I'm not alone, apparently. Although he doesn't say so in the description he penned for the work-in-progress painting (below and here) that he posted on deviantart.com earlier this year, I have to imagine WayForward's Austin Ivansmith has similarly fond memories of the game that's known in Japan as Super Mario USA.
(By the way, I have to admit that I very much like Ivansmith's painting as is. I love that I knew, the second I saw it, which characters, and which game, it was supposed to bring to mind--despite the fact that it's made up of just outlines, noses and eyes. OK, and a pair of pixelated mustaches.)
Another person who seemingly prefers Super Mario Bros. 2 to the rest of the classic series' releases: Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto. At least, that's what "the man who made Mario" says in this recent ign.com article.
Sadly, it seems unlikely Miyamoto's colleague, Takashi Tezuka, feels the same way. In the aforemented article, for instance, Miyamoto says, "The Mario games of that type are really in the hands of Mr. Tezuka at this point. Because he didn't work on [Super Mario USA] ... he doesn't have memories of developing it that he would draw on to re-create concepts in the New Super Mario Bros. series now."
Are any of you as crushed as I am to hear that it's unlikely Nintendo will be making another Mario game that's akin to Super Mario USA/Super Mario Bros. 2 anytime soon?
20 comments:
wondering will there be another one inverted for the baddies. I'm already on DA, I'll have to ask :P.
Thanks for sharing, I'm inspired to try something like it myself
Ah, I like the way you think? So, like, a similar painting featuring Birdo and Wart and a few other SMB2 baddies? I'd love it!
You're favorite 2D Mario game is Super Mario Bros 2? So is mine! I think it's a well made game and better than the Japanese counterpart. It's also the main reason why Peach is my most used character in the Mario spin off games.
2D2Will: Yep. I just love how different SMB2/USA is from the other games in the series. Plus, you can play as Peach. Oh, and she floats! Really, it should be everyone's favorite 2D Mario game, IMO :)
I agree with just about every one of your sentiments, though I find that I'm defending SMB2 more often than excitedly remembering how much fun it was!
Thanks for the kick to my Monday! :) Interesting to see that Miyamoto feels the way he does, though. I hadn't heard that until now!
I like World more (I kind of have a thing for Yoshis), but 2 is easily my second favorite. It helps that Advance was the first GBA game I owned. It's just so weird and I love weird. And like you said, Peach!
Matthew: Why do you find yourself defending SMB2 so much? Do a lot of people not like this game? Or do they dismiss it because it began life as a non-Mario game?
I'm guessing it's the latter, which is a shame. Lots of Mario titles begin life as something other than Mario titles, so I'm not sure why people hold that fact against this one, which is about as creative as a Mario game has ever been.
As for Miyamoto considering this to be his favorite Mario game (from the perspective of a player, as opposed to from the perspective of a designer): I also didn't know he felt that way.
Makes it all the stranger that he and his colleagues seem to have no plans to try and recreate some of the glory of that game, doesn't it?
CYM: World is your fave, eh? Very interesting choice! Honestly, World is one of my least favorites of the 2D Marios. That's not to say I dislike it, of course -- I just don't like it as much as, say, SMB 2 or 3.
As to your comment about SMB2 being weird: Yes! I think that's part of the reason I like it so. Also, I love its melding of cute and scary. I mean, consider the Shy Guys and Snifits and Phantos. Ack!
I completely blame it on people knowing- much more than other titles- that the game started out as Doki Doki Panic! People I talk to don't hate it, but when I say it's my favorite of the bunch, I get strange looks and the scoffing 'why?' after. I tend to get the excuse that it's a great standalone game, but people don't like to call it a 'Mario' game- which is silly, right?
Also, bearing in mind that many characters from SMB2 are still represented in plenty of the games today (Birdo, for instance)!
I'd love to see another game in the vein of SMB2, so yeah, I guess it's strange that they aren't coordinating to do something along those lines... though SMB Advance was a nice twist on the old game, if you haven't checked it out.
Matthew: I thought that may have been why you find yourself defending this game so often (that people think it's not a 'real' Mario game due to its Doki Doki roots). Sigh. Like I said earlier -- many Mario games don't begin life as Mario games, just like many Kirby games don't begin life as Kirby games. Why hold it against SMB2/USA? Oh, well.
Also, I think waaaaay too many people just blindly say SMB3 is their favorite Mario game because that's what they believe they're supposed to say. That's not to suggest SMB3 isn't a great game, but I think it gets more praise than maybe it deserves.
I've never played SMB Advance, BTW, nor have I played any of the other SMB Advance titles. I just assumed they were more or less straight ports of the originals. I guess that's not the case??
2 was not that bad. I still prefer 3 though.
Tom: Fair enough. What do you think about World? Just curious...
I'f I'm remembering correctly, the first SMB is the port of SMB2, but it's got cleaner graphics and some fun twists and turns. It's not ALL original, but if you can find it cheap, I had fun replaying through it(it even has some voices in there!) I can't really speak on the other advance titles, as I think they are more or less straight ports, but I could be wrong.
I definitely agree about 3, too. It's a good game, and definitely deserves the regard it gets, but I think it gets a little more praise than necessary.
I'll have to do some digging and see what's up with all of the SMB Advance titles, Matthew. Thank you for turning me on to them, BTW. I honestly just thought all of them were straight ports (which I'm not all that interested in).
As for SMB3: Yes, it's nice, great even, but it's much more straightforward as a Mario game than SMB2 -- which is why I tend to prefer SMB2, of course :)
Of course, I totally agree with you on this one. But it is interesting, at least, that New Super Mario Bros. Wii offered a nominal toss-off to Super Mario Bros. 2 by virtue of the fact that Blue Toad looks almost exactly like Regular Toad's original NES sprite. I have to agree, though, that they don't do enough with their options for Subcon nostalgia, especially with the game's four-player setup.
Isn't in interesting, though, that you and I both love the "weirdo" games in popular series -- Super Mario Bros. 2 and Final Fantasy V -- when these titles are the ones that allow the player a lot more freedom in how they play the game? And also the power to play as a girl and make her just as powerful as the guys who usually dominate the games?
I was actually hoping that New Super Mario Bros 2 was going to be more like SMB2 than the first NSMB game...alas...
Drew: Ah, you're right! Both about Blue Toad in NSMBW looking like the Toad that appeared in SMB2 and about us both loving the "weird" games in a pair of popular series (SMB2 and FFV).
Also, I think you hit the nail on the head when you said two of the reasons we like those "weird" games is that they give players a ton of control over how they play the game and also allow players to control female characters.
That last revelation is especially unsurprising to me, as I've always preferred to control female characters while playing games. Is the same true of you, Drew?
Me, too, Justin. Just like I hoped NSMBU would harken back to Super Mario World. Sigh.
Bryan: Yeah, I was the one who always picked Peach. Though today I'm more apt to pick the less stereotyped female character.
I mean, if that's an option.
Well, yeah, of course, Drew. When it comes to SMB2, though, Peach remains the only choice pour moi, as I might say if I were French...
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