Completed as part of the Nintendo Wii release of Super Mario All-Stars and played in front of a live studio audience (LordDarias, Jenny, MagneticBurn, and Xenon.) I bring this up only because sheer obstinance and a desire to prove something was the main motivating factor in completing this baneful piece of video game "entertainment," and were it not for that I'd have probably dropped this around world 5 and played the good Super Mario 2 instead.
The history of The Lost Levels is extremely well documented, but to quickly recap: Takashi Tezuka took over the directorial role of Super Mario Bros. 2 from Miyamoto, who was busy on The Legend of Zelda, and set about designing the game with the philosophy that Japanese players mastered the previous Mario and needed something more challenging. Worried that he maybe went a little too far in some places, Tezuka slapped the tagline "for Super Players" on the box as a warning, and marketing was crafted around the game's high difficulty, featuring footage of Mario getting his shit rocked and children screaming at the TV. The more well-known beats of this story follow from Howard Phillips rejecting the game after being bewildered by Miyamoto's sadism (misattributed), and a reworked version of Doki Doki Literature Club releasing soon after as a proper follow-up to the original Super Mario Bros.. Arguably one of the most significant decisions in game history, and one that the Mario franchise as a whole owes a considerable amount of its identity to.
Not that The Lost Levels hasn't left its own mark on gaming. The entire concept of Kaizo hacks and similar brutal-by-design platformers originates here. The kind of intentionally malicious software designed for people who either loath themselves, have too much free time, or who suffer from speedrunner brain and actually enjoy making pixel-perfect jumps as part of a well-practiced routine. Although I think games don't necessarily have to be fun so long as they're trying to evoke another reaction by design, I do, you know, like to enjoy myself as a matter of personal preference. Trolling the player with deadly power-ups, hidden blocks, and fake exits is funny up to a point, but like any joke that gets stretched out for too long, it gets tiresome.
The Lost Levels' infamous level of difficulty is borne from incredibly rigid game design. The player is given progressively less freedom in how they approach the game, to the point that it imposes a narrow set of rules to complete each level and actively punishes the player for stepping out of line. Mario getting brained on the bottom of a hidden block and immediately eating shit because he had the audacity to jump over a hammer bro a few pixels later than what the game expected of him stops being amusing when you're experiencing it on world 8. Maze levels - the worst part of the original Super Mario Bros. - show up in greater frequency, as if to cement this design philosophy of "screw you, play the way we want you to." There are no checkpoints in castle levels, which are always designed to be the most sadistic in a world's batch of four, but by around world 7 the concept of check points are about as dead as God. They cease to be. Do the level right or don't do it at all. Thankfully, All-Stars throws the player a bone and lets them retry a level they game overed on rather than restart the whole world, a kindness the original version of the game does not afford.
Now before anyone reads all of that and just assumes grandpa and his arthritic thumbs suffered from a case of the "not-skilleds," I'd like to point out that I am a Super Player™. That's right, I beat this without save states. I could say I did this because I had originally intended to play it on real hardware, but the truth is... I couldn't remember the save state hotkeys in Dolphin and was too lazy to check. Or that was the case for about half of The Lost Levels, because after a certain point it was absolutely a matter of not letting the game beat me. I've extolled the virtues of quitting games you don't like, but The Lost Levels felt like such a personal attack I went back to being the old me.
I did it, though! I learned the game and I beat it on its own terms... Its very specific terms, where every level is like its own contract. As something of a Lost Levels expert, I will say the game is not without its positives. Actually overcoming a level you're stuck on and executing with a level of precision that appeases the beast results in a profound sense of satisfaction. There were moments after some of the crueler levels where I started to understand what people see in Kaizo games. It's the sense of accomplishment, the feeling of all that tension melting away, perhaps even the cheers and encouragement of your friends hitting you like a drug. But it is also undercut somewhat by the fact that you're celebrating never having to do any of that bullshit ever again. I made that impossible jump, I can die now without doing it a second time. That's my reward.
I think Jenny put it best when she said "this game sucks."
