I've not once thought how in character the Mushroom potentially downgrading you is just Wario being a complete dick to outwit you. Gosh I love Wario so darn much.

An important thing to note about Wario's Fire Flower phase: It is extremely easy and over quickly if you just go ham on him. Wario doesn't try to shake the ground when he jumps to stun you like in phase 1, there aren't pass-through platforms to block you from landing on him, and his jumps are short enough to where you can always successfully land on him, even if you might have to change your trajectory a little. Phases 1 and 2 require you to attack him carefully and with precision, but aside from the possibility of him spawning a fireball on top of you if you try to hit his face, he really has no defensive measures here. There is essentially nothing stopping you from jumping on him right away, then proceeding to jump on him again the moment his invincibility wears off, and then yet again to finish the battle within just a few seconds and only a single fireball launched. The first time I got to Fire Wario was the first time I beat the game, and I don't think I've ever lost to him in all of my times replaying. But you see, that's the thing, you CAN (and I did when I was younger) go ham on him to win in an instant, but I wouldn't blame anyone for not doing so after EVERYTHING the level and this boss fight in particular has thrown at them so far. For this part of the fight to have any difficulty, the player must be in a defensive mindset, and that's exactly the mindset the level has conditioned players to adopt.

This one's one of my favourite episodes, I think. Actually, I like the "Designing for Contrast" one a lot too. Maybe I'm just real into Wario...?

I remember this level feeling so intense and almost scary as a kid. And it felt amazing to finally beat it, it's pretty memorable. This level and the final boss is something I feel like is missing in modern 2D Mario games. I did beat New Super Mario Bros, and I remember the boss, but I don't think I ever had any difficulty with it, and I just remember it vaguely, it was a double battle with Bowser and Bowser Jr. And I think he starts as a revived Dry Bowser? As I said, it's unfortunately not as memorable. And as the newer New Super Mario Bros games go on, they just become more blended with each other. This whole level has an amazing build-up to it, as you mentioned, it's visible since the beginning of the game, the gate is menacing, the music on the overworld is ominous. All of that alone make you feel tense. Then the level itself has this atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The setpieces, the length, the difficulty, the music, the visuals, everything stands out so well, not only it's effective, but it's incredibly memorable. How many NSMB bosses have multiple phases? This whole game has some amazing ideas that should really be used in modern 2D Mario. The structure has been so rigid lately that it feels like they lost the famous creative touch of the original series (Mario 3, World, Land 1 and 2 all feel very distinct and still feel like Mario games).

The castle has this "wario game style". Is a little wakier than the bowser levels, many enemies of the game are weird too. IS GREAT!

Man, between this and the newly translated GCCX episode on this, Super Mario Land 2's getting a lot of love lately I've seen. Definitely agree with the mission statement here; while I remember the themes of the other levels, nothing particularly left an impression on me (aside from Moon Zone's scrolling stage). This final level was the most memorable by far.

These sorts of episodes - the ones that break down Mario levels - are among my favorites. To me, Super Mario is gaming. It's the quintessential series from which all others draw their inspiration, or by which all series are compared. Super Mario Kart isn't the first racing game (heck, it's probably not even the first kart racer), but there isn't a racing game since that hasn't been thought of in the context of or in comparison to Mario Kart. But this also means that I see Super Mario as the baseline for everything. Is X platformer better than Super Mario Bros.? Is X RPG better-written than Super Mario RPG? How does X party game compare to Mario Party? This means that when I think critically, I think of the games that fill in the Xes, but I don't really think much about what Mario does, specifically. Videos that stop and look at the neat or clever things Mario does help me better appreciate Super Mario as the quintessence of gaming. On my own, I never really would've thought of Wario's Castle as more than "that long gauntlet at the end of an otherwise easy game" and maybe "the level with Mashie in it" (from that old SMBHQ Memory about the Hand of Wario). It's always a treat to step into the perspective of, "Well, actually, if you think about it, there's really an awful lot going on here..." Far be it for me to call anything with Wario in it 'subtle', but there's something to be said about how much the level characterizes its boss mechanically given how little the game has to work with aesthetically.

If you bother to play the slot machine to get a carrot before entering Wario's Castle, and have any modicum of skill, it quickly becomes apparent just how much of a joke the castle actually becomes by being able to hover whenever you want; there are few rooms that aren't in some way cheeseable with the bunny ears.

I never managed to beat this level as a kid, and I'm pretty sure I had nightmares about it, lol.

Another great vid, man!

Can you do an analysis of Super Mario Bros 1-1? I have never seen a complete analysis of it anywhere, most only analyze a few points of it.

Really glad someone did a video thesis on this level; I've become suddenly obsessed with it and am recreating it in Mario Maker.

A contender for your best video. Could we get a video on anything Puyo Puyo or Madou Monogatari next, please?

Because of this video, I decided to completely remake this level in Super Mario Maker 2.

