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48 Comments
- ProfessorRiffs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+42Of course Link isn't working here....this is a Mario game, silly.
- Alphateam, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25A very interesting read.
Funny how almost 20 years later this surfaces.
How long before this goes on ebay? - DelMonte, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16New Mario prototype found = automatic digg for me.
I started a SMB2 level editor like 7 years ago (which was never finished), I knew quite a lot about the level format at the time, but I don't remember much details now.
When I first played SMB2 (US), like many I noticed how different it was from SMB1. Then, not so long after, Famicom imports started to appear everywhere in Montreal, mostly in video-clubs. It lasted about 2 years and then it was revealed that all of those were pirated HK games, and the importers were busted.
One of the game we had was a Famicom cart version of the Japanese SMB2 (aka Lost Levels). Some custom hand-written label on it said it was "Super Mario 3". The title screen still said SMB 2 so I rightfully concluded that Japan got an extra Mario game that was unreleased here.
Then I saw a cartridge in a flea market labeled "Doki Doki Panic: Dream Factory", which seemingly was the same game as SMB2 US, but with different characters. From that I concluded that Nintendo decided to convert this game to a Mario game and release it in America instead of SMB2JP, and that explained the weird look of the US SMB2.
So essentially, I managed to get the story right without reading it in a magazine or on the internet, or even by hearing it from someone. You also have to understand that the Web wasn't even invented by then, the SNES and Super Mario All-stars weren't released and I never saw any mention of Doki Doki Panic in a magazine at that point. (Man this makes me feel old...)
I have this theory about SMB2 US. Nintendo's original plan was to use FUJI/TV's funding for the Doki Doki Panic game to build a new engine that would serve as a basis for a Super Mario sequel. Miyamoto, Koji Kondo (music) and many others from the original SMB team worked on Doki Doki Panic, it wasn't just some cheap franchise game on the side.
They thought they could make all new levels and graphics, replace characters with Mario and friends and make a new Mario game. The lack of time, and bigger ideas for Super Mario Bros. 3 probably prompted them to take the decision of taking DDP and transform it into SMB2US.
During the invasion of pirate carts in Montreal, we also had the chance to get the Japanese SMB3 early, much before the US release. It was labeled as "SMB 4", to fit the pirate's convoluted naming scheme...
Anyway, good memories... I still own a pirate SMB2J cart from the days, I wish I bought and kept more of these, but they were pricey, SMB3 was around $100, multi-carts even more. There are still a few in the city, but they're hard to find. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Documented = ROM-ified
- s.h.a.r.p., on 10/12/2007, -0/+10as a kid, i had this game (super mario 2), but we had some kind of glitch copy. i was hoping this article was going to shed some light on the mystery that has kept me up for years. birdo was actually some kind of crab that held the orb she spits out on its head, and the shy guys were also totally different. as i was only a wee lad (born in '82), i don't remember much more about the glitches. i can't find out now, though, because my dad contacted nintendo and had them replace the defective game...dear god how i wish we still had that.
- Detro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Coral got it
http://themushroomkingdom.net.nyud.net:8090/smb2_proto.shtml - enforcerpsu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I love this stuff. I love reading about old rom data and glitches that made it into the final version.
- osc1882, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6AHHHHH, I want the rom.
- nakile, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Huh, maybe this is your old cartridge! Most likely not, but that would be neat.
- bobothn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5wish they would release this rom to the world.
- DarkStalker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Then, not so long after, Famicom imports started to appear everywhere in Montreal, mostly in video-clubs."
Yep, Montreal did get a ton of imports/pirate carts in video stores back then. That's exactly how I played SMB2J... exactly how you described. I also remember playing that one Japanese Konami game... it was pirated and renamed Baby Mario. I forget what the original was called, but it was originally an FDS game.
Ah yes, those were the days. - MegaByte, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I just reconfigured Apache. It should be able to handle many more connections now.
- cweave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Oh the hours wasted on Mario 2 as a kid. Still wasting my time on video games today... Cool stuff.
- Detro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The pictures are displayed correctly with coral?
- sych0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yes, the pictures are displayed correctly with coral
- subject117, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually, it is new... This cart differs from both the US version of SMB2 AND Doki Doki panic.
- cderagon182, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3http://kungfurodeo.com/2005/12/26/the-secret-life-of-super-mario-brothers-2/
heres a link to see the pic of 2 differnet games
the only link that actually will work! - DelMonte, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Read the whole article, it says that the mushroom blocks in the first world don't have spots either in the final version. In Doki Doki Panic, mushroom blocks were masks, and there were many different types of masks depending on which world you were in. In the final version of SMB2US, they used this fact to make different mushroom blocks for each world.
- DelMonte, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow at last I find someone on the internet (other than my friends) that knows what I'm talking about when I mention this pirate cart invasion in Montreal.
I remember renting Baby Mario and being mad about the fact that it wasn't made by Nintendo, and didn't have anything to do with Mario. The pirates had a bad tendency of mislabeling games, taking advantage of the fact that titles were in Japanese. I remember a game that was labeled "Castlevania III", and it wasn't even made by Konami (I think it was a Capcom game) and the main character didn't even have a whip.
Funny how it took so long until they were busted. I guess Nintendo didn't care much about Montreal then (fortunately it changed since then, Reggie Fils-Aimé was here last year).
