Review: Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, Virtual Console

System: NES
Genre: Platformer
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Original Release: 1986
Cost: 600 Wii points

SCORE: 6/10

Super Mario Bros. It's a true masterpiece. Spot on controls, slick level design, limited but memorable power ups and one of the finest soundtracks in gaming history. When most people think of the game's sequel, they imagine flying carpets, Shyguys, nightmare-inducing Phantos, Birdos, and a whole lot of vegetables. By now the majority of gamers are up to date on their Mario history, but for the sake of those that may still be in the dark, here's a history lesson. The American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was in fact, not a Mario game, at least not at first. American gamers were given a slightly modified version of an existing Japanese game called Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic, which was also designed by Mario creator and game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. The true sequel to Super Mario Bros., which goes by the name Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels looks and sounds a lot like the first game, so much so that calling the it a rom hack wouldn't be too far off. I know what you're thinking. "More Super Mario Bros.! That's a good thing, right?" Sure, The Lost Levels may resemble the original classic at first glance, but when one sits down and plays it, they discover the only things The Lost Levels has in common with it's predecessor is that it uses the same tunes and the same paint job, which is actually one of the reasons it stayed in Japan (until it was released in the SNES compilation Super Mario All-Stars in 1993.) The other reason? Lost Levels is ridiculously, insanely HARD.

This game doesn't pull any punches with it's difficulty.

There's no two player game here, just the option to play either a Mario or Luigi game. Mario controls exactly as he did from the first Super Mario Bros. Luigi has better jumping skills but skids around as if he were always in an ice stage. Lost Levels is the game that introduced the two plumbers different play styles, but never has the difference between them ever been more apparent than in this game. Only play as Luigi if you're looking for even more of challenge.

One of the many hazards to watch out for is the Poison Mushroom, darker than the Super Mushroom. These have the exact effect as touching an enemy. If you touch one as Super Mario, you'll revert to regular, small Mario. Touch a Poison Mushroom as regular Mario and you're dead. Ironically, Poison Mushrooms are found in question mark blocks. Even worse is that Poison Mushrooms can be found in hidden blocks!

Get this man a Fire Flower!

Killer "power-ups" aren't the only thing out to make your journey a harsh one. You've got red piranha plants that can come out of pipes even when you're standing on them. Then there's blowing winds that you'll have to use to make jumps, but at the same time, these can ruin your jumps. Better exercise caution when using spring boards. These things can send you soaring so high that you'll be out of the screen for several seconds and have to carefully position where you land. Lost Levels gives you lots of opportunities to warp but you'd better take a close look before you hop down that pipe. You just may end up going back a few worlds. That's right, Lost Levels actually has warp zones that send you backwards. There's a pit where you can kill yourself if you happen to come across a backwards warp, but that's still a wasted life. Not cool.

Hidden blocks yield one ups and coins but this time, they are actually needed to progress through a few stages. World 2-2 cannot be cleared, even with Luigi's superior jumps until you find a set of hidden blocks. World 3-4, the game's first maze not only forces you to be small to get though the first half of the stage, it also cannot be beaten unless you hit four hidden blocks and then run on top of them to take the higher path to continue. Unless you know these things before hand, the game will be brought to a screeching halt very early. Something that use to be secret is now used as a mandatory means to clear levels. At times you may see what looks like a running jump. So you run, jump and see that even after running, you still couldn't make the jump because you had to bounce off a Koopa para Troopa! What kinda crap is that?!

Lakitu AND Firebars? Kill me now.

Get used to seeing Bloopers in stages that are not underwater stages. Those things are annoying enough as it is in the water levels, so when did they gain the ability to fly? Speaking of underwater stages, these are packed with even more enemies than the first game, making for tight maneuvering. Unless you've got a Fire Flower, underwater levels are going to be a serious headache.

There's actually a hidden world but in order to unlock it, you have to complete the game eight times. Eight. Times. Like the rest of the game, these hidden stages are very taxing and only the most dedicated (or crazy) players will ever go through the game repeatedly to unlock them.

Bloopers in non-underwater levels? Sure, why not?!
It works for Cheep-Cheeps!

Lost Levels isn't a bad game but it's frustrating difficulty and reliance on cheap tricks really do weigh it down. The Japanese cover for Lost Levels reads "For Super Players" and that's really who the Lost Levels is for. Masochist players, step right up. Everyone else, move along.