Super Mario Bros. 2

Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japanese name: Super Mario USA) is the second game in the Super Mario series. It originally was for the Nintendo Entertainment System, but was subsequently ported to many other systems. The game was originally released in America on October 9, 1988; and in Europe on April 28, 1989. As a result of Japan already having Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels as its second installment of the Super Mario series, the game did not make its debut in the country until after the release of Super Mario World on July 14, 1992 (hence, making it Japan's fifth installment of the series).

Super Mario Bros. 2 initially started out as the prototype sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. ; however, it was scrapped during its development, and was replaced by Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. The reasons included the technical limitations of the NES system making it difficult to produce a polished game featuring a vertical orientation and multiplayer features conceived for the project. It was decided to add more Mario-like elements, such as horizontal levels (though many veritcally oriented levels were retained in the final project). Being that the game had went through some development, Nintendo created the game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic for the Famicom Disk System during its agreement with the Fuji Television company. The game was changed in order to fit with the theme of the mascots of the company and their adventure. Regardless, it used the same engine as the original developed Super Mario Bros. 2, and also kept some of the Mario elements such as the items and basic game play in its reference.

After Nintendo of America deemed that Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels as being too difficult, Nintendo redeveloped Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic back into a Super Mario Bros. game to be released in the countries outside of Japan. After its release, the game became a commercial success, and eventually the game became well received enough that it was also released in Japan. After performing successful sales, Super Mario Bros. 2 has since been considered a classic Super Mario Bros. game around the world (including in Japan), and has since been released in many remakes including to being one of the Mario games featured in Super Mario All-Stars, and as well as having its own remake in Super Mario Advance.

Story
One night, Mario had a strange dream. He found himself climbing a long staircase leading up to a mysterious door. Opening the door, Mario's eyes fell upon an incredible world unlike anything he'd ever seen. A quiet voice spoke to Mario, saying,

"Welcome to Subcon, the land of dreams. Our once-beautiful world now suffers at the hands of the evil Wart. Please help us! Only you can free us from his tyranny. Oh, and remember one thing: Wart hates vegetables."

However, before Mario could figure out what was happening, he suddenly awoke on his bed and realized that it was all a dream. The next day, while heading out to a picnic with his friends Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad, Mario told the tale of his strange dream. Hearing this was quite a shock to his friends, who all had the very same dream the night before.

Upon arriving at their picnic spot, the group noticed a small cave. Inside was a long staircase that led up to a door. At the top, the four friends opened the door and stood shocked by what they saw. It was Subcon - the world of their dreams!

Mario discovers that Subcon has been taken over by Wart, and that the events of his dream are true. Mario and co. are now on a quest to defeat Wart and restore peace to the dream world.

At the end of the game Mario, Luigi, Toadstool and Toad are seen being chanted on by the inhabitants of Subcon, who are carrying Wart across the room. Mario then wakes up and wonders about whether the events were really true or just a dream. He then continues sleeping and the game ends.

Gameplay
Because the game was based off of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, it had little in common with the original Super Mario Bros. For example, in order to defeat enemies, the player needs to throw Vegetables at them, or jump on them, grab them and throw them away. However, there are elements in common with its predecessor. Many power-ups are similar to that in Super Mario Bros., such as the mushroom, although there is also an item called heart which has the same effect.

At the beginning of each level, the player can choose between the playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool. All four characters are featured with different powers and statistics. When entering the next level or, in the remake versions, losing a life, he or she can select a different character again.

At the end of most levels of the game, the player fights Birdo. The player has to jump on the eggs that Birdo spits, grab them and throw them back, hitting Birdo three times to gain a crystal which opens the hawkmouth gate at the end of the level. There are several colors of Birdos: pink, which only spits eggs; red, which spits eggs and fireballs and green, which only spits fireballs. For the green Birdos, there are mushroom blocks nearby for the player to use instead. If the player gets five cherries a star will appear.