The history of The Lost Levels is extremely well documented, but to quickly recap: Takashi Tezuka took over the directorial role of Super Mario Bros. 2 from Miyamoto, who was busy on The Legend of Zelda, and set about designing the game with the philosophy that Japanese players mastered the previous Mario and needed something more challenging. Worried that he maybe went a little too far in some places, Tezuka slapped the tagline "for Super Players" on the box as a warning, and marketing was crafted around the game's high difficulty, featuring footage of Mario getting his shit rocked and children screaming at the TV. The more well-known beats of this story follow from Howard Phillips rejecting the game after being bewildered by Miyamoto's sadism (misattributed), and a reworked version of Doki Doki Literature Club releasing soon after as a proper follow-up to the original Super Mario Bros.. Arguably one of the most significant decisions in game history, and one that the Mario franchise as a whole owes a considerable amount of its identity to.
Not that The Lost Levels hasn't left its own mark on gaming. The entire concept of Kaizo hacks and similar brutal-by-design platformers originates here. The kind of intentionally malicious software designed for people who either loath themselves, have too much free time, or who suffer from speedrunner brain and actually enjoy making pixel-perfect jumps as part of a well-practiced routine. Although I think games don't necessarily have to be fun so long as they're trying to evoke another reaction by design, I do, you know, like to enjoy myself as a matter of personal preference. Trolling the player with deadly power-ups, hidden blocks, and fake exits is funny up to a point, but like any joke that gets stretched out for too long, it gets tiresome.
The Lost Levels' infamous level of difficulty is borne from incredibly rigid game design. The player is given progressively less freedom in how they approach the game, to the point that it imposes a narrow set of rules to complete each level and actively punishes the player for stepping out of line. Mario getting brained on the bottom of a hidden block and immediately eating shit because he had the audacity to jump over a hammer bro a few pixels later than what the game expected of him stops being amusing when you're experiencing it on world 8. Maze levels - the worst part of the original Super Mario Bros. - show up in greater frequency, as if to cement this design philosophy of "screw you, play the way we want you to." There are no checkpoints in castle levels, which are always designed to be the most sadistic in a world's batch of four, but by around world 7 the concept of check points are about as dead as God. They cease to be. Do the level right or don't do it at all. Thankfully, All-Stars throws the player a bone and lets them retry a level they game overed on rather than restart the whole world, a kindness the original version of the game does not afford.
Now before anyone reads all of that and just assumes grandpa and his arthritic thumbs suffered from a case of the "not-skilleds," I'd like to point out that I am a Super Player™. That's right, I beat this without save states. I could say I did this because I had originally intended to play it on real hardware, but the truth is... I couldn't remember the save state hotkeys in Dolphin and was too lazy to check. Or that was the case for about half of The Lost Levels, because after a certain point it was absolutely a matter of not letting the game beat me. I've extolled the virtues of quitting games you don't like, but The Lost Levels felt like such a personal attack I went back to being the old me.
I did it, though! I learned the game and I beat it on its own terms... Its very specific terms, where every level is like its own contract. As something of a Lost Levels expert, I will say the game is not without its positives. Actually overcoming a level you're stuck on and executing with a level of precision that appeases the beast results in a profound sense of satisfaction. There were moments after some of the crueler levels where I started to understand what people see in Kaizo games. It's the sense of accomplishment, the feeling of all that tension melting away, perhaps even the cheers and encouragement of your friends hitting you like a drug. But it is also undercut somewhat by the fact that you're celebrating never having to do any of that bullshit ever again. I made that impossible jump, I can die now without doing it a second time. That's my reward.
I think Jenny put it best when she said "this game sucks."
My sanity is gone after finishing this freaking game.
The first penis ass type game
Mario ist deutlich sichtbar fett geworden, also soll er jetzt abnehmen.
Nintendo schickt ihn dafür durch eine Hölle aus Elementen, für die die Firma eigentlich nie bekannt war. Schlechte, unzuverlässige Steuerung, dazu unsichtbare Blöcke, die absichtlich so platziert sind, dass man in den Abgrund fällt (Kaizo-Blöcke), außerdem eine Menge Sprünge, bei denen man blind ins Nichts springt (Blind-Jumps).
