History VideoGame / SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels

Released exclusively in Japan on June 3, 1986 for the Famicom Disk System, ''Super Mario Bros. 2'', also known worldwide as ''Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels'', is the second game in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series. Following the success of ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 Super Mario Bros.]]'', Creator/{{Nintendo}} decided to follow it up with a MissionPackSequel. There were four main differences between the original and the sequel: the two-player mode was replaced by the option to play the game as either Mario or Luigi, Luigi was given higher jumps but inferior traction, some of the graphics were updated, and the game was about as close to PlatformHell as one gets short of a [[GameMod ROM hack]].

* AscendedGlitch: World 9 was inspired by a glitch in the Famicom version of the first game. The glitch involved removing the cartridge during the middle of gameplay, replacing it with a copy of ''Tennis'' and then resetting the console. After playing a few rounds of ''Tennis'', the player must switch cartridges once again during gameplay, switching back to ''Super Mario Bros.'', and then reset the game once again. After doing all of this without turning off the console, the player must start the game by pressing A+Start (the continue code) in order to start in World 9, which is an underwater version of World 6-2 and World 1-4 with random enemies and crashes. This glitch is impossible to reproduce on the NES, since the console automatically resets when a cartridge is forcefully removed. [[note]] Unless, of course, you're playing on a 1993 "toploader" NES, which lacks the infamous CIC lockout chip programmed to reset the console ''every second'' if a licensed cartridge isn't inserted. Or if you're playing on a modified frontloading NES with its lockout chip disabled.[[/note]]

* PointOfNoContinues: In the original Famicom Disk System release, when reaching World 9 and beyond this, if you lose your final life, instead of giving an option to continue, you're instead given a final message saying: "YOU'RE A SUPER PLAYER! WE HOPE WE'LL SEE YOU AGAIN. MARIO AND STAFF." This is averted in the ''All-Stars'' version, as you're still given continues when you lose your final life.
* PreFinalBoss: In castle 8-4 (and the true final level, D-4), you will encounter "Bowser's Brother" (A blue palette-swap of Bowser, sometimes called "Bruce") shortly before reaching the real Bowser.

* BubblyClouds: In addition to the "Coin Heaven" bonus areas from the first game, a few levels (the end of 8-2, 8-3, and A-3) take place in the clouds.

* DummiedOut: Worlds 9 through D in are present in ''Deluxe'''s data, some more complete than others.

!![[SimilarlyNamedWorks You may be looking]] for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', the Western sequel to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1''

-->-- [[https://www.youtube.com/user/SolarisParadox Solaris Paradox]] of '''WebVideo/BrainScratchCommentaries'''

!![[SimilarlyNamedWorks You may be looking]] for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', the Western sequel to '''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1''

* MeaninglessLives: The ''All-Stars'' edition, because it allows you to save after clearing a level rather than a world. The only punishment for getting a game over in this edition is that you have to restart the stage from the beginning (which is only even a problem if you've passed the CheckPoint, which many levels lack anyway).

** ''All-Stars'' makes the Poison Mushrooms a completely and totally unmistakable solid purple with a skull on the cap of the mushroom and gives them angry eyes, making them far easier to distinguish from regular mushrooms (and also SchmuckBait of the highest order).

* SequelDifficultyDrop: The ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioAllStars All-Stars]]'' version makes slight adjustments to make this game much easier and bearable than its 8-bit counterpart. The game was included with a save feature, and the ability to continue from any stage you want, instead of at the beginning of every world to compensate for the insane difficulty. You also do not have to beat the game eight times to access Worlds A through D, you only need to beat it once. The levels themselves are still nearly as nasty as they've ever been, though, with the main differences here being the removal of some (though not all) invisible blocks that frequently caused unintentional player deaths, plus some added power-ups.
* SequelDifficultySpike: It's much more difficult than the first game, and more difficult than all subsequent games as well.

The original version of ''The Lost Levels'' has since been released in future platforms, including a port for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance in 2004 which once again remained exclusive to Japan. In fact, it wasn't until 2007, twenty-one years after the game was released, that the original version was made available to Western gamers via the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}'s UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole; and from that point the game hasn't missed the international market ever again, being available there on the Virtual Consoles of the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS and UsefulNotes/WiiU, the NES catalogue of the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, and as part of the rerelease of the first ''Super Mario Bros.'' for the Game & Watch for the franchise's 35th anniversary in 2020.

