Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

{{Infobox
 * image=SMB TLL Boxart.PNG '''Japanese ost Levels)#Level Information|-4]]
 * Castle
 * Fire Bar, Koopa Troopa, Bowser Impostor (Imported as World 1-4 of Vs. Super Mario Bros.)
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #000000" | [[File:SMBDX_World_3.PNG]]
 * World 2-1
 * Overworld
 * Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant
 * World 2-2
 * Overworld
 * Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Goomba, Piranha Plant (Imported as World 3-2 of Vs. Super Mario Bros.)
 * World 2-3
 * Athletic
 * Cheep Cheep, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Blooper
 * World 2-4
 * Castle
 * Koopa Troopa, Goomba, Fire Bar, Lava Bubble, Bowser Impostor
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #000000" | [[File:SMBDX_World_2.PNG]]
 * World 3-1
 * Overworld
 * Hammer Brother, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Bullet Bill, Piranha Plant
 * World 3-2
 * Underwater
 * Blooper, Cheep Cheep, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa
 * World 3-3
 * Athletic
 * Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant
 * World 3-4
 * Castle
 * Fire Bar, Piranha Plant, Bowser Impostor
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #000000" | [[File:SMBDX_World_5.PNG]]
 * World 4-1
 * Overworld
 * Piranha Plant, Lakitu, Spiny
 * World 4-2
 * Overworld
 * Koopa Troopa, Piranha Plant, Buzzy Beetle, Lakitu, Spiny, Goomba
 * World 4-3
 * Athletic
 * Koopa Paratroopa, Bullet Bill (Imported as World 6-3 of Vs. Super Mario Bros.)
 * World 4-4
 * Castle
 * Fire Bar, Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Hammer Brother, Piranha Plant, Lava Bubble, Bowser Impostor
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #000000" | [[File:SMBDX_World_4.PNG]]
 * World 5-1
 * Overworld
 * Buzzy Beetle, Piranha Plant, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Goomba
 * World 5-2
 * Underground
 * Piranha Plant, Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Buzzy Beetle
 * World 5-3
 * Athletic
 * Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Bullet Bill, Blooper
 * World 5-4
 * Castle
 * Lava Bubble, Fire Bar, Bowser Impostor (Imported as World 6-4 of Vs. Super Mario Bros.)
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #000000" | [[File:SMBDX_World_7.PNG]]
 * World 6-1
 * Overworld
 * Piranha Plant, Buzzy Beetle, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Goomba, Bullet Bill, Hammer Brother
 * World 6-2
 * Underwater
 * Blooper, Cheep Cheep, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa (Imported as World 7-2 of Vs. Super Mario Bros.)
 * World 6-3
 * Athletic
 * Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Cheep Cheep (Imported as World 7-3 of Vs. Super Mario Bros.)
 * World 6-4
 * Castle
 * Lava Bubble, Fire Bar, Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother, Bowser Impostor
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #000000" | [[File:SMBDX_World_6.PNG]]
 * World 7-1
 * Overworld
 * Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother, Bullet Bill
 * World 7-2
 * Overworld
 * Blooper, Cheep Cheep, Piranha Plant
 * World 7-3
 * Athletic
 * Cheep Cheep, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa
 * World 7-4
 * Castle
 * Lava Bubble, Fire Bar, Bowser Impostor
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #000000" | [[File:SMBDX_World_8.PNG]]
 * World 8-1
 * Overworld
 * Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Buzzy Beetle
 * World 8-2
 * Overworld
 * Goomba, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Buzzy Beetle, Lakitu, Spiny, Bullet Bill
 * World 8-3
 * Athletic
 * Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Bullet Bill, Hammer Brother
 * World 8-4
 * Castle
 * Goomba, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Fire Bar, Lava Bubble, Buzzy Beetle, Hammer Brother, Blooper, Cheep Cheep, Bowser Impostor, Bowser
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #000000" | [[File:World 9-1Prev.PNG]]
 * World 9-1
 * Underwater
 * Piranha Plant, Koopa Paratroopa, Bullet Bill, Lakitu, Spiny, Hammer Brother, Blooper, Buzzy Beetle
