Super Mario Bros. 2 & Nintendo Power retrospective: Presstige | NES Works  

"a soon-to-be-iconic drawing of Mario making a bold leap from the produce aisle"

Did you know Super Mario Brothers 2 was released as Final Fantasy IV in Japan?!!??!

You know what I love about this channel? The context. You must've dedicated several videos to this game alone, but every time the context is so different, it's absolutely fascinating to listen to.

The revelation that Nintendo Power was laid out and illustrated by a Japanese publisher in the style of JP youth rags just expanded my brain to the size of the solar system. Wow, does that answer quite a few questions about my tastes, past and present. Very cool video!

I think SMB2 USA also needs to be appreciated from a different perspective: it saved Doki Doki Panic from license hell obscurity. It was already a genuinely good game in its original form, especially for a mid-1987 release, and the touched-up Mario makeover means that it can live on forever instead of being a forgotten trivia factoid regarding an obscure licensing tie-in with a random FujiTV media festival.

Aww, don't leave us hanging, what was the first NES game you bought after having only Super Mario for so long? :D

Oh man, you got footage of how much worse that waterfall stage is in DDP. That thing always hurts my eyes.

Listening to the Nintendo Power Panel the Video Game History Foundation Podcast did was amazing and when Gail Tilden said one of the big reasons for the magazine was also an overriding concern that players would not be able to finish or enjoy the games due to the difficulty or ambiguity. This made so much sense. If no one can figure out the games no one will enjoy them. It leaked strategies out to the public that could spread throughout by word of mouth. You didn't want to have kids struggling like they did with ET or Indiana Jones on 2600.

Oh! I love the idea of the "What Did Nintendo Power Say?" section! The whole back half of this episode made me want to dig back through the Nintendo Power archives. I vaguely remember the magazine covering so many games that I didn't get to play until decades later. Great work as always!

27:48 - Mario and friends --- and ENEMIES!?!? --- playing sports together?!?! What kind of madness is this? Nintendo Power, you crazy!

I remember being terrified of the Phantos (masks) as a 7-year-old. Talk on the schoolyard was that you could defeat them with the fire flower... there was no fire flower in SMB2, Marky.

I absolutely loved the distinctly Japanese style of those early issues of Nintendo Power and wish it had continued through the magazine's run.

Little fun facts about SMB2: Because the game limits the number of entries into subspace each level, there is a theoretical maximum number of lives you can obtain in SMB2. Also, if you manage to *die* in subspace, it doesn't count as one of your attempts! So, the max number of entries per level you can get to subspace is 2, PLUS the number of lives you have. What is the (completely unrealistic) maximum number of lives you can get in SMB2? A dozen years ago, I tried to calculate this, given the following: find the place in each level where you can get the max number of coins per attempt and still die in subspace, assume each coin gets you a 5-up (match 3 cherries at the slot machine), and pretend the game's lives counter isn't limited to one byte. So, what's the MAXIMUM lives you can get in SMB2, then? ...557,396,329,246,882,030,426. ...Give or take a few. To put that number into perspective, if you got the maximum possible lives in the game, got to the last level, then managed to lose one life per second, it would take you... over 17 trillion years to get a game over.

I’ve always wondered if the Castlevania II guide was a result of someone at NOA attempting to play through an early version of the English release and realizing We Have A Problem Here

I love the idea of integrating Nintendo Power into the series. I would pore over those magazines again and again and again. They were as precious to me as my cartridges themselves.

Ah the weird life of this game, where it started its early design phase as a Mario game, became a tie-in game for a TV station's festival midway through development instead, being ported to the west as the Mario game it was always intended to be, before being ported back as SUPER MARIO USA telling Japanese people "This one is America's idea of Mario"

I love that you'll be adding a Nintendo Power segment! I personally feel the magazine's cultural impact can't be downplayed, I'd go as far to say the prevalence of guides in both video and text form that are widely available for nearly every major game release owe at least a tiny bit to ol' NP

Still remember how the game was announced for release in Europe right after me and my sisters finished each of us SMB. Our parents bought SMB2 for us right on release, and for me It has always been the TRUE Super Mario Bros 2

I remember I got the first issue of Nintendo Power for free in the mail because my cousin Jimmy had me sign up for the Nintendo Fun Club newsletter in the summer of 1988. I would read it cover to cover on the bus ride to and from elementary school until the damn thing fell apart. I later got a subscription to it after it went from bi-monthly to monthly in 1990, and stayed subbed until I moved out of state for college in 1996.

