Super Mario Bros. 2
Overview
I believe it's common knowledge at this point that Super Mario Bros. 2 as we know it was a modified version of a Japanese title called Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and a result is a bit "different" than other Mario games, even today. But it still ends up feeling like a Mario game by the end.
Review
Notable for being the first game on the cover of Nintendo Power (which we covered here), Super Mario Bros. 2 is the original's somewhat strange sequel, when the franchise was trying new things. As you may know, it's an updated version of a Japanese promotional title (Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic) rather than just localizing the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 (effectively an expansion of Super Mario Bros. with more difficult levels), but it ended up introducing several new enemies to the Mario universe, as well as letting Toad and the Princess be playable characters for the first time. While I've tooled around with the original game and its updated re-release as part of Super Mario All-Stars, I did a full play-through of Super Mario Bros. 2 through Super Mario Advance...well it wasn't a FULL playthrough since I utilized some warps and as a result missed several worlds and being able to fight Fryguy at all...and the post-game for SMB2 for Super Mario Advance is terrible and won't let you play the game the same way, which is disappointing...but that's not part of the original game. After all, after defeating Wart, it turns it was all but a dream and featured a long ending sequence when such a thing was rare for a NES game.
Player Notes
While I've tooled around with all three major releases (NES, SNES, and GBA) I will admit that I've only actually beaten it through the Game Boy Advance version, and I played it around April 2026.
Port & Rerelease Notes
There were some changes when Doki Doki Panic was brought over as Super Mario Bros. 2, mostly bug fixes and QoL improvements like being able to run with B. Super Mario Bros. 2's two major ports were with Super Mario Bros. All-Stars and Super Mario Advance. Both have the newer graphics and battery-backed save (which the original did not) but there are some differences between them, most notably the new voice clips. I did find Toad's oddly amusing as he some ridiculous voice clips. There's some new larger sprites, and it was also made a made a bit easier with a few new Mushrooms to find...but unless you're specifically playing on a real GBA I think I'd just go with All-Stars.
Recommended Guide
Nintendo published a hint book of Super Mario Bros. 2 as a pull-out of Nintendo Power in two issues, and you can find scans of both on Retromags...Part One and Part Two. But when it comes to playing it these days, if you don't have a physical guide (Super Mario Advance got a Prima guide and coverage in "Nintendo Power Advance"), I would strongly recommend StrategyWiki, rated at "Phase Four" completion, with maps, supplementary features, and suggested characters for each level...besides, you'll see how many levels each character completes at the end of the game. You don't want it to be JUST Mario or Toad, right? (Luigi will come in handy at least once).