History YMMV / SuperMarioBros2

* MostAnnoyingSound: The "Lose A Life" theme is normally fine, but having it play constantly during the "Bonus Chance" minigame can get annoying. Even worse if you collected a lot of coins and you have to burn through them.

** Restoring your health in the NES and even the ''All-Stars'' versions. In order to get more health, you have to kill ''ten'' enemies, after which, a small heart appears and floats up from the bottom of the screen, which is also very missable if you take too long to get it, or worse, ''appears in a part of the screen where you can't get to it''. If you're in dire straits and want to recover, prepare to stop do a lot of grinding, breaking the pace of the game and making it rather repetitive. The ''Advance'' remake makes hearts far more common and plentiful, plus Giant enemies spit out hearts, as well as red shells creating hearts from killing enemies, and the hearts themselves are much larger and float to the top of the screen much more slowly, making health restoration far less of a hassle.

** Restoring your health in the NES and even the ''All-Stars'' versions. In order to get more health, you have to kill ''ten'' enemies, after which, a small heart appears floats up from the top of the screen, which is also very missable if you take too long to get it, or worse, ''appears in a part of the screen where you can't get to it''. If you're in dire straits and want to recover, prepare to stop do a lot of grinding, breaking the pace of the game and making it rather repetitive. The ''Advance'' remake makes hearts far more common and plentiful, plus Giant enemies spit out hearts, as well as red shells creating hearts from killing enemies, and the hearts themselves are much larger and float to the top of the screen much more slowly, making health restoration far less of a hassle.

* ThatOneLevel: World 5-3 is the stuff of insanity and nightmares. A pretty long level with a blitzkrieg of Albatosses and Bob-Ombs in the first part, ZergRush enemies underground, a hornet's nest of Sparks and Bob-Ombs inside the tree, and having to contend with magic carpets and enemies on tiny cloud platforms, all leading up to an encounter with Clawgrip.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Because of the game being AllJustADream, the enemies who weren't carried over into later games are seen as such because of not being reintroduced into modern gaming. As such, this leaves unique characters like Albatosses, Ostros, Flurries, Pidgits, and bosses like Mouser, Tryclyde, Fryguy, and even the BigBad Wart as wasted. Granted, ''VideoGame/BSSuperMarioUSA'' attempts to {{subvert|ed trope}} this by establishing that Subcon is RealAfterAll, but considering it's a very unknown game on an obscure console add-on, most people aren't aware of this fact, leaving the Subcon Army in limbo.

** The original NES version is the one of the only two 2D Mario platformers (The other being ''Super Mario Land'') to place a limit on how many times you can continue after losing all of your lives. Even then, Super Mario Land gives you a continue every 100,000 points. This game gives you a hard limit of two. Meaning if you Game Over three times over the course of the game, it's back to the beginning. You can easily get back to your spot by using Warp Zones, but those who want to see the rest of the game will feverishly stockpile lives and picking the right character for each stage (since you cannot change your character without losing all of your lives, as seen above). ''All Stars'' and ''Advance'' fix this issue by offering unlimited continues and saving.

* AntiClimaxBoss: The FinalBoss Wart is relatively straightforward, in contrast to the previous end-world bosses encountered. His projectile pattern is very easy to figure out, and all you need to do is hit him with a turnip a few times. Said turnips are helpfully provided by a [[BossArenaIdiocy machine in the same room]]. He's even more pathetic in the [[VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic original game]], as he only has 4 HP instead of 6.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Luigi's more nasal and skittish variation of his voice actually debuted in ''Advance'', five months before ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' was released.

* ItWasHisSled: The whole game is a dream being had by Mario.

* WhatAnIdiot: Given that vegetables are [[WeaksauceWeakness Wart's one weakness]], you'd think he would have relocated the malfunctioning, vegetable-generating Dream Machine that's ''right in front of him'' out of his throne room, or broke/destroyed the machine. Instead, he does neither and fights the PlayerCharacter [[TooDumbToLive while the machine is operating in the area]].

* AdaptationDisplacement: The game is far more well-known than the [[VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic original game]] it's based on, even in Japan. The only thing ''Doki Doki Panic'' is truly well-known for is simply that it was the basis for ''Super Mario Bros 2'' and not much else. The fact that ''Doki Doki Panic'' has never been released outside of Japan, on top of it never receiving a re-release on any platforms after the Family Computer Disk System likely contributes to the game's relative obscurity. That said, as of the late 2010s the knowledge that ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' is based on ''Doki Doki Panic'' has become common, to the point that those who still think it's obscure information have become targets of mockery (see MemeticMutation below); but good luck finding someone who has actually played the original game.

** Phanto. An eerie, grinning mask that shudders to life and hunts you down the moment you pick up a key and does not back off until you either drop it or use it on a door. The ''Advance'' version gets even worse - when you pick up a key, it starts out small and grows to normal size, giving it the illusion of flying in from the background, then once you throw the key away, it grows ''huge'', meaning it's trying to fly ''right at the player''. The sequel game ''VideoGame/BSSuperMarioUSA'' has the worst incarnation of Phanto ever, where a GIANT one can appear to attack your character, and it can't be stopped.

** Phanto. An eerie, grinning mask that shudders to life and hunts you down the moment you pick up a key and does not back off until you either drop it or use it on a door. The ''Advance'' version gets even worse - when you pick up a key, it starts out small and grows to normal size, giving it the illusion of flying in from the background, then once you throw the key away, it grows ''huge'', meaning it's trying to fly ''right at the player''.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The game is far more well known than the [[VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic original game]] it's based on, even in Japan. The only thing ''Doki Doki Panic'' is truly well known for is simply that it was the basis for ''Super Mario Bros 2'' and not much else. The fact that ''Doki Doki Panic'' has never been released outside of Japan, on top of it never receiving a re-release on any platforms after the Family Computer Disk System likely contributes to the game's relative obscurity.