 * World 9-2
 * Underwater
 * Piranha Plant, Lakitu, Spiny
 * World 9-3
 * Overworld
 * Bowser Impostor / Bowser (All-Stars)
 * World 9-4
 * Underwater
 * Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Buzzy Beetle, Koopa Paratroopa, Hammer Brother, Blooper, Lava Bubble
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #202020" | [[File:World A-1.PNG]]
 * World A-1
 * Overworld
 * Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother
 * World A-2
 * Underground
 * Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother, Bullet Bill
 * World A-3
 * Athletic
 * Cheep Cheep, Blooper, Koopa Paratroopa
 * World A-4
 * Castle
 * Fire Bar, Lava Bubble, Koopa Troopa, Bullet Bill, Bowser Impostor
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #202020" | [[File:World B-1.PNG]]
 * World B-1
 * Overworld
 * Buzzy Beetle, Koopa Troopa, Piranha Plant, Koopa Paratroopa
 * World B-2
 * Underwater
 * Blooper, Cheep Cheep, Koopa Paratroopa, Koopa Troopa, Fire Bar, Piranha Plant
 * World B-3
 * Athletic
 * Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Bullet Bill, Koopa Troopa
 * World B-4
 * Castle
 * Piranha Plant, Fire Bar, Bowser Impostor
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #202020" | [[File:World C-1.PNG]]
 * World C-1
 * Overworld
 * Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother, Buzzy Beetle
 * World C-2
 * Athletic
 * Koopa Paratroopa, Cheep Cheep, Blooper, Koopa Troopa, Bullet Bill
 * World C-3
 * Athletic
 * Lakitu, Spiny, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Fire Bar
 * World C-4
 * Castle
 * Fire Bar, Koopa Troopa, Buzzy Beetle, Lava Bubble, Bowser Impostor
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #202020" | [[File:World D-1.PNG]]
 * World D-1
 * Overworld
 * Hammer Brother, Koopa Paratroopa, Bullet Bill, Buzzy Beetle, Koopa Troopa, Piranha Plant
 * World D-2
 * Overworld
 * Koopa Troopa, Buzzy Beetle, Koopa Troopa, Piranha Plant, Bullet Bill
 * World D-3
 * Overworld
 * Bullet Bill, Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother, Koopa Paratroopa
 * World D-4
 * Castle
 * Piranha Plant, Fire Bar, Lava Bubble, Koopa Paratroopa, Cheep Cheep, Hammer Brother, Blooper, Bowser Impostor / Bowser (All-Stars)
 * }
 * Buzzy Beetle, Koopa Troopa, Piranha Plant, Koopa Paratroopa
 * World B-2
 * Underwater
 * Blooper, Cheep Cheep, Koopa Paratroopa, Koopa Troopa, Fire Bar, Piranha Plant
 * World B-3
 * Athletic
 * Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Bullet Bill, Koopa Troopa
 * World B-4
 * Castle
 * Piranha Plant, Fire Bar, Bowser Impostor
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #202020" | [[File:World C-1.PNG]]
 * World C-1
 * Overworld
 * Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother, Buzzy Beetle
 * World C-2
 * Athletic
 * Koopa Paratroopa, Cheep Cheep, Blooper, Koopa Troopa, Bullet Bill
 * World C-3
 * Athletic
 * Lakitu, Spiny, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Fire Bar
 * World C-4
 * Castle
 * Fire Bar, Koopa Troopa, Buzzy Beetle, Lava Bubble, Bowser Impostor
 * rowspan=4! style="background: #202020" | [[File:World D-1.PNG]]
 * World D-1
 * Overworld
 * Hammer Brother, Koopa Paratroopa, Bullet Bill, Buzzy Beetle, Koopa Troopa, Piranha Plant
 * World D-2
 * Overworld
 * Koopa Troopa, Buzzy Beetle, Koopa Troopa, Piranha Plant, Bullet Bill
 * World D-3
 * Overworld
 * Bullet Bill, Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother, Koopa Paratroopa
 * World D-4
 * Castle
 * Piranha Plant, Fire Bar, Lava Bubble, Koopa Paratroopa, Cheep Cheep, Hammer Brother, Blooper, Bowser Impostor / Bowser (All-Stars)
 * }
 * Overworld
 * Koopa Troopa, Buzzy Beetle, Koopa Troopa, Piranha Plant, Bullet Bill
 * World D-3
 * Overworld
 * Bullet Bill, Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother, Koopa Paratroopa
 * World D-4
 * Castle
 * Piranha Plant, Fire Bar, Lava Bubble, Koopa Paratroopa, Cheep Cheep, Hammer Brother, Blooper, Bowser Impostor / Bowser (All-Stars)
 * }
 * Piranha Plant, Fire Bar, Lava Bubble, Koopa Paratroopa, Cheep Cheep, Hammer Brother, Blooper, Bowser Impostor / Bowser (All-Stars)
 * }
 * }

