Super Mario Bros 3 was released in 1988 in Japan, 1990 in the USA and 1991 in Europe for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Many people consider it to be the greatest game ever made. This is due to, among other things, expanding on the legendary gameplay of the first Super Mario Bros (1985, 87 in Europe) and adding many new features such as world maps, bonus games and most famously, all new power-ups.
Story
Out for revenge on the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser has recruited his seven children, the Koopalings and sent them to steal the magic wands from the seven Kings of the Mushroom World.
Princess Peach (or Princess Toadstool at the time) calls on Mario and Luigi to retrieve the wands, drive out Bowser and his kids and restore peace to the Mushroom World.
Mario and Luigi are setting off on their biggest, most ambitous adventure yet.
Gameplay
As previously mentioned, the gameplay of Super Mario Bros 3 (hereafter referred to as SMB3) brings together all the best mechanics of the first Super Mario Bros and builds upon them for a fantastic plumber-platforming experience that you'll never forget.
There are a total of 8 worlds for you to play through, each with their own theme and gimmicks. These themes include Desert, Snow, Cloud and perhaps the most popular, the Giant World with giant enemies and item boxes. Of course, what would these creative worlds be without power-ups to enchance them? SMB3 has one of the widest power-up varities in Mario history (rivaling even the likes of Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii). All the regular items are here, such as the Mushroom, Fire Flower and Starman, but this game adds such classics as the Racoon Suit which grants Mario (or Luigi) the ability to fly for a short period of time courtesy of a racoon tail. The Frog Suit allows the Mario Bros to swim with much more agility, while the Tanooki Suit, in addition to temporal flight, can breifly turn into a statue to avoid damage (it won't have this ability in the upcoming Super Mario Bros 3D Land for 3DS, unfortunately). These power-ups do a cracking job of enchancing the jump and run gameplay and will keep you playing for hours on end.
More on the basic gameplay; you run, jump, stomp and swim your way through the many well designed levels, and not two of these feel too similar or repetitive. One level has you exploring a vast pipe maze, while another has you fleeing an angry sun. You'll always feel constantly engaged. The level design is what solidifies this game as a gem; the little surprises and secrets along the way are what makes it immortal. You have high-jackable Goomba Shoes, a giant (and very hungry) fish that can swallow you in one bite, the aformentioned angry sun and a room in which all of the solid walls can be turned into coins. Most of these only appear in one specific level, but they're so charming, and you can tell the game designers went all out to provide a non stop fun-fest. There are so many secrets hidden away in almost every level and the sheer quantity of them is astounding, even by today's standards (I'm still only just discovering some of them for the first time now).
SMB3 intoduced the map-screen to the Mario series, in which you move across a small world map and select a level to play through. While you will intially have to go through the stages in order, there are points where you can skip levels by completing other ones. Toad Houses are scattered around the maps, and offer fun little bonus games, such as matching up cards or lining up a picture, as well as some offering free power-ups. These include the Cloud Block which allows you to bypass enemies that patrol the map. A Music Box will temporarily put them to sleep too. If you land one of these enemies without either of these, you must defeat them to gain an item and move on. Once you reach the end of a world, you board one of the seven Koopaling Airships and confront one of Bowser's troublesome offspring to retrieve one of the stolen magic wands. Thes battles are fun and varied and will keep you on your toes in some of the later worlds.
One final note about the gameplay, there is a 2 player mode in which you and a friend can play through the entire game together with player 1 being Mario and player 2 being Luigi. The Bros share the same moves and power-ups, as well as sharing the same item stash (which consists of all the items you have collected from Toad Houses). Once a player dies or completes a level , it's the other players turn. If the two players are on the same area of the world map, they can play a round of the original Mario Bros Arcade game. This is an interesting little feature in which players can either compete or co-operate. The 2 player mode is balanced and adds a whole new layer to the game, so if you have a friend who wants to join in, I reccomend it.
As with most of the Mario platformers, the controls are super simple. The D-pad will let you walk, the B button makes you run and use your suit's special ability, such as fireballs and finally the A button lets you jump and fly with your racoon tail. Less is more in this case; the controls are pretty much perfect and in combination with the great level design, cheap deaths will be virtually non-existent.
