Review by Turbo Speed

"Fun as it is hard."

Remember the old Super Mario Bros. for NES? Before you answer, of course you do. Everyone should have at least heard of it. It was a big success for Nintendo and his franchise is still going on strong.

But this isn't about all the latest Mario games; this is about a special game in the Mario series. It's special because when the Japanese first made it and market it, they had to import it to North America, but not before some developers thought it would be too hard for Americans and developed the version of Super Mario Bros. 2 commonly known as "Doki Doki Panic" or "Super Mario Advance" on the GBA (only the GBA version had some extras).

What makes these games different? A lot does.

Story 8/10

If you're reading this, you probably expect the Super Mario Bros. 2 story with Mario in a dreamland and having to fight his way out to wake up. That's not it at all, actually. It's actually the same as the first Super Mario Bros. Princess Peach gets kidnapped (yes, again) and it's up to Mario to rescue her, only this time, he has to face harder stages where serious and critical thinking and cat-like reflexes (and likely, geometric knowledge, for those springs and jumping at the right angle) are a must. Normally, I would complain about a generic story like this, but this is the original Mario, so it got points.
Story 8/10
............Hey, it's the original.

Gameplay 7/10

It got a 7 because it's really hard.

This isn't your grandma's Super Mario Bros! This is much, much, much, MUCH harder. No joke about it. Seriously, it really is.

There are new obstacles to get past in the game. The enemies move a little bit faster, the levels are longer, and there are multiple miscellaneous obstacles, such as getting the spring thing to help you jump over a wide body of water.

Another thing is there's an extra item that doesn't help you at all (this game introduced the Poison Mushroom for the first time), no saving (I don't know if the first version really did, though), and, here's a good thing, you can choose what brother you get to play as at the start of the game (Pick either "Mario Game" or "Luigi Game." Sweet).

I can't forget the Bowser's fortress levels, either. If you thought the first three levels were hard, you haven't seen what awaits you in the first Bowser level. In this one, you have to run through the first part of the level in a certain way, or you hear a negative-style honking sound and start that part again in a loop. Once you get through the right way, you'll hear the positive bleep beep noise that you hear when you pick up a coin. Now you need to do this over and over again with more patterns! If you think this is very hard, the rest of the game would probably make you wet yourself in panic.
Gameplay 7/10
"AAARRRGGGHHH! I lost again. That's another controller I've broken this week!" This might be the sentence you might find yourself saying over and over again when you play this game.

Graphics 10/10

The same stuff from the first game, basically. It's still the best the NES had back then, so you have to understand that. You can't get tired of the good old Mario sprite, or the Goomba, Koopa, ? Block, Brick Block, Gold Coin, and... well, you get the point.

Well, since I'm doing the graphics right now, I can also tell you. The reason Mario wore that hat was because it was easier to make than hair. The reason he had a mustache was because it was easier to generate than a face without facial hair. A lot of things in this game were made in a certain way instead of the other for efficiency reasons. Odd, isn't it?

Sound and Music 10/10

I loved hearing that little tune when Mario entered a pipe in the first game (you know what I'm talking about), and I still do. I still like that little gold coin "ka-BLEENG" when you hit a ? block. If you liked the original ones, you'll like these ones just as well.

Replay Value 10/10

Um, hello? It's just like the first Super Mario Bros.! Of course you're going to play it again (if the difficulty doesn't turn you off, that is).

My Grand Total 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 11/15/04

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