Before Super Mario 2 there was Doki Doki Panic

10-28-15 01:22 PM

tornadocam is Offline

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Doki Doki Panic is a game American gamers did not know about till later. This game was released in Japan under Nintendo. If anybody has played this game they may think its almost the same game as Super Mario Brothers 2. Well I will shed more light on that later on in the review. In fact, I will often be comparing this game to Super Mario Brothers 2. So lets get started with the review.

Story: 8

One night children are reading a story when suddenly a green monster's hands pulls them into the story. The children that were pulled into the story call for help. The rest of the family Mamma, Papa, Imajin and Lina jump in the story. While doing so they discover a world taken over by strange enemies. The 4 set out to liberate the children and save this strange world from whoever has taken over.

Okay the plot is pretty basic and does a good job introducing the characters. I must say the plot offered something different then most games I have played. You do not have Bowser in this game trying to kidnapp Peach or Mega Man hunting Dr. Wily. So yeah when I first played this game it was like it was offering something different. I also like how they did the kidnapping in this game. The children being pulled in to the story they were reading really shows creativity. In other games somebody would just kidnapp the children or in Mario games Bowser would just show up and capture Peach. So this one was a different and something new.

The only thing is the plot does not give a real motive on why the children were pulled into the story. Maybe Nintendo wanted to keep that a mystery. In Super Mario Brothers 2 Mario and his friends heard cries for help and that is why they went into this strange world. But overall the plot is basic and easy to understand. I give it a good score of 8 out of 10.

Graphics and Controls: 7

The graphics in this game are for the most part good. But they did have some issues. The backgrounds look very colorful. Hills look like hills, waterfalls look like waterfalls and dungeons look like well dungeons. So the backgrounds were nicely done. I also like the colors of the enemies that was also nicely done. The only thing with the graphics is the sprites can look a little fuzzy. The characters sprites seem to sometimes get out of whack when picking up things or throwing them. So yeah there are times in the game when your character might turn a little fuzzy graphic wise. In Super Mario Brothers 2 this problem was fixed. Other then that sprite problem the graphics were nicely done

The controls were mostly good but some of the characters seem to have a lag in them. I do not know if that was to reflect their strength and weaknesses. As some of the characters have a lot of power but not so great speed. It makes me wonder if that was done intentionally or not. I will say though rather it was done intentionally or not it can be annoying especially if your having to dodge enemies or progress through a stage.

So the sprites being out of whack and the lagging brings the graphics and controls rating down some. Even despite these problems the graphics and controls were for the most part good. Thus, I give it a good rating out of 7 out of 10.

Sound: 7

The soundtrack in this game was quite good and a lot of the music is catchy. I can see why Nintendo kept the same music for the most part for Super Mario Brothers 2. It is really good. The sounds for the most part are good. When you pick up an item the game gives a sound to let you know you have picked up an item. I also like it how some of the enemies have their own sounds. The problem with the sound comes when you have your character throw a veggie, item or another enemy to an enemy. It sounds like nails on a chalkboard when you throw things at enemies. I do not know why it made that sound or why that was done. To some people that would not bother them. But to me I hate tingles and scratchy sounds. In Super Mario Brothers 2 it was replaced with a much better pow or popping sound to let the player know they had hit an enemy. Therefore, I give the sound a good rating of 7 out of 10.

Replay Value: 7

I did not learn about this game till later. I had already played Super Mario Bros 2 as I got it when it first came out. It was several years later I learned that Super Mario Bros 2 was basically Doki Doki panic except the characters were replaced with Mario characters. So I thought I need to play Doki Doki panic just to see and compare the games. So I finally got a chance to play this game. I will tell you this is a fun game. I can see why Nintendo thought we will replace the characters with Mario Characters and we will have a huge hit on our hands. Its easy to see why they did that. No granted I play this game less because well its hard to beat Mario or Mega Man games. But this game is a fun game to play. So, I'm glad I discovered it. It offers something different for sure. As I stated I played Super Mario Brothers 2 a lot. So it is easy to see why they converted this game into a Mario game. When I want to take a break from Mega Man, baseball, Mario or Donkey Kong games its nice to play this game. I give it a good score of 7 out of 10.