Audio
The music in SMB3 is charming, catchy and memorable. Kodji Kondo really pushed the NES sound chip to it's limits, with tunes that sound like there are two or three instruments playing at once. This makes it sound really smooth and when compared with the first Super Mario Bros, it really shows how far the series had come.
The athletic theme is still one of the most iconic songs in the series and every World Map has it's own tune, which greatly empahsises the different themes. The music is truly the icing on the cake and paved the way for the direction that Mario music would take.
Visuals
SMB3 is definately one of the best looking games on the NES, with graphics that are colourful and bursting with life. All the characters move smoothly and the environments almost look like you can taste them.
One feature I really like is the shimmering effect on the blocks; seemingly simple now, but 20 years ago this would have looked amazing.
History
If you were around for it (which I wasn't) , then you will probably know that SMB3 was promoted outside of Japan with a sneak peak in the film "The Wizard". Even after the films release it would be months before SMB3 finally hit the shelves. To this day, I can think of no other game that had a film made to hype it's release. This is truly a testament to the power Nintendo had at the time.
SMB3 is one of the best selling non-packaged video games in history, with over 18 million copies sold worldwide. This has only recently been surpassed by the likes of Wii Play.
Negative
I'm really scraping the bottom of the barell to find any real flaws in SMB3. The only real problem I have is the lack of a save feature on the original NES cartridge version; to see everything the game has to offer, you have to leave your system on or complete it in one sitting. However if you play this game on any of the many re-releases, then this won't be a problem. This includes the Virtual Console version.
I also think that some of the later power-ups, that I don't want to spoil, feel a bit under used. But this is a minor complaint and dosen't affect the game in the slightest.
Overall
SMB3 is an amazing experience and you should play it even if you are only remotely interested in Mario or video games in general. It's chock full of more levels, secrets, power-ups and memorable moments than you can shake a Fire Flower at. It's only 500 Wii points on the Virtual Console, so if you have the internet on your Wii, definately download it. It's one of the greatest games ever made.
9.8/ 10
Monday, 26 September 2011
Thursday, 11 August 2011
F-Zero X review
Released on the Nintendo 64 in 1998, F-Zero X is the third installment in the futuristic F-Zero racing series (although the second game never made it outside of Japan). It brought the series into 3-D, allowing for some crazy but clever track designs and gameplay features that go above and beyond the games before it.
Story
Set in the future, somewhere around the mid 26th century, the F-Zero Grand Prix is the most famous event in the known universe. However, due to the brutality of the competition and a freak accident that badly injured many pilots (though there were no fatalities), it was briefly discontinued. But with the growing pressure from the many millions of fans, the Grand Prix was allowed to continue with revised rules.
The participating pilots now have their eyes set on the big cash prize, not to mention the enormous prestige.
Gameplay
F-Zero X keeps the fast-paced gameplay of previous F-Zero titles, and has a large number of game modes. There are a total of 30 machines to choose from, although only 6 are avalible from the get go, and you must progress through the Grand Prix to unlock the rest, giving an extra incentive to winning all the cups. Each machine has it's rating of A to E on three different areas; body strength which determines how much of a beating the machine can take before it's energy is drained, boost, which is how well a machine can benefit from boost power, and finally grip which is how well your machine will grip the track.
In all of the modes, your machine will have an energy bar displayed in the top right hand corner of the screen. You lose energy if you bump into walls, obstacles or fellow drivers. Energy also doubles as boost power, which in most modes is awarded at the start of the 2nd lap. If you deplete all your energy and hit something, your car will explode into a hunk of metal, and you will be "retired".
There are three default difficulties for the Grand Prix and Practice modes, Novice, Standard and Expert, with a fourth difficutly, Master becoming unlockable after beating all the cups in the first three difficulties.
The standard mode is the Grand Prix, in which you choose from one of the 30 machines, choose a cup and then race across 6 different courses and try to get to the highest number of points to place first overall. If you are retired in this mode, you can choose to quit or retry which use up one of your spare machines (essentially lives), to try again. If you run out of machines and retire it's Game Over.