I've never understood the fanbase ghettoization of SMB2. Sure, there were mechanical differences and a few less turtles, but it felt like an expansion of the SMB physics in all the best ways, looked absolutely gorgeous for the time, and came with a banging soundtrack to boot (seriously, that desert music goes harder than it has any reason to). Besides, the Princess could float! According to 8 year old me's internal logic, that makes her both best character AND best waifu, and 8 year old me didn't even know what a "waifu" was!

It's funny how openly known it is Nintendo Power was pretty much just propaganda as someone who grew up reading the UK-based Nintendo Official Magazine at the time. It's talked about a lot less, but those guys would run images of smashed up PS1s and Saturns for prizes, with deragatory names for the systems like "Greystation Poo" and "Sega SadTurn." They'd frequently take time bashing games not coming to Nintendo platforms, unless there were rumors the game might be Nintendo bound. Then it'd be a masterpiece you should pay attention to when the superior version comes out. Granted a lot of this was during the N64 days, and I can't imagine the hell it must have been to fill a monthly publication of a magazine for a system that had less than 4 games come out most months while the audience flocked to a competitor. But still, reading it now is a bit surreal to see from a magazine representing a famously clean company in official capacity.

as an adult, this is my fav of the first 3 games

7:44 - Oh god, the waterfall. Why did you have to show that waterfall? [swallows back vomit]

You're quite professional. This channel deserves *way more* views & subs.

I know some of the minor enemy characters have been adopted into the Super Mario franchise but it's too bad we never saw bosses like Mouser, Triclyde or Wart again. They were pretty imaginative and a nice break from all the evil turtles.

The Nintendo Power sidebar will be an interesting feature going forward for NES games. It definitely was a magazine I had when I was fully onboard with what Nintendo was doing. By the mid-90s, I was reading EGM more often. Great look at two iconic Nintendo products:SMB2 and Nintendo Power.

"No off model Donkey Kong Classics doodle" Just Mario wearing the wrong colored pants and shirt.

3 games fans are up but hated AT FIRST, SUPER MARIO BROS 2, THE LEGEND OF ZELDA 2: LINK'S ADVENTURE and CASTLEVANIA 2: Simon's Quest. All 3 now so much loved games that serve as examples changing the formula is not a bad thing.

I play Super Mario Bothers 2 a lot when I was a kid it's still brilliant and I want a magic flying carpet so I can fly anywhere. 😀👍🎮

Oh, the Dragon Warrior giveaway. I remember getting my parents to re-up the subscription to Nintendo Power months in advance. That worked, too, and it ended up being my introduction to RPGs.

That first issue of NP was one hell of a nice surprise for sure. Getting my copy autographed by Howard Phillips a few years back was amazing, too.

When I was 8-9 years old, I filmed myself playing through SMB2 for a school project (basically, they gave us a camera and told us to improvise). My reasoning was that it would serve as a guide for those stuck on the game, and a way of experiencing it for those who didn't own it. This being rural England, I got a *lot* of strange looks from people... I think I was born a generation too soon.

This game was weird, but I always had a love for it :)

I really loved the implementation of Nintendo Power. Looking forward to seeing that in future videos! Side nitpick: Nintendo Power was $15 annually, not $20 (it was a little more expensive in Wa State due to taxes). An annual EGM subscription in 1989 cost $19.95. But that was 12 issues a year versus Nintendo Powers six issues annually they did the first couple of years.

I'm pleased to see you including bits of Nintendo Power in upcoming videos. As someone roughly your age, I also got on board the magazine with issue #4 of Fun Club News and then stayed subscribed for Nintendo Power's entire run (later securing the missing 3 issues of FCN as well). That magazine was a rather important part of my youth not just for the coverage of games I might not have heard of before, but also the wildly different art styles like the one represented by that Olympics shot for SMB2. Small details like that made a lot of the issues, especially in the early times, truly stand out and be memorable enough for me to recall layouts for games despite not reading an issue anytime this decade.

Next up on NES Works...WTF!?

There's nothing quite like 90s gaming magazines. I spent hours and hours of my young child life reading and rereading my issues of GamePro, EGM, OPM, and finally Game Informer once GameStop started pushing that with their membership cards. An outsized portion of my modern day vernacular came straight from those pages, for better or for worse

The Dragon Warrior promotion was quite memorable as a kid even if it was to thin out supply. Filling out the insert in the hopes of winning a prize! Ya, it was a memorable magazine.

