I'm so bad at these games that, to me, they're all lost levels.

I think the fun of The Lost Levels (SMB2-J) for me is the difficulty. After spending a lot of time speedrunning SMB1, SMB2-J was a great way to take all the skills I learned from running SMB1 and applying them to new harder levels. I get that the game is hard but calling the game bad just because of its difficulty is unfair. Many games are created to be difficult, to give you that satisfaction of finally beating that level you were stuck on. As a kid playing on the All-Stars Wii Port I always thought that 2J was the real Mario 2 and that the Mario 2 the U.S got wasn’t as good. Overtime I’ve grown to appreciate both Mario 2’s. 2J for its difficulty and expanding on the already fun SMB1, and SMB2-U for introducing many iconic Mario characters and mechanics that have played a big role throughout Mario’s history.

This video was pretty entertaining! The part showcasing the warp back to world 1 was really funny

SuperPapaJohn: The place where you thought there was no way out there is also a hidden vine, that lead to a sky bonus that will drop you just before the green trampoline very close to the flag pole, also make sure the vine load fully and then if you hit the power-up block to get out the vine disappear most people think it really did disappear, and they get troll by this, you can still climb it even thought it disappear.

As someone who eventually learned to appreciate this game, it should be understood that SMB1 was even more popular in its home country than it was internationally. The highest selling book at one point was a guide on how to finish the game. SMB was a smash hit, but in Japan specifically it was like the Star Wars of video games. People picked its level design apart with a fine-toothed comb. It was in this context that an expansion made for a cheaper FDS card was created, to celebrate and even poke fun at the secrets many players knew and enjoyed. Also, when you do learn the secrets here, it can actually be more forgiving than SMB1. I mean, not kicking you back to the title screen is an obvious one, but how about the fact that 8-4 actually has a power-up block about halfway through the stage(I believe it’s hidden atop the sideways pipe after the paratroopas)? Not in the original, and the original throws a just narrowly avoidable Hammer Bro in the mix.

The Mario team actually got the idea for this game when they were developing VS Super Mario Bros, an arcade port of SMB1. They were designing new levels to replace the levels in SMB1 that are harder versions of earlier levels. They were having so much fun creating them that they decided to make the sequel a game for SMB1 experts. In the FDS version, to unlock worlds A-D, you have to beat the game eight times. You can use warps (the fastest way is warp from 1-2 to world 4, then from 5-2 to world 8) but it's still a ridiculous requirement. When you unlock them, you can access them by holdiing A and pressing start at the title screen. This changes things considerably in those worlds. Because it's a new game rather than a continuation of the game started at world 1, Hammer Bros. do not walk towards you. Bowser does not throw hammers. There are checkpoints in every level except for castle levels and world D. It is true that the problem of starting at the start of each world upon game over and having only three lives per continue still exists, but that could be remedied by using the Koopa 1-up trick in A-1. With that done, the FDS version is a vastly superior experience for these worlds. The problem you mentioned in D-1 where whether you can get past the Hammer Bros. is pure luck does not exist in the FDS version. C-4 is still really hard but at least the Bowser fight is easier without hammers to contend with (a hidden mushroom just before the elevators can help you get past the firebars, and if you duck in the corner of one of them and it'll pass over you). B-3 has green trampolines instead of read ones, which allow you to skip some pits that Mario can barely jump over. World 9 looks considerably weirder in the FDS version. Miyamoto got inspiration for this from the minus world glitch in SMB1. In the FDS version it takes you to a series of three levels instead of an endless 2-2. One of them has a really strange palette, which Miyamoto reused for World 9. It's a shame that its uniqueness is removed in the All Stars port. Also, after you beat the game without warps, in the FDS version you can try World 9 with one life. The game describes it as a Fantasy World, which explains why it's so weird. The fact you have only one life explains why it's so easy. There is also a glitch in the All Stars ports of SMB1 and Lost Levels, where if you break a brick as Super Mario or Fire Mario you're pulled upwards instead of bouncing down off it. This can stop your momentum instantly. Fortunately, there is a patch someone made to fix this issue for both games. It's definitely the best way to play Super Mario All Stars, either on an emulator or a flash cart. Aside from that, I can agree that the All Stars version is the best way for most players to play Worlds 1 to 8. Five lives per continue and starting at the start of the level instead of the world makes a huge difference. Even in the FDS version, Miyamoto and his team made sure to place a Koopa at the start of 1-1 that's easy to gain extra lives by bouncing off of. They did this so more players could enjoy the game without having to restart at the start of the world. I first played Lost Levels in Suepr Mario Bros. Deluxe. Only worlds 1 to 8 are included there. It uses Deluxe's improved physics, but those are based on SMB1's physics, including the lower bounce. This makes hitting the vine in 8-2 way harder than it is in either of the other versions. At least it has All Stars continue system. Overall, while I love this game and it's one of my favourites, I could really only recommend it to those looking for a challenge. It starts at a much higher level of difficulty than the other games and goes up from there. I'd recommend it to anyone who has beaten SMB1 in easy and hard mode and wants more. The PC-88 game you mentioned is Super Mario Bros. Special by the way. It was also released on the Sharp X1. A few years ago it received an unofficial port to the NES. That’s by far the best way to play it now.

The enemy-filled bonus rooms are diabolical, especially the one where a Bullet Bill cannon is placed...