Even though this was back when many games - including the first installment - were NintendoHard, the difficulty spike between this game and its predecessor was insane. In Japan, this had the effect of giving jaded Mario fans a new challenge to overcome. However, when Howard Phillips, Nintendo of America's chief play-tester, and favorite of [=NoA=] president Minoru Arakawa, got his hands on the game, he found the experience of playing it to be absolutely punishing, and not at all fun. Based on Phillips' input, Arakawa made the decision [[NoExportForYou not to release it in the United States and Europe]]. In fact, it wasn't until 2007, twenty-one years after the game was released, that the original version was made available to European gamers via the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}'s UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole. Still, the game sold well in Japan, it sold 2.5 million units, and was the all-time best-selling on the Family Computer Disk System. However, Nintendo of America absolutely needed a western ''Mario'' sequel in record time, so Nintendo [[DolledUpInstallment Dolled-Up]] another Nintendo game, ''[[VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic]]'', and called it ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' (Eventually, in Japan the re-dressed game would get released under the title ''Super Mario USA'').

When the original ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' was finally released in North America and Europe as part of the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioAllStars'' CompilationRerelease, it was instead titled ''Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels''. Worlds 1-8 were also included as the [[UnlockableContent Unlockable]] "''Super Mario Bros.: For Super Players''" in ''Super Mario Bros. Deluxe'' for UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor (though in both ''All-Stars'' and ''Deluxe'', it shares the same graphics as its predecessor, losing some of its uniqueness). Keep in mind that these versions, as hard as they are, ease up the difficulty greatly from the original version; the game can be saved after every level rather than every world, and invisible power-up blocks were added to every dungeon level.

* PointOfNoContinues: In the original Famicom release, if you lose your final life, instead of giving an option to continue, you're instead given a final message saying: "YOU'RE A SUPER PLAYER! WE HOPE WE'LL SEE YOU AGAIN. MARIO AND STAFF." This is averted in the ''All-Stars'' version, as you're still given continues when you lose your final life.

* AscendedGlitch: World 9 was inspired by a glitch in the Famicom version of the first game. The glitch involved removing the cartridge during the middle of gameplay, replacing it with a copy of ''Tennis'' and then resetting the console. After playing a few rounds of ''Tennis'', the player must switch cartridges once again during gameplay, switching back to ''Super Mario Bros.'', and then reset the game once again. After doing all of this without turning off the console, the player must start the game by pressing A+Start (the continue code) in order to start in World 9, which is an underwater version of World 6-2 and World 1-4 with random enemies and crashes. This glitch is impossible to reproduce on the NES, since the console automatically resets when a cartridge is forcefully removed. [[note]] unless it's the NES2 model or you removed the NES10 chip from the NES itself [[/note]]

** Ducking is far more important in this game than the previous (and other 2D Mario games), and the game warns players about this with the narrow passage in 1-2. If they're already Big Mario or Luigi and don't take a hit from the Goombas, then the only way they can progress beyond the passage is by running and sliding underneath.

* IfItSwimsItFlies: The Bloober now appears in land levels, hovering around the exact same way it swims underwater, and stompable for 1,000 points. [[RefittedForSequel This behavior was already fully defined in the previous game]], just [[DummiedOut never actually used]].

Even though this was back when many games - including the first installment - were NintendoHard, the difficulty spike between this game and its predecessor was insane. In Japan, this had the effect of giving jaded Mario fans a new challenge to overcome. However, when Howard Phillips, Nintendo of America's chief play-tester, and favorite of [=NoA=] president Minoru Arakawa, got his hands on the game, he found the experience of playing it to be absolutely punishing, and not at all fun. Based on Phillip's input, Arakawa made the decision [[NoExportForYou not to release it in the United States and Europe]]. In fact, it wasn't until 2007, twenty-one years after the game was released, that the original version was made available to European gamers via the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}'s UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole. Still, the game sold well in Japan, it sold 2.5 million units, and was the all-time best-selling on the Family Computer Disk System. However, Nintendo of America absolutely needed a western ''Mario'' sequel in record time, so Nintendo [[DolledUpInstallment Dolled-Up]] another Nintendo game, ''[[VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic]]'', and called it ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' (Eventually, in Japan the re-dressed game would get released under the title ''Super Mario USA'').

* JackOfAllStats: The first time that Mario does this -- he manages to average out from only ''one'' other character.

** ''All-Stars'' also allows you to play through the bonus Worlds A through D immediately after completing World 9, unlike the original game which required you to complete the entire adventure eight times.

''Super Mario Bros. 2'', also known worldwide as ''Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels'', is the second game in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series. Following the success of ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 Super Mario Bros.]]'', Creator/{{Nintendo}} decided to follow it up with a MissionPackSequel. There were four main differences between the original and the sequel: the two-player mode was replaced by the option to play the game as either Mario or Luigi, Luigi was given higher jumps but inferior traction, some of the graphics were updated, and the game was about as close to PlatformHell as one gets short of a [[GameMod ROM hack]].

* NintendoHard: This is definitely '''''the''''' hardest 2D ''Mario'' game to date.

* DoubleUnlock: In the Disk System version of the game, to get access to Worlds A to D, you had to beat the game ''eight times in a row''. This was changed in the All-Stars port where you just have to beat the game once to play the rest of the worlds.

* NintendoHard: Let alone video games in general, this is definitely '''''THE''''' hardest 2D ''Mario'' game to date.