SMB2 or Lost Levels?

[A2600]

What would you have preferred to be released as SMB2? The current one or the Lost Levels??

 

In my opinion I would have preffered Lost Levels to be the genuine SMB2 realease instead of the DDP hack, I dunno why if Lost Levels was ready why didnt Nintendo take advantage and release it in the US!!??

[Nukey Shay]

I think that the idea was that the game was too similar to the first...and they didn't want to risk money in case it flopped. So they changed tac and hacked the Mario characters into a game unknown in the states.

[NE146]

I dunno.. For me, since Famicom games were for a long time the main type of carts stores sold back home, I really got THE smb2 when it was released and that was that. It was super mario bros. part 2! And, I thought it was pretty hard. I don't think I ever finished it

 

When the U.S. SMB2 was released later, I though OOH! I bought it. I dug it just as much by the way. It was fresh yo

[A2600]

Famicom games were for a long time the main type of carts stores sold back home

 

Where is back home?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

That is precisely the reason why they didn't release Lost Levels here. Imagine if Atari had offerend a second version of joust for any platform and it looked and played EXACTLY the same way and only changed the boards around and added a few more Terry's. Well, most people wouldn't have bothered since there wasn't anything more different than what they already had. Changing Doki Doki Panic into the US release of SMB2 was a good move. I still prefer the graphical look, gameplay, and music of SMB2 over all the others released. Yes, that includes SMB3 and Super Mario World.

[A2600]

Get SMB 2 (Jap) Cart take out the board, find a coverter in a Gyromite and just take the gyromite board and just put the SMB2 (jap) board there and seal back the gyromite and there you have a SMB 2 (jap) in a NES cart

 

Is that possible?

[The Eidolon]

When I had the chance to play the Lost Levels on the SNES Mario All

Stars cart, I wasn't all that impressed. It was very difficult, but other

than that didn't offer much new compared to SM1. I think the US

version of SM2 was a good choice by Nintendo: a completely new

game with fun game play to keep the series alive.

 

--The Eidolon

[joeybastard]

I think the US SMB2 is the best of the NES Mario games. Lost Levels is too similar to SMB for me to even consider it a different game. It's more like what SMB should have been after beating the game once.

[NE146]

Where is back home?

 

Guam. Back then we had pirate Famicoms and Famicom carts so that was the main videogame sold in most places. Of course later the NES's came out and we got those as well. So for a long time I always had a fine choice of Famicom and NES carts since they were often sold in tandem. Usually I'd get prefer the NES carts, but if something wasn't available (like something like Galaxian for example).. I'd just snag the Famicom version.

[NE146]

Incidentally.. this must be the dozenth time I've posted this scan (my apologies to y'all ). But it shows that EGM did write up the story of how the U.S. smb2 wasn't the "real" one. So it just goes to show you... there really wasn't that much of an outcry. These days, if EGM posts a rumor or any little tidbit, you can bet there'd be shouting. But back then, I didn't read anything about SMB2 after this one small blurb.

[A2600]

They say to cross their fingers hoping that LL will be released as SMB III!!

 

But we got SMB 3 to be a "SMASH-HIT"

[StanJr]

"Lost Levels" isn't that much harder as it is frustrating. I lost interest around World 4, simply because I couldn't reasonably work my way through the castle and you have to start over at 4-1 when you continue. Snore. If there were more innovations, even with the similar format, I would have liked it much more.

 

SMB2 however, is GREAT! I love it and I play it to death, usually to see how many extra lives I can ring up with the slot machine game. I can usually beat the whole game, no warps, in a couple of hours.

[Nukey Shay]

Yeah, it's unfortunate that nobody got to play LL

 

People have different opinions of how long "ever" is. I think it has something to do with attention spans.

[chrisbid]

there is a 1-up trick in world 1-1 that makes completing the game a bit easier

[Ze_ro]

I'd take SMB2 over LL any day. It's superior in just about every category, while LL is essentially nothing more than a hack that was made by Nintendo themselves. I think they did the right thing with the American release... although they probably could have ALSO released the Japanese version and made some quick money off of that too (SMB 1.5?)

 

--Zero

[chrisbid]

unlike today, the strategy with sequels was to make the new game unique. SMB, Zelda, Castlevania, Turtles, Track and Field are a few good examples. But the success of Mega Man probably torched that theory for good

[sigma]

Without SMB2 we wouldn't have toad and the princess in Mario Kart. 'nuff said.

