A must-play mario adventure
SML2 is the perfect successor to SML building upon its wacky and wonderful locations, enemies and bosses.This time however the teams vision feels fully realised with a game that is on par with a true fully fledged 2D home console Mario. As opposed to the shoot-em-up sections in it's predecessor, SML2 keeps gameplay fresh through a variety of changes to Mario's movement and the environment that offer unique challenges whilst ensuring the game remains a platformer. Examples range from zero or low gravity in Space zone, Water in Turtle Zone to sticky honey in Tree zone. Throughout my playthrough my favourite moments we're always anticipating what new enemies I might stumble across next and the excitement of uncovering something you least expect. The overall difficulty is fairly easy, letting you breeze through the short story and majority of bosses with ease for the most part. However the challenge suddenly ramps up on the last stage; Wario's Castle which plays like a kaizo-mario level. I found this to be both infuriating and delightfully challenging, taking me several hours to beat but all the more satisfying in the end. Unfortunately, the platforming itself poses more of a threat than the actual final boss, who (despite his 3 forms) was one of the more simplistic and easy to navigate fights. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this game and for me it ranks in the top 3 Mario 2D platformers, I really wished modern Mario was packed full with such charm, individuality and unique gameplay systems.
SML2 is the perfect successor to SML building upon its wacky and wonderful locations, enemies and bosses.This time however the teams vision feels fully realised with a game that is on par with a true fully fledged 2D home console Mario. As opposed to the shoot-em-up sections in it's predecessor, SML2 keeps gameplay fresh through a variety of changes to Mario's movement and the environment that offer unique challenges whilst ensuring the game remains a platformer. Examples range from zero or low gravity in Space zone, Water in Turtle Zone to sticky honey in Tree zone. Throughout my playthrough my favourite moments we're always anticipating what new enemies I might stumble across next and the excitement of uncovering something you least expect. The overall difficulty is fairly easy, letting you breeze through the short story and majority of bosses with ease for the most part. However the challenge suddenly ramps up on the last stage; Wario's Castle which plays like a kaizo-mario level. I found this to be both infuriating and delightfully challenging, taking me several hours to beat but all the more satisfying in the end. Unfortunately, the platforming itself poses more of a threat than the actual final boss, who (despite his 3 forms) was one of the more simplistic and easy to navigate fights. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this game and for me it ranks in the top 3 Mario 2D platformers, I really wished modern Mario was packed full with such charm, individuality and unique gameplay systems.