Time Attack mode has you racing in a machine of your choice across a single track to try to get the best time. If you do well enough, you can challenge staff ghosts made by the developers, as well as challenging your own times.
The Vs. Mode allows up to four players to race on any track in attempt to win first place. A nice little feature here, is that if you are retired and your friends are still in the race, you can play a little slot machine game. This will contiue until the race has ended. If you manage to line up three of the same pictures in a row, you can deplete up to half of your friend's energy meter depending on the picture. Of course, you can turn this feature off in the options menu if you want to play it fair. Options also contains a handicap setting, which helps give novice players an advantage over more experienced players, as their energy will not be depleted as fast. This mode is always a blast.
A very interesting new mode in F-Zero X is the Death Race. Your goal here is to take out all 29 of your fellow racers in the smallest amount of time possible. Your best times will be saved like in Time Attack which adds to the addiction of this mode. It is also a good way to practice attack your rivals for the Grand Prix which is often the key to winning the harder difficulties.
Practice Mode is where you can (believe it or not) practice to your hearts content on any course with any machine. If you are struggling with a particular course; practice, practice, practice!
The controls for F-Zero X are easy to learn, but take a lot of practice to master. The A button is your accelerator, while the B button is your booster. The control stick will obviously control your movement and the C buttons can change your view, and also allow you to look behind you if you want to take out a passing rival. The L and R buttons allow you to slide turn around tight corners while tapping the L or R button opposite to the direction you are turning will make your machine drift turn. However, your machine must prioritise acelaration over top speed for this to work effectively. But we'll get to that in a minute.
If you can get to grips with these controls, then I think you will be able to get the most out of F-Zero X. The controls are tight and responsive, which is epesicially good as your are driving machines that can exceed the speed of sound.
One more thing, before each race, you can set a balance between accelaration and top speed. Putting a lot of emphasise on accelaration will allow you to reach your top speed quicker, but your said top speed will be lower. Putting emphasise on top speed will allow you to reach the very highest speeds, but your accelaration will be much slower, and therefore you will not be able to benefit from the drift turn. It is best to look at the course layout and make your choice about the balance based on this.
Audio
The music in F-Zero X is delightfully retro, with most of the tunes consisting of rocking guitar rifts and remixes from the first F-Zero game on the SNES. The music might not be to everyones liking but there is no denying that alot of thought went into performing the guitars to accompany the fast paced racing. One of my personal favourites is "Dream Chaser" which plays on the Silence courses (ironically). Some of the songs are so metal that you'd think it was almost a little too "hardcore" for a Nintendo game. There is also a really good gutiar remix of the Rainbow Road theme from Mario Kart 64, but unfortunately this was exclusive to the F-Zero X Expansion Kit (See the History section of this review for more information on that).
The only voice acting the game has is from the game's announcer Mr. Zero. They are pretty low quality, but still good enough for Nintendo 64 standards.
Visuals
One of the most infamous things about F-Zero X is its limited and at times bland graphics. To keep the game running at a constant frame rate, with 30 machines cruising and dodging their way around crazy tracks at breakneck speeds, Nintendo had to sacrifice anything that stood in the way of near- perfect gameplay. As a result, the graphics don't do much to please the eye, with few road side details or amazing background lanscapes to speak of.
However, in my eyes, this is not a flaw, as Nintendo knew that great graphics are nothing if the gameplay isn't rock solid. I respect Nintendo for what they did here and you are going too fast in the game most of the time to notice anyway.
With this all being said, the machine and character designs are all really cool and give the F-Zero universe a furturistic, almost comic book feel.
The tracks, while not too detailed, still look impressive and never feel dull or repetitive.
Negative
I don't think there's alot wrong with F-Zero X, but one little thing about that bothers me is how easy it is to slide out of control when under the effects of boost power. I can understand this with machines that have lower grip, but even those with first rate grip slide out really easily. Little taps and adjustments on the control stick are the key here, but even then it can feel tedious at times when 29 other machines are constantly ramming into you and using their boost power without sliding. This isn't a huge flaw or anything; I'm probably just more used to the physics in F-Zero GX for the Gamecube, but it's just something that I have trouble overlooking sometimes.
