The Not So Secret History of Super Mario Bros. 2

In 1988, the Nintendo Entertainment System saw the release of a sequel that most people who owned the console were anticipating: Super Mario Bros. 2. After the major success of the original, how could the sequel do anything but thrill us all? Over 20 years later, this game is still debated as to whether it was a great sequel, but I think most would agree that it was a good game nonetheless.

I personally enjoyed the game growing up, but it didn’t grab me quite like the original did. I did enjoy some mechanics, though, such as the ability to float for a small time with Peach, use POW blocks to shake up the screen, and the music… it was fantastic. So, being that it’s 2011, why on earth am I talking about the game now?

Well, Wired posted an article taking a look at the history of the game the other day, and as I’ve always been rather intrigued by it myself, I felt compelled to post about it here. It’s not much of a secret (contrary to the source article title), but Super Mario Bros. 2 began life in Japan as Doki Doki Panic, a nearly identical game that shared music and most of the enemies and gameplay mechanics. Yes, SMB2 is… on par with a romhack.

But, it was a good romhack, and as many enhancements were made to the game, it turned out to be a relative hit overall. It sold a mere 25% of the total number of copies as the original game, so perhaps it wasn’t quite as well received as Nintendo would have hoped, but I can confidently say one thing… it’s sure not the worst Mario game out there!

Doki Doki Panic was actually part of a deal with the Fuji corporation, in which Nintendo would produce a tie-in videogame for a media-technology expo called Yume Kōjō, or “Dream Factory.” The mascot characters invented for this expo were the stars of the game. “I remember being pulled over to Fuji Television one day, being handed a sheet with game characters on it and being told, ‘I want you to make a game with this,'” Tanabe said.