' is the name applied to two video games, both sequels to The Japanese game was a followup to the original and featured the same style of gameplay and level design as the original, and was released in North America as part of the collection as and later as a bonus level to the Game Boy Color . The American game was a massive departure from the original's gameplay and style, and was eventually released in Japan as in 1992, a year before All-Stars came out on the SNES. The reason for this difference is that the American version of is a remake of a different Japanese game, . Neither the original Japanese version of nor were ever released in their original formats outside of Japan.
History
"The Lost Levels" was released in 1986 for the Famicom Disk System, a Japan-only disk-based add-on for the Famicom (aka Nintendo Entertainment System), under the name . It featured the same gameplay and level design as the original , with the addition of Poisonous Mushroom and a much higher difficulty level than the first game.
Due to the similarity in gameplay to the original and its increased difficulty, this game was not brought to the west. It was later available, with improved 16-bit graphics, in theSuper Nintendo game collection . In 1999, when was released on the Game Boy Color, the now-dubbed "Lost Levels" were an unlockable extra (after obtaining 300,000 points in the original 1985 version).
The American/Euro game called is the most unusual game in the Mario series. In this game Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach (who is brown-haired in this game), and Toad have to save Subcon, the land of dreams, from Wart and his minions.
The reason that the American/Euro version of is so unusual is that it was made by making small changes to a Japanese game called — a loose translation is "Heart Thumping Panic: Dream Factory". Various Nintendo of America employees personally despised the original Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, which they found to be frustratingly difficult. Knowing such a game would likely sell poorly in the United States, they wanted to release a different sequel they thought would be friendlier to American audiences. Although was originally set in a storybook and had an "Arabian" theme completely unrelated to Mario, it was modified to use Mario sprites and music. With these small revisions, it was released to the U.S. market in 1988 and featured on the cover of the very first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.
The American/Euro version of was eventually released in Japan for the Nintendo Family Computer under the name . It was also released as part of the (in the U.S., ) in Japan.
Story
The plot for , according to the game's manual:
In the end, Mario and his friend trounce Wart and open a secret room containing one of Subcon's characteristic vases. After pulling a stubborn block from the mouth of the vase, eight red fairies spring out. The four heroes are lauded for defeating Wart, whose beaten body is passed over the crowd and tossed aside. Immediately after, the screen shows Mario snoring, indicating that the entire adventure had been a dream.
Characters
*Mario - He has average jumping, running, and strength abilities.
*Luigi - Mario's brother jumps the highest, but is not very strong or fast.
*Toad - The strongest and fastest of all the players, but he can't jump as high as the others.
*Princess Peach- The Princess is the slowest at running and pulling grass and the weakest in strength, but she can hover in the air for a second and a half when you hold the "A Button".
Setting
Despite being a new supposedly unrelated land from a game not initially intended to be a game, Subcon is not all that unlike the Mushroom Kingdom. Instead of brick castles and giant mushrooms, however, Subcon is characterized by palm trees and red vases dotting the landscape. Though it lacks any underwater stages, introduces other concepts to the series — like desert stages complete with quicksand or ice stages. Level 3-1 is notable for taken place against an enormous waterfall which the heroes must ascend.
Levels progress in a linear fashion, but for the first time Mario can backtrack. Previously, the screen could only scroll to the right. consists of seven "worlds," each one containing three stages except for the last, which only has two.
Gameplay
Understandably, the game once known as bore little resemblance to the original
You choose from four characters each time you start or restart a level: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad. Each has a special ability: Luigi can jump very high, Princess can remain temporarily suspended in the air, Toad can pick up things quickly and is very Agility, and Mario is balanced. In future games in which multiple characters were playable, Mario would always be the most balanced character. A unique ability in this game is the "power squat" — by holding Down on the control pad for a few seconds, players could build power for higher jumps.
Enemies like Birdo and Shy Guy are defeated by throwing vegetables and other items which the character plucks from the ground. Most enemies may also be picked up and thrown. Many enemies which first appeared in this game would reappear in later sequels and related games.
In each level, there are places where the player can pick up potions, which he can drop to make a door appear. This door will lead to a left-right reversed non-scrolling section of the level with no enemies. If a door is created in the right place, there will be coins planted in the ground which the player can pick up, and sometimes a mushroom which will add another unit to his maximum health and re-fill his health. In addition, some pots (the equivalent of pipes in the original game) became "warp zones" that allowed the player to skip to another world.
At the end of each level, the player is presented with a slot machine -type game. He gets to try as many times as he has coins collected from the level he just completed, and depending on what combinations come up, he can get anywhere from 0 to 5 extra lives for each try.
Enhanced remake
received a graphical, audio, and gameplay upgrade under (in Japan, ) on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Famicom. On the NES version, the player can only continue twice. On the Super NES/Super Famicom version, a player can continue any number of times, because he or she can continue from a saved game. As for that slot-machine type game, the icons are bigger on the Super NES/Super Famicom version. The player can get up to 10 extra lives on the Super NES version of , compared to getting up to 5 five extra lives on the NES/Famicom version. That is because the "7" symbol is an addition to Super NES/Famicom version. On the NES/Famicom version of , the player can select a character and must play as that character at the length of the level. On the Super NES/Super Famicom version, the player can select a character at the beginning of each level and after losing a life.
received a second enhanced remake as , the first Super Mario title for the Game Boy Advance. It included several graphic and sound enhancements in the form of enlarged sprites, multiple hit combos, and digital voice acting. Two notable additions are the a new character — Robirdo, a robotic Birdo who acts as the boss of the third world — and the Yoshi Challenge, which encourages players to revisit stages and search for Yoshi eggs.
Popularity and impact
This homage to appeared in in the form of a playable stage.
Due to its unique style of gameplay and set in a completely different world, has become one of the most popular games for the NES and has made a continuous impact on the entire Super Mario Bros. series. Notable examples include:
* Bob-ombs have appeared in several other Mario games, starting with .
* featured Pokey, jumping Ninji (in Bowser's castle), and Pidgit (occurs as Pidgit Bill if the player completes the SPECIAL levels; the Pidgit Bill is a transformed version of Bullet Bill).
* features multiple enemies from such as the Shy Guys, with multiple variations, as did .
* Many variations of Shy Guys have appeared in all of the Mario RPGs, including and . and also had appearances of Birdo.
* featured Pokey and Bob-ombs.
* In , Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario 64 DS, Luigi is played with a higher, more "floaty" jump as in .
* In , Bob-ombs are used as explosive items that can be thrown at the opponents and knock them out. If not caught on time, they would become obstacles possibly knocking out the player.
* features a three-dimensional stage derived from . This was the first time that any part of the game had officially been rendered in 3D computer graphics. (The stage's characters, however, are still two-dimensional.) The stage is initially unavailable; however, if the player manages to get a Birdo or Pidgit trophy, it is unlocked. The stage is called Mushroom Kingdom II, though it should properly be called Subcon, the Dream World's real name. Bob-ombs also appeared as items in the same manner in as in its predecessor. As a playable character, Peach retained her ability to float and could pluck vegetables (and occasionally other items) from the ground and throw them.
* Birdo and various Shy Guys appear in several Mario sports games, sometimes playable, sometimes in the background; for example, in , Birdo is a team captain while a Shy Guy is an available player.
Many elements from also showed up regularly on , although Wart did not make an appearance on the show. The game's elements were also used primarily in the Super Mario Bros. comic books published as part of the Nintendo Comics System by Valiant Comics, and Bob-ombs were also featured in the Super Mario Bros. movie.
