Super Mario Bros. 2 is a 1988 platform game created and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. After the popular Super Mario Bros. game in 1985, Nintendo released a version of the original game with greater difficulty called Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan in 1986. However, Nintendo of America believed this sequel was too similar to the first game and too difficult for the new American market. This led to the creation of a second sequel based on Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, a 1987 game for the Family Computer Disk System. This game was inspired by a prototype platforming game and served as an advertisement for Fuji Television’s Yume Kōjō ’87 media technology expo. The characters, enemies, and themes from Doki Doki Panic were based on the festival’s mascots and were adapted to fit the Super Mario theme for a Western version of the game.
Super Mario Bros. 2 became very successful, ranking as the fifth-best-selling game on the NES. It was praised for its design and for introducing new elements to the Super Mario series. The game was later released in Japan for the Famicom as Super Mario USA in 1992. It was remade twice: first as part of the Super Mario All-Stars collection for the Super NES in 1993, and again as Super Mario Advance for the Game Boy Advance in 2001. The game is also available through the Virtual Console and Nintendo Classics services.
Gameplay
Super Mario Bros. 2 is a video game where players move side to side through a world called Subcon. The goal is to help the player’s character defeat the main enemy, Wart. Before each level, players choose one of four characters: Mario, Luigi, Toad, or Princess Toadstool. All characters can run, jump, and climb ladders or vines, but each has unique abilities that affect how they move. Toad moves fastest and is strongest, but jumps the lowest. Luigi jumps the highest but moves slower and has less strength. Princess Toadstool can float for short distances but moves and has the least strength. Mario has average speed, jumping height, and strength. Unlike other Mario games, this one does not allow players to compete against each other or have a time limit. The game scrolls left to right, right to left, and even up and down in some areas. Players cannot defeat enemies by jumping on them but can stand on, pick up, and throw enemies to defeat them. Other items that can be thrown include vegetables from the ground and mushroom blocks.
The game has 20 levels spread across seven worlds in Subcon. Each world has three levels, except the seventh world, which has two. Each world has a theme that determines the challenges and enemies in its levels, such as deserts with quicksand or snowy areas with slippery ground. Levels are divided into sections connected by doors or ladders. Some sections can be entered by stepping into jars. Magic potions in each level allow players to enter a special area called "Sub-space," where they can collect coins and mushrooms that increase health. Some jars in Sub-space can teleport players to later worlds, skipping levels. Other items include cherries, which help earn a Star; the POW Block, which destroys all visible enemies on the screen; and a stopwatch, which stops enemies temporarily. At the end of each of the first six worlds, players must defeat a boss enemy. After completing six worlds, players face Wart in the final level to finish the game.
Players begin the game with three lives, which are lost when the character’s health runs out due to enemy attacks, hazards, or falling off the screen. Health can be restored by collecting floating hearts after defeating a set number of enemies. If all lives are lost, the game ends, but players can try again up to two times in one session. Extra lives can be earned by finding hidden 1-Up Mushrooms or by using coins collected in Sub-space to play a bonus game between levels.
Plot
Mario dreams of a staircase that leads to a hidden door and an unknown place. A voice tells Mario that this world is called Subcon and asks for his help to defeat a frog named Wart, who is a cruel ruler that has placed a curse on Subcon and its people. Mario wakes up and tells Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool, who all share the same dream. The group goes on a picnic but finds a cave with a long staircase. When they enter a door at the top of the staircase, they are taken to Subcon, and they learn that their dreams were real. After they defeat Wart, the people of Subcon are freed, and everyone celebrates. Mario wakes up in his bed, uncertain if the events were real. He falls back asleep.
Development
The idea was that players would move upward through levels, stacking items or helping friends to climb higher. However, the vertical-scrolling feature alone did not provide enough exciting gameplay.
Nintendo first released a different game called Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Family Computer Disk System in 1986. It was later released as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels for the Super NES as part of Super Mario All-Stars. This game used an improved version of Super Mario Bros., with more complex level designs, character features, and weather effects. Some advanced level ideas came from Vs. Super Mario Bros., a 1986 arcade game based on the original Super Mario Bros. for NES. These changes made the game slightly more difficult than the first Super Mario Bros.
In 1986, Nintendo of America began launching the new Nintendo Entertainment System and its flagship game, Super Mario Bros. This version of the system was rebranded for the American market after the video game crash of 1983, which did not affect Japan. Nintendo of America wanted to avoid making the Mario series too hard for new players or outdated by the time the Japanese sequel could be released in America. Instead, they asked for a new, more player-friendly Super Mario Bros. game for international release.