Depth: 9

Doki Doki panic really shines in its depth. You can play through the game with 4 different characters. It must be noted whatever character you chose your pretty much stuck with them to the next world. Where as in Super Mario Bros 2 you could chose different characters for different stages. Some gamers might find that annoying. But i like it cause it makes you want to play through the game again with a different character. That really increases the depth to this game. In addition, there is 7 worlds to complete so the game takes time to complete. Moreover, there is also lots of items to collect. You can collect coins, power ups, and other items. There are even some secret rooms that can be discovered. So the game really makes you want to investigate everything. I really like games that have a lot of depth to them. So the depth of Doki Doki Panic really shines and as such it gets a high rating of 9 out of 10.

Difficulty: 6

This game's difficulty was really hard to rate for a few reasons. The difficulty depends on which character you chose. Some of the characters have a lot of power such as can pick up enemies with ease, throw them far and dig up ground faster. On the other hand the strong characters can't really jump that well nor can they run that fast. If you using one of these characters then you can get hit, or miss a jump and fall into the pit. Likewise if your using a speed character that can jump the pits are placed so they will not give you trouble. The problem is these characters take longer to pick up items or enemies. So its easy to get hit while using a speed character.

Also unlike Super Mario Bros 2 when you get hit and lose enough of your health bar you do not return to normal size. In this game you just lose a life and have to start over again. In Mario games when you are down to your last health you return to normal size. So that lowers the difficulty down in this game. Also the game gives you chances to recover health. So its like the game is helping you out in by doing that.

While the game does have some tricky places and difficult spots. Its not really that hard of a game. The difficulty is mainly going to come from whoever you play the game through as. Also the game gives several chances to recover health. In Super Mario Brothers 2 the game's difficulty was increased. So overall I give this game's difficulty a 6 out of 10.

Overall rating 8.1

Now I'm going to explain how this game is related to Super Mario Brothers 2. If you have played Super Mario Brothers 2 your probably saying well this is almost the same game and yes you are correct. You see Super Mario Lost levels was supposed to be Super Mario Brothers 2. They released the Lost levels in Japan. That game was just brutal in difficulty. Nintendo thought lost levels would turn people away from the Mario franchise which was very young. Also Nintendo thought the game would be too difficulty for Canada and American gamers. So, Nintendo took Doki Doki Panic changed things around a little bit and replaced the characters in Doki Doki Panic into Mario Characters. The enemies in this game such as Ninja's, Snif-its, Shy Guys, and Birdo's as well as other enemies have become staples in future Mario games. So that is the Doki Doki Panic and Mario Brothers connection.

After playing this game its easy to see why Nintendo converted this to a Mario game and had a huge hit on their hands. Doki Panic is a fun game to play. The plot offers something new and is basic. The sound is catchy and the graphics were for the most part good. Also the enemies in this game are strangely kind of unique. So its easy to see why they became staples in future Mario games too. I really had fun playing this game.

Panic did have some flaws though. (It should be noted these were fixed in Super Mario Brothers 2). The sprites can drive you crazy as sometimes your character can get a little fuzzy. From what I have seen it does not effect all enemies. Enemies that spit things at you their sprites get out of whack. I do not know why that occurs. I first thought it was cause this was an 8 byte game, but then I noticed other 8 byte games did not have this problem. The tingles and scratching sound when your character throws an item at an enemy is also annoying. To some it might not bother. But I have hearing tingles and scratchy sounds in a game. I cannot stand that. The difficulty could have been a little bit higher. I really like games that give you a challenge. I felt like I was not challenged till worlds 4 and up. Though it depends on which character your playing the game as.

Overall, to some people these problems would not bother them. Despite these flaws this game is a good game and it is a fun one. I enjoyed playing this game and yes I will play it again. I may not play it as much as the Mario version but still nice game. As I stated its easy to see why Nintendo converted this game into Super Mario Bros 2. So would I recommend this game. Yes I would recommend this game. I would recommend this game to anyone who has not played Super Mario Bros 2 yet. I would recommend playing Panic first then the Mario version. On the other hand if you have played the Mario version then I would recommend you play this game. I would also like to add if your trying to introduce somebody to how classic Nintendo games play then this would be a good starting game. So I give Doki Doki Panic a good score of 8.1

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10-28-15 07:05 PM

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I had always been curious about Doki Doki Panic ever since I learned it was what replaced Super Mario 2.

You did a pretty good job at evaluating it (with over 2k words!!). You give ample comparison with both games, showing what changes and what was improved. However you should have put the reason for the swap in the intro to explain what motivated Nintendo to do it. But it is still an excellent review