Das häufig sadistische Leveldesign mit zufallsbasierten Gegner- und Plattform-Spawnpunkten, die irrsinnigen Bonus-Welten mit Unterwasser-Feuer sowie die grünen Trampoline, die einen ewig lang unsichtbar oberhalb des Bildschirms entlangfliegen lassen, machen das Durchspielen zu einer Qual. Durch Skill und Glück konnte ich es bis Level 7-4 komplett ohne Savestates schaffen. Immerhin sieht das Spiel in dieser Remaster-Fassung aber optisch sehr gut auf dem SNES aus.
Achievements: 87,5 %
Nintendo schickt ihn dafür durch eine Hölle aus Elementen, für die die Firma eigentlich nie bekannt war. Schlechte, unzuverlässige Steuerung, dazu unsichtbare Blöcke, die absichtlich so platziert sind, dass man in den Abgrund fällt (Kaizo-Blöcke), außerdem eine Menge Sprünge, bei denen man blind ins Nichts springt (Blind-Jumps).
Das häufig sadistische Leveldesign mit zufallsbasierten Gegner- und Plattform-Spawnpunkten, die irrsinnigen Bonus-Welten mit Unterwasser-Feuer sowie die grünen Trampoline, die einen ewig lang unsichtbar oberhalb des Bildschirms entlangfliegen lassen, machen das Durchspielen zu einer Qual. Durch Skill und Glück konnte ich es bis Level 7-4 komplett ohne Savestates schaffen. Immerhin sieht das Spiel in dieser Remaster-Fassung aber optisch sehr gut auf dem SNES aus.
Achievements: 87,5 %
Suck my dick Miyamoto-san
I can think of many "accolades" for this one. It's the worst sequel of all time, the worst game in a great franchise, and even the worst game of all time wouldn't be too far off. It's absolute trash. It's insane how difficult it is to control Mario in this game, and the level design is pure hell. I can understand why Nintendo of America didn't want to put a "2" on this game in the west.
I have never had this bad of a time playing a Mario game as I've had while playing this game. Definitely the worst entry in the Mario series. Full of obnoxious level designs, unsatisfying controls, and other things that made me want to actually break my controller. There is a difference between making a difficult game and just making a game that is unfun to play.
I saved stated my way through this over the course of the afternoon. If this was a regular Mario release, I'd be harsh on it, but it existing as a hardtype makes me forgive how unforgiving it is.
Being that it's looser with proper level design, there's a lot of interesting gameplay concepts like having to find the secret beanstalk to progress to the next level or having to hop off of parakoopas to get to higher and necessary platforms.
Nothing I'd want to play seriously, but a fascinating game.
Being that it's looser with proper level design, there's a lot of interesting gameplay concepts like having to find the secret beanstalk to progress to the next level or having to hop off of parakoopas to get to higher and necessary platforms.
Nothing I'd want to play seriously, but a fascinating game.
It looks nice, but it's still meh.
It's honestly just okay in my opinion. It seems like people either love or absolutely hate this game, but I can't help but find myself gravitating somewhere in between. One hand, the concept of "SMB1, but harder" isn't necessarily a bad thing to me considering I've beaten the original too many times to count (including several times under the influence of our world's magic mushrooms...heh) and I can appreciate that concept. That being said...the hammer brothers spam, the dumb wind gimmick and springs that launch you at inconsistent heights and speeds are really god damned annoying and keep me from coming back to this game as much.
Although unofficial, I think there are a handful of hacks out there nowadays that do the whole "Mario...but for super players!" thing far better. SMB Special: 35th Anniversary comes to mind as far as the original game goes. Bandicoot's Super Mario World hacks (especially Crown Tale which I loved cringe story aside) also fit this bill nicely. None of those games get as hard as this one, but offer a comfortable step up in challenge IMO.
Although unofficial, I think there are a handful of hacks out there nowadays that do the whole "Mario...but for super players!" thing far better. SMB Special: 35th Anniversary comes to mind as far as the original game goes. Bandicoot's Super Mario World hacks (especially Crown Tale which I loved cringe story aside) also fit this bill nicely. None of those games get as hard as this one, but offer a comfortable step up in challenge IMO.
why the hell is the game we got in the west better than this
Honestly not as hard as people make it out to be. If anything it's just a little troll-y in terms of level design, but nothing should get you more than once or twice before you adjust for it.
