If you grew up playing the NES version of Super Mario Bros. 2, you may have wondered why it feels so different from the original game. You pick up enemies and vegetables, choose from Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach, and move through levels that do not behave like traditional Super Mario stages.
The reason is one of the most famous pieces of Nintendo history: the North American Super Mario Bros. 2 was based on another Nintendo-developed game called Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic.
Was Super Mario Bros. 2 really another game first?
Yes. Nintendo's own Iwata Asks interviews explain that Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic was developed for the Famicom Disk System in cooperation with Fuji Television and released in Japan in 1987. Nintendo later adapted that game into the version North American players knew as Super Mario Bros. 2 in 1988.
What happened to Japan's original Super Mario Bros. 2?
Japan already had a direct sequel to the original Super Mario Bros.. That game was much closer to the first Mario mechanically and was later released internationally under the name Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.
Nintendo's own historical interviews distinguish between the Japanese sequel and the North American game based on Doki Doki Panic.
Why does the American game have Mario characters?
When Nintendo adapted Doki Doki Panic, its playable characters and presentation were reworked around the Mario universe. The underlying design explains why the game has mechanics that feel unusual for Mario, including lifting objects and enemies, vertical sections, and character-specific abilities.
So is Super Mario Bros. 2 a “fake” Mario game?
No. That is the funny social-media version of the story, but the real history is more interesting. Nintendo developed the underlying game, officially transformed it into Super Mario Bros. 2 for the North American market, and the mechanics and characters introduced in that version became part of Mario history.
Did Japan ever get this version?
Yes. Nintendo later released the adapted game in Japan as Super Mario USA. Nintendo's own interviews discuss that release history as well.
Official Nintendo sources
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