Super Mario Bros. 2 (history and reception)

Nintendo of America's list of NES games dates Super Mario Bros. 2 to October 1988, and Computer Entertainer's October 1988 issue lists it among Nintendo's games due that month. super-mario-bros-2-history/na-release

No source read gives the day. The 9 October often given needs a period or Nintendo source.

Cited by: Super Mario Bros. 2

Nintendo brought the game to the Famicom in Japan on 14 September 1992 as Super Mario USA. Famicom Tsūshin's review gives the date and calls it the NES version of Mario 2, built on the disk game Doki Doki Panic, landing in Japan again. super-mario-bros-2-history/japan-release

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Doki Doki Panic (Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic) came out for the Famicom Disk System on 10 July 1987, published by Fuji Television, by the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Media Arts Database. Famicom Tsūshin's issue of 24 July lists it as on sale. super-mario-bros-2-history/doki-release

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Chris Kohler reported, from an interview with Kensuke Tanabe, that Doki Doki Panic was a tie-in that Nintendo made under a deal with Fuji Television for its Yume Kōjō ("Dream Factory") expo, starring the expo's mascots. Tanabe recalled being handed a sheet of characters at Fuji Television and told to make a game with them. super-mario-bros-2-history/doki-tie-in

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Tanabe told Kohler the game grew out of a prototype that SRD programmed for Nintendo: a two-player game that scrolled up as the players climbed, stacking blocks and throwing each other. Shigeru Miyamoto suggested making it scroll sideways and more like Mario. Tanabe said picking up blocks became pulling vegetables from the ground, and throwing the other player became throwing enemies. super-mario-bros-2-history/prototype

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Kensuke Tanabe directed the game. He said in 2004 that it was the first game he directed, and Kohler's 2011 report calls him its director. Kohler writes that Doki Doki Panic was made by the Mario team. super-mario-bros-2-history/director

The game's staff roll, which would give the rest of the staff, hasn't been read here; the transcriptions found are leads only.

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Retellings agree that Nintendo didn't release the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 in North America and remade Doki Doki Panic as the sequel instead. IGN's 2010 history says Nintendo judged the Japanese game too hard for North American players and cancelled its release there, and Boss Fight Books' description of Jon Irwin's book says Nintendo of America declared it "too hard". super-mario-bros-2-history/conversion

No interview read gives Nintendo's own reason for the choice; the IGN line is the retrospective's account. IGN adds that Miyamoto spent more time on Doki Doki Panic than on the Japanese sequel.

Cited by: Super Mario, Super Mario Bros. 2

Tanabe told Kohler that moving the disk game to a cartridge for America gave the team the chance to change other things, and that Fuji Television's characters wouldn't be popular in America where Mario's would. Kohler writes that Tanabe's team added enemies and visual nods to the Mario games, and greatly improved the animation and sound effects. super-mario-bros-2-history/character-swap

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In the North American manual's story, Mario dreams of Subcon, a land of dreams under a curse by Wart, who hates vegetables. The game has 20 areas in seven worlds, each area ending with a boss and the last with Wart. The player picks one of four characters, Mario, Luigi, Toad, and the Princess, whose jumps differ. super-mario-bros-2-history/what-it-is

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Against Super Mario Bros., Alex Navarro's 2007 GameSpot review lists four playable characters, the power to pick up enemies, odd power-ups, and enemies that aren't Bowser's. Stomping on an enemy no longer defeats it; the player stands on it, lifts it, and throws it. super-mario-bros-2-history/departure

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Computer Entertainer's October 1988 review gave it four and a half stars and called it a worthy sequel, not to be missed. super-mario-bros-2-history/computer-entertainer

{
 "review": "Computer Entertainer",
 "of": 5,
 "score": 4.5
}

The review is unsigned.

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In the first annual Nintendo Power Awards, the "Nesters" of the May/June 1989 issue, readers' votes gave it three: Best Theme & Fun, Best Play Control, and Best Ending. super-mario-bros-2-history/nintendo-power-awards

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Computer Entertainer's December 1988 chart of videogames had it at no. 1. Nintendo Power's November/December 1988 issue put it at no. 2 in the pros' picks, and its Top 30 had it at no. 1 in the March/April 1989 issue, for the second issue running. super-mario-bros-2-history/charts

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Famicom Tsūshin's four reviewers gave Super Mario USA 24 of 40 in 1992. One wrote that it was almost unchanged from Doki Doki Panic but still plenty of fun, and that he wished its enemies had been made Mario's; another that only the hero had been swapped and the game, five years old, felt old. super-mario-bros-2-history/famitsu

{
 "review": "Famitsu",
 "of": 40,
 "reviewers": [
  6,
  7,
  6,
  5
 ]
}

The scores, 6, 7, 6, and 5, are numerals in the page image that the scout read; no OCR covers the page.

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Famicom Tsūshin's reviewers gave Doki Doki Panic 31 of 40 in 1987. One called it an action game that arranges Super Mario a little, changing the weapons and removing the score. super-mario-bros-2-history/doki-famitsu

{
 "review": "Famitsu",
 "of": 40,
 "reviewers": [
  6,
  9,
  9,
  7
 ]
}

The scores, 6, 9, 9, and 7, are numerals in the page image that the scout read; the scout's transcription of the first comment (もう一度, 敵を変えたり) was corrected against the image.

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Reviewing the Wii Virtual Console release in 2007, GameSpot's Alex Navarro scored it 8 of 10 and wrote that its unusual play still holds up. super-mario-bros-2-history/gamespot

{
 "review": "GameSpot",
 "of": 10,
 "score": 8
}

Cited by: Super Mario Bros. 2

Gizmodo UK's 2015 list of the best-selling Mario games counts 7.46 million copies of the NES game, 22nd among them. The list doesn't say where its figures come from. super-mario-bros-2-history/sales

Value: 7460000

A count from Nintendo or a period trade source would replace this one. Boss Fight Books' description calls it the NES's third best-selling game, without a count.

Cited by: Super Mario Bros. 2

GameSpot's review credits the game with the Princess's and Toad's debut as playable characters, and says Super Mario Bros. 3 went back on many of its ideas. IGN's history calls it the series' big aberration, and says Luigi got his first distinctive traits in the Japanese sequel and his first model of his own here, built on Mama's and taller than Mario. super-mario-bros-2-history/legacy

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