It seems gaming knowledge can spark some of the most ferocious battles amongst gamers. Why calling Jumpman “Mario” in an arcade is likely to send a hardcore Donkey Kong gamer into a fit of rage. The back story to Super Mario Bros. 2 is no exception. So sit back, grab an ice cold bottle of Ito En Jasmine Tea and munch on some Calbee Snapea crisps as we take a look at Super Mario Bros. 2.
Super Mario Bros. 2 has a bit of a convoluted story to its design.
This story includes multiple Super Mario Bros. 2 games in different regions as well as some renaming. The original Super Mario Bros. is a true classic that helped make Nintendo a household name in gaming. Super Mario Bros. was born from the minds of Shigeru Miyamoto and his partner in crime Takashi Tezuka. Super Mario Bros. was a huge success that was just begging for a sequel. The information on the actual sequel plans are a little murky and run into a “chicken or the egg” type situation. Some information I found says that Super Mario Bros. 2 started off as a Mario prototype game that was developed by Kensuke Tanabe. Tanabe was experimenting with having vertically scrolling levels and the ability to throw blocks. This prototype was originally intended to be a 2 player co-op game that would allow players to pick up and toss each other around. Due to Nintendo feeling this concept was not entertaining enough, plus the limitations of both the Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System making designing the game difficult, Nintendo scrapped the Mario prototype and began working on a Super Mario Bros 2 game that more resembled the original Super Mario Bros. Miyamoto and Tezuka began working on this new Super Mario Bros. 2 (The Lost Levels) game. Miyamoto and Tezuka used the same engine as the original Super Mario Bros. This caused the game to have a striking resemblance to the original. Miyamoto and Tezuka chose to go with a more crazy obstacle course like level design rather than the smooth level design of Super Mario Bros. This caused Super Mario Bros. 2 to be extremely difficult. Nintendo of America was not impressed. They saw a game that looked like a mere modification of the originaland that was frustratingly difficult. Nintendo of America went looking for an alternative. If all of this is true, then the prototype Mario game that Tanabe was working on would later become Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic for the Famicom Disk System which would then become what America got as Super Mario Bros. 2 (which was then brought to the Famicom for Japanese audiences as Super Mario Bros. USA). Still with me? So, the next time an over zealous gamer starts talking about how the American Super Mario Bros. 2 is not a true Mario game, you might want to point out that the design was originally intended for a Mario game. But then it wasn’t originally fully fleshed out as a Mario game. But it did have its roots planted as a Mario game. Chicken. Egg.
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