When I first saw this game, I was intrigued by the new version of Mario 1. It's ultimately an endurance run of a game. It's hard. Very hard, in fact. It was initially meant to satisfy Mario 1 vets who wanted a challenge in Japan (which is why it's Super Mario 2 over there). It delivers, but also adds extremely challenging elements to game play that can be off-putting to others. Definitely give it a try once. If anything, you'll appreciate many of the games that came afterward.
Really bad and almost unplayable. Don't bother with this game, cuz all it is is just a bunch of "alternative" levels that are glitchy and close to impossible... and not in a fun-difficult way, but in a pissed off one
(Part 2 of 5)
So, as one could expect, the original Super Mario Bros. was a smash hit, not only bringing the video game industry back into a good state after a good period of uncertainty, but also selling a whopping 58 MILLION copies all the way up to this day, which is pretty damn impressive for what it is. With all that in mind, you know this instant success would lead Nintendo to immediately develop a follow-up for the game to capitalize on its success. Not only one follow-up, but… two of them? Yeah, we all know this at this point, but for those who somehow don’t, we would end up getting a doppelganger game, a fake Mario 2 you could say, which was still a good game, but not the true follow-up to the original. The original true sequel would stay in Japan for 7 years, and if you ask me, it is where the game should’ve stayed after all this time. For anyone who has played Super Mario Bros. 2, or The Lost Levels as it is more well known as, you know exactly why.
For those who may be unfamiliar with this game, you may not assume that much about it upon looking at it at first. It just seems like another batch of Super Mario Bros. levels, with a few changes here and there, and that’s it. So, what is the problem? Well, we will get to that in a second, but for everyone who has played this game, many of them would say that this game is one of, if not THE WORST Mario game ever made, even after all of this time, and I can’t help but partially agree with the wide majority on this. While I don’t think the game is complete garbage, as a sequel to the original game, it is pretty fucking terrible, not only being incredibly lazy, but also taking all of the elements that made the original game fun to play, and completely ruining them.
For the most part, the game is a complete copy of the original game, having the exact same graphics, the same music, the same story, the same control, the same gameplay, the same EVERYTHING. That’s not to say that nothing was added to the game though, as there are a few new elements…… key word being few. There is drop shadows on a lot of the text on screen, there is more detail given to a lot of the background elements and items, and there is one new item………. which hurts you whenever you touch it, so, you know, fuck all of the developers. At its core, it is mostly the same game as the original Super Mario Bros., so if you liked the gameplay of the original, you probably aren’t going to mind the gameplay in this game. But, there is one central element of this game that completely ruins the entire package: the level design.
The game was originally designed to be much harder than the original Super Mario Bros., to the point where the game is sometimes given the subtitle “For Super Players”, and you know what, I would say they succeeded in making the game harder. In fact, I would say they did TOO good of a job at this. As a whole, the level design of this game is not only made much harder then the original, but also made much more asinine, with there being plenty of bullshit moments where it feels like you need to have the skills of a god in order to get through them unscathed. Yes, it is all still possible to beat without getting hurt, but none of that is gonna be achieved without lots of practise, and piles of dead Marios that would reach to the height of the Empire State Building. Now, that’s not to say that extreme difficulty in video games is bad, as many games have been made that live or die on its tough challenge, especially nowadays, but the difference between this game and all of those games, is that those games have something called GOOD GAME DESIGN.
In addition to this bad level design, there are also plenty of dickish elements that were placed in the game that I can only assume was meant to make the player ask “Why”. Not only is there the item I mentioned earlier that is meant to kill you, but the warp pipes also make a return in this game. However, instead of sending you forward to a different world, it sends you BACK to previous worlds of the game, which makes me ask who would EVER use these pipes, and why? In addition to this, there is also a bunch of bonus levels that you can play for this game, which is pretty cool if there is somebody out there that wants to torture themselves any further for some reason. But, in order to unlock these bonus levels, you have to beat the game EIGHT TIMES, which also makes me ask, who the hell is gonna play through this game eight times, let alone TWO times? Except for, again, those who wanna torture themselves.