** "Did you know that ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' was originally a different game called ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic''?"[[labelnote:Explanation]]This fact, while once considered a legitimately interesting and scarcely-discussed piece of ''Mario''-series trivia, ended up becoming the subject of backlash in the late 2010's and early 2020's thanks to how damn-near every video game-related trivia outlet and know-it-all fan kept repeating it as if it was still a hugely obscure fact, even after the info was spread so heavily that it became common knowledge. As a result, it's often now brought up mockingly as a way of making fun of those who still treat it as obscure information, as well as in response to other reiterations of once-obscure but now well-documented pieces of trivia about popular video games.[[/labelnote]]

* WhatAnIdiot: Given that vegetables are [[WeaksauceWeakness Wart's one weakness]], you'd think he would have relocated the malfunctioning, vegetable-generating Dream Machine that's ''right in front of him'' out of his throne room, or broke/destroyed the machine. Instead, he does neither and fights the PlayerCharacter [[TooDumbToLive while the machine is fully operating in the area]].

** The overworld music. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv6RbEOlqRo IT]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwKclhWlo-0 BEGINS]] (second link contains {{NSFW}} content).

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The pink Birdo quits being a boss after World 2-1 and the last time you ever see her is World 4-3, where she is a HelpfulMook. Did the pink Birdo undergo a HeelFaceTurn and, to atone for assisting Wart, want to help Mario and friends progress on their adventure? Supporting this theory in the ''Advance'' remake, where upon meeting Birdo, she doesn't deliver her usual TrashTalk line compared to the previous times you met her. This idea was backed up in one of the official manga adaptations, where Birdo announces that she has decided to join up with the Mario Bros. and Toad in their mission to defeat Wart and rescue Peach.

** The Princess's hovering ability. Don't have to worry about risky jumps jumping on disappearing logs when you her ability to jump and just levitate over them.

** Luigi's and the Princess' super jumps, when used with the run button for great distance, can not only clear certain pitfalls with ease, but they can also bypass huge chunks of some levels to reach the end faster instead of going the longer normal way. Using said shortcuts will mean passing up a mushroom or two though.
** Interestingly enough, the game manual declared ''Toad'' this, due to his speed and power, saying that you will use him the most, with Luigi and the Princess only for levels that require their jumping abilities. It's probably worth noting that most {{Speed Run}}ners do exactly this.

* FanonDiscontinuity: To this day, there are fans who still refuse to accept the game as a part of the ''Mario'' series, even after ''Doki Doki Panic'' was revealed to have been originally conceived as a ''Mario''-style game.

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: In World 2-2 where you must dig through sand, it's possible to force yourself into a dead end by digging up every sand block until they're out of your jumping range. Since the game has no timer, you're stuck there. The only way out without resetting the game is to use the suicide code (Up+A+B on the second controller). This provides the trope image. ''Advance'' also adds a vase to the bottom, and entering and exiting it will respawn the sand, making it impossible to trap yourself in the first place.

* UnwinnableByInsanity: In World 2-2 where you must dig through sand, it's possible to force yourself into a dead end by digging up every sand block until they're out of your jumping range. Since the game has no timer, you're stuck there. The only way out without resetting the game is to use the suicide code (Up+A+B on the second controller). This provides the trope image. ''Advance'' also adds a vase to the bottom, and entering and exiting it will respawn the sand, making it impossible to trap yourself in the first place.

* BizarroEpisode: The biggest example in the franchise. It being a reskin of a game that had nothing to do with the franchise, even in its infancy, didn't help. Mario must liberate a land that isn't the Mushroom Kingdom from a villain that isn't Bowser; Toad and Princess Toadstool[[note]]In America, she hadn't updated to her original Japanese name of Peach yet[[/note]] are playable; you kill enemies by uprooting and throwing vegetables (or picking up and throwing other enemies) at them instead of stomping them; ? Blocks and Fire Flowers don't exist; enemies and items introduced in this game don't come back in future installments, there is [[TakeYourTime no time limit]], and the game turns out to be AllJustADream in the end, something no other ending in a ''Mario'' game does.

* BizarroEpisode: This game is quite different from your usual ''Mario'' platforming game. Toad and Princess Toadstool[[note]]In America, she hadn't updated to her original Japanese name of Peach yet[[/note]] are playable, there's a new villain to fight with Bowser nowhere to be seen, the gameplay is different, other enemies and items from the game wouldn't come back, there is [[TakeYourTime no time limit]], and the game turns out to be AllJustADream in the end, something no other ending in a ''Mario'' game does.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The pink Birdo quits being a boss after World 2-1 and the last time you ever see her is World 4-3, where she is a HelpfulMook. Did the pink Birdo undergo a HeelFaceTurn and, to atone for assisting Wart, want to help Mario and friends progress on their adventure? Supporting this theory in the ''Advance'' remake, where upon meeting Birdo, she doesn't deliver her usual TrashTalk line compared to the previous times you met her.

** Mouser. He constantly moves/jumps around, and if he moves just a ''little'' too far away from a Bob-Omb before it goes off, it won't hurt him. You only have so much time to pick up a Bob-Omb he threw and throw it back at him before it hurts ''you'' instead, while ''also'' being conscious of the various other Bob-Ombs littered around.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The game is far more well known than the [[VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic original game]] it's based on, even in Japan. The only thing ''Doki Doki Panic'' is truly well known for is simply that it was the basis for ''Super Mario Bros 2'' and not much else. The fact that ''Doki Doki Panic'' has never been released outside of Japan, on top of it never receiving a re-release on any platforms after the Famicom Disk System likely contributes to the game's relative obscurity.