Nintendo Power was so great back in the day, and such a huge part of being a gamer back in the 80s and 90s. A lot of old school gamer culture game from that magazine. It was even the first exposure a lot of us got to manga thanks to the Super Mario World and A Link to the Past manga segments published in the SNES era. And the maps! I used to love looking at those screen capped level maps, and I'd emulate them by drawing my own game levels (which I occasionally sent to Nintendo). Those issues got shared around classrooms and read cover to cover at sleepovers. I am 100% behind a Nintendo Power section in the reviews from this point on.

My dad said to me that I wasn't allowed to get Mario 2 until I beat the first one. I think this was more of his way on holding off to get it instantly, and we had to wait some time to get it anyway because it was sold out everywhere.

In addition to Fun Club News, The Official Nintendo Player's Guide from 1987 was another forerunner of NP's style.

Great video, as always! Nintendo Power's free copy of Dragon Warrior is how I talked my mom into buying me the NES. A magazine subscription was a reasonable price, but once I had the free game I had to ask for the console to play it on! Don't want that game to go to waste!

Incredible as always! Was very excited to see this thumbnail when it popped up, and you surpassed my high expectations! :)

I'm one of those weirdos who likes Super Mario 2 a lot more than Super Mario 3. For one thing, I think the sprite work looks less polished on SMB3. I know cuts had to be made for the sake of smooth four-way scrolling. Just look at that glitchy right edge of the screen. I know why it looks like that, but I'm not a fan of the art style, and I always felt that Mario looked especially dopey with that flat expression on his face. it might also have something to do with the fact that I didn't own a copy of it, and the only real chance I had to play it was from a local neighborhood kid bringing it over, and promptly taking it home mid-game whenever I didn't play it just the way he wanted. I've since beaten it, I know all of the secrets, etc, and I keep coming back to it every year in case I have an epiphany that I'm just being thick-headed and see greatness for what it is. Right now, though, I just don't buy into the hyperbole of "greatest NES game ever" I keep seeing in every Top 20 list. I'll take Mega Man 2, River City Ransom, Castlevania 3 or Shatterhand over it any day.

So weird that at some point smb 2 was considered something of a black sheep of the franchise once the core mechanics of mario were stablished. In truth I think a lot of people can agree that the game plays better and is more entertaining than the original. And me personally I think is the best place to start regarding mario on the NES. It is the most accesible of them all, and it is very charming and inviting. The fact that you start the game by falling into this magical world alognside the up beat music always makes me think of exciting adventure. Both the player and the character are thrown into the world to have a good time and save the day.

What a great breakdown, thank you!

I love NES Works, by far my favorite RU-vid anything. 1988 was magical. The 80’s were magical. The greatest decade

Get the Power! Nintendo Power! Get the clues that you can use, Nintendo Power!!

I tend to argue that the first game in the classic Mario series is actually Donkey Kong, so SMB2's deviation from the mold of SMB would be no stumbling block to anyone. A more plausible stumbling block would be its significant deviation from the blue-collar ideal of Mario, which Nintendo pretty much dropped entirely when Mario went 3D anyway.

Oh my, this took me way back. Only one kid on my street got Nintendo Power and every time a new issue came out all the neighborhood kids would rush over to her house so we could pour over it. Thanks for that nice hit for childhood nostalgia.

Did a discussion of Birdo, and the unexpected introduction of gender identity issues in a 1990 game instruction manual get left on the cutting room floor?

WUT?! Marathon?! :O Don't play with my heart

Definitely got me hyped for future videos even more so with that Nintendo Power concept. Given this channel is my beloved weekly after work chicken wing fueled ritual it's astonishing that it managed to get even better.

Fun Fact: Super Mario Brothers 2 was known as Probotector in Europe

The marketing definitely worked on 7 year old me at the time. I never wanted something so badly before then 😂 I remember thinking there was some mistake when I received a whole Nintendo magazine for free!

Great Video. Thanks for your NP Magazine coverage. My Mischief Makers envelope art was included in issue 103. Later I won best animation in their Funtography Gameboy Camera contest.

As someone who grew up with SMB2 well after its initial release (Super Mario Advance was one of the first games I ever owned as a kid), I've always been fascinated by the contempt that some gamers had for it because it "wasn't the *real* SMB2." The evolution of the game's legacy and reception that you described has been very interesting to witness, and I'd love to hear your take on just why Western gamers of a certain age felt so betrayed and turned on SMB2 after the release of the Lost Levels. Was SMB2 just a punching bag for gamer angst about the information gap between the West and Japan?

