Super Mario Bros. 2 was released for the NES in October 1988. It is based off of a game that was released in Japan around the time called Doki Doki Panic. The game that was supposed to be released as the sequel for the original Super Mario Bros. game was never released in America because of its difficulty. Instead, Doki Doki Panic was reworked into the game that we know today as Super Mario Bros. 2. Super Mario Bros. 2 is one of those games that I grew up playing as a kid 5 years after its release in the fall of 1993. I enjoyed this game quite a lot but found it to be a lot different from the other games in the Mario series.

The setting is odd as well as the gameplay mechanics in this Mario game. I also found it interesting how you could play as other characters besides just Mario. Luigi was available in the first SMB but only in 2-player mode, and even then it was hard to play as Luigi very much in that game. SMB2 was the first time he saw that much action. Toad was now playable, and what was a real shock to me was that Princess Peach was now a playable character! This isn't an old NES Mario game that is as well known as Super Mario Bros. 3, but I think that Super Mario Bros. 2 is a special game in its own right.   

Graphics 8/10: Super Mario Bros. 2 is where you start to see a lot of color and detail put into these old school NES video games. For once, the backgrounds seem to be more developed. I guess the background objects aren't that good in this game either, but they look better than they did in any of the other games before it. The sprites on the other hand are a lot more detailed by now. The characters have more facial expressions, and they are just better drawn in this game than in any of the other ones. Graphically, this is where Nintendo started making really good-looking games. Sure, this game still looks dated, but SMB2 is where the NES games started to finally look decent.

Music 9/10: Super Mario Bros. 2 has a nice collection of songs that are very enjoyable. About all the songs sound catchy and upbeat. Not only that, but this is a soundtrack that has a wide range of variety. The only issue I have with it is how the underground theme is used over and over. It is even played for the castle levels too. Other than that, the soundtrack of SMB2 is pretty much flawless. I love listening to the boss theme, and even Wart has his own final boss theme. I don't think many games were able to do this at the time. Most of the music for the SMB Super Show that I watched whenever I was in 1st grade came from this Mario game. I just wish they hadn't have reused the underground musical theme so much.  

Gameplay 9/10: Super Mario Bros. 2 is a platforming game just like the one before it. However, it is a completely different type of platforming game than the first. The player has the option of playing as either Mario, Luigi, Toad, or the Princess. At the beginning of each level you have this option and once you have selected your character you can't go back. After playing this game for the first time, you discover each player has their own unique abilities. You learn which character is best suited for the level you are about to play before you play it. This is one option that I always enjoyed most about the design and layout of the second Mario game.

Mario is a character with normal jumping, plucking, and other abilities. Luigi can jump the highest, but he is awkward and the hardest to control. Toad is the strongest and can pull up vegetables the fastest, but he can't jump very high. Princess Toadstool picks up objects and vegetables the slowest and can't move very fast. However, she can float in mid-air briefly, and that comes in very handy on some of the levels that require precise jumping. So, every character has their own strengths and weaknesses which makes SMB2 stand out from all the other games. You have the option to use other characters, and that makes for a totally different experience than what I was used to at the time.  

The mechanics of Super Mario Bros. 2 is also what makes it totally different. Enemies can no longer be killed by jumping on them. Not to worry though, they can now be picked up and thrown at each other. This can be done by jumping on them and hitting the B button. The is how you pick up vegetables to throw at your enemies as well. An area called Subspace can also be accessed by plucking up a magic potion and throwing it down creating a door you enter. Here, a Mushroom is usually found, around the same area where the potion was found, that increases your maximum health. Coins can also be found here to use in the slot machine matching games at the end of each level. Although, I found it pretty hard to win extra lives in these games. This is one of those sub-games that feels like pure luck instead of requiring any kind of skill.

The stages of SMB2 have quite a lot of variety with: palm trees, grass, waterfalls, caves, clouds, ice, stars, pyramids, quicksand, etc. There are a lot of cool new ideas, but it's not like every level is different. Still, many of them feel the same, and they also play the same theme for the: caves, castles, and underground areas. Things feel kind of repetitive, but this definitely isn't a dull game. I liked the character selection at the beginning of the levels as well as the plucking gimmick. There were some new ideas that were starting to take shape with this second game in the Mario trilogy. 

Story 10/10: The story of Mario Bros. 2 takes place in the land of Subcon where Wart has captured the people of this land and trapped them in a vase. Mario had a dream about this the night before, and later that day he takes his friends to a door at this exact location from his dream and that's how they end up in the dreamland of Subcon. It doesn't take place in the Mushroom Kingdom at all. Wart is the main antagonist of this game and has a whole new army of baddies for this new sequel. This time, Mario is now joined by his younger brother Luigi, Toad, and the Princess. Nintendo definitely took the storyline in a different direction for this sequel, and I really liked how it is unlike any of the other games in the series. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show even borrowed a lot of ideas from this game's plot.   

Content 8/10: Super Mario Bros. 2 contains a total of 20 levels. This is less than the original game, but these levels are longer than those of the first game. Not only that, but most of them also have their own theme. World 1 is a Grass World. However, worlds 2 and 6 are Desert Worlds. World 3-1 takes place in a waterfall with clouds, and 3-2 takes place inside a cave. World 4 is an Ice World (something new at the time for a Mario game and used again in SMB3, SMW, etc.). World 5 takes place at night, and finally, world 7 is a Cloud World with Wart's Castle located in the sky. I wish that worlds 2 and 6 could have been different, but there still is some variety with the levels of this game.

It was also kind of hard for me to finish Super Mario Bros. 2 on NES when I was a kid. It's a game that takes about an hour to an hour and a half to complete. You can't just quit and leave the NES turned on! I liked how Super Mario All-Stars had a save system, but that isn't in this game. This was quite a long haul with the second and third games. The second one does have a lot to it, but it's not as long as SMB3. Nowadays with today's save systems finishing these games aren't a problem, but back then, it was hard to sit down and do this.   

Difficulty 9/10: I think there are still a lot of issues with the difficulty of Super Mario Bros. 2 like with the first game. The NES version is pretty hard. I felt like it was damn near impossible to earn extra lives in the bonus games at the end of the levels. This was just a game based on luck. You could take more damage in this game by finding Mushrooms in the Subspace areas. These Mushrooms gave you more health points. There are checkpoints on the levels, but these levels are longer. There are also continues, but you only get 2 of them! Why? Not only that, but they take you back to the beginning of the world.

After using up your continues, you have to restart the whole game which is a lot to do! The NES version of this game is playable, but I had a hard time with it. I beat the All-Stars version before I beat this one growing up in the early 90s. This isn't an impossible game, but I still thought it was pretty hard with the limited continues and few chances at extra lives. I got better with it over time, but this is a game that isn't good to beginners. It's easy now because I've played it a lot, but most newcomers will have a hard time beating this version of SMB2.