My favorite 2D Mario game in terms of atmosphere and aesthetics. Love how unique everything about this feels.

The platforming itself isn't as satisfying as found in the best of the series but it makes up for it in the depth brought in by the character variety.

Would love to see something like this again in the series as unlikely as that is.

I figured I could squeeze in one more game before Final Fantasy VII Remake came out, and I was right! Granted, I made liberal use of the Nintendo Switch’s rewind feature, but whatever. I’ve beat the game normally before and I was seeing if it passed the nostalgia test. It did not. While Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 are still amazing games, Super Mario Bros. 2 (a remake of the Japanese game Doki Doki Panic for the West when Japan and Nintendo of America decided that the real Super Mario Bros. 2 would be too difficult to American gamers) is kind of a chore. Its central gameplay feature of picking things up and more verticality in the level design doesn’t make the game feel more fun, or, more importantly, more like Mario. Mario is about power ups and in later iterations, collecting with assorted platform challenges. Super Mario Bros. 2 isn’t the worst, but it’s a game I really have no interest in ever revisiting even though the music and graphics are fun.

One of the most unique Mario games, which isn't a surprise if you know the history behind it. As a result it does offer a ton of neat mechanics like riding on enemies to traverse the level.

The ability to play as 4 characters, each with unique attributes, is also a neat touch that even later games in the series wouldn't implement for quite a while.

Despite the fact this is the game some countries got because the real Mario Bros 2 was too hard, this game isn't really a cakewalk either. It offers a decent challenge.

It's still not an amazing game, but it's different, fun, and for a NES game aged quite well.

another game i never got around to completing back in the day!! i played all the way through as toad, because i have decided they are an enby icon. don't @ me.

so everyone knows this game was just a slightly modified doki doki panic, but i kind of don't mind that because shy guys are cute as heck and i wouldn't want to not have them in the mario series. also, mouser is uncomfortably hot? like, dang.

anyway, i don't care about the doki doki stuff so much, but i DO care that this game is kinda racist as heck? like, there is orientalism out the wazzo happening here. the game is still pretty enjoyable and finally getting around to beating it was nice, but still. ugh.

Probably my favourite of the 2D Mario games except for SMB3. It contains the most interesting mechanics, and is without a doubt the hardest. It is so relentless that I had to use save states to not spend 300+ hours on completing this game, because you get thrown back to the beginning if you get a game over and waste all your retries. The music in this game is damn good, especially the main overworld theme and the final boss theme. The level design is overall pretty solid and completing levels is very satisfying. A pretty good game.

Game 3 of Mario Marathon

Hard to say if Doki Doki Panic would have been a hit game without the Mario wrapper on it but it should have been. It's still super fun even though it's so mechanically different than any other Mario game. I'm ultimately glad it exists as it introduced a whole slew of new characters to the Mario World forever and the ending made me tear up as a kid.

I ultimately prefer the NES version over All-Stars or the GBA one. The GBA one might add more new content but the voice clips just sounds so off-putting and terrible (especially with GBA's dogshit speakers).

For many of us, we have a game that's a black sheep of the series that we absolutely adore that others may look upon and deride. Looking from the outside, I see those that love Zelda II, and while I think it's a crock of crap, those that are passionate about it are VERY passionate about it. I guess I'm the same way about this game.

That said, I don't think this game really has any flaws to speak of. The soundtrack is catchy. The hit detection is on point. The level design can make a quest difficult, but not unfair. And the bosses, while there are a couple repeats, are fun to tackle.

This to me stands up to Super Mario World and Super Mario 3 as the greatest games in the series, but I may be a minority in that, given how different this title plays.