the Ax to destroy the bridge, causing either the false Bowser or the real Bowser to fall into the lava, or pelt Bowser with a number of fireballs, which produces the same result and reveals the true forms of the fakes.

After defeating a false Bowser, Mario frees several Toads from the castle, at which point they say their iconic sentence: "Thank you, Mario! But our princess is in another castle..." and Mario will go to the next world and save it as well from a False Bowser's invasion. At the end of the castle in World 8, Mario or Luigi frees the grateful Princess Toadstool and completes his adventure. Unfortunately, the Mario Bros.' adventure to save the kingdom and the princess is far from over. There are still False Bowsers and Koopa Troop soldiers left to defeat, including a second Bowser. Mario and Luigi have to go through the next new five lands of the Mushroom Kingdom and save the remaining Toads with the real Princess Toadstool by defeating the False Bowsers and the real Bowser once and for all. In the end, the Mario Bros. defeat all of the Koopa Troop, False Bowsers and Bowser, save the Mushroom Kingdom, all of the Mushroom Retainers and Princess Toadstool. Now their adventure is finally over.

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, block tiles, and ground tiles are different.
 * Super Mushroom sprites were altered to have eyes, a feature that has stuck with the franchise since.
 * The giant mushroom platforms (found in 4-3 and the 4-2 warp zone of Super Mario Bros.) were changed into clouds, and are also the level theme of World 8-3 and World A-3.
 * Invisible power-up blocks (Super Mushroom, Fire Flower) are a new feature. These were often put in places were the player would hit the block and make them an easy target.
 * Poison Mushrooms are introduced. Eating one is equivalent to colliding with an enemy, except the mushroom also disappears. They can be found in either Question blocks or Invisible blocks.
 * Bloopers can float above water and are pink. They behave normally, but may be stomped for 1000 points.
 * Koopa Troopas are found in the water in some levels (such as World 3-2). They walk more slowly than usual and cannot be defeated without a Fire Flower or Star.
 * 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 or below their pipe. They hide, however, if Mario or Luigi stands directly atop their pipe.
 * Upside down pipes, appearing first in World 5, were introduced.
 * Red Piranha Plants 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. They can also be found underwater.
 * Some non-castle levels feature the right path, wrong path system. They include World 5-3 and World 7-2.
 * In worlds 7 and 8, the Hammer Bros. behave differently from normal. They continuously walk forward, throwing Hammers. If Mario passed them, they'd turn around and stop walking, but continue to jump and throw hammers. In the SNES remake, this behavior also occurs in Worlds A-D. Hammer Bros. also sometimes appear underwater.
 * Lakitus sometimes appear underwater, along with Spinies. They'll also appear at lower altitudes in certain levels.
 * Green Trampolines are introduced, appearing in Worlds 2, 3, and 7. They bounce Mario/Luigi so high that he disappears from view for several 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 a darker coloration, and does not stand on a bridge over lava. The player does not need to defeat this Bowser, but merely need to run past him. In the Super Mario All-Stars version, encountering this enemy cues the SNES-exclusive boss music until finishing the level. These are just regular false Bowsers, but the palette changes are due to not being close to the axe. Unlike in Worlds 1-7 and Worlds A-C, these fake Bowsers don't change into generic enemies when defeated; they'll still look like the real Bowser.
 * 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.
 * A sound for Mario and Luigi's sliding was introduced.
 * There is no two-player mode. The player can instead be Mario or Luigi. Mario controls as in Super Mario Bros. Luigi jumps one block higher than Mario, but has significantly worse traction. This is also the case in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2.
 * A physics modification was added that enabled both Mario and Luigi to bounce significantly higher after they jumped on an enemy. If taken at the right trajectory, the player can soar off the screen.
 * Sometimes, Luigi can jump over the flagpole, which often leads to a Warp Zone.
 * The player can sometimes earn an extra life at flagpoles.
 * 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, like the lettered ones, were removed from the Super Mario Bros. Deluxe remake.
 * In the Super Mario All-Stars version, the player would get a positive or negative audio cue to indicate if they were going the right or wrong way in the mazes of World 3-4, 6-4, and 8-4. Making navigation slightly easier in those levels than in the FDS version.

Items
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels introduced some elements that made subsequent appearances in later Mario games:

Playable

 * Mario
 * Luigi

Supporting

 * Toad
 * Princess Toadstool
 * Mushroom Retainer

Enemies

 * Blooper
 * Bill Blaster
 * Bullet Bill
 * Buzzy Beetle
 * Cheep-Cheep
 * Firebar
 * Goomba
 * Hammer Bro.
 * Koopa Paratroopa
 * Koopa Troopa
 * Lakitu
 * Piranha Plant
 * Podoboo
 * Spiny
 * Spiny Egg

Bosses

 * False Bowser (Worlds 1 to 7, A to C,)
 * Bowser (World 8 to 9, World D)

Reception in America
The Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 was intended to be a game for expert gamers that had mastered the original Super Mario Bros. 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 Super Mario Bros. 2, 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 Super Mario Bros. 2 in favor of a new, special American SMB2 based on the considerably easier Famicom game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, was made.

''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. The sound was also enhanced.

Many levels that had snow in the original Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 did not have it in the Lost Levels edition, including 3-3, 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 8-1, C-3, D-1, D-2, and D-3. Snow was mysteriously introduced into C-1.

Also, the game could be saved at any time. 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 because this game was much harder than the original.

Players only had to beat the game once to reach worlds A through D.

In the secret section of World 1-2 (where the player would go to the pipe to World 4), the water pools were replaced by lava.

''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. Another change is the mysterious removal of all of the secret worlds, though they are all at least somewhat present within the game's coding.

''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 players to a backwards Warp Zone to World 1. In World 3-2, when the players are on the other side of the flag, they can finish the level by simply touching the flag, the same way as normal.