{"id":2438,"date":"2013-03-05T17:31:08","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T17:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2438"},"modified":"2013-03-05T17:31:08","modified_gmt":"2013-03-05T17:31:08","slug":"my-top-100-13-super-mario-bros-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2438","title":{"rendered":"My Top 100: #13 – Super Mario Bros. 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"1988<\/a>

1988 – Nintendo (NES, Virtual Console, eShop)<\/p><\/div>\n

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It could have been the look on Mario’s face on the cover, zooming through the air, ready to take on all enemies with nothing but a turnip in his hand.\u00a0 It\u00a0could have been the TV commercial, which had real life sets and props made to look like the game.\u00a0 It could have even been the Nintendo Fun Club News<\/em> issue that gave hints about its development, or even the cover story on\u00a0that first\u00a0issue of Nintendo Power<\/em>.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I didn’t see any of those things until the game was released, and didn’t even know those magazines even existed.<\/p>\n

My sister worked at the convenience store around the corner from our house, and she had heard through the grapevine that it was coming soon.\u00a0 Even then, she thought it would be a great surprise to have me wait until I actually saw\u00a0Super Mario Bros. 2<\/em>\u00a0on the shelf, with my own eyes, to see that it was even a thing…\u00a0 and you\u00a0know what?\u00a0 It was awesome, and totally unexpected.\u00a0 The best non-Christmas-or-birthday surprise of all time.\u00a0 OF ALL TIME.<\/p>\n

She must have\u00a0called dibs on that first copy, because we excitedly walked back home to play it.\u00a0 What could\u00a0we expect, though?\u00a0 I had no idea what to think, just because I wasn’t sure if the idea was to experience more of the same, or change the mechanics altogether.\u00a0 The idea of a video game sequel was a new one to me, so I was cautiously optimistic.<\/p>\n

The differences were quite obvious, right off the bat.\u00a0 The overworld theme was completely different, you could play as any of four characters (one of them being the Princess – whhaaaaattt), and jumping on enemies did absolutely nothing.\u00a0 You could pick them up and throw them by pressing B, or simply ride on them for a while, which\u00a0brought\u00a0quite a change in strategy.\u00a0 Time it right, and\u00a0you could even take out a few enemies at once\u00a0with a well-placed turnip or\u00a0POW block.<\/p>\n

None of the\u00a0baddies from the first Super Mario Bros.<\/em> were around this time.\u00a0 Instead of Goombas,\u00a0Koopa Troopas and Bullet Bills, we had ShyGuys, Ninjis, and Bob-Omb’s running after us.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of the “dragon” Bowser, we got a\u00a0frog named Wart who hated vegetables – he was definitely\u00a0my kind of bad guy!\u00a0\u00a0A few times while eating supper, my parents\u00a0were\u00a0subjected to\u00a0the excuse “I can’t eat vegetables, or else I’ll die like Wart!”<\/p>\n

To end a level, there was no flagpole to jump on.\u00a0 You walked into the gaping mouth of a hawk, and\u00a0was rewarded with a casino-like slot game to earn extra lives.\u00a0 Makes sense, right?\u00a0 Whoo, logic!<\/p>\n

Secret doors, alternate routes,\u00a0and hard-to-reach areas encouraged exploration.\u00a0\u00a0Bringing potions much further away than where you found them usually rewarded you with a health bonus, extra coins,\u00a0or perhaps even a warp zone.\u00a0 Every boss required a different strategy, even when they came around for a second battle.<\/p>\n

To top it all off, the game ends, and it’s\u00a0all just\u00a0a dream!\u00a0 I mean, yeah, anyone who knew SubCon was an abbreviation of “subconscious” would have been able to figure it out, but I was about five years old.\u00a0\u00a0Even though\u00a0I “read” the story in the instruction manual, my English wasn’t all that good yet.\u00a0\u00a0The idea of what SubCon was supposed to mean was completely\u00a0lost on me.\u00a0 Needless to say, the end of the game was quite a surprise!<\/p>\n

The game was just so weird, so different, so colourful and quirky that\u00a0I couldn’t help but fall in love with it.<\/p>\n

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