Let's Play 01: "Super Mario Bros. 2" Part 1 Quiz

Answer: Mama

Published in 1987 for the Famicom Disk System, Nintendo published "Doki Doki Panic" for Fuji Television. The game was to promote Yume Kôjô '87 (translates Dream Factory '87), and included Fuji's mascots. Overall, the levels from Doki Doki Panic were left alone. The majority of the changes were swapping out sprites and cosmetic changes.

The original characters are a family, with two parents with one son and one daughter. Mario replaced Imajin, the average skilled brother. Luigi replaced Mama. The Princess replaced Lina, the sister. Toad replaced Papa. There is speculation that Mama appears to be pregnant.

Answer: 7-2

In 7-2, in the cloud section there is a portion of the stage where you must go back and forth on stationary cloud platforms that are stacked on top of one another in order to get to a ladder that has a column blocking access. In "Doki Doki Panic", there is an additional cloud platform, with a small column with a Snifit sitting on top.

The most probable reason Nintendo removed this platform was even with the Mario and Toad character a super jump could completely bypass the cloud section and the player could simply jump over the column to get to the blocked off ladder.

Answer: World 5

When Nintendo adapted "Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic" into "Super Mario Bros. 2", they replaced the third Mouser with a new boss character, Clawgrip. Mouser appears the same as World 1-3, though his chamber is shaped differently and there are two sections with spikes on the floor.

Answer: Phanto

I remember my parents buying this game for me and being puzzled why Phanto looked different in the manual than he actually appears in the game. The reason is Nintendo published the "Doki Doki Panic" sprite in the manual, rather than the sprite that actually appears in the game. Phanto in "Doki Doki Panic" has small eyes and he is frowning.

He does not look nearly as menacing as he does in "Super Mario Bros. 2". The game manual also includes pictures of the Magic Jar and the Heart sprite from "Doki Doki Panic".

Answer: Eighteen

Birdo appears as someone you must defeat in 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-2, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, 7-1, and 7-2. He also appears in 4-3, but rather than defeating him you must ride his egg across an otherwise impassable waterfall. 2-2 features our first red Birdo. 5-3 and 6-3 are notable for making you fight Birdo in addition to those World's perspective bosses, as 1-3, 2-3, and 3-3 do not feature Birdo fights. 4-1 is the only level (that does not feature a World Boss) to not have Birdo. 7-2, the end level, is also unique as there are TWO red Bridos, though you only must defeat one and can completely ignore the other. 7-2 also features the only Birdo that has is holding a key rather than a Crystal Ball.

Answer: Ostro

There were numerous errors in the Cast of Characters section of "Super Mario Bros. 2". Ostro, an ostrich that Shyguys ride, are given the name Birdo, and Birdo is labeled Ostro. Personally I believe this was a localization error, as the error was repeated in the game manual itself. Strangely enough, when Nintendo released "Super Mario Allstars" for the Super Nintendo, they did not correct this error, though they did correct it in the "Super Mario Advance" release. I remember back in the late 1980s all us gamers thought Birdo had two names, Birdo and Ostro, as Nintendo Power referred to Birdo as Birdo, not Ostro.

The other errors in the "Cast of Characters" are typographical. Hoopster is spelled Hoopstar, Tryclyde's name appears as Triclyde, and Clawgrip's name is "Clawglip".

Answer: Albatros

The Albatros, the only flying bird in "Super Mario Bros. 2", appears to be Subcon's natural resident before the Wart invaded.

Here is the game manual entry related to the Albatros. "He used to be the only resident in the world of dreams. Now, by order of Wart, he works as a carrier of Bob-Ombs."

In "Doki Doki Panic" he only has two frames of animation, making him appear to fly much faster. For the "Super Mario Bros. 2" conversion Nintendo added three more frames of animation, bring the total to five. Birdo, Wart, Shyguy

Answer: Toad

For the debut issue of "Nintendo Power", published in July-August 1988, Nintendo did a claymaytion scene from "Super Mario Bros. 2". They recommended you use Toad due to the sand digging sections and Toad is the strongest and thus fastest digger. In the game Mario has a red shirt, red hat, and blue overalls.

In the claymation scene, they made him have a blue hat with a large "M" on the front. Also, Mario is grasping a carrot, an item that does not appear in the game.

Answer: Nineteen

There are nineteen new enemies in "Super Mario Bros. 2": Shy Guy*, Tweeter
Ninji*, Hoopster, Pidgit*, Beezo*, Phanto, Snifit*, Trouter, Spark*, Cobrat*, Panser*, Pokey*,Ostro, Porcupo*, Albatoss, Bob-omb*, Flurry, and Autobomb. The ones with asterisks have appeared in subsequent Mario titles.

Answer: Bad Dream Machines

Autobombs are like from the original "Super Mario Bros.", although they do not shoot bullets but rather fire. Shyguys ride them. They have "M" emblazoned on their side, standing for "Mamu", Wart's name in Japan.