History
As I previously mentioned, F-Zero X had an Expansion Kit that added even more features to the game, including hidden veichles, new music, and most famously a track creator, where you could make your very own tracks from scratch. Unfortunately, this was for the Nintendo 64DD, an add-on for the Nintendo 64; it was only released in Japan as it was a commerical failure. This is a real shame as a track editor would have added almost endless replay value to the game. But I won't rate the game down for this.
It is now very hard to get your hands on an Nintendo 64DD; there are some on sites like ebay, but they are going for over £100 and unless your an Nintendo Collector completist, I just don't think it's worth it.
Overall
F-Zero X is a great Nintendo title and a memorable entry in the F-Zero series, boasting some great tracks and machines, fast, smooth-running gameplay, great music and a large number of game modes to keep you coming back for more.
It is available on the Wii's Virtual Console for 1000 Wii points, so if you have the points to spare, I'd say it's worth the download.
9.3/10
Story
Set in the future, somewhere around the mid 26th century, the F-Zero Grand Prix is the most famous event in the known universe. However, due to the brutality of the competition and a freak accident that badly injured many pilots (though there were no fatalities), it was briefly discontinued. But with the growing pressure from the many millions of fans, the Grand Prix was allowed to continue with revised rules.
The participating pilots now have their eyes set on the big cash prize, not to mention the enormous prestige.
Gameplay
F-Zero X keeps the fast-paced gameplay of previous F-Zero titles, and has a large number of game modes. There are a total of 30 machines to choose from, although only 6 are avalible from the get go, and you must progress through the Grand Prix to unlock the rest, giving an extra incentive to winning all the cups. Each machine has it's rating of A to E on three different areas; body strength which determines how much of a beating the machine can take before it's energy is drained, boost, which is how well a machine can benefit from boost power, and finally grip which is how well your machine will grip the track.
In all of the modes, your machine will have an energy bar displayed in the top right hand corner of the screen. You lose energy if you bump into walls, obstacles or fellow drivers. Energy also doubles as boost power, which in most modes is awarded at the start of the 2nd lap. If you deplete all your energy and hit something, your car will explode into a hunk of metal, and you will be "retired".
There are three default difficulties for the Grand Prix and Practice modes, Novice, Standard and Expert, with a fourth difficutly, Master becoming unlockable after beating all the cups in the first three difficulties.
The standard mode is the Grand Prix, in which you choose from one of the 30 machines, choose a cup and then race across 6 different courses and try to get to the highest number of points to place first overall. If you are retired in this mode, you can choose to quit or retry which use up one of your spare machines (essentially lives), to try again. If you run out of machines and retire it's Game Over.
Time Attack mode has you racing in a machine of your choice across a single track to try to get the best time. If you do well enough, you can challenge staff ghosts made by the developers, as well as challenging your own times.
The Vs. Mode allows up to four players to race on any track in attempt to win first place. A nice little feature here, is that if you are retired and your friends are still in the race, you can play a little slot machine game. This will contiue until the race has ended. If you manage to line up three of the same pictures in a row, you can deplete up to half of your friend's energy meter depending on the picture. Of course, you can turn this feature off in the options menu if you want to play it fair. Options also contains a handicap setting, which helps give novice players an advantage over more experienced players, as their energy will not be depleted as fast. This mode is always a blast.
A very interesting new mode in F-Zero X is the Death Race. Your goal here is to take out all 29 of your fellow racers in the smallest amount of time possible. Your best times will be saved like in Time Attack which adds to the addiction of this mode. It is also a good way to practice attack your rivals for the Grand Prix which is often the key to winning the harder difficulties.
Practice Mode is where you can (believe it or not) practice to your hearts content on any course with any machine. If you are struggling with a particular course; practice, practice, practice!
The controls for F-Zero X are easy to learn, but take a lot of practice to master. The A button is your accelerator, while the B button is your booster. The control stick will obviously control your movement and the C buttons can change your view, and also allow you to look behind you if you want to take out a passing rival. The L and R buttons allow you to slide turn around tight corners while tapping the L or R button opposite to the direction you are turning will make your machine drift turn. However, your machine must prioritise acelaration over top speed for this to work effectively. But we'll get to that in a minute.
