SUPER MARIOTHON #1.5
Played on Nintendo Switch Online Emulator*
Holy Cannoli kids!, I'm Brandon, and I'm telling ya, if you play Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels without save states or rewinds, you're gonna turn into a goomba!
Joking aside. There's a lot I liked about this game and could actually appreciate without feeling the need to eat my controller. If I was a Japanese child in 1986, I don't know how I would've beaten this came without throwing my console out the window. Luckily I live in the era where we have emulators with save states and rewind, so let's drink to that and as I highlight the pros and cons of this video game!
What I like: In my original Super Mario Bros review, I said that I liked the game due to the progression of creative level design, and this is the game where you take those designs and you really gotta master them. It's a fascinating game to experience and play. Other than that, it's just the classic Mario formula.
What I dislike: The game... is really hard. Like, ridiculously hard. I had to do a LOT of guide searching, and was astonished at the creation in front of me. It's difficult and punishing as you progressed, but I really think Howard Phillips said it best “As I continued to play, I found that Super Mario Bros. 2 asked me again and again to take a leap of faith and that each of those leaps resulted in my immediate death. This was not a fun game to play. It was punishment. Undeserved punishment. I put down my controller astonished that Mr. Miyamoto has chosen to design such a painful game.” (Irwin). The level designs are fun, but the way some of the levels are used in practicality can be very annoying. It's difficult to maintain a mushroom (god forbid you eat one of the poison ones), the game is too reliant on the red piranha plant where moving through pipes is frustrating, and you don't get to use Super Mario or Fire Mario like you could in the original.
Other: When I was a little kid and learned about this game, I kinda scoffed at the idea that a game wouldn't be brought to the states because of it being "Too Difficult", but nowadays I completely understand why. It sucks all of the fun and joy out of you to where it would be easier to constantly cheat so you don't get bored. I am going to put this as 1.5 on the mariothon because of the fact that this feels more of an official Kaizo romhack than a dedicated game.
Works Cited:
Irwin, Jon. Super Mario Bros. 2. Boss Fight Books, 2014.
Played on Nintendo Switch Online Emulator*
Holy Cannoli kids!, I'm Brandon, and I'm telling ya, if you play Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels without save states or rewinds, you're gonna turn into a goomba!
Joking aside. There's a lot I liked about this game and could actually appreciate without feeling the need to eat my controller. If I was a Japanese child in 1986, I don't know how I would've beaten this came without throwing my console out the window. Luckily I live in the era where we have emulators with save states and rewind, so let's drink to that and as I highlight the pros and cons of this video game!
What I like: In my original Super Mario Bros review, I said that I liked the game due to the progression of creative level design, and this is the game where you take those designs and you really gotta master them. It's a fascinating game to experience and play. Other than that, it's just the classic Mario formula.
What I dislike: The game... is really hard. Like, ridiculously hard. I had to do a LOT of guide searching, and was astonished at the creation in front of me. It's difficult and punishing as you progressed, but I really think Howard Phillips said it best “As I continued to play, I found that Super Mario Bros. 2 asked me again and again to take a leap of faith and that each of those leaps resulted in my immediate death. This was not a fun game to play. It was punishment. Undeserved punishment. I put down my controller astonished that Mr. Miyamoto has chosen to design such a painful game.” (Irwin). The level designs are fun, but the way some of the levels are used in practicality can be very annoying. It's difficult to maintain a mushroom (god forbid you eat one of the poison ones), the game is too reliant on the red piranha plant where moving through pipes is frustrating, and you don't get to use Super Mario or Fire Mario like you could in the original.
Other: When I was a little kid and learned about this game, I kinda scoffed at the idea that a game wouldn't be brought to the states because of it being "Too Difficult", but nowadays I completely understand why. It sucks all of the fun and joy out of you to where it would be easier to constantly cheat so you don't get bored. I am going to put this as 1.5 on the mariothon because of the fact that this feels more of an official Kaizo romhack than a dedicated game.
Works Cited:
Irwin, Jon. Super Mario Bros. 2. Boss Fight Books, 2014.