Development of a third Super Mario Bros. game began after the release of The Legend of Zelda in February 1986. An early prototype with vertical scrolling was created in two months by Kensuke Tanabe, with design led by Shigeru Miyamoto and programming by SRD. The first version allowed two players to work together, lifting and throwing each other, stacking objects, and climbing upward. Miyamoto later added horizontal scrolling to make the game feel more like a traditional Super Mario Bros. game. However, the prototype was too complex for the Famicom hardware, and the gameplay was still not fully developed, especially for single-player mode.
Tanabe paused development until he was asked to use characters from the Yume Kōjō festival in a game. He created Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan on July 10, 1987. The title Doki Doki Panic comes from the Japanese word "doki doki," which describes a fast-beating heart. The game was inspired by a partnership between Nintendo and Fuji Television to promote the Yume Kōjō '87 event. The main characters were a family: Imajin, his girlfriend Lina, and their parents Mama and Papa. Other characters, like the villain Mamu, were created by Nintendo. The game takes place in a story set in an Arabian-themed book, and all four characters are playable, though the game is not complete until all levels are cleared using each character.
After Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic was released in 1987, Nintendo of America wanted a more accessible Super Mario Bros. sequel with better graphics and gameplay. They worried that The Lost Levels might be too hard for new players. Nintendo of America’s Gail Tilden said that converting Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic into a Super Mario Bros. game seemed unusual but was not uncommon for Nintendo, which had previously adapted other games, like Donkey Kong.
For the international version of Super Mario Bros. 2, changes were made to the characters’ appearances, animations, and identities. The R&D4 team redesigned Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad based on the characters from Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. This was the first time Mario and Luigi had different heights, and Miyamoto added a unique animation for Luigi’s legs to match the jumping ability of the character Mama. The game already included elements from Super Mario Bros., such as Starman, coin sounds, POW blocks, warp zones, and music by Koji Kondo. To make the game easier, designers removed the requirement to complete levels with all characters. A prototype of the game was shown in the first issue of Nintendo Power in July/August 1988. The game also added the ability to run by holding the B button.
Super Mario Bros. 2 was first released in North America on October 9, 1988, and later in PAL regions. It was a major success and was later re-released in Japan as Super Mario USA on September 14, 1992. The Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was later released in America as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels as part of Super Mario All-Stars on the Super NES in 1993. Both games have been re-released multiple times, each with the official title Super Mario Bros. 2 in their respective regions.
Re-releases
In 1993, Nintendo released an improved version of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System called Super Mario All-Stars. This collection includes the Super Mario Bros. games that were originally made for the Famicom/NES. The version of Super Mario Bros. 2 in this collection has updated graphics and sound that match the Super NES's 16-bit technology. Some changes were made to how characters interact in the game. Players can switch characters after losing one life, unlike the original version, where switching was only allowed after completing a level or when all lives were lost and the player chose "Continue." This makes the game easier for players who choose characters not good at certain levels. Players start with five lives instead of three, and a new bonus allows players to win 10 extra lives if they collect three sevens in the slot game. This bonus was not in the original NES version. The game has a limit of 99 lives.
In March–April 1996, Nintendo partnered with the St.GIGA satellite radio station to release a special version of the game called BS Super Mario USA Power Challenge for the Satellaview system. This version was released in parts over several weeks, only in Japan, and only through this format. It includes 16-bit improvements to the original 8-bit game, similar to Super Mario All-Stars. It also adds "SoundLink" narration, which is like a radio drama that guides players and gives tips. The music is of high quality. Because of how SoundLink works, players could only download the game between 6:00 and 7:00 PM on broadcast dates from the Events Plaza on the BS-X application cartridge. A rerun of the broadcasts occurred from June 3 to June 29, 1996, between 5:00 and 6:00 PM. During the rerun, the download location changed to Bagupotamia Temple.
The gameplay is mostly the same as the original, but new content was added. For example, the BS version includes a score counter. At the start of the game, Mario is the only playable character, but later, time-based events allow players to use other characters. A unique feature is the inclusion of 10 gold Mario statues hidden in various locations, including Sub-Space. Collecting these statues gives players an extra life and refills their life meter. After completing a level, players could press "Select" to view statistics like the number of statues, coins, cherries, mushrooms collected, and bosses defeated.
