Super Mario Bros. 2 (The Lost Levels) turns 30!

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

The official sequel to Super Mario Bros. that was released in Japan will be turning 30 this June 3rd as it was released for the Famicom Disk System. As I stated in the Super Mario Bros. 2 to Doki Doki Panic thread that it was not released in North America due to being way too hard and frustrating for players in North America and or Europe. Instead of bricks, mushrooms, koopas, goombas, piranha plants, fire flowers, and Bowser we got shy-guys, snifits, phantos, birdos, cherries, Mousers, and Wart. I did a complete playthrough of the first quest (Worlds 1-9) of The Lost Levels in the bottom of this post. I only died 3 times total as two of them were dumb mistakes I made. But not too bad at all. In the Lost Levels this is what differs between that and the first game.

 

- This is a one player game only and you can choose between a Mario or Luigi playthrough.

 

- Mario has the same abilities in the first game, but Luigi runs slightly faster and has higher and longer jumping abilities. But has poor traction as he skids twice the distance as Mario.

 

- A sound effect is made when skidding.

 

- Some warp zones take you back a few levels.

 

- Red Piranha plants come out of a pipe when standing alongside it.

 

- You only get fireworks for bonus points if the last digit of your coins matches the same number in the last digit of the timer you touched the flagpole. You get a 1-Up and a 6 fireball bonus if you have a double digit number of coins that are divided by 11 (00,11,22,33,44,55,66,77,88,99) and the last coin digit matches the number on the timer when touching the flagpole.

 

- You get an extra boost in height or distance when you stomp on an enemy.

 

- Green trampolines shoot you up for a few seconds off the screen.

 

- You get the remaining time awarded in points when clearing a -4 level.

 

- You get 100,000 points for the remaining lives after conquering the game.

 

- Complete Worlds 1-8 without warping to unlock World 9 which is reminiscent to the minus worlds. It continues endlessly until you lose all your lives.

 

- Poisonous mushrooms reverse what a power up mushroom does.

 

- Gusty winds blow you forward or back.

 

- Some minor graphical upgrades. The ground is rockier, clouds have smiley faces, mushrooms replace fences, and the platforms are made of small mushrooms, and the font/lettering above has a shadow next to the text.

 

- The second quest is composed of Worlds A-D. You have to clear 8-4 at least 8 times to access it which is why there are stars emblazoned in the title screen in the game's logo.

 

Overall I enjoy playing The Lost Levels. It is not my favorite Mario game but I play it when I am in the mood to play a game with a good challenge. I thought Nintendo did the right move by not releasing this here and waiting 7 years for us to finally play it for the first time. There is some areas of the game that are difficult and want to make you throw the controller in rage but I played it so many times in the past 22 years that I am accustomed to it. Here are the videos of the first quest that I played from my youtube channel.

 

http://youtu.be/uKnd5dNPXSA

http://youtu.be/BH0T-xrmAWQ

[NinjaWarrior]

I love this version over the US version

[jaybird3rd]

Coincidentally, I got to play this version on real hardware for the first time only last week, thanks to my EverDrive-N8 from Stone Age Gamer. I think Nintendo of America was right to release the version of Super Mario Brothers 2 that we got in the United States, which is a wonderful game. But even so, I've enjoyed what I've seen so far of "Lost Levels": it's brutally hard compared to the original Super Mario Brothers, and it requires a much more deliberate approach to working through the levels, but it's an interesting twist.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Here is a playthrough of the second quest. World C is really difficult and I consider it to be the hardest area. It is virtually impossible to clear C-4 as super or fiery Mario.

 

http://youtu.be/edyT6L3cz3U

[NinjaWarrior]

Were you playing on a Repro Cart or the FDS version?

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Were you playing on a Repro Cart or the FDS version?

Actually, it was played on the Nintendo Wii from the virtual console.

[DuggerVideoGames]

One of the few video games I have played in my life and not yet beaten. Never had the patience to try to finish it yet, but I'll have to give it a shot sometime. Have this on Super Mario All-Stars (SNES).

[GameGirl420]

This one's wayy harder than SMB 3! Makes SMB 3 seem like a walk in the park.

[empsolo]

This one's wayy harder than SMB 3! Makes SMB 3 seem like a walk in the park.

I find it much easier if you play as Luigi. Especially with the fact Luigi runs a bit faster and jumps a bit higher.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Wow!! I just noticed that I was around 1,000,000 points away from the Twin Galaxies World Record!! I only died three times which is under the 5 maximum, no back warping, and no turtle hopping tricks. If I submit this video that will place me at 2nd place!! I like to try for the record!!