Super Mario Bros. 2

Super Mario Bros. 2 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. This game has been criticized for being too much a departure from its predecessor, Super Mario Bros..

Development
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.

Many characters and abilities from Super Mario Bros. 2 later reappeared in the Super Mario series. Luigi's ability to Jump higher and stay in the air longer than Mario comes from this game, as well as Peach's occasional ability to hover in midair and pull vegetables from the ground (Super Smash Bros. Melee). Shy Guys, Snifits, Bob-ombs, Pokeys, and Birdo were also introduced. Wart, the main villain, never reappeared in a video game, but has made an appearance in the Nintendo Comics System and has been mentioned in later games.

Story
In the game, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool 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 were captured by Wart. Wart had captured the Dream Machine, which controls all dreams. On the adventure, our heroes fight Wart's army, the 8 bits, and his generals, Birdo, Mouser, Clawgrip, Fry Guy, and Tryclyde.

After they reach Wart's Castle, they battle Wart with vegetables, which are flung from the Dream Machine, on the floor near Wart's platform, forcing them into his mouth to defeat him. The four then advance to the next room where they free the Subcon fairies. The Subcon fairies then fly around the player and then start carrying the knocked out body of Wart. Toad, the princess, Mario and Luigi wave at the player and suddenly Mario wakes up. It is presumed that all the events of the game were just Mario's dreams and the events did not really happen.

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 Toadstool. 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. The player had to jump on the eggs that Birdo spat, grab them and throw them back, hitting Birdo three times to gain a crystal which opened the hawkmouth gate at the end of the level. There were several colors of Birdos: pink, which only spat eggs; red, which spat eggs and fireballs; green, which only spat fireballs. For the green Birdos, there were mushroom blocks nearby for the player to use instead. There were seven worlds in this game. The first six had three levels apiece, and the seventh had two. At the end of each world, the player encountered one of Wart's generals. Mouser was 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. It should be noted in Super Mario Advance that Mouser did not appear in World 3; the player instead encountered Robirdo.

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. 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 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.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl features masterpieces, short demos of game. One unlockable Masterpiece is Super Mario Bros. 2, here, the player starts out with Peach immediatly. To unlock it, one must play as Peach five times.

Voice Cast (for Super Mario Advance)

 * Charles Martinet as Mario, Luigi, Wart, Clawgrip, Triclyde, Mouser
 * Jen Taylor as Princess Peach, Toad, Birdo

Trivia

 * 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 Toadstool and Toad as playable characters.
 * Some of the remakes, such as Super Mario Advance, used the name Peach instead of her original English name, Princess Toadstool.
 * The game, Super Mario: The Lost Levels, was really the real Super Mario Bros. 2. It was only released in Japan, and was copied into Super Mario All Stars.
 * The game appears on the Wii Virtual Console
 * The game has a playable demo in Super Smash Bros. Brawl