Would the Real Super Mario Bros. 2 Please Stand Up

[Rusty Venture]

I don't think I had any dreams that related to the game. But this was 21 years ago, so I could have forgot if I had any. I do remember nodding off to the theme music, and I do remember my hot/cold flashes while playing the game.

I mostly remember being pissed because I was sick most of my Xmas break, and being eve more pissed I got better a day or two before returning to school.

[KnightWarrior]

This is the 1st time I saw the Japanese Mario 2

[Rusty Venture]

Those Players Guides were worth their weight in gold back then. The SNES one was kinda "meh", the the Gameboy, NES Game Atlas, and Mario Mania were jawusum.

[j_factor]

Funny how this discussion still pops up, 20 years after All-Stars.

The Japanese Mario 2 is like Final Doom -- it's a high-difficulty level pack for expert players of the original game. It's not a 'real' sequel.

The idea that it wasn't released overseas because it's "too hard" is ludicrous, btw. I don't know where people got this idea that Japanese gamers like their games harder than American gamers do. Maybe that's true now, but in the 80s and 90s, that was neither perceived to be the case, nor actually the case.

[Metalwario64]

The idea that it wasn't released overseas because it's "too hard" is ludicrous, btw. I don't know where people got this idea that Japanese gamers like their games harder than American gamers do. Maybe that's true now, but in the 80s and 90s, that was neither perceived to be the case, nor actually the case.

Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen an actual quote from Nintendo that it was skipped due to its difficulty.

There's also the fact that lots of American games at the time had the difficulty increased, such as Ninja Gaiden 3.

[j_factor]

Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen an actual quote from Nintendo that it was skipped due to its difficulty.

There's also the fact that lots of American games at the time had the difficulty increased, such as Ninja Gaiden 3.

Yep, plus, when you think of the most popular NES games, most of the games that come to mind are difficult games. And, a lot of the most popular games of the time outside of the NES were very hard as well. Including western-developed games.

The wisdom of the time was that a game needed to be challenging, or it wouldn't hold your attention for more than a weekend. Plus, arcades were a big factor in those days, and an easy arcade game (unless it has a time limit) doesn't bring in very many quarters.