If you can get to grips with these controls, then I think you will be able to get the most out of F-Zero X. The controls are tight and responsive, which is epesicially good as your are driving machines that can exceed the speed of sound.
One more thing, before each race, you can set a balance between accelaration and top speed. Putting a lot of emphasise on accelaration will allow you to reach your top speed quicker, but your said top speed will be lower. Putting emphasise on top speed will allow you to reach the very highest speeds, but your accelaration will be much slower, and therefore you will not be able to benefit from the drift turn. It is best to look at the course layout and make your choice about the balance based on this.
Audio
The music in F-Zero X is delightfully retro, with most of the tunes consisting of rocking guitar rifts and remixes from the first F-Zero game on the SNES. The music might not be to everyones liking but there is no denying that alot of thought went into performing the guitars to accompany the fast paced racing. One of my personal favourites is "Dream Chaser" which plays on the Silence courses (ironically). Some of the songs are so metal that you'd think it was almost a little too "hardcore" for a Nintendo game. There is also a really good gutiar remix of the Rainbow Road theme from Mario Kart 64, but unfortunately this was exclusive to the F-Zero X Expansion Kit (See the History section of this review for more information on that).
The only voice acting the game has is from the game's announcer Mr. Zero. They are pretty low quality, but still good enough for Nintendo 64 standards.
Visuals
One of the most infamous things about F-Zero X is its limited and at times bland graphics. To keep the game running at a constant frame rate, with 30 machines cruising and dodging their way around crazy tracks at breakneck speeds, Nintendo had to sacrifice anything that stood in the way of near- perfect gameplay. As a result, the graphics don't do much to please the eye, with few road side details or amazing background lanscapes to speak of.
However, in my eyes, this is not a flaw, as Nintendo knew that great graphics are nothing if the gameplay isn't rock solid. I respect Nintendo for what they did here and you are going too fast in the game most of the time to notice anyway.
With this all being said, the machine and character designs are all really cool and give the F-Zero universe a furturistic, almost comic book feel.
The tracks, while not too detailed, still look impressive and never feel dull or repetitive.
Negative
I don't think there's alot wrong with F-Zero X, but one little thing about that bothers me is how easy it is to slide out of control when under the effects of boost power. I can understand this with machines that have lower grip, but even those with first rate grip slide out really easily. Little taps and adjustments on the control stick are the key here, but even then it can feel tedious at times when 29 other machines are constantly ramming into you and using their boost power without sliding. This isn't a huge flaw or anything; I'm probably just more used to the physics in F-Zero GX for the Gamecube, but it's just something that I have trouble overlooking sometimes.
History
As I previously mentioned, F-Zero X had an Expansion Kit that added even more features to the game, including hidden veichles, new music, and most famously a track creator, where you could make your very own tracks from scratch. Unfortunately, this was for the Nintendo 64DD, an add-on for the Nintendo 64; it was only released in Japan as it was a commerical failure. This is a real shame as a track editor would have added almost endless replay value to the game. But I won't rate the game down for this.
It is now very hard to get your hands on an Nintendo 64DD; there are some on sites like ebay, but they are going for over £100 and unless your an Nintendo Collector completist, I just don't think it's worth it.
Overall
F-Zero X is a great Nintendo title and a memorable entry in the F-Zero series, boasting some great tracks and machines, fast, smooth-running gameplay, great music and a large number of game modes to keep you coming back for more.
It is available on the Wii's Virtual Console for 1000 Wii points, so if you have the points to spare, I'd say it's worth the download.
9.3/10
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Super Mario Bros 2 review
Super Mario Bros 2 was first released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988 (1989 in Europe). It was the long awaited sequel to the revolutionary Super Mario Bros (1985 or 1987 in Europe). It's gameplay differs quite a lot from the first game, but does different necessarily mean bad in this case?
Story
Mario dreams that he finds a staircase leading to a door, which leads him into the world of Subcon. The inhabitants have been overtaken by a giant frog dictator named Wart (who hates vegetables). After awakening the next day, Mario, along with Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad find the same door that Mario saw in his dream. Upon entering, the world of Subcon spreads before them...
It's now up to our hero's to defeat Wart and his minions, liberate Subcon and rescue it's imprisoned inhabitants.
