With the prototype’s vertical scrolling, climbing and multiplayer gameplay abandoned in favour of a return to tried-and-tested designs and gameplay, the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 might look very similar to its predecessor.
We could be forgiven for thinking that Super Mario Bros. 2 was just more of the same. However, this is far from a simple rehash of the first game as there is one really big difference…
Super Mario Bros. 2 is hard. Really hard.
Part of this increase in difficulty came from the decision to include some levels from the Vs. Super Mario Bros. arcade game. This was an expanded version of the first Super Mario Bros. game that included fewer power ups and extra lives, more deadly enemies and narrower platforms that made jumps more precarious.
In fact, Nintendo’s designers really went to town on the difficulty level and there are some sections in Super Mario Bros. 2 that are almost unfair in the way they trick and trap the unsuspecting player. There are poisonous mushrooms that shrink Mario, warp pipes that send you back instead of forward, and even a weather system that might see Mario blown off course in the middle of a tricky jump.