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.

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 "Super Mario Bros. 2" based on the considerably easier Family Computer Disk System game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic was made.

Development
In an interview, Shigeru Miyamoto stated that Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was made due to how much fun the development team had creating new, difficult levels for Vs. Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario All-Stars
The Super Mario All-Stars (as well as Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World and Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition) version of this game had a few differences from the original:


 * Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels do 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 the ground is mainly covered by dirt in this version. 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 endings of both games were also made uniform.


 * Many levels that had snow in the original Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 do 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. However, the snow is only an aesthetic difference.


 * The game can be saved at any time. Unlike the Super Mario Bros. on the same cartridge, the game remembers the exact level the player is on, and not just the world. This is because the game is much harder than the original.


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


 * In the secret section of World 1-2 (where the player enters the pipe to World 4), the water pools were replaced by lava. However, the effects are the same: if Mario falls in, he loses one life. Similarly, the water in the first pit encountered in the level (after the Koopa Paratroopa) is removed in the SNES version.


 * In World 8, the Hammer Bros. perpetually charge at the player. On the SNES, this behavior was added to Worlds 7, 9, and A-D as well.


 * In the original game, Bowser only has hammers in Worlds 6-8. The SNES remake gives him hammers in Worlds 9 and A-D, as well. Strangely enough, these Bowsers lose their ability to breathe fire.


 * The Bowser Impostors in Worlds A-C now have new true forms (a red Koopa Troopa, a Cheep Cheep, and a Bullet Bill, respectively), and Bowser's death animation in World D is corrected.


 * The castle walls of World 9-3 (whose background is sky blue instead of black) are now recolored brown instead of gray like in the original (and in the ending cutscene).

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe was marketed as a Game Boy Color enhancement of Super Mario Bros., but 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 are removed, as is wind. As a result of the lack of wind, some levels are modified to make the jumps possible. Another change is the removal of Worlds 9 and A-D, although they are all at least somewhat present within the game's coding.

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

Virtual Console
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was released on the Virtual Console in Japan on May 1, 2007 for the Wii, on July 25, 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U in Japan on August 8, 2013. It was also released for the Wii in Europe and Australia on September 14, 2007 along with Mario's Super Picross and Neutopia II as the part of the Japanese Hanabi Festival, and in North America on October 1, 2007, making the first time the original version of the game was available to most English-speaking audiences. It costs 100 Wii Points more, as usual for imported games. Unlike other games, however, the PAL version was removed from the Wii Shop Channel on October 1, 2007, before being re-added permanently on August 22, 2008.

It was released on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan on July 25, 2012, and outside Japan on December 27, 2012. It was released on the Virtual Console for the Wii U in Japan on August 8, 2012, in Europe and Australia on January 23, 2014 and in North America on March 13, 2014.

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!''

References in later games

 * Paper Mario: Color Splash - When Huey finds out the Mini Paint Star in Ruddy Road has most of its color missing, he exclaims "What in the Lost Levels is going on here?"

Directors

 * Shigeru Miyamoto
 * Takashi Tezuka

Original Music

 * Koji Kondo

Designers

 * Shigeru Miyamoto
 * Takashi Tezuka

Programmers

 * Toshihiko Nakago
 * Yasunari Nishida
 * Kazuaki Morita

Glitches


Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels contains several glitches; the most famous glitch is the Infinite 1-Up Trick, which can be performed several ways using a Koopa Shell. Another glitch can be performed by touching the Axe while the timer is at zero, looping it to 999.

Quotes

 * "Peace is paved/with kingdom saved/Hurrah to Mario (or Luigi, depending on the character) /our only hero/This ends your trip/of a long friendship." - Poem recited by Princess Peach after defeating Bowser, after which the player is rewarded with 100,000 points for each life left (also seen in Vs. Super Mario Bros. and All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.)
 * "Thank you Mario/Luigi!" - Princess Peach and Toads, following the above
 * "We present Fantasy World let's try “9 World” with one game." -- World 9 intro screen
 * 「アリガトウ!」 (Arigatou!, translated from Japanese, meaning Thank You) -- coral in World 9-4
 * "You're a super player! We hope we'll see you again. Mario and staff." -- Game Over screen for World 9

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.
 * World 9 was rumored to be based on an incident of a Japanese gamer's antenna being hit by lightning while playing Super Mario Bros. during a thunderstorm, causing his Famicom to show a bizarre level taking place underwater but with overworld scenery and enemies. However, Shigeru Miyamoto stated in an interview that it was based on an exploit that would let the player access 256 extra worlds in Super Mario Bros.
 * At the end of the Mario Kart 8 April 30 Nintendo Direct, when the Nintendo fan pulls out his "Things to do before I die" list to write "Buy Mario Kart 8", one of the other notes on the list is "Beat Mario 2: The Lost Levels", which is a joke about how difficult the game is compared to other Mario games.
 * The ending theme in the Famicom Disk System version of The Lost Levels was first composed as the ending theme of Super Mario Bros., before being shortened due to storage limitations.