gone are the Koopas,
Goombas, more - herewith justice
by vegetables thrown
Additional Comments:
Crazy Nintendo, we want kids to embrace vegetables, not throw them at warty toads. Ah well...
I've always been torn over this game, and I imagine that's how most people feel - or so I'd like to imagine. I know there's a lot of general disgust over this game, but at the same time I know there are people who enjoy its quirky departure from traditionalist Mario. When you think about it, it's a tad humorous to discredit the game over Mario purism since there was really only one Mario Bros. title before this one (discounting Mario Bros. itself), so the idea of a traditional format sort of falls on deaf ears. It's eerily similar to the constant downplay of Zelda II because of how different that game is from the first. So what? You can't lay down the law of tradition after a single title anyway. That's just absurd. (Or can you? After all, it seems I've found myself locked in a tradition of posting Mario titles on Christmas Day.)
Ok, the loss of what we came to embrace in the first game was tough. Everything that was carried over from SMB1 could probably be counted on one hand - maybe two. Let's see: Mario, Luigi, Peach (er, Princess), Toad, and then you've got your Mushroom, Star and a shoddy facsimile of a Koopa shell, (It doesn't ricochet? Bullshit!!). Anything else? Maybe, but nothing I can readily think of off the top of my head. But you know, I think that's where the game made missteps. It's one thing to break "tradition," but to wipe the slate clean? That's where you run into trouble. Heck, even Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. have more in common with each other than this followup to Nintendo's smash hit of '86, and those two games are worlds apart.
Let's disregard the fact that what we're actually dealing with here is a slipshod reskin of a widely unknown Famicon title called Yume Koujou Doki Doki Panic - although once it was leaked that the States got shafted when it came to SMB2, Doki Doki Panic became a household name among gamers. From a purely "Mario" point of view, we're not just presented with a whole new game, but we're stripped of nearly anything and everything that's even remotely Mario related. While the case can easily be argued that it's not that big of a deal, removing any sense of familiarity can skew an opinion quickly. Sure, it has Mario, but am I really playing Mario? I don't know.
To embellish on a few of the nuances that make this game so incredibly different, let's see what we're dealing with. First, we have a whole new roster of enemies. New enemies are nothing to complain about, in fact most anyone will relish new foes to battle, but to completely sack the original lineup is ridiculous. I know that wasn't with purposeful intent on the programmers' part, but again, I'm disregarding that we're actually dealing with a reskin here. The wrath of the Koopas are nothing more than a distant memory. Instead, Mario must contend with strange, masked creatures, really pissed-off sets of floating masks that are way too overprotective of their keys, some cute little porcupines, a bomb-throwing mouse and an egg-spitting...uh...what is Birdo supposed to be anyway? And presiding over them all is a huge toad that has a nasty derision towards vegetables, yet for some reason has decided to build a machine that manufactures vegetables right inside his lair. Not sure what that's all about.
Next up, we are given a choice of four characters to use for each level. Four? But there's only Mario and Luigi? Yea, somehow Peach and Toad joined in on the action too. And so started the abominable idea of Toad as a playable character - all thanks to a game that's not even a Mario game to begin with. Ugh. So not only do we have four characters to choose from, each one of them has their own unique physics - hint, they all suck. Ok, Peach's float ability is pretty cool, but honestly, every time I've played this game, I've only ever used Mario. But there's more. Not only are we given new jump physics, but we have an overall revised moveset which sort of ties in with my next subject of change: powerups.
Gone is the ability to torch our foes with an onslaught of fireballs. Instead, Mario's decided to fight dirty, throwing anything he can get his hands on, which unfortunately seems to be a vast field of leeks and pumpkins. Sigh. Nothing says danger like a handful of vegetables. SMB2's remaining stock of powerups isn't all that more tantalizing. Save our old friend, the invincibility star, there's a timer and a mushroom that serves little to no purpose - yea, it increases health which is important, but the whole small/big thing is lost in translation. Seriously, is there even an advantage to small Mario's 16x16 hitbox? Is it even 16x16, because it sure as hell doesn't seem to be? I just kept getting creamed by Birdo's egg no matter what - ducks for nothing!!!
I could go on and on listing differences, but I think I made my point. For me, there's too much of a departure from the first game. Going back to Zelda II, while the prominent action-based scenes dumped the top-down view - which threw everyone up in arms - the world and denizens of Hyrule followed suit with those of the previous title. Enemies like Octorok, Leever, Stalfos, and Armos still gave Link the runaround as he tried to navigate the fantastical countryside and maze-like dungeons. Heck, even Keese and Gel make reappearances, though under new names: Ache and Bit respectively. Other comparative features include items such as the Candle, Raft or Whistle, or even Link's hunt for additional Heart Containers. The point is, despite the radical change in format, everything was still very familiar between the two titles and like the title or not, Zelda II was still very much a Zelda game. Could I say the same for SMB2? Honestly, no, but with a but.
The reason I'm so iffy on SMB2's case is that at the time, and I distinctly remember when this game came out, the game was so wildly different that there was a real inherent risk in purchasing it. Who wants a Mario game that is obviously not a Mario game? I never acquired the game as a kid - I didn't want it. I recall playing it once at a friend's house and clearly disliking it. However, as the years have passed, Nintendo desperately tried to mask their mistake by slowly integrating SMB2 content into later titles. Pokey, Bob-omb, and even Shy Guy eventually found their way into other Mario titles. Birdo's in nearly every non-platforming Mario title, most notably the Mario Kart series. And I really think that helped save the sinking ship that was SMB2. Nintendo found a way to make SMB2 feel at home among the Mario-verse, and I'm glad they did. Yea, I didn't like the game as a kid, but over the years it has grown on me. It still isn't one of the better Mario titles in my opinion, but it has its merits and is a lot of fun to sit down with every now and then. What's more, I'd rather play this SMB2 than the Japanese SMB2 any day of the week. I think the best way to put it is as a Mario game, it's mediocre at best, but as a generic platformer, it's fantastic. It's got everything you need for a great platformer, but nothing you want for a good Mario platformer, even after all the sneaky integration over the years.
There is one thing this game did nail as a Mario game though, despite its roots residing elsewhere. The music was catchy and memorable, just like any good Mario music of yore. The NES Mario trifecta pulled this off without fault. The songs in each of these titles are clearly unmistakable, and just like SMB1 and SMB3, I can likely hum some of SMB2's melodies at the drop of a hat, especially Character Select, Overworld, and perhaps even Underworld if you catch me on a good day.
So, in the end, while Yume Koujou Doki Doki Panic selflessly lent itself as a model for what was at the time a terrible Mario game, there was a lot of good that managed to come out of it as well. Who would have thought that some obscure Famicon title would manage to push and develop the Mario franchise, especially when there was no real intent of continuity behind the title - that it was nothing more than a rush job to capitalize on a lot of game-hungry children who were already head-over-heels over the first SMB title and rake in the dough. Funny, isn't it?
Rating: 3.5 rocket ships out of 5
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