Super Mario Bros. 2

The American Super Mario Bros. 2 is actually a Mario-ified version of a not-quite-completely-unrelated game called Doki Doki Panic. Apparently, Nintendo thought the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 was too similar to Super Mario Bros. and too difficult for overseas players to handle.

Fortunately, the game was a smash hit, and is considered by many to be superior to the "real" sequel. Many characters introduced in this game were quickly adopted into the Mario universe.

Doki Doki Panic Leftovers
Found amongst the graphics used in the ending scenes.



A magic lamp. This became the Potion, and has the same effect (creates a door to Subspace).



This heart was the equivalent to the Mushrooms found in Subspace.



A lock and a metal platform. These were used in the ending of Doki Doki Panic (it's where Wart held the two children he kidnapped in the prologue), and don't have any equivalent in Super Mario Bros. 2.

Prototype Leftovers


Yes, money. This was used in the ending of the prototype where, instead of a display showing how many times each character was used, you received "prize money" based on the amount of times you died.

Miscellaneous Graphics


Hidden in the tileset for the desert stages is a little smiley face that isn't used anywhere in the prototype, final, or Doki Doki Panic. It appears to just be a placeholder.

Eighth Animation Frame


The animated tiles, such as the POW Blocks and Cherries, actually have eight frames of animation. However, due to a bug, only the first seven frames are actually displayed.

Full Subspace Music


The music track used in Subspace is actually a bit longer than what you can normally hear. Under normal circumstances, the game boots you out of Subspace after about seven seconds, which prevents you from hearing the full 14-second loop. The easiest way to hear it in-game is to pick up a Starman, enter Subspace, and then exit just before the invincibility wears off; if done correctly, the Subspace music will continue to play until the next track change.

To hear the full song at the title screen, use Game Genie code.

Unused Text
The string "ZELDA" is present at ROM address. It appears that Nintendo copied the PRG footer/vector table from The Legend of Zelda (another FDS-to-NES conversion) and simply forgot to change the title.

Revisional Differences
Normally, hitting a mini-Fryguy with a Mushroom Block will cause it to disappear in a puff of smoke. In the PRG0 version, however, if you manage to hit one while your character is shrinking, it will flip upside-down and fall off the screen instead.

This somehow confuses the game into thinking there are mini-Fryguys left even after the rest are extinguished, and hence the exit will never appear. This game-breaking bug was fixed in the PRG1 revision.

Regional Differences
Nintendo made the somewhat odd decision to release Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan more than four years after the US release, under the title Super Mario USA (due to the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 being a completely different game, released later in the US as The Lost Levels as part of Super Mario All-Stars). Aside from the modified title screen, it is identical to the US PRG1 version.