I wish someone would document this "Montreal pirate cart invasion". I tried to look around the internet but didn't find any mention of it (except my own). I guess I should make a website about it...
I theorize that this wide exposition to all these weird japanese games made Montrealers more interested in video-games than the average, and created a whole generation of people badly wanting to work in the video-game industry. Maybe that would explain why we now have Ubi-Soft and EA studios here, Arcadia and other big video-game festivals. - DatoeDakari, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Already has been, I have it for my dreamcast emulator, there isn't much difference(at all) in playablity FTW.
- kenok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That basically means that the SuperFamicom pirates did a better job in preserving the games than those in Montreal.
What separates the pirated SuperFamiCom releases back then are the shorter lifespan of the batteries for some carts. - LocalH, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's a lie. The cart HAS been dumped, as those screenshots are of the game running in an emulator.
- burnstyle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this looks like the version of version smb2 that i have in a playchoice 10 machine
i would guess that my copy isnt a prototype... but i have always wondered why it was different than the regular nes version - dhollidator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Very interesting read. I didn't have the slightest clue that SMB2US wasn't 100% original until reading that. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it thoroughly as a kid, despite how much of an unconventional Mario game it was.
- sngx1275, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I could have sworn the mushroom blocks didn't have spots in my version. Anyone else's not have spots? Hell I didn't even know they were "mushroom blocks" until I read the article.
- tange1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"The cartridge was purchased by Johan_1984 on eBay in 2005 for $350" Unless they are planning to re-sell it I don't think you'll see it on ebay. Likely its one of the only copies so unless the guy makes a ROM, we might never be able to try playing it.
- mydave, on 07/24/2008, -0/+0very interesting for reading.
http://www.shpe-sac.org
http://www.ocflex.com/
http://www.trgovinca.org
http://www.chasr.org/ - blalalaala, on 04/20/2008, -0/+0Download the SMB 2 prototype at the following link. I suggest someone else upload it to a better server, cause I doubt this will last that long before it expires. Remove the spaces and replace the "LoL" with a dot.
s e n d s p a c e L o L c o m / f i l e / 5 r 7 p 8 x - DelMonte, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Nintendo made Doki Doki Panic, Miyamoto was part of the team, they could do whatever they wanted with it. How could it be illegal?
- TheSaintOfPain, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Actually, here's the story behind this whole thing:
Doki Doki Panic! was actually released as a stand-alone game, having absolutely nothing to do with the Mario franchise in any way, back in 1987. Now, what appeared here in the States on the Super Mario All-Stars SNES Pak as SMB: The Lost Levels, was the real SMB 2, released only in Japan. At that time, Nintendo Of America believed that the sequel, despite how popular the original SMB was, was too difficult for American audiences to grasp, and therefore needed something to use in order to change the game and make it easier for the US market. I'm not sure exactly how they got the idea to use Doki Doki Panic! as the template for the American sequel, but somehow it was suggested and approved, and that's how the SMB 2 version we know here in the States came around. I hope that clears up any confusion that anyone may have had about all of this. - monkspider, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Unfortunately, the owner of this prototype is a jerk who refuses to dump a ROM because he is afraid it will have a negative value on the prototype's future value. So other than these screenshots, you can pretty much count on this chapter of gaming history to be lost to history
- Snyz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0They should've kept that underground theme remix in the final version.
- bringontheflood, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0a rom would be sick, ill give it a week and its on ebay. but in the mario legacy, mario 2 wasn't one of my personal favorites, but still a fun game.
- TheThirdWheel, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Crap Coral Cache catches everything but the pictures, this has me interested but I can't see it =(
- Klarth, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Damn, Duggmirror didn't get it and my campus's connection blocks anything to do with games. I feel like breaking something right now.
- madrid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2You need a proxy.
- HeyItsJeremy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Port 8090 on Coral Cache got the pics, the regular 8080 didn't though. Here is the working version: http://themushroomkingdom.net.nyud.net:8090/smb2_proto.shtml
- suicidestiles, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I played Doki Doki Panic when I was growing up in Hong Kong, I must have been about 8 years old? That was 1988 or 89.
I don't understand how Nintendo can just go and rehash a game like that, is that even legal? - airwalkery2k, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Wow, the white in their eyes. Is that really worth $350?
- Godlesswanderer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1http://themushroomkingdom.net.nyud.net:8090/smb2_proto.shtml
- evilpig, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Damn Digg Effect.
- dyzlexiK, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Dead already :(
- externallain, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0This isn't anything new...watch the Super Mario Bros. ep of Icons on G4 and they tell you about Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2. It was not very different from the original.
- Haax, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1This is the biggest collection of dead links I have ever seen. Burried.
- Detro, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2Press the red hand please?
- adam, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Doki_Doki_Panic_to_Super_Mario_Bros_2
http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Historical_Perspective:_Turning_Doki_Doki_Panic_into_Mario_2
http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/The_strange_truth_behind_Super_Mario_Bros._2
http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Review:_The_REAL_Super_Mario_Brothers_2 - Neoisamu, on 10/12/2007, -12/+1Link isn't working here either... any mirrors?
- Thorpe, on 10/12/2007, -12/+1How long before we find out how much this is going to be sold for?
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