Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels: 3HN Cheesefest

One month before Christmas, I was determined to get yet another classic game cartridge for my sons (and me): Super Mario All-Stars. This SNES cartridge includes not only all three Super Mario games from the NES, but also a game that had not been previously released in the U.S. -- Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. This was the selling point to my wife: if I get this cartridge for my sons, it would include three games with improved graphics and sound (compared to the NES), and an additional fourth game. She wasn't fully convinced, but she humored me, so I got it.

Here's a little history: The Lost Levels was actually Super Mario Bros. 2, which was first released in Japan shortly after the classic Super Mario Bros. The prevailing rumor/fact was that the original Super Mario 2 was TOO difficult for U.S. kids (really?) and TOO similar to the original Super Mario Bros. Thus, what the U.S. got was a game (called Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic in Japan) that was repackaged as Super Mario Bros. 2; but, The Lost Levels were eventually released as a part of the Super Mario All-Stars compilation.

Anyway, we've had the cartridge for about a month. My sons have had little desire to play any of the games on it as they are currently fascinated with Super Mario World, but I have dived into the games, particularly Super Mario 2 and 3. However, I have been playing Lost Levels for the last couple weeks, and I can say with some certainty that this game is littered with cheese. Indeed, this game is hard... really hard, and needlessly so. How can a game be "needlessly hard?" Let me give you an example: in World 2, Level 2, there is a point where there is an impossible chasm across which you have to jump. You can't jump it, you can't turbo jump it, and you don't have the benefit of a tanuki suit, raccoon suit, or cape (from Super Mario World) to help you across the chasm. Okay, there's a pipe way up in the sky, but how do you get to it?! Well, if you jump around enough, you will eventually find a secret block. Okay, so I found that block, but I still can't reach the pipe. What do I do?! Once again, if I jump around, I will eventually find ANOTHER hidden block. If I jump on THAT block, I can reach the pipe, but then I have to turbo jump from atop THAT pipe to make it across the chasm. Sheesh! Though I'm up for a good challenge, hiding blocks that necessitate reaching a point that would already present a difficult jump takes away from the fun of this Super Mario game and renders the game more of a test of patience than a pick-up-and-play classic. Thankfully, you have unlimited chances to continue and try again, but gaining an intimate familiarity with the Continue screen is no way to enhance one's life.

Throughout Lost Levels, the frustration is in full effect with nigh-impossible jumps, crazy falls that require accurate placement, and death mushrooms which come out of Question blocks that kill you! I have a funny story about these mushrooms: in World 1, Level 1, the first special mushroom that I encountered when I first played Lost Levels was this purple mushroom that emerged from a Question block. "Ooh, this must be for some new ability," I thought. Little did I know that it was a poison mushroom that would automatically kill me upon consumption! Oh, and there are surprise areas that actually hinder gameplay! For instance, if you over-jump one stage-ending flagpole in World 3, you are taken to a Warp Zone, but that's not a good thing: it's a Warp Zone to World 1! Who'd want to do that?! It can all be frustrating...

Furthermore, I must comment on the game's controls -- more so than the first three Marios (which we know as 1, 2, and 3), Mario's momentum sends him forward and off many platforms if you're not especially careful. Mario also hangs longer when he jumps, which threw off my timing when bouncing off one foe to land on another. I have lost count of how many times I have died bouncing off one opponent only to land behind another, thus touching the foe while on flat ground and dying instantly. The controls feel different from Super Mario 1, 2, or 3, as if Mario were on the moon. It's difficult to describe, much like it's difficult to control Mario with any accuracy.

The Lost Levels plays with your Mario sensibilities, turning what we've been conditioned to accept as "rewards" such as mushrooms and Warp Zones into bad things! Now, you have to be careful about where you go and what you get. You also have to contend with a Mario that hangs in the air just a bit too long and had a braking distance that is just a bit too long. This is not challenging -- this is cheesy. I mean, I like the first three Mario games because they're challenging, but they're fun and the challenges are right in front of you instead of compelling you to find hidden blocks to advance... for the most part. Anyway, there's a feeling I have when playing The Lost Levels as if I have to get every move just right in order to succeed -- there is no margin for error, and this is what separates this game from the fun of the first three Mario games and Super Mario World after it. In my opinion, games have to have even a small margin for error to preserve the fun of the challenge. After all, we are all human and incapable of performing perfectly every time. We all need the space to make a mistake or two. You may disagree, but that's why I liked Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, or 3; you didn't have to stick a perfect jump every time, but you did need to do it occasionally.

