Retro Sunday!

Hello all! Today you get a new weekly feature at pretty much the only good blog on the internet. That’s right, it’s Retro Sunday! One of my favorite Sunday activities is to play an old-school game of some kind. Let’s begin!

As you know, the Mario universe took a strange turn in 1988. That was the release of Super Mario Bros. 2. This game was entirely different than its predecessor. There were all-new enemies and bosses, you could pick veggies (and other things) out of the ground and throw them at enemies, and each player had different abilities. You could play as Mario, Luigi, Toad, or Princess Toadstool. Mario was an all-around character, Luigi could jump super-high, Toad could run and pick veggies faster than anyone, and Peach could float for a short time. The levels all had a sort of Middle Eastern feel to them.

An odd mix, to be sure, but it certainly works. It’s a fantastic game that has since had a huge impact on the Mario universe. After all, this game saw the invention of the now-popular Shy Guy, among other characters.

For those who don’t know, SMB2 didn’t actually start as a Mario game. It was called Doki Doki Panic, and it was about an Arabian family of four, each with different abilities. When Nintendo of America decided not to sell the real Super Mario Bros. 2 (because it was insanely hard, also known here in the USA as the lost levels), they picked up Doki Doki Panic and changed the characters to Mario ones and sold it. The game achieved great success and has since been re-released in various forms.

I like the game so much because you can play as Toad, pretty much the best video game character of all time! Plus, he’s the fastest runner and veggie-picker of them all (although he can’t jump very high).

So, if you don’t have the game, go power up the Wii and download it. It’s only $5 and it’s completely worth it! Or if you have a GBA or NES or SNES, you could find Mario Advance or the original cartridge or Super Mario All-Stars and play it that way, too! Either way, it’s as great a game now as it was when it was released, and is still a joy to play. In fact, I think I’ll go play it right now. Enjoy!

-benjamines

EDIT: I just beat the entire game. I didn't use any Warp Zones, either. Took me a couple of hours or so. Also, I had H4 lives left. You read that right. I think that translates into about 174. So yeah. Fun times!