Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (Japanese: スーパーマリオブラザーズ 2 Super Mario Bros. 2) is a sequel to Super Mario Bros.. Nintendo chose to release this game in Japan due to its difficulty. Another reason for the lack of an export is the fact that Shigeru Miyamoto had spent more time on Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic than The Lost Levels. Doki Doki Panic was reskinned as Super Mario Bros. 2 for other regions, which would later be sold in Japan as Super Mario USA.

Gameplay
Like its predecessor, The Lost Levels consists of horizontally scrolling levels, in which the player can only scroll the screen to the right. Players can play as Mario or Luigi, the latter of which has floatier jumps but less traction. The goal of the game is, once again, to rescue Princess Toadstool after she is kidnapped, once again, by Bowser. On the way to Bowser's Castle in World 8, the player must avoid such hazards as Bowser's troops, bottomless pits, and letting the time limit run out. There are thirteen worlds to go through, as opposed to the first Super Mario Bros. ' eight. However, World 9 is only accessible if the player has not used any Warp Zones, including the ones that go to earlier worlds. Worlds A through E are also secret.

Overall, The Lost Levels is similar to Super Mario Bros. in most ways. However, the former boasts new tilesets, new gameplay mechanics like wind, more worlds, completely new levels, and a stark increase in difficulty. Given how difficult Super Mario Bros. ' was, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels has earned both praise and criticism for its difficulty. According to critics of the game, The Lost Levels is more like an expansion pack than a real game, with fair platforming compromised by odd player character physics, and diluted by traps like Poison Mushrooms and backwards Warp Zones.

Elements such as wind, Poison Mushrooms, and different physics for Luigi have gone on to appear in later Super Mario games.

Trivia

 * Nintendo later re-released Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in Super Mario All-Stars in 1993.