Spending years sleeping under Shy-Guy imprinted bedsheets, growing up, I was all about Super Mario Brothers 2. It was even the very first game I conquered, though that accomplishment didn't come easy. Early into my video game playing career and limited to sliding down pipes, shooting at ducks and stomping on the Power Pad, the idea of yanking Pidget off his magic carpet to fly it myself was beyond my imagination. After acclimating to Mario 2's fever dream-like wackiness, and the help of some warp rockets, the battle with Wart was the easy part. Suffering from vegetable induced indigestion, this final boss was astonishingly unaggressive.
Throwing out nearly all the rules that made the original Super Mario Bros a worldwide hit, the entire cast of good guys and girls from the original travel to the Dream World of Sub-Con, where their only means of attack lie within the immediate environment. Before each of the 20 stages, you may choose between the well balanced Mario, springy yet slippery Luigi, heavy powerhouse Toad, or weak but highly maneuverable Princess Peach. Whether you love or loathe Mario 2, there's no arguing that it's packed with creativity. It features prominent vertical scrolling, climbing, massive interior segments, rudimentary vehicles, physics and environmental interaction and even many players' first experience with "survival horror," as the terrifying Phanto would endlessly stalk whomever dared pick up his key. The startling attack from the final Mask Gate taught me to keep my guard up with every video game since...
The gameplay is more intricate, if ultimately less well executed than many sequels. You'll enter hills and buildings while progressing in every possible direction. Needing to hitch a ride on Birdo's air-borne egg to complete a stage was a genius puzzle. The now standard Ice and Desert worlds were introduced, along with a huge cast of new enemies. During the highly varied boss battles, rearranging mushroom blocks to create a vantage point or fortification encouraged one's sense of strategy.
Aside from the final world, the lively graphics are largely free from flicker and slowdown, but often present an unattractive clash of colors, remedied by later ports. Like its predecessor, the soundtrack is extremely repetitive, but so good you won't care. The ending theme is surprisingly haunting, as a sense of playful mischief lurks within a relaxing lullaby.
With it's lumbering, un-momentous feel and storied history as a repackaged imposter, Super Mario Brothers 2 is rarely anyone's favorite Mario, yet the game was remarkably important to young NES players during the 80s. The expansive ideas within Zelda and Metroid could be brutally difficult, so it was up to the friendlier Mario crew to gently introduce the types of unorthodox game design home consoles were beginning to explore. If Nintendo wants to continue shaking things up with their most famous series, I would suggest Mario take a pause from plucking Wonder Flowers and enjoy another nap. Hallucinogens are indeed a trip, but the world of dreams is where things really get crazy.
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