Super Mario Bros. 2

Reviewed by Marc Golding (January 07, 2004)

The story is a departure from standard Mario fare. Bowser's off making kids with a mysterious sperm receptacle of a woman (the guy's like Michael Jackson - he doesn't keep the poor mother around). The demented offspring of the unsavory union would later help him rule with an iron fist in SMB3. So, to amuse himself in his nemesis's absence, Mario enlists the help of his friends: gangly green-clad brother Luigi; the stocky, mushroom-domed Toad, and the ''I can too fight just like the boys - see I'm not the quarry this time'' Princess Toadstool.

Reviewed by japanaman (April 04, 2011)

The gameplay resembled practically nothing of the original Super Mario Bros., but fans didn’t care. It gave us a completely unique game that was enjoyable in its own right, even if it wasn’t a true Mario game.

Reviewed by JoeTheDestroyer (November 14, 2011)

Viewed as a sequel, SMB2 is a victory because the experience is as fresh and imaginative as it is challenging and exciting. Viewed as a repackaging, it's still a win because it's a stellar platformer with or without Mario and company.

Reviewed by lurkeratlarge (June 10, 2004)

You probably know the story now. What we Americans know as Super Mario Bros. 2 - that weird, quirky platformer no one quite knew what to make of back then - was never meant to be a Mario game. It is the illegitimate child of Doki Doki Panic, an odd Japanese platformer, and the Mario universe. Fearful that the frightfully difficult Japanese SMB2 will turn away American gamers, Nintendo had grabbed this little game, forcibly inserted Mario and friends, and released it upon unwitting America...

Reviewed by ratking (July 15, 2002)

Super Mario Bros 2 is definitely a strange game. Like Castlevania, Zelda and other great series the second game differed from the methods the series has already taken, and will take from here on out. This game is definitely innovative and a major hit still today. But really is it truly a Mario game, for it differs so much from the first and the third for it is not the jump on top of goombas and kill them and where is King Koopa. Of course Mario is in a dream in this game, so who knows...

Reviewed by retro (November 01, 2003)

If you've ever played Super Mario Bros. 2, then you know it's not anything like the groundbreaking Super Mario Bros. that millions of people just couldn't get enough of. Fortunately, different doesn't always spell disaster.

Reviewed by sgreenwell (Date unavailable)

Even today, there's nothing quite like the gameplay of Super Mario Brothers 2. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but any diehard Nintendo fan must play this game.

Reviewed by tomclark (February 02, 2004)

Call it destiny. Call it fate. Call it ka, if you will. But something was obviously at work in Nintendo Towers on the day they decided not to release the original version of Super Mario Bros. 2 in the western world, choosing instead to paint the Mario characters onto an existing yet obscure Japanese platform game called Doki! Doki! Panic!. Because as great as the original Mario 2 is (and it's subsequent release on the SNES' Super Mario AllStars, and later on the Game Boy Color's Super Mario Bros...