Gameplay
Anyone who has played a side-scrolling Mario game will probably know that the gameplay is all about running, jumping and stomping on enemies. However the gameplay of Super Mario Bros 2 is quite a bit different from this standard formula. It requires you to pluck vegetables out of the ground and throw them at your enemies to defeat them, or alternatively pick up enemies by standing on top of them and then throwing them at other enemies. As well as plucking vegetables from the ground you'll also be able to pull special items such as 1-up mushrooms, koopa shells and magic potions. These potions can be used to access sub-space via the doors they create. Whist in sub-space, you can collect coins to use in a bonus game at the end of a level, and mushrooms which give you extra health. Collecting five cherries will cause a starman to appear which retains it's use of granting temporal invincibilty. Defeating lots of enemies will eventually cause a heart to float onto the screen, which can be used to replenish lost health.
This quirky style gives Mario 2 a wonderfully unique feel and while some may not like it, I personally love it.
Another unique feature of Mario 2's gameplay is the choice to play as one of four characters. Each has his or her own special attributes, which adds alot of replay value to the levels; you can experience them a different way with each character. Mario is the standard all rounder, with average jumping, strength and speed. Luigi (my personal favourite) can jump higher than anyone else, but he is a bit weaker than Mario. Princess Peach (or Toadstool as she was called at the time) can float for a few seconds, but she is slower and weaker. Toad can pull items from the ground faster than anyone else, and can also run the fastest whilst carrying items; his jump however is the worst overall. Everyone should be able to find a character that suits their play- style and the levels are designed in such a way, that you'll always be able to find the right character for the job.
The controls for Mario 2 are very simple; the d-pad controls your movement, the B button lets you run while walking and also lets you pull items from the ground and throw them, whilst the A button lets you jump. The controls are as simple as they come and have a free but responsive feel.
Audio
Mario 2's music is bright, cheerful, energetic and a joy to listen to. There aren't many songs in the game, but alot of heart and soul has been put into composing what is there. The overworld theme is fittingly happy to go with the bright outdoor environments of Subcon, whilst the catchy underground theme fits the darker, but lively action of the enemy infested caves. The starman theme has even gained a cool bongo drum beat.
Koji Kondo delivers yet another one of his many, many great soundtracks.
Visuals
The graphics are very bright and colourful and are a very nice example of what the NES can do. The animations of the four playable characters are very well done and they do a good job emphasising their personality traits, especially Luigi. The roots by which the vegetables are plucked sway in the breeze, and the whole thing feels very alive visually.
Negative
One little nitpick I have with this game, is that when you have collected your five cherries or defeated enough enemies to earn your starman or heart, it will sometimes appear in a completely inaccessible area like a solid wall, which can be annoying when you are desperately trying to survive a tough stage.
History
I'm not going to go on too much about this, as a lot of people know about it anyway, but Mario 2 was originally a Famicom Disk System title exclusive to Japan called Yume Kojo; Doki Doki Panic created by Shigeru Miyamoto. When the Japanese Mario 2 (known outside of Japan as The Lost Levels) was deemed too frustratingly difficult for Western audience, as well as not being much of a step up from the first Super Mario Bros gameplay- wise, Nintendo decided to modify Miyamoto's own Doki Doki Panic by replacing the original playable character sprites with Mario characters, changing a couple of items and music cues, and adding the abilty to run. This was then sold in the West as Super Mario Bros 2.
Despite this backstory, I don't think you should let it taint your view of this game. I personally think it was a very smart desicion, and not only did we get a great game, but many staples in the Mario series today would not be there without it, such as Birdos, Shy-guys and Bob-ombs.
Overall
Super Mario Bros 2 is a true Nintendo classic, with wonderfully unique gameplay, free but responsive controls, a lot of replay value and a catchy soundtrack to boot.
I highly reccomend you download it from the Wii Virtual Console for 500 Wii points and experience this quirky but amazingly fun game.
9.1/10
Story
Mario dreams that he finds a staircase leading to a door, which leads him into the world of Subcon. The inhabitants have been overtaken by a giant frog dictator named Wart (who hates vegetables). After awakening the next day, Mario, along with Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad find the same door that Mario saw in his dream. Upon entering, the world of Subcon spreads before them...