There are seven worlds in this game. The first six has three levels apiece, and the seventh has two. At the end of each world, the player encounters one of Wart's generals. Mouser is waiting at the end of World 1, Tryclyde in World 2, Mouser again in World 3, Fryguy in World 4, Clawgrip in World 5, Tryclyde again in World 6, and Wart himself at the end of World 7. This is modified in Super Mario Advance: first, Mouser does not appear in World 3, as instead the player instead encounters Robirdo. The second Mouser battle is instead moved to World 6, replacing the second Tryclyde fight.

Playable

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Princess Toadstool
 * Toad

Supporting

 * Subcon

Remake exclusive

 * Robirdo (Advance version only)

Development
Super Mario Bros. 2's genesis came about in 1987, when Nintendo of America got its first look at the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2. Nintendo of America believed that Super Mario Bros. 2, which was a slightly altered version of the first Super Mario Bros. game with an increased difficulty level, would not be a commercial success in the United States and elsewhere in the world.

To deal with this, Nintendo commissioned a new Mario game to be made for the US/International market, which would be made by way of porting the popular Famicom Disk System game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and modifying it to feature Mario and his friends as playable characters. The game would furthermore be released in Japan during the wait for Super Mario Bros. 3 under the name "Super Mario USA".

Regardless of its similarities to Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, Super Mario Bros. 2 in fact started out as the original Super Mario Bros. 2 developed by Kensuke Tanabe, a developer of Nintendo. The prototype Super Mario Bros. 2 emphasized on vertically scrolling levels and throwing blocks. It was originally intended to be a two player co-op game allowing players to toss each other around, however, the prototype was initially considered to not be fun, and was scrapped. Some time later, Tanabe received instruction to use the Yume Kojo mascots in a game by the Fuji Television Company, and has since redeveloped the prototype as Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. After Nintendo of America dismissed The Lost Levels as being too difficult, Nintendo redeveloped Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic back into a Super Mario game (with its focus being based off the originally wanted concept of vertically scrolling levels and block throwing).

Many characters and abilities from Super Mario Bros. 2 later reappeared in the Super Mario series. Princess Peach's occasional ability to hover in midair and pull vegetables from the ground (Super Smash Bros. Melee), for example, originates from this game. Toad's nimbleness (as seen from the Mario Kart series where he is a fast driver and his running speed in Mario Sports Mix) could also have been influenced from his uprooting speed first introduced in Super Mario Bros. 2. Shy Guys, Snifits, Bob-ombs, Pokeys, and Birdo were also introduced and would later be incorporated into later Mario games. Some of the enemies (most notably Bob-ombs and Pokeys) have made countless reappearances as enemies within many of the later Super Mario titles. Wart, the main villain, never reappeared in a Mario game after Super Mario Bros. 2, but has made an appearance in the Nintendo Comics System and has been mentioned in later games. He did, however, appear in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening under his Japanese name, "Mamu", as an ally.

Remakes and ports

 * In Japan, the American Super Mario Bros. 2 was eventually re-released under the name Super Mario USA. It was marketed as the American Super Mario Bros. 2, and the game is unaltered save for the title screen. As such, the cast uses the characters' English names (in the manual, their Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic names are also included). Super Mario USA is also the name of the game in the Korean Virtual Console version.
 * The game was ported to the American arcade machine, the Nintendo PlayChoice-10.
 * It was later ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as a part of Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World, and it was also included in the Wii re-release of the compilation game, Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition. The All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 2 possessed updated graphics.
 * The NES version of the game was released on the Wii Virtual Console for 500 points in 2007.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl features masterpieces, short demos of games. One unlockable Masterpiece is Super Mario Bros. 2. Here, the player starts out with Peach immediately (however, it is possible to switch to a different character if the player get a Game Over before they are forced to quit the game). To unlock it, one must win five brawls with Peach.

Super Mario Advance
The most notable port of Super Mario Bros. 2 is Super Mario Advance, for the Game Boy Advance. This port featured updated graphics similar to Super Mario All-Stars, as well as new voice acting, and various other slight changes. It was also bundled with a remake of the original Mario Bros. game.