I’ve never played SMB USA before, but I got Doki Doki Panic in the mail last week. I think it’ll be interesting to play that first and see how SMB USA feels after since most people outside of Japan do that in reverse

I remember the shortage of this game at the time... I couldn't even find a copy to rent! But I'll never forget one night my dad came home from work a little late and said he had a surprise as he reached for his jacket pocket... and there it was, Super Mario 2! I mistakenly got overly excited thinking he bought it, but he actually had just stumbled across it in stock at the video store (after countless visits I insisted on only to find it was rented out) while he was renting a movie. But still, even after realizing that, I was just as excited to finally play it! I also remember he brought home some Fun Lips, those weird wax lips that taste like candy but you can't swallow them, lol! It was the first time I ever saw them, so that's another memory tied to that particular night! Must've been winter time, I remember it was dark outside when he got home. Damn, amazing how just renting a game can bring back ALL the memories!

Given the mention of Tanabe as the lead on this weird, innovative game that introduced so much to Mario lore, you ever think about how he's nowadays best known for running the era of mandated-New-SMB-inspired blandness in the Paper Mario series? Like, what the hey happened there...

Cousin had mario 2 and I'd borrow it all the time. I loved subcon and the different traits mario Luigi princess and toad got. I'd mainly use toad and princess. I wish they'd revisit subcon in a new game

In high school a friend brought the manual to this game (but not the game for some reason) to show off. I remember poring over it in study hall thinking wow... this looks amazing... too bad I don't have a NES. I did eventually rent a console and a copy though, and delighted in discovering secrets like using potions in the right places to turn vases into level warps.

I can't even begin to stress how much Super Mario Bros 2 and Nintendo Power were a part of our lives growing up back in the late 80s. It literally was our way of life. We just didn't play those games we lived them. Nintendo Power only added an extreme passion to gaming. We first experienced Super Mario Bros 2 in 1988 and we were blown away. My brother and my friends and I would play it non-stop and explored every level and leave nothing unturned. Entire weekends were spent exploring Subcon. Here in Canada we did not get Nintendo Power until the Mega Man 2 issue in August / September of 1989 if I remember correctly. We had a free seasonal zene, about four volumes a year called the Nintendo Power Flash for about 2 years prior. But through the opportunity of back ordering back issues I managed to get the first six volumes originally released in the US only. I still have them to this very day.

My gaming mag of choice was Videogames and Computer Entertainment which was practically Edge/Next Generation and a sequel to Electronic Games. I found Nintendo Power was mostly just for guides. Which was really really clutch back then.

The dubious nature of SMB2 aside, I still want that original Nintendo Power issue for the Nerdicave.

The new focus on Nintendo Power as a staple in future videos is a surprise but I think that may be my perspective as a British person. There was no single publication that achieved the same kind of reach to specific console owners here. Without the lengthy comparison, the NES and its official magazine were much more successful in the USA. The markets for gaming platforms and magazines were different here because we had more contenders and never had a video games crash.

I get that Mario 1 is iconic, but I always preferred this game and 3 to it. 3 had the benefit of refining the style 1 was going for, but I love how 2 took things in a different direction and expanded on the characterisation of the main cast, including giving Toad and Peach their now iconic personal game mechanics. The removal of the clock, and the greater encouragement to explore each stage was fantastic for me; the time limit is easily one of my least favourite gaming features.

You overlook that the SMB2 USA box art is lifted from the SMB1 Japanese box art. I'd like to see Super Princess Peach 2: Return to Subcon, revolving around a slumber party with Peach, Daisy, Pauline, Toadette, and Rosalina.

Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic: Nintendo Directs are direct descendents of Nintendo Power Magazine. Discuss.

SMB2 was my favorite. Sure, I enjoyed SMB on the NES, but SMB2 was just such an excellent platformer, IMO.

By 1988, video games magazines had been around for years elsewhere. I have an issue of English computer magazine Computer&Video Games from 1986. By then it had been out for years. English magazines were way ahead of the curve from the mid to late 80’s. By the late ‘80’s American magazines seemed almost staid and boring by comparison.