So yeah, as a whole, this game is pretty bad as a sequel, but you may be wondering, “Is there anything that this game does right compared to the original?” Well, yes, there is. As I mentioned before, despite there only being minor changes to them, the sprites and graphics are better as a whole, and in terms of my one problem with the original, they actually fixed it! In this game, whenever you do get a game over, instead of being sent back to the beginning of the game, you get sent back to the beginning of the world that you are on. It isn’t much of an improvement over the original game, as you do have to go through a bunch of poorly designed levels again, but at least it is some mercy that the original game didn’t give you. But aside from that, there are almost no other positives I can give this game, as it is still pretty bad.
Overall, despite an improved life system and some graphical updates, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is one of the best examples of how NOT to make a sequel to your video game, as it completely takes everything that made the original game so good and shoots it straight in the back of the head until it can’t bleed anymore. I wouldn’t recommend this game to anyone, unless you just think Mario is too easy, and you want some more challenge from this series, because this game will certainly give you that and then some. And you wonder why they originally kept this game exclusive to Japan for a good while……… it’s a stupid reason, but hey, it is a valid one.
Remake #4
So, as one could expect, the original Super Mario Bros. was a smash hit, not only bringing the video game industry back into a good state after a good period of uncertainty, but also selling a whopping 58 MILLION copies all the way up to this day, which is pretty damn impressive for what it is. With all that in mind, you know this instant success would lead Nintendo to immediately develop a follow-up for the game to capitalize on its success. Not only one follow-up, but… two of them? Yeah, we all know this at this point, but for those who somehow don’t, we would end up getting a doppelganger game, a fake Mario 2 you could say, which was still a good game, but not the true follow-up to the original. The original true sequel would stay in Japan for 7 years, and if you ask me, it is where the game should’ve stayed after all this time. For anyone who has played Super Mario Bros. 2, or The Lost Levels as it is more well known as, you know exactly why.
For those who may be unfamiliar with this game, you may not assume that much about it upon looking at it at first. It just seems like another batch of Super Mario Bros. levels, with a few changes here and there, and that’s it. So, what is the problem? Well, we will get to that in a second, but for everyone who has played this game, many of them would say that this game is one of, if not THE WORST Mario game ever made, even after all of this time, and I can’t help but partially agree with the wide majority on this. While I don’t think the game is complete garbage, as a sequel to the original game, it is pretty fucking terrible, not only being incredibly lazy, but also taking all of the elements that made the original game fun to play, and completely ruining them.
For the most part, the game is a complete copy of the original game, having the exact same graphics, the same music, the same story, the same control, the same gameplay, the same EVERYTHING. That’s not to say that nothing was added to the game though, as there are a few new elements…… key word being few. There is drop shadows on a lot of the text on screen, there is more detail given to a lot of the background elements and items, and there is one new item………. which hurts you whenever you touch it, so, you know, fuck all of the developers. At its core, it is mostly the same game as the original Super Mario Bros., so if you liked the gameplay of the original, you probably aren’t going to mind the gameplay in this game. But, there is one central element of this game that completely ruins the entire package: the level design.
The game was originally designed to be much harder than the original Super Mario Bros., to the point where the game is sometimes given the subtitle “For Super Players”, and you know what, I would say they succeeded in making the game harder. In fact, I would say they did TOO good of a job at this. As a whole, the level design of this game is not only made much harder then the original, but also made much more asinine, with there being plenty of bullshit moments where it feels like you need to have the skills of a god in order to get through them unscathed. Yes, it is all still possible to beat without getting hurt, but none of that is gonna be achieved without lots of practise, and piles of dead Marios that would reach to the height of the Empire State Building. Now, that’s not to say that extreme difficulty in video games is bad, as many games have been made that live or die on its tough challenge, especially nowadays, but the difference between this game and all of those games, is that those games have something called GOOD GAME DESIGN.
In addition to this bad level design, there are also plenty of dickish elements that were placed in the game that I can only assume was meant to make the player ask “Why”. Not only is there the item I mentioned earlier that is meant to kill you, but the warp pipes also make a return in this game. However, instead of sending you forward to a different world, it sends you BACK to previous worlds of the game, which makes me ask who would EVER use these pipes, and why? In addition to this, there is also a bunch of bonus levels that you can play for this game, which is pretty cool if there is somebody out there that wants to torture themselves any further for some reason. But, in order to unlock these bonus levels, you have to beat the game EIGHT TIMES, which also makes me ask, who the hell is gonna play through this game eight times, let alone TWO times? Except for, again, those who wanna torture themselves.