References to other games

 * Donkey Kong: Clawgrip tosses rocks in a very similar manner to the way Donkey Kong tossed barrels. Also, Clawgrip frequently bangs his chest like a gorilla. In 16-bit versions, some of the indoor areas look like warehouses with familiar-looking girders in the background.
 * Mario Bros.: POW Blocks appear as usable items.
 * Super Mario Bros.: The Starman power-up appears in the game, as well as a remix of the main Super Mario Bros. theme in Subspace. Also, the Super Mushroom item, which originated from this game, was in Super Mario Bros. 2, as well as the ability to shrink once the player is down to one heart point. Also, the ability to run by holding down the button is exclusive to the Mario series, and wasn't present in Doki Doki Panic. The title theme is a remix for the music in the underwater levels and the sub-space theme is the original theme used in the overworld levels of this game.
 * Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels: Players can choose which character to play as (though this is likely a coincidence given it was based off Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic). Luigi being a higher jumper than Mario is re-established when he replaced Mama in the game.

References in later games

 * Super Mario Bros. 3: Bob-ombs return here and act similarly as in Super Mario Bros. 2.
 * Super Mario World: Pokeys, Ninjis and Pidgits first reappear here.
 * Wario's Woods: Toad's superhuman strength returns in this game. Additionally, he picks up, carries, and throws his enemies in a similar fashion to the style presented in Super Mario Bros. 2. Some enemies such as the Spud also vaguely resemble the vegetables from Super Mario Bros. 2. Birdo also makes her first reappearance in the Mario series through this game.
 * Super Mario 64: Magic Carpets make their first reappearances since Super Mario Bros. 2 in this game and serve a similar function of slowly transporting Mario to a certain location.
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee: A Super Mario Bros. 2-themed stage called Mushroom Kingdom II is selectable, and Birdo frequently appears at the very right, spitting eggs at the player. This stage also plays the theme song that's played throughout all the overworld stages in the NES game, as well as the boss music (during Sudden Death matches). Also, Princess Toadstool's moveset (floating and picking vegetables) was directly inspired by this game. There are also trophies of Birdo, Pidgit, and the vegetables.
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Shy Guys and Ninjis both return here as respectively Mini Shy Guys and Mini Ninjis. Also, the way Mario is able to pick up some enemies and items like Keys is reused in this game.
 * Super Mario 64 DS: Luigi's scuttle jump appears to have been influenced by his jumping style from Super Mario Bros. 2.
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Pidgits reappear and their attack in this game is heavily based on their way to move by flying carpet in Super Mario Bros. 2.
 * Mario Hoops 3-on-3: The final victory theme is a remix of the ending of Super Mario Bros. 2.
 * Super Paper Mario: Francis mentioned having a comic called, "Cybort Wart", which is clearly a reference to Wart. Also, there were Sammer Guys by the names of "Squatting Birdo", "Pidget on Wind's Breath", "Sleeping Turnip", "Upward Leaping Ninji", "Plugged Snifit" and "Guy Who Fry", references to Birdo, Pidgit, Turnip, Ninji, Snifit and Fryguy, respectively.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl: As with Melee, Peach contained the same moveset, and there's another trophy of Birdo. Also, Wart and Birdo's names appear in the random name selection. Finally, the game is available as trial game, or Masterpiece, to play. The character the trial starts out with is Peach, (but it is possible to play as another character if one gets a Game Over before the trial ends).
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: In this game, Wiggler sometimes attack by pulling out vegetables, which are the same ones that are seen in Super Mario Bros. 2. Also, one of Bowser's brainwashed minions states that he forgot what Bowser's Castle was originally called (before it was turned into "Fawful Theater"), and mistakenly referred to it as "Mouser's Castle".
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: The way the characters are able to pick up the items, such as the POW Block. This game also marks the first Super Mario platformer since Super Mario Bros. 2 to feature a playable Toad.
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!: Remixes of the Overworld Theme, Life Lost Theme, Boss Theme, and Boss Victory Theme is heard in World 1.
 * Super Mario Galaxy 2: Luigi's triple jump may be based on his jumps from Super Mario Bros. 2.
 * Mario Sports Mix: Toad's throwing animations appear to be influenced from this game. Additionally, Toad's high running speed returns in Mario Sports Mix.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: Mario and Luigi's chargeable jumps while crouching resemble to Power Squat Jump ability that the playable characters can perform in Super Mario Bros. 2 while crouching. The back flip addition works in the same way as in Super Mario Advance.
 * Mario Kart 7: The Shy Guy Bazaar course makes references to the elements from Super Mario Bros. 2 such as the addition of Magic Carpets and vases in their original color schemes. Aside from namesake, Shy Guys also appear to be the dominate audience members throughout the course.
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2: A night level in the game has platforms that resemble the overworld from this game.
 * Paper Mario: Sticker Star: The main theme is a jazzy version of the credits theme from this game.
 * Super Mario 3D World: The four playable characters are the same as in this game (Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach & Toad), retaining their characteristics. Toad is blue, as reference to his NES sprite from this game.