The game was released in four parts, each with a different subtitle:
- "I, Super Catherine"
- "Gabucho's Secret Quicks and Surprise"
- "Hībōbō on Pack Ice"
- "Mamu's Trap, Look Out Mario Brothers"
On March 21, 2001, Super Mario Bros. 2 was released again, based on the All-Stars remake, as part of Super Mario Advance. This version also includes a remake of Mario Bros. It was developed by Nintendo Research & Development 2 and was a launch title for the Game Boy Advance. The Super Mario Advance version of Super Mario Bros. 2 added new features, such as the enemy Robirdo, who replaces Mouser as the boss of World 3. It also introduced the Yoshi Challenge, where players can revisit stages to find Yoshi Eggs, and a new point-scoring system similar to the BS Super Mario USA Power Challenge. Improvements include larger character designs, multiple hit combos, digital voice acting, and changes like renaming Princess Toadstool to Princess Peach. A chime plays when collecting Stars. The game was released on the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan on July 16, 2014, and later in North America on November 6, 2014. It was also released on the Nintendo Switch as part of the Nintendo Classics service on May 26, 2023.
Super Mario Advance received a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), showing it sold at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
Reception
After it was released, Super Mario Bros. 2 became the best-selling video game in the United States for 14 months in a row, starting in October 1988 and ending in November 1989. By early 1990, 3.5 million copies had been sold in the United States, and the game eventually sold 7.46 million copies worldwide. This made it the fourth most popular game ever released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Even though it was not the top-selling NES game overall, it was the most successful single NES game that was not included as a bonus with another product.
While The Lost Levels was often seen as too hard to play, Super Mario Bros. 2 received high praise from critics. Nintendo Power ranked it as the eighth best NES game, noting that it was unique and successful on its own, even though it was not part of the original Super Mario series. GamesRadar listed it as the sixth best NES game ever made. The publication’s staff praised it and other third-generation games for being more improved than some games released around 2012, which they felt had only small changes. Entertainment Weekly named it the sixth greatest game available in 1991, saying, “The second and still the best of the Super Mario franchise.” In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked the All-Stars edition of the game as the 14th-best console game of all time, calling its level designs “unlike anything you’ve seen before” and praising its challenging bosses. In the Pak Source edition of Nintendo Power, which evaluated all NES games released in North America from October 1985 to March 1990, Super Mario Bros. 2 was one of only three games (along with Metroid and Mega Man 2) to receive the highest score of 5 in at least one category. This score was not given to Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario Bros. 3. The game earned a 5 in both “Challenge” and “Theme Fun.”
In 1992, four editors of Famitsu reviewed Super Mario USA and said the game felt outdated because it was five years old. They were disappointed that it only had Mario-themed graphics and did not include more changes. One reviewer wished the game had been updated further, such as turning enemies into Mario characters.
When Super Mario Bros. 2 was re-released as Super Mario Advance in 2001, it received mostly positive reviews, earning an average score of 84 out of 100 on Metacritic. One reviewer said the game was still worth playing because of its gameplay, even without considering nostalgia. However, GameSpot suggested that Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World would have been better choices for a launch game because of their popularity. Both games were later remade as part of the Super Mario Advance series. IGN praised the choice, calling it “one of the most polished and creative platformers of the era.” IGN also named it one of the best NES games ever, noting that it offered more variety in graphics and gameplay than the original Super Mario Bros., making it a good transition between other NES Mario games. ScrewAttack included Wart’s battle theme in a list of the top 10 best 8-Bit Final Boss Themes. Game Informer ranked the game 30th on their list of the top 100 video games of all time in 2001. In 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine placed it 27th on a list of the greatest Nintendo games.
Next Generation reviewed the Game Boy Advance version of the game, giving it three stars out of five. They said, “This classic probably shouldn’t have been brought back. It’s well translated but hasn’t aged gracefully.”
Legacy
Many parts of Super Mario Bros. 2 have remained in later games and other Mario-related projects. The ability to lift and throw enemies and objects, which was a key feature in the game's first version, has become a lasting part of the Super Mario series, appearing in many later Super Mario games. The Wii U game Super Mario 3D World includes the same playable characters and basic abilities from Super Mario Bros. 2.
Several characters and features from Super Mario Bros. 2 have been included in the larger Mario universe, such as Birdo, Pokey, Bob-omb, and Shy Guy. This game was the first in which Princess Toadstool and Toad could be played by the player. Princess Toadstool introduced a floating jump and appeared in later Mario games like Super Princess Peach. Toad appeared in later games such as Wario's Woods, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. In Super Mario Bros. 2, Luigi's appearance became different from Mario's, especially his tall height and a special jumping move called the scuttle jump. The Super Smash Bros. series includes many direct references to this game. The 1989 cartoon show The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was based on characters, settings, and music from Super Mario Bros. 2. The characters Wart, Birdo, Mouser, and Clawgrip appear in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, with Wart voiced by Luis Guzmán.