Super Mario Bros. 2

Super Mario Bros. 2: Mario Madness is the second game in the Super Mario Bros. series. It originally was for the Nintendo Entertainment System, but was subsequently ported to many other systems.

Development
Super Mario Bros. 2 has been a topic of much confusion in the Mario world. The original Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in Japan, but Nintendo apparently decided it was too challenging for UK/US players, so it was not released in the UK or US. However, Nintendo was already working on Super Mario Bros. 3 and they had not released a SMB 2 in the UK or US yet. They needed to make a game which was quick to make, so they took Doki Doki Panic, replaced all the playable characters with Mario characters and called it Super Mario Bros. 2.

The Japanese SMB 2 was also released outside Japan as Super Mario: The Lost Levels, as a part of Super Mario All-Stars. It was also released on Super Mario Bros. Deluxe as Super Mario Bros. for Super Players.

Super Mario Bros. 2 has "accidentally" brought many characters and abilities into canon in the Marioverse. Luigi's ability to Jump "slower" than Mario comes from this game, as well as Peach's occasional ability to hover in midair and pull vegetables from seemingly nowhere (Super Smash Bros. Melee). Shy Guys, Snifits, Bob-ombs, Pokeys, and Birdo effectively exploded into the Mario world because of this game. Ironically, Wart, the main villain, never reappeared in a Mario game, however was mentioned in later games.

Story
In the game, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad travel through the world of Subcon, the world of dreams, which is ruled by the giant frog Wart. They enter Subcon through a cave they find while on a picnic trip.

They were called by the Subcons, who where captured by Wart. On their adventure, they fight Wart's army, the 8 bits, and his generals, Mouser, Clawgrip, Fry Guy, and Tryclyde.

The end of the game shows Mario waking up. It is therefore disputable if the story of SMB 2 just happened in Mario's dreams.

Gameplay
Because the game was a clone of Doki Doki Panic, it had little in common with the original Super Mario Bros. In order to defeat enemies, the player could throw Vegetables at them, or jump on them, grab them and throw them away.

At the beginning of each level, the player could choose between the playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Peach. When entering the next level or losing a life, he could select a different character again.

At the end of most levels of the game, the player fought Birdo.

Enemies

 * Albatoss
 * Autobomb
 * Beezo
 * Birdo
 * Bob-omb
 * Clawgrip
 * Cobrat
 * Flurry
 * Fryguy
 * Hawkmouth
 * Hoopster
 * Mini Fryguy
 * Mouser
 * Ninji
 * Ostro
 * Panser
 * Phanto
 * Pidgit
 * Pokey
 * Porcupo
 * Shy Guy
 * Snifit
 * Spark
 * Trouter
 * Tryclyde
 * Tweeter
 * Wart

Remakes

 * In Japan, the american version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was rereleased under the name Super Mario USA.
 * 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 was, as a part of All-Stars, available in Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World. The All-Stars version showed up with updated graphics.
 * The Game Boy Advance remake of the game, Super Mario Advance features updated graphics, voices for main characters, and new obstacles, such as being able to collect Yoshi Eggs for an extra challenge.
 * The NES version of the game was released on the Wii Virtual Console for 500 points in 2007.

Trivia

 * Some enemies in this game later appeared in later Mario games. This has caused much debate among fans.  Many claim that since the game was a dream, the enemies should not have appeared later.  However, the events of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island occur before this one, and they feature the alleged enemies.  This means that Mario encountered those enemies as a baby, and it makes logical sense that he would dream about them.
 * In the original Doki Doki Panic game, there was a third Mouser instead of the Clawgrip boss.
 * The box art for this game changed the emphasis from the original Super Mario Bros. game. In the original game, the words "Mario Bros." were bigger than the word "Super", but with this game, the words "Super Mario" became bigger than the word "Bros.". However, in the title screen of the game itself, the same text is used as the original game.
 * This is the first game to have Princess Peach and Toad as playable characters.