Notable mistakes and errors
The ending credits were poorly developed. Birdo's and Ostro's names were swapped, and several of the enemies' names were changed: Hoopster was labeled Hoopstar; Clawgrip was Clawglip; and Tryclyde was Triclyde. Also, the Whale did not appear in the ending credits. These errors remained in Super Mario All-Stars, but were fixed in Super Mario Advance. Oddly enough, all Japanese releases (dubbed Super Mario USA) do not change the names in the credits, instead keeping the English localizations. Another mistake which was never fixed in the remakes is the color of the vegetable tufts - in the original game, the grass is consistently black, but the Mario version changed the ones on the ground to red while neglecting to alter the coloring after being picked. Remakes did touch on this slightly, but kept the ground tufts red while confusingly changing the picked vegetable leaves green.

Critical reception
Super Mario Bros. 2 has been received positively, with IGN editor Lucas Thomas praising the graphics, sound and replay value, although he insisted that Western gamers could have gotten into the Japanese version of the game. Gamespot critic Alex Navarro agreed, and commented that the game "...shows that veering from the beaten path of a franchise's standard game design isn't always a bad idea".

The game placed 47th in the 100th issue of Nintendo Power's "100 best Nintendo games of all time" in 1997. . It also placed 81st in the 200th Issue of GameInformer's "Top 200 Games of All Times" and placed 18th on IGN's Top 100 NES Games list. As for sales, it's the third best-selling NES game, with 10 million copies sold worldwide.

Quotes

 * "Uprooting and lifting things as you played gave the game a new feel. It was released in Japan as Super Mario USA." — Shigeru Miyamoto, ''Super Mario History 1985-2010 Booklet
 * "The basic controls have a very free, silly feeling to them that I absolutely love." — Takashi Tezuka, Super Mario History 1985-2010 Booklet
 * "I adjusted the sounds of the NES to make it sound like a lot of different instruments were being played." — Koji Kondo, Super Mario History 1985-2010 Booklet

Trivia

 * This is the first game to feature Princess Toadstool and Toad as playable characters.
 * The Super Mario Bros. 2 manual mistakenly used a few sprites from Doki Doki Panic, such as the Phantos' original form, a magic lamp (which eventually became the Magic Potion), and a heart (which became the Mushroom power-up).
 * During the ending celebration sequence in the NES version, there are common mistakes in the number of levels each hero completes.
 * The Mario picture that appears in the box art is a flipped and modified version of the picture that appears on the Super Mario Bros. box art
 * This is the last game where Mario uses a blue shirt and red overalls. The colors are swapped in all the later games and in the game sprite. This is also the only game where Luigi uses a blue shirt and green overalls.
 * This is currently the only mainstream sidescrolling platformer to not feature a Time Limit.