Super Mario Bros. 2

A tale of (at least) five games…

With the original Super Mario Bros. becoming such a huge critical and commercial success, there was a huge appetite for a sequel among players as well as Nintendo’s management. But, how to follow up on such an innovative game? Should the designers create more of the same tried and tested gameplay or try something completely different? In the end, the simple answer is that they tried a bit of both. However, the more accurate – and far more interesting – answer actually involves at least five games, two of which were called Super Mario Bros. 2. despite being completely different games!

As we’ll see, which Super Mario Bros. 2 you played largely depended on where you were in the world and whether you had an NES or a Famicom…

Prototyping a sequel

When producer Shigeru Miyamoto and director Kensuke Tanabe began work on creating a sequel to Super Mario Bros., they began exploring a variety of different gameplay options and styles. One of the key ideas was to expand the game world by adding vertical scrolling.

Equipping Mario with the ability to climb as well as jump opened up the potential for far bigger worlds for players to explore. The other big change that Nintendo experimented with was a co-operative multiplayer mode. The first Super Mario Bros. let two players take turns in tackling levels but the plan for the sequel was to allow them to be on screen together, helping each other out.

For the Super Mario Bros. 2 prototype, Miyamoto and Tanabe’s plans allowed players not only to climb to higher platforms, but also to stack blocks to make ladders and even pick each other up and throw them to higher ground.

However, although this definitely added some original elements to the first game’s design, Miyamoto and Tanabe initially struggled to come up with new gameplay ideas, especially ones that were still fun for players playing alone, or that they felt fitted in a Mario game.

As such, the decision was taken to scrap this adventurous prototype, return to the drawing board, and create something altogether more recognisable to players of the first Super Mario Bros. game.

For the Super Mario Bros. 2 prototype, Miyamoto and Tanabe’s plans allowed players not only to climb to higher platforms, but also to stack blocks to make ladders and even pick each other up and throw them to higher ground.

However, although this definitely added some original elements to the first game’s design, Miyamoto and Tanabe initially struggled to come up with new gameplay ideas, especially ones that were still fun for players playing alone, or that they felt fitted in a Mario game.

As such, the decision was taken to scrap this adventurous prototype, return to the drawing board, and create something altogether more recognisable to players of the first Super Mario Bros. game.

Prepare yourself for the epic tale of this one game…