Nonetheless, truth be told, I will return to this game again and again... until I beat it. Wouldn't that mark a "great game?" Let me get back to you about that. In the meantime, I had better get used to cheese.

Updated Info about the Retro Duo

Today, I added an update section to a review I wrote for Epinions about the Retro Duo, a NES/SNES clone console:

Retro Duo: Crisp SNES, Cruddy NES

If you are only interested in reading my update excerpt, here it is:

"After 9 months of irregular use of the Retro Duo, one of the controllers became problematic; I could push the D-pad or any of the buttons, but I couldn't do both at the same time and get any game response. I cut the controller cable from the internal control board and resoldered it, but the connection problem seemed more inherent to the board and less inherent to the cable. Thus, I confirmed that the Retro Duo's controllers are somewhat flimsy and I suspect that the internal control board is the reason.

"To resolve this, I recommend buying original Super Nintendo controllers (not the cheap knock-offs, but bona fide controllers) through eBay or Amazon Marketplace. I won two controllers through eBay, received them last week, and then cleaned them up with alcohol and cotton swabs. The controllers work flawlessly with the Retro Duo and feel much better than the controllers that come with the system. However, I would keep the Retro Duo controllers as back-ups or for spare parts (e.g. the internal button contact parts).

"Also, I found that the Retro Duo is very sensitive to any jarring movements, such as when children accidentally jerk their controllers while playing. If inserted cartridges experience any kind of quick movements, any active game is disrupted; this is because the cartridge insertion ports on the Retro Duo are wider than the actual cartridges and the pin contacts inside the console allow for leeway. So, don't jerk your controllers.

"Other than these complaints, the Retro Duo is still a viable replacement solution for failing SNES or NES consoles, even though NES performance is sub-par."

Super Mario World: 1HN Super Fun

Twenty years ago (on November 20, 1990 to be exact), Super Mario World was released to the... uh, world along with the Super Nintendo videogame console. Rivaling the Sega Genesis, the Super Nintendo delivered 16-bit graphics AND sound, but none of this would have made an impact without the capabilities of the Super Nintendo displayed fully through the play of Super Mario World. I first played Super Mario World in 1992 when I visited a friend of mine. At the time, I had grown weary of side-scrolling platformers and was gravitating more toward sports games like NES Play-Action Football and Kings of the Beach. Anyway, I played Super Mario World and was somewhat impressed by the graphics and gameplay. However, because I wasn't a fan of such side-scrollers, I quickly gave up playing and asked if my friend and I could play Street Fighter 2.

Fast-forward 20 years: it was Christmas 2010 and my wife and I gave our two young sons Super Mario World along with three other cartridges as part of their Christmas booty... er, presents. Upon inserting Super Mario World into our Retro Duo, we (my wife included) were astonished (even in 2010) by the graphics, the sounds, and the gameplay of this classic. The first couple of areas in Level 1 are great for our two boys, but areas after that increased in difficulty as one progressed. Even though areas became more difficult and frustrating for all of us, the "cute" sprites and bright colors made the drudgery of overcoming stubborn obstacles over and over again tolerable. I even found (and sometimes find) myself humming the background music. There was just something undeniably catchy about the game.

Just to mention one aspect of Super Mario World, we all enjoyed that element that was added to Super Mario gameplay with this game: riding Yoshi, a friendly dinosaur who can eat foes, spit fireballs, and lay (!) 1-UP eggs. Of course, Yoshi often proved to be more of a tainted temptation than a helper: whenever Mario or Luigi is hit by a foe whilst riding Yoshi, Yoshi scurries away at high speed. When playing, this led all of us to pursue Yoshi because he was THAT fun to have in the game, but pursuing the wayward Yoshi almost always led to death by contact with a foe or falling down a hole. My wife and I sagely concluded that if one is hit while riding Yoshi, just let him run away...

In short, Super Mario World is a pleasant way to wile away an hour or two with the family. You can play cooperatively on the same map or individually with everyone taking turns. Plus, you can save games at certain key points and go back to them later; nowadays, this is no big deal but for an old-time gamer like me this is huge. Back in the day, it was more the exception than the rule that one could save a gave, so one either had to play all day until one finished the game or just quit and try from the beginning later. In any case, this classic can be acquired as a cartridge through eBay or through the Wii's Virtual Console; either way, you won't be disappointed with this 20-year-old game.