Overview

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Review

Release Date: 1988
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo of America, Inc.

Reviewed by Sage Gaspar on 4.21.2003

Review Rating: 6/10

User Rating: 8.13/10

In the original Super Mario Brothers, Mario was a plumber from the Mushroom Kingdom who went on an epic quest through eight castles, killing his mutated friends and an assortment of turtles, traveling through pipes, eating 'shrooms to grow big and spit fire, and ultimately rescue a rather blocky princess by dropping King Koopa into a fiery inferno. Yikes. It's hard to imagine what this guy's dreams are like. At least, it was until Super Mario Brothers 2 dropped us straight into them.

In this installment, Mario is plagued by a strange dream. He keeps ascending a stairwell to a door that opens up, revealing a land subtly called Subcon, the land of dreams. Subcon is currently under the assault of Wart, an evil being that has far surpassed his humble beginnings as a facial blemish. Wart is terrorizing the land with his hatred for vegetables. What exactly that entails is never really revealed, as a bolt of lighting flashes down and Mario awakes. I'd like to imagine that he wakes up in a cold sweat, screaming. The Princess reaches over to comfort him as Toad and Luigi run in from the next room, both wearing similarly embarrassed faces and not much else. Before the situation gets too uncomfortable, everyone hastily agrees to some downtime and a mountain picnic, at which Mario will tell them about his dream and eat some of the Princess's delicious cake. Then again, all the manual says is that Mario wakes up and they go for a mountain picnic, so you can fill in the blanks with whatever makes you feel better.

In either case, the crew decides to go spelunking during their mountain picnic, and Mario begins to recognize the scenery. It's straight from his dream! Like the fools they are, they all go exploring, and end up on a new misadventure in Subcon. Oh well, at least they got some food before they set off this time.

Sound a little far removed from standard Mario fare? Well, that's because Super Mario Brothers 2 started life as an entirely different game, Doki Doki Panic. The Japanese Super Mario Brothers 2 was pretty much the same as the original Super Mario Brothers, except with a much higher difficulty. Nintendo didn't think the West was ready for a challenging game, so they gave Doki Doki Panic a Mario theme and released it as Super Mario Brothers 2 in the US. Some fans of the original Mario Brothers turn their noses up at this point, but frankly, I think we got the better deal. However, those who want to put themselves through the "real" Super Mario Brothers 2 can find it as The Lost Levels on the Super NES compilation.

With the change in theme came a change in every other department. The first, highly noticeable change is that Mario and crew are no longer blobs and blocks of ungainly pixels: they actually look fairly decent. Backgrounds and enemies are full of color and vibrantly animated, far superior to the original's. The sound has also changed, but for neither better nor worse. The music, while different, is just as repetitive as it was in the first game, and the sound effects are pretty much the same.

The gameplay is vastly improved, allowing for much more variety. Players can choose from either of the four involved characters, including Mario, Luigi, Princess, and Toad. Each possesses strengths and weaknesses. Mario, the all-around average character, doesn't really deserve attention. Princess is able to float for a length of time, enabling her to sail across gaps. Luigi has the highest jump height of any character, allowing him to reach otherwise inaccessible ledges. And Toad; well, he's really good at picking vegetables.

Vegetables are the tool of choice in fighting Wart's minions, who all suffer an aversion to the leafy food substances. They are obtained by pulling them out of the ground, and can then be carried around and thrown at whim. Alternatively, enemies themselves can be picked up and tossed off ledges or at other enemies. Players can also pick up potions, which create a door when thrown down that leads to a "behind the scenes" world where certain items can be picked up and secret areas found.

All of this action sort of seems pointless, though, when it's revealed that it was all just a dream. That's right, I just spoiled the game. But don't fret, this opens up the door to turning Super Mario Brothers 2 into a sort of kiddie-Freud examination of Mario. The battle takes place in Subcon, Mario's subconsciousness. Wart represents Mario's Id, an undesirable blemish upon his soul that houses his urges to just screw it all and stop eating his veggies. "Potions" help Mario escape into another world and not face reality. Mario is "average," possessing no special skills. But with the help of his friends, Mario is able to overcome these primal urges: Birdo, who is sexually ambivalent; Shyguy, an introvert; Bobomb, who is short-fused; Ostra, who keeps his head in the sand and lets people ride him; Fryguy, a short-lived emotional fire; Triclyde, an indecisive, underhanded snake; Panser, who doesn't do much of anything; Porcupa and Pokey, who hide inside their prickly shells; and, finally, Wart, who manipulates everything negatively. At the end of the day, Mario and friends prevail, but only in dreams: Mario is still left to battle his inner demons.

Well, either that, or the lead designer was sniffing glue. Your call.

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