I do find this a shame they never went back to explaining what the subspace truly is-that is unless we observe how it was used in Smash Bros Brawl. It was interesting how there was a darker version of the same area. One of the tools that’s the strangest was the red formulas and it leads into a secret dimension called Subspace. The year of 1988 was a weird time for most series to experience as SMB2 wasn’t the only one to go through this phase. I’ll even argue Zelda II had more traditional gameplay that came across as fitting compared to the mechanics here. It’s considered one of the weirder aspects of Mario in 28 years compared to the common powerups. These aided in reaching high places and hindering most enemies on the screen. The most useful ones were the containers, clocks and POW blocks. Eventually Nintendo perfected this concept in later entries like in 3D World and a couple of spin offs. These particular traits helped me in a tight situation or in some areas I wasn't supposed to get to so quickly. Luigi's high jump was one of the best strengths next Princess Toadstool's float move, and it just amazed me. Even the idea of each character having different attributes of their strengths and weaknesses felt organic. I remember how weird it was seeing Princess Toadstool and Toad as the characters that were helping save the day. I mean having the option of playing as Luigi or even Princess Toadstool seemed the most interesting thing at the time. The best features were the option of playing other characters that wasn't Mario. The accessibility is a huge improvement over the original, and it was probably the reason I loved this game. Regardless of some mixed views, SMB2 was still a successful game and help keep a fanbase that eagerly awaited a sequel. It technically should still be laziness on Nintendo's part, and the gameplay felt like a departure from SMB1. The negative criticism the American release receives is the fact it's not an actual Mario game or a real sequel. Its gameplay helped the series and would take some aspects of DDP in later titles. All they did was replace DDP's main cast with Mario sprites and switch the name with SMB2. Nintendo decided it was best to convert Doki Doki Panic's simplistic design and turn this into a Mario game. That was until Nintendo decide not to release The Lost Level over here because the difficulty was too hard for North American players. The initial game would have nothing to do with Mario and was an original IP. In actuality, SMB2 got ripped right from a game called Doki Doki Panic that came out for the Famicom in 1987. Super Mario 2 released in 1988 was a major title and a sequel among many such as Castlevania II and Mega Man II. Often considered one of the weirdest Mario games to see a release, SMB2 has gotten positive and negative reactions. Welcome to another edition of Retro Corner Reviews and we continue the Mario lineup with its NES sequel.

Mario bros 2 player