It's now up to our hero's to defeat Wart and his minions, liberate Subcon and rescue it's imprisoned inhabitants.
Gameplay
Anyone who has played a side-scrolling Mario game will probably know that the gameplay is all about running, jumping and stomping on enemies. However the gameplay of Super Mario Bros 2 is quite a bit different from this standard formula. It requires you to pluck vegetables out of the ground and throw them at your enemies to defeat them, or alternatively pick up enemies by standing on top of them and then throwing them at other enemies. As well as plucking vegetables from the ground you'll also be able to pull special items such as 1-up mushrooms, koopa shells and magic potions. These potions can be used to access sub-space via the doors they create. Whist in sub-space, you can collect coins to use in a bonus game at the end of a level, and mushrooms which give you extra health. Collecting five cherries will cause a starman to appear which retains it's use of granting temporal invincibilty. Defeating lots of enemies will eventually cause a heart to float onto the screen, which can be used to replenish lost health.
This quirky style gives Mario 2 a wonderfully unique feel and while some may not like it, I personally love it.
Another unique feature of Mario 2's gameplay is the choice to play as one of four characters. Each has his or her own special attributes, which adds alot of replay value to the levels; you can experience them a different way with each character. Mario is the standard all rounder, with average jumping, strength and speed. Luigi (my personal favourite) can jump higher than anyone else, but he is a bit weaker than Mario. Princess Peach (or Toadstool as she was called at the time) can float for a few seconds, but she is slower and weaker. Toad can pull items from the ground faster than anyone else, and can also run the fastest whilst carrying items; his jump however is the worst overall. Everyone should be able to find a character that suits their play- style and the levels are designed in such a way, that you'll always be able to find the right character for the job.
The controls for Mario 2 are very simple; the d-pad controls your movement, the B button lets you run while walking and also lets you pull items from the ground and throw them, whilst the A button lets you jump. The controls are as simple as they come and have a free but responsive feel.
Audio
Mario 2's music is bright, cheerful, energetic and a joy to listen to. There aren't many songs in the game, but alot of heart and soul has been put into composing what is there. The overworld theme is fittingly happy to go with the bright outdoor environments of Subcon, whilst the catchy underground theme fits the darker, but lively action of the enemy infested caves. The starman theme has even gained a cool bongo drum beat.
Koji Kondo delivers yet another one of his many, many great soundtracks.
Visuals
The graphics are very bright and colourful and are a very nice example of what the NES can do. The animations of the four playable characters are very well done and they do a good job emphasising their personality traits, especially Luigi. The roots by which the vegetables are plucked sway in the breeze, and the whole thing feels very alive visually.
Negative
One little nitpick I have with this game, is that when you have collected your five cherries or defeated enough enemies to earn your starman or heart, it will sometimes appear in a completely inaccessible area like a solid wall, which can be annoying when you are desperately trying to survive a tough stage.
History
I'm not going to go on too much about this, as a lot of people know about it anyway, but Mario 2 was originally a Famicom Disk System title exclusive to Japan called Yume Kojo; Doki Doki Panic created by Shigeru Miyamoto. When the Japanese Mario 2 (known outside of Japan as The Lost Levels) was deemed too frustratingly difficult for Western audience, as well as not being much of a step up from the first Super Mario Bros gameplay- wise, Nintendo decided to modify Miyamoto's own Doki Doki Panic by replacing the original playable character sprites with Mario characters, changing a couple of items and music cues, and adding the abilty to run. This was then sold in the West as Super Mario Bros 2.
Despite this backstory, I don't think you should let it taint your view of this game. I personally think it was a very smart desicion, and not only did we get a great game, but many staples in the Mario series today would not be there without it, such as Birdos, Shy-guys and Bob-ombs.
Overall
Super Mario Bros 2 is a true Nintendo classic, with wonderfully unique gameplay, free but responsive controls, a lot of replay value and a catchy soundtrack to boot.
I highly reccomend you download it from the Wii Virtual Console for 500 Wii points and experience this quirky but amazingly fun game.
9.1/10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)