So yeah, as a whole, this game is pretty bad as a sequel, but you may be wondering, “Is there anything that this game does right compared to the original?” Well, yes, there is. As I mentioned before, despite there only being minor changes to them, the sprites and graphics are better as a whole, and in terms of my one problem with the original, they actually fixed it! In this game, whenever you do get a game over, instead of being sent back to the beginning of the game, you get sent back to the beginning of the world that you are on. It isn’t much of an improvement over the original game, as you do have to go through a bunch of poorly designed levels again, but at least it is some mercy that the original game didn’t give you. But aside from that, there are almost no other positives I can give this game, as it is still pretty bad.
Overall, despite an improved life system and some graphical updates, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is one of the best examples of how NOT to make a sequel to your video game, as it completely takes everything that made the original game so good and shoots it straight in the back of the head until it can’t bleed anymore. I wouldn’t recommend this game to anyone, unless you just think Mario is too easy, and you want some more challenge from this series, because this game will certainly give you that and then some. And you wonder why they originally kept this game exclusive to Japan for a good while……… it’s a stupid reason, but hey, it is a valid one.
Remake #4
I'm one of the few people who thinks this game is good, at least this Super Mario All-Stars version, thanks to it saving after each level, which does alleviate the frustration and makes overcoming tough challenges more satisfying. I also think this game is overhated. Aaaaaaaaaaand, here we go, my credibility goes from zero into negatives now.
(BTW, I recommend watching this retrospective by Jeremy Parish for the context behind this game, hopefully it'll give you a better understanding on why it is the way it is)
(BTW, I recommend watching this retrospective by Jeremy Parish for the context behind this game, hopefully it'll give you a better understanding on why it is the way it is)
Really fun but I would not be enjoying this if I wasn’t playing the all stars version lmao
The game is pretty good. There's no major differences between this one and Super Mario Bros 1. Same gameplay, same number of levels (except for the bonus at the end). The only flaw of this game is that is really hard. Not impossible, but hard.
At times the levels can be cruel and unfair. If you enjoyed the original Super Mario Bros. you might get some enjoyment out of this. Some of these levels should've stayed lost.
While it’s not many people’s favourite Mario game, I still love it a lot. It’s much harder and unforgiving compared to the first game, but it does feel like a natural progression if you play them back to back. Like the All-Stars version of 1, the controls are much more slippery, so its even more of a challenge then before.
I just know the devs were laughing their asses off making this game i respect it
OS AMERICANOS ESTAVAM CERTOS. ESSE FOI UM DOS DESAFIOS MAIS ABSURDAMENTE DIFICEIS E BIZARROS Q EU JA PASSEI EM UM VIDEO GAME
E EU AMEI CADA SEGUNDO.
E EU AMEI CADA SEGUNDO.
Just like the first game, except the level design can get really damn evil. Like, w o w. It's just incredibly irritating, plain and simple. Thank god NSO has rewind....
The All-Stars variant is actually playable due to not being an endurance run of your own sanity. The level design is still cruel, unfair and ass on many occasions though. But overall still okay.
Yeah it's fine, a bit challenging and frankly unfair sometimes but with the switch online rewind function things become more manageable. Not really worth checking out unless you really want to since it doesn't stick out too much from other games outside of difficulty but 9-4 was cute :)
Odeio, me forcei a jogar por pura curiosidade e usando save state, não agrega nada comparado com o original e tem uma dificuldade artificial absurda.
A fun challenging version of Mario. I do prefer the US Mario 2, but this isn't that bad either.
Compared to the original, almost no value is added to this game in terms of new ideas. The demanding level design only accentuates the flaws of Mario's slippery movement, the pointlessness of the one dimensional water levels, and the puzzle levels that are nearly impossible to beat without constant trial and error. I can't forgive any of the game's limitations on the NES because SMB3 solves all of these issues and is amazing.
Played on Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online, and cleared D-4. Around World 6 or 7, my frustrations got the better of me, and I began using the rewind function, and continued to do so until I reached the end, just to say that I experienced the game in full.