[Scooterb23]

Well, if you know me well enough, you already know what I'm going to say here...

 

I HATE SMB2. If Burgertime and Mr. Do didn't exist, this would be my least favorite game ever. It wasn't a real Mario game to me then, still isn't today.

 

I love the Lost Levels though, pure, hard, Mario goodness this is what Mario games are about.

[Susuwatari]

Get SMB 2 (Jap) Cart take out the board, find a coverter in a Gyromite and just take the gyromite board and just put the SMB2 (jap) board there and seal back the gyromite and there you have a SMB 2 (jap) in a NES cart

 

Is that possible?

 

Possible but not easy. For one thing, the game was officially released only on Famicom Disk system so you'd have to hunt down a pirate cart. Secondly, many of the pirated SMB2J I've seen are huge. (see sample below) The 2 I have both are about 1/4" shorter than a regular NES cart. So using those wouldn't work and if you just use separate adapter and SMB2J cart, it'd stick out of the toaster NES like tongue.

 

It will work in top loading NES< you'd just have to wedge something between the top of the cart and the underside of the NES deck slot to hold the cart down. It's a lot easier if you can find a top loading model.

 

PS I'm considering selling this one as I don't need 2 of the same. There's also label on the back but it's rather black and spotty like a bad case of acidplague. Also the top bar (score, timer, lives, and coins) scroll with the game rather than remain fixed, it's a flaw in the "mickey mouse logic" used to emulate FDS mapper. I have not been able to reach World 8 at all so I don't know if this one has a bug like many other SMB2J games that have been dumped.

[+uosipa llamxew]

Super Mario Bros 2 is one of the better US releases on the NES platform, but a broader view of things shows that Doki Doki Panic story makes a whole lot more sense. It's really cool that they turned it into a Mario game - in fact it probably lead to much greater sales and popularity than if the game had been released in its original form. At the same time, I really like the DDP characters and would have liked to see that story further unwind in a sequel. By hacking the game into Mario, it seems like Nintendo might have limited that opportunity for another great US series.

 

The lost levels don't do anything for me. I might have been more interested back around the time I first finished SMB and was in the mode for more. Granted, the levels are much more difficult, but is there really anything surprising to look forward to in the game? I really don't know because I didn't play it that long, but as far as I could tell, it was essentially the same game reorganized. I think it was one of Nintendo's better decisions not to release this in the US.

 

k

[MegaManFan]

I loved SMB2 as a kid and I still do today. I don't go in for the "is it a TRUE SMB game" debate at all. It was marketed as such, I played it as such, and even knowing the truth about it today I +still+ feel it's such. Hell it was so popular here they had to RE-release it in Japan as SMB2 USA or some silly title like that; I guess so few people owned Doki Doki Panic they weren't afraid of complaints and Japanese consumers WERE complaining that we had a Mario game they didn't. None of us complained about not having SMBJ2 though, and I doubt we would have even if we knew about it. It's HARD. It's FRUSTRATING. And it's not visually different enough from the first to even be appealing. Part of what made SMB2 so great was that completely new look - more animated, less blocky, very visually stunning compared to it's predecessor. It made you feel like the SMB series was going to continue to evolve into bigger and better games, and 3 certainly kept the trend going, as did Super Mario World.

[Ze_ro]

I HATE SMB2.  If Burgertime and Mr. Do didn't exist, this would be my least favorite game ever.   It wasn't a real Mario game to me then, still isn't today.

 

Actually, when SMB3 came out, I was very disappointed that Mario was once again the only playable character (well, aside from Luigi in 2-player mode)... having seperate characters with different abilities was a huge step for a Nintendo game in my opinion.

 

... plus, I'd still love to see Toad in Kuribo's Shoe

 

--Zero

[StanJr]

Without SMB2 we wouldn't have toad and the princess in Mario Kart. 'nuff said.

 

How so? They are both in SMB1???

[Susuwatari]

Yes but not quite. THey are not interactive. In SMB1, you control only Mario.

[NE146]

I'd take SMB2 over LL any day. It's superior in just about every category, while LL is essentially nothing more than a hack that was made by Nintendo themselves.

 

Ze_ro... come on dude, if LL is nothing more than a hack that was made by Nintendo.. then what is U.S. SMB2?