For some reason, I was scared the SMB2 coverage was gonna stop at "reskinned Doki Doki Panic" but I should've known better. Of course you _would_ mention what most don't even treat as a sidenote. Speaking of, the deep-dive on Nintendo Power was illuminating. And the new segment is so brilliant I bet you were like "Given my approach, how come I never thought of this before? Silly, silly me."

This is just my two cents but, I don't think SMB3 would have been as hype in the US if SMB2 hadn't been so drastically different. My very first game was Super Mario All Stars + SMW, and I played 2, 3, and World endlessly. 1 and Lost Levels were kinda just there, and while I did play them, the other games were so much more lively that as a kid I couldn't help but gravitate towards them.

Love it! And a shout out to Retronauts East and here’s to hoping you, Ben, Benj and the Chris meister get together again soon!

I was thrilled to get SMB2 for my birthday, it's my favorite Mario game to this day!

Over here we had the Club Nintendo Magazin, with its chief and maybe worst German video game translator of all time, Claude M. Moyse. ^^'

Everyone got Birdo/Ostro wrong back then. The original credits screen for SMB2 had their names reversed.

I wanna be the 30th person to type Doki Doki Panic 😂

Are you implying that Magmax is a bad game? Because Magmax is not a bad game. It's a mediocre one.

Funny how Nintendo got the colors on Mario's outfit mixed up on the cover of the first issue of Nintendo Power..

Dope idea = "What did NP say?"

I have a nearly-complete NP collection but I would pay many dollars for a digital archive copy of the entire run if Nintendo offered it.

It took my older brother's encouragement/force of will to get an 8 year old me to stand with him in a Kay Bee toy store full of other games, and wait for hours until the delivery truck arrived with fresh copies of Super Mario 2. If it hadn't been for him, I'd have likely gone home with M.U.S.C.L.E. instead. Sometimes the older sibling just HAS to bully the younger one into a better decision.

I have fond memories of Nintendo Power, even though I never subscribed myself as a Sony kid. My cousin had a ton of issues in the early 2000s and I was always rather taken by the production value and insider knowledge about the latest Nintendo games. I should go back and read early issues; I bet it looked real different in a time before Nintendo's big franchises were such established icons. I always lamented not having something like it for PlayStation, but in hindsight Xbox and Nintendo both had magazines so PlayStation probably did too and I just missed out.

My FAVORITE Super Mario game! :))

Wow, I can't wait for the review of Marathon 2 next week! Man I can't tell you how many hours I wasted playing my old NES copy of Marathon 2.

I found online an english translation and comparison of SMB USA and the Doki Panic reviews in Famitsu. One of the reviewers was disappointed they didn't change the enemies. Kind of funny now that some enemies are now firmly in the Mario continuity.

I really loved this game in its time but I understand the feeling that it was a black sheep. I'm glad so many enthusiasts on the 'net breathed new life into the legitimacy for this gem.

4:51 It's funny how iconic that pose has become, yet Mario only has 9 fingers on both this version, and the original Famicom SMB1 version of the pose.

In those days, none of my friends had an NES. Where I live, kids that had an NES adopted this “master race” attitude, like “I’m better than you coz I have an NES!” It wasn’t just a toy. It was a status symbol. When I finally got an NES however, that “master race” BS stopped with me.

Ah Nintendo Power. I still own every issue, because I was subscribed from issue 1 all the way until the end.

I played through Dragon Warrior after my neighbors received it via Nintendo Power. It didn't really compare to Ultima IV on the Commodore 64 that I had previously played, but it so streamlined the RPG experience that I was impressed regardless.

I learned a great word from this video: "repudiation!"

These videos are always so good. Thank you so much for making these. It's so wonderful to learn more about my childhood favorites.

Really enjoyed the discussion of Nintendo Power's "bias." I could realize back then that they only spoke ill of games in a roundabout way...but they also rarely gave outright crappy games a spotlight. If NP was big on it, especially for months after the initial coverage, it was usually a safe bet for your birthday or Christmas wish list. I made plenty of bad game choices as a kid, but not because of their guidance.

Didn't expect to see some Marathon 2 footage at the end haha

SM2 is my favorite NES Mario game. SM3 is a masterpiece, but the Shy Guys, the diverse playable cast, and the whites of Mario's eyes would forever house Super Mario Brothers 2 a special place in my heart.

The first NES game I ever played; Super Mario Brothers 2 is Mario to me. Well this and Super Mario Galaxy.

I still own my copies of the Italian versione of the magazine. I have been subscribed for years!

My local rental store got 93 copies of Mario 2 when it came out.