While the
series is a little too mainstream for what I originally intended, I
realize that I have yet to review a Mario game. I have tried to stick
to the obscure, but at this point I have covered Sonic,
Final Fantasy, Madden and any number of popular franchises, so why not.
I still
wanted to keep it a little out there though. Most people have heard of
the Lost Levels, but its certainly the black sheep of the old school
series. It’s origin story is probably more well known
than the game itself. This was actually Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan.
It was deemed “too difficult” for U.S. audiences by Nintendo of
America, as it was assumed they weren’t as skilled or patient as
Japanese players. Instead of releasing it stateside, they
re-skinned a game called Doki Doki Panic with Mario characters, called
it Super Mario Bros 2 and called it a day (which explains why that game
is so different from everything else in the series). It wasn’t until
the release of the Super Mario All Stars compilation
on the SNES that western audiences saw this game. (Full disclosure,
that’s the version I played.)
But
here’s the thing. It wasn’t necessarily that the game was too hard for
western gamers. Believe me, its hard as all hell, but there were plenty
of incredibly difficult games that were released in
the U.S. The problem is that it was waaaaaaaaay too frustrating for
Western gamers. I don’t buy that American gamers aren’t as skilled as
our Japanese counterparts, but I would certainly believe we are less
patient. And The Lost Levels absolutely demands
an insane amount of patience.
The
controls are identical to the original SMB, a jumps, b runs and shoots
if applicable, you move and control yourself midair with the d-pad. The
physics are the same, Mario generates momentum when
he runs, jumps hire when he bounces off an enemy, etc. You know the
drill, although I guess it wasn’t a given at the time seeing as this was
only the second game in the series. A lot of games that are this
infuriating are so because of lousy controls, but
that isn’t the case here. Mario’s control scheme and physics are, were
and always will be near-perfect for a 2D platformer.
What does
make the game so frustrating is the level design. This design here
isn’t challenging, its downright sadistic. I know a lot of gamers
complained about the poison mushrooms, but that is the
least of our worries. Countless levels have hidden blocks that are
placed to make jumping as difficult as possible. You will think you can
make a jump, only to bang your head on a hidden coin block and be
forced down into a pit. At least you got a coin!
Many of the stages are cramped and confined, a huge 180 from the first
game. It’s rarely beneficial to power up, as Super or Fire Mario won’t
be able to jump over enemies or clear jumps because their size limits
their movement. I found myself playing small
for most of the game, as most of the danger comes from the never
ending, instant death pits as opposed to enemies.
And
that’s just the start. Remember all those shortcuts in the first game?
You know, you go down a pipe, grab some coins and then pop back up?
They would either skip to ahead in the level or, worst
case scenario, put you right back where you were? Well, in the Lost
Levels, many of them are death traps. You will find a bonus area, grab
your coins and leave, only to find you have popped up from a pipe with
nowhere to go but into a pit. In one instance,
I think its in world 3, you will find a secret that takes you to a warp
zone. Those were cool, right? The problem is that instead of taking
you to one of the next few wolds, this one takes you back to the first
level of the game. At least they were generous
enough to give you a small pit to suicide yourself down...
And that
is the biggest issue here, the constant, never ending, slap-in-the-face
beginners traps. Challenge is great and not every game has to be a zero
difficulty walking simulator, but there is a difference
between challenge and cheapness. Stuff like that doesn’t make the game
challenging, it makes it cheap. Cheap games are frustrating. Part of
the reason I started this blog was because I was tired of games that
drove me nuts with stuff like that. I think
this is the first time I’ve raged at a game in more than a year, and
when I rage at video games, I REALLY rage. Ask anyone in my Destiny
clan.
That
being said, I can’t say it wasn’t without its charm. At the end of the
day, it’s still Mario and that’s enough to push it past many of its
contemporaries. Some level design choices are absurd,
but there are some inspiring and unique sections too. I definitely
wanted to keep going, no matter how frustrating it got. I did end up
beating the game, but full disclosure, there is no way I would have been
able to beat it in one, single 5 life run on
the NES. Super Mario All Stars has a save feature, so you can restart
from where you lost all your lives. This is also the first game to
feature Luigi as a separate playable character with his own unique
abilities, which is cool.
I can
further justify not taking too many points off because Nintendo went out
of its way to let people know how hard the game was. The Japanese
version featured the text “for super players only” on
the cover, letting everyone know this wasn’t going to be a walk in the
park. Still, the cramped level design in Lost Levels is needlessly
oppressive and each level is packed with cheap, frustrating death traps
that are more apt to test your patience than
your gaming skills. A lesser franchise would have been DOA with level
design like this, but Mario’s quality makes this worth seeking out for
some challenge junkies and completionists. Casual gamers should stay
away.
6/10
Play this if:
You are a patient gamer looking for a challenge
You are a Mario Completionist
Avoid if:
You can't handle cheap deaths
You already have too many broken controllers or holes in your wall
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