Where the heck did you get the "without any real pattern" image from?

Personally, I never felt particularly rewarded beating this level. I did it once in the original version and once on the Virtual Console. I think it might be because the ending doesn’t live up to Super Mario World or Wario Land I, and there’s no real bonus content besides the secret exit levels. Overall I found the main worlds of the game more interesting.

2:00 ackchyually, itch pronounched "LAH-kih-TOO"

What the hell is sumo fighter

4:13 Wait, the super nintendo only has 128 sprites!? Is that through the entire game? How did they make so many things in the games move so smoothly with just that? Am I missing anything?

Idk what you mean by it isn’t hard that space credits level is absolutely stupid

9:06 why

Funny cause I think I’m pretty good at platformers but I thought Mario land 2 was pretty hard cause of how annoying it is losing all the coins.

Am I the only one who aren't a fan of the Mario Land games? I could never get into them. Wario cheating? Go figures he's the one guy I would expect to fight fair. Great video as always. Looking forward to the next one!

9:06 name this I dare you

ok so nearly every point you make in support of this level is reasons why i absolutely HATE it. for context, mario land 2 is my all time favorite 2d mario game with replayability thanks to the open ended world map, fun bite sized levels, and a TON of charm and creativity. mario land 2 does everything in its power to stand out with unique settings and weird enemies since the gameboy can't really do the more complex stuff that games like mario 3 or world can. while it's not too difficult it's a fun and relaxing game. not to mention it has the best save system of any world (barring the part where you have to redo every boss level if you get a game over). point is, it's a fun, relaxing game that doesn't ask too much of your time or abilities. i can understand if some may find it boring due to it being easy but for what it is and what it sets out to do i think it succeeds in spades. but then there's the final level, one of the worst levels in any mario game. the camera is terrible with most obstacles blindsighting you, the timing for every jump is extremely weird and annoying, its longer than most castle levels in mario world, and there aren't even any checkpoints. even mario world's final castle level had checkpoints. even if it just had one before the boss fight against wario, i'd be fine, but having to redo the ENTIRE level full of poor visibility, bad enemy placement, scarce powerups, awkward jumps, and obstacles that aren't organically taught to the player in the level itself or anywhere else in the entire game, all of that because you messed up on the godawful fight against wario is BEYOND frustrating. and don't get me started on that fight, the only saving grace is that each phase gives you enough powerups to tank a hit or two which will inevitably happen thanks to his horrible, random, unpredictable behavior, overwhelming hitbox size, limited space to move around in, and the annoying ass chandeliers. as if it wasn't bad enough, he hovers around in the air during his second phase giving you LITERALLY zero room to avoid his attacks in some circumstances. third phase isn't much better either, thanks to the gigantic fireballs that take up way too much screen space in already cramped arena. and why even have the mushroom spawn if you already have a mushroom or carrot? the fact that it will literally downgrade you if you grab it with the bunny ears is just unfair. that's the kind of shit you'd see in a shitty mario maker troll level. i don't care if it "fits wario's character" or if it's even kinda funny, to a blind player that gets fucked over by that and possibly loses the fight and is forced to replay the entire castle from that, that's just annoying and unfair. when you said this level was totally contrary to the rest of the game you weren't wrong, but in my eyes it spits in the face of everything that makes the rest of the game so much fun and forces you to grind your way through the trial and error bullshit until you beat it. it's not even satisfying to finish it, every time i beat it on a replay it just ends with a "finally, thank god that's over" rather than a cheer of victory. and on top of all that, as if the trial and error design, ridiculous length, and horrible boss fight weren't bad enough, god forbid you game over or get low on lives. then you get to go back and grind for more lives or even REPLAY EVERY SINGLE BOSS LEVEL if you get a game over. that's not likely to happen at all throughout the rest of the game due to how easy it is, but then you're walled by this awful level and will inevitably get hit with a game over unless you already know to go back and grind before it's too late. it's this level alone that makes me debate with myself over weather i like it or mario world more, despite often calling land 2 my favorite 2d mario game.

Super mario land 2 has to many 1ups

The one thing I don’t agree with is taking away progress for failure. Most times, I find mechanics like this demotivating and needlessly cruel to an unsuspecting first time player. To me, game design like this communicates two things: 1) “Sorry! Your past successes didn’t count!” 2) “How dare you fail?! Go back and prove yourself all over again!”

I was always perplexed as to why this game got as much praise as it does, it's really....not that great. I get that kids with a Game Boy finally getting their hands on a Mario title (Even though SML I agree, is much more fun) and having not much else would grow attached to it, but I tried playing through it recently and wasn't blown away. That being said, I never got to this final level. I'm glad it makes the overall experience better, but I don't know if it's wise to make the game only worth while at the very last second. It's gonna turn a lot of people away. But I suppose that doesn't matter in the timeline that this was released since there were so few options.

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