I first beat it on All-Stars when I was five. Then at 6 on a friend’s Famicom the year after that. Worlds A-D were not frustrating; what got me repeatedly was the level with gray skied castles in the background and nothing but Hammer Bros. I found the last mission of Pilotwings substantially harder.

Poison Mushrooms are in the special worlds of Super Mario 3D Land.

This game was designed to be challenging. The Famicom Disk System version was advertised for Super Players. It was meant for people who beat the first game and wanted more of a challenge. Nintendo combined levels from the first mario game and the arcade game Vs Super Mario Bros to make this game. The main reason why it was never released in the US was because it looked too much like the first game. Nintendo wanted there games to look more advance. The game wouldn’t have come out in the US until like 87 or 88. By then there were more advance games like Metroid, Zelda, Zelda 2, Castlevania, Kid Icarus, etc. people always say this game never came out because it was too hard but that’s not true. There are games on the NES that are Way harder like Castlevania 3, Silver Surfer, and Zelda 2

I remember seeing this game on the 3DS eShop and wondering if I should buy it. I'd love to see you cover more bad/hard retro games.

"They don't even name it the right way!" It's like Virginie Fortin's joke (Quebec standup) : "When they came to the americas looking for india, met the autochton tribes, they said it's as if you said -Hello Chantale! -No I'm Danielle! -Hello ChataNaelle !!

I loved Mario 2 / Lost level as it is my favorite 2D Mario. Thanks to switch online I was able to play the original version and I made it to the 8-3 before I game over. I played that title a lot during my youth. I do prefer this over Mario Two USA. The challenge is what love / miss about games as everything is just too easy to play in current times. Yes, I do abuse the maximum one up exploit.

I wonder if there's an alternate timeline where this issue was resolved beforehand.

@14:36 As if C-3 wasn't bad enough, the original game had a bug where under certain conditions one of the springs would not appear and you would not be able to beat the level! Basically, you had to get rid of Lakitu when he appears, that is the only way to get the spring to appear...

You should have chosen Luigi

It's not thast nintendo didn't commit to the floppies! They developped the memory chips by the tim ethe NES was there... Mario Bros 1, it,s the max you can do on a basic NES data structure... anything more complex requires MORE than the basic creation moment format of a NES cart as far as quantity of data. The floppies are there to expand, then later they made addons for more memory, lots of chips when you open the cart, then floppies became useless! Look at Final fanttasy 2 & 3 famicom carts in japan!!! Final fantasy 1 is massive a gem of creation!

I guess I'm super embarrassed then

Notification gang! (i'm 9 hours late)

Bros. is pronounced B R O T H E R S

SuperPapaJohn: You making super mario bros. the lost level worst then it actually is. Did you know in the original Famicom version the 2 reverse warp zone are fake troll, even to have world 9, it only become a troll if the Super Nintendo version if you want world 9. In order to have world 9 in the original you have to beat all the level, but because of the limitation of an NES it check if you used a warp zone my checking if you beat all castle, so if you beat all level untill world 3-1 and found warp zone to world 1, go in anyway and in world 1-2 find the vine to warp zone to world 3 you will still have world 9 after 8-4, this is because castle that are already clear does not become unclear if you used a warp zone backward or forward. Same idea you beat all level untill world 8-1 you found the warp zone to world 5 go in, in world 5-2 take the vine to warp zone 8, you also still have world 9 after 8-4. What I mention will not work on the Super nintendo version because they change it to check if you enter a pipe name warp zone. And also it makes sense since the original you only start with one life in world 9 because 8-4 finish like the arcade version of Vs. Super mario bros. And because world 9 only have 1 life it is less strick to reach it specially if you fail in world 9 despite being the easiest water level, to have another try you must beat all the levels again just to have another attempt. In the original after you beat 9-4 it return to 9-1, they are no other exit that would lead to World A. In order to get World A throught D in the original NES version beat 8-4 a total of 8 time you can skip castle, so warp zone to world 4 in 1-2 and then warp zone to world 8 in 5-2, so it is not as exceive as people originally thought but because it will take time to get it unlock, once unlock do the continue cheat code on the tittle screen, holding jump pressing start, it will start in World A meaning world 10, but because it took a lot of work even using warp zone they made World A through D easier in the original version except world C-3 but that is only because of a glitch. In the all-star version super nintendo version in world 9 you keep your current ammount of life this is why it is more strick to receive it, but the old classic penality is still their but in a diffrent way, if word 9 is save on your save file and in that save file you used a pipe name warp zone and then accidently save, it will deleted world 9 from your save file and the only way to get it back is to deleted save file and play all the level again. Also the Super Nintendo version of world 9 is very bad since it lose its original design concept except for world 9-3 that is the only one that retain the original concept. World 9 in the original look like what his suppose to represent a glitch world so it look like your swimming in the air. In the All-star version world 9 by upgrading the graphic it no longer look like a glitch world. In the Super Nintendo version world A through D only need to beat 8-4 one time and will continued immediatly after 8-4 if you don't have world 9 but if you do have world 9 it will continued after 9-4, however World A throught D in the super Nintendo is harder since it is simple to unlock world C-3 the glitch is fix.

It was never worth playing to begin with

I first beat it on All-Stars when I was five. Then at 6 on a friend’s Famicom the year after that. Worlds A-D were not frustrating; what got me repeatedly was the level with gray skied castles in the background and nothing but Hammer Bros. I found the last mission of Pilotwings substantially harder.