# What is the best Mario game? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 7, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985 "2009-06-07T03:47:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/41 "2009-06-08T13:47:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What **BigT** said. In Japan, the game released under the name SMB 2 was basically an expansion of SMB 1 with the difficulty turned way up. Nintendo didn’t think American and European players would appreciate the increased difficulty (I don’t know what they based this on, though I’d guess playtesting) so they decided not to release it here. > > Of course, they had to do something to cash in on the first game’s success, so they took a Japanese third-party game called _Doki Doki Panic_ and replaced the sprites for the game’s four playable characters with Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toadstool, and slapped the SMB 2 label on it. Rumor has it that because Howard Lincoln (Nintendo of America president at the time) hated it, SMB 2 was never brought over to America. You can see the same reaction today from NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime. His hatred of Mother 3/Earthbound 2 is likely why the game will never be released in America. As for Doki Doki Panic, it was actually a first party game that was developed by Shigeru Miyamoto himself. So it’s not like Nintendo pulled SMB 2 USA completely out of their ass. Just mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/42 "2009-06-08T13:48:59Z")
I’m a fan Super Mario 2 as well. It’s the only Mario game I’ve ever beatten, mostly because the freaky weirdness kept my interest better than other Mario games. As a kid I had no idea it was supposed to be hard. I think the hardness just seemed more puzzle-like to me. Figuring out the pattern of the flying guys that you had to jump on, for instance. Anyway, I only beat it with warps. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/43 "2009-06-08T15:54:03Z")
> [@Trion](#): > > I’m a fan Super Mario 2 as well. It’s the only Mario game I’ve ever beatten, mostly because the freaky weirdness kept my interest better than other Mario games. > > As a kid I had no idea it was supposed to be hard. I think the hardness just seemed more puzzle-like to me. Figuring out the pattern of the flying guys that you had to jump on, for instance. Anyway, I only beat it with warps. Yeah, I didn’t find SMB2 difficult at all. I was in 7th or 8th grade when it came out, and I would just rack up the lives on those slots at the end of the levels. There’s a pattern and, once you get your rhythm down, you can rack up 99 lives without too much trouble. Super Mario 1 is still the only one I haven’t beaten of the ones I played. Two is easy. Three was difficult until you discovered the two whistles (there’s a total of three, but you can find two of them in the first world). Then you can beat the game in about 20 minutes or so. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/44 "2009-06-08T16:59:38Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You’re the only person ever to describe TLL as “just a bit harder”. It was so much harder they didn’t even bother to release it in the US. Remember I played it in All Stars, where you could save the levels. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/45 "2009-06-08T17:04:28Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > You can see the same reaction today from NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime. His hatred of Mother 3/Earthbound 2 is likely why the game will never be released in America. > . What has he said that indicated his dislike of Mother 3? I know it hasn’t been released, but never heard this. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/46 "2009-06-08T17:05:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What **BigT** said. In Japan . . . That’s all you had to say. I knew all that. But you said “they didn’t even bother to release it in the US.” They did. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/47 "2009-06-08T17:10:11Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > That’s all you had to say. I knew all that. But you said “they didn’t even bother to release it in the US.” They did. 😕 Am I missing something here? The Japanese NES game Super Mario Brothers 2 was **not released outside Japan**. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/48 "2009-06-08T17:12:09Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > What has he said that indicated his dislike of Mother 3? I know it hasn’t been released, but never heard this. I did some googling and it appears “dislike” was a little harsh on my part. But the man constantly dodges the question of Mother 3 and seems to act like it’s completely out of his hands on whether or not it’s released in America. I think this article sums it up best. [http://earthboundcentral.com/2009/04/reggie-talks-some-more-mother-3/](http://earthboundcentral.com/2009/04/reggie-talks-some-more-mother-3/) Basically, he needs to say yes or no and stop saying “Well it would be great if we could do it.” Because we all know he should just do it and it would make a huge amount of money because transferring a GBA game from America to Japan requires little more than translation/localization. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/49 "2009-06-08T17:14:28Z")
You said The Lost Levels was not released here. You said it right here: > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You’re the only person ever to describe TLL as “just a bit harder”. It was so much harder they didn’t even bother to release it in the US. Unless TLL means something other than The Lost Levels, you said it wasn’t released here. Those are your words, not mine. I said it was released here, just not as SMB2. It was released as The Lost Levels (on the All-Stars cartridge.) What am _I_ missing here? It’s pretty simple. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/50 "2009-06-08T17:19:24Z")
And btw, I think what I liked in The Lost Levels was that you could play as Luigi… which, IMHO, made the game easier than with Mario. I can somewhat control and correct an overhigh jump to make it decent and descent (Luigi). I cannot do anything with a jump that is too short (Mario). ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/51 "2009-06-08T17:19:28Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > You said The Lost Levels was not released here. You said it right here:Unless TLL means something other than The Lost Levels, you said it wasn’t released here. Those are your words, not mine. I said it was released here, just not as SMB2. It was released as The Lost Levels (on the All-Stars cartridge.) What am _I_ missing here? It’s pretty simple. Not only that, it was released here on the Virtual Console in its original NES configuration and under the “Super Mario Bros 2” name. GODDAMN, CONTROLLING THROWING, FUCKING CRAP! does not even begin to describe how hard it is in comparison to SMB1. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/52 "2009-06-08T17:23:18Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > You said The Lost Levels was not released here. You said it right here:Unless TLL means something other than The Lost Levels, you said it wasn’t released here. Those are your words, not mine. I said it was released here, just not as SMB2. It was released as The Lost Levels (on the All-Stars cartridge.) What am _I_ missing here? It’s pretty simple. Ohhhh. I went back and looked at my first post, and I see what you mean now. I meant to say Super Mario Brothers 2 wasn’t released here, but I referred to it as TLL so as not to confuse anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/53 "2009-06-08T17:27:15Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > GODDAMN, CONTROLLING THROWING, FUCKING CRAP! does not even begin to describe how hard it is in comparison to SMB1. Maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment, but that kind of makes me want to get it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/54 "2009-06-08T17:30:25Z")
There’s at least one Flash version knocking around. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/55 "2009-06-08T17:36:06Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment, but that kind of makes me want to get it. That’s exactly the reason I downloaded it. Six bucks well spent. But I still haven’t beaten it. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/56 "2009-06-08T17:40:57Z")
It can’t be in the same league as the mod I’ve seen on Youtube that’s called like Impossible Mario or something, can it? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/57 "2009-06-08T17:44:24Z")
Are you talking about [I Wanna Be The Guy](http://kayin.pyoko.org/iwbtg/)? No, it’s not _that_ hard. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/58 "2009-06-08T17:44:50Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > It can’t be in the same league as the mod I’ve seen on Youtube that’s called like Impossible Mario or something, can it? It’s not, but it’s obviously harder than the Super Mario games you know and love. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/59 "2009-06-08T17:48:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Are you talking about [I Wanna Be The Guy](http://kayin.pyoko.org/iwbtg/)? No, it’s not _that_ hard. [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C1BSbq5aB0). NSFW due to language. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985/60 "2009-06-08T18:03:34Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > It can’t be in the same league as the mod I’ve seen on Youtube that’s called like Impossible Mario or something, can it? No, that’s just some guy’s idea of a joke. I mean, there’s no floor. And really, it’s not even that fun because the whole thing is basically a chear. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3C1BSbq5aB0/hqdefault.jpg "Most Difficult Super Mario Mod Ever Pt. 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C1BSbq5aB0) But SMB 2 is just like SMB 1, with the difficulty cranked up to 12. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-mario-game/498985.md?page=4)