https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqtKBlK3YII&list=PL04F6446580894A57

Fun fact: this is not the real Super Mario Bros. 2. The actual one, which came under the name “Lost Levels” in Super Mario All-Star, was deemed too difficult to be released in North America. I agree with that statement: too many poisonous mushrooms, impossibly long jumps pushed by high drafted and too many jumps requiring perfect timing would have been too frustrating. Instead Mario, Peach / Toadstool, Luigi and Toad were swapped with characters from Doki Doki Panic and renamed Super Mario Bros. 2. While not as classical as Super Mario Bros 1, the soundtrack is still pretty interesting.

And that interest stems mainly from more elaborate (and numerous) arrangements. The first distinction would be the introduction of boss battle themes. There is the one at the end of (nearly) each zone and Wart, the final boss. The former sounds rather annoying and repetitive; it consists of the same first few arrangements played over a 10-second loop. The ambiance is dramatic enough, but it gets annoying quickly (it was more tolerable in the All-Star version). Wart’s theme, on the other end, loops after 15 seconds but is at least less repetitive. The arrangements are more “high-pitch” and dramatic, fitting the fight perfectly. Even the 8-bit track in the background boasts the drama of the track.

The soundtrack is also more elaborate with a title theme – Mario 1 had the choice screen and then jumped directly to the game proper, all in silence. The track sounds like a clumsy circus – you know, with jugglers who can’t juggle and clowns who aren’t funny. It also ends rather abruptly since it doesn’t loop; nevertheless it was still a nice improvement.

There is also a character select theme, since you have four distinctive choices. It was surprisingly long (the first loop lasts 29 seconds) and it’s very upbeat. It’s the perfect fit for the coming Dream World you will have to explore.

This Dream World, like Mario 1, has two main tracks: the overworld and “underworld” themes. The former sounds very joyful and upbeat, much more than the Mario 1 track. Considering that the game is about Mario and friends being stuck in a world of dreams, the arrangements carry that light-heartedness very well in the 40 seconds of its loop. The latter is much shorter (11 seconds), but at least it doesn’t feel as repetitive as the boss battle theme. It’s much slower than the overworld theme, which is to be expected, and also sounds very mysterious. In fact, it reminds me a little of the dungeon theme in Final Fantasy II with its “Arabic” beat, and I like that.

Finally, kudos for the Easter egg music of the sub world, which is simply a short loop (14 seconds) of the Mario 1 theme. I’m not sure if DD P used that too, but it was certainly clever to incorporate it with the Mario characters. The arrangements sounded more sophisticated.

In short Super Mario Bros. 2 should be part of any gamer’s music library. It may not have had the same impact as Super Mario Bros 1, but at least its soundtrack passed the test of time and is still enjoyable after all these years.