Board 8 > Best characters for each level in Super Mario Bros. 2?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I am under the impression that you can select a different character to play each world... are there any that just make the best fits?
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Can't help with this, but did you already beat SMB? If so, any thoughts?
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luigi for 4-3 so you can skip half the level, peach everywhere else
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CaptainOfCrush posted...

Can't help with this, but did you already beat SMB? If so, any thoughts?

I did. It was pretty weird to finally beat (without using warp zones) the first game that I ever remember seriously playing as a kid.

SMB1 is no SMB3. The controls are clunky, it can be incredibly cheap, and it gets a bit repetitive. The Bowser fights toward the end are particularly amusing, as you basically just need to eat a hit and then sprint past him to the axe in order to win. But it's still a damn good platformer overall, and it's kind of impossible for me to rate it irrespective of the context of its era. 8.5/10.
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Peach can also make that jump in 4-3 so no reason not to use her there

There are a few levels where being able to pick things up really fast is more useful than jumping skill, like if there is a spot where you could get a lot of coins in subspace. Take 1-2 for example, you can skip part of the level with Luigi or Peach but with Mario or Toad you can pick up more coins at the spot right after that skip.
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so 4-3 is really the only one built around a specific character?
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I have only used toad so i am no help here.
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Princess
Princess
Princess
Princess
Princess

theres one specific level that has a warp that takes you to the last world. World 4 or 5?

You need Luigi for that

but otherwise

Princess
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

so 4-3 is really the only one built around a specific character?

i'm pretty sure it wasn't built that way, they just didn't realize luigi could jump that far
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

CaptainOfCrush posted...

Can't help with this, but did you already beat SMB? If so, any thoughts?

I did. It was pretty weird to finally beat (without using warp zones) the first game that I ever remember seriously playing as a kid.

SMB1 is no SMB3. The controls are clunky, it can be incredibly cheap, and it gets a bit repetitive. The Bowser fights toward the end are particularly amusing, as you basically just need to eat a hit and then sprint past him to the axe in order to win. But it's still a damn good platformer overall, and it's kind of impossible for me to rate it irrespective of the context of its era. 8.5/10.

Which version did you play?
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PrinceKaro posted...

Nelson_Mandela posted...

so 4-3 is really the only one built around a specific character?

i'm pretty sure it wasn't built that way, they just didn't realize luigi could jump that far

The thing is that in Doki Doki Panic there was no run button, so in that game nobody could make that jump. When they added the run button in SMB2, they either didn't realize the skip was possible, or did and just decided to leave it in as a bonus. Other levels have intentional skips built into the design, so it fits right in with the rest.
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Jakyl25 posted...

Nelson_Mandela posted...

CaptainOfCrush posted...

Can't help with this, but did you already beat SMB? If so, any thoughts?

I did. It was pretty weird to finally beat (without using warp zones) the first game that I ever remember seriously playing as a kid.

SMB1 is no SMB3. The controls are clunky, it can be incredibly cheap, and it gets a bit repetitive. The Bowser fights toward the end are particularly amusing, as you basically just need to eat a hit and then sprint past him to the axe in order to win. But it's still a damn good platformer overall, and it's kind of impossible for me to rate it irrespective of the context of its era. 8.5/10.

Which version did you play?

All-Stars
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some of the physics for SMB1 (and Lost Levels) are messed up in the All-Stars versions. For example, when you bump a breakable block from underneath, you get pulled up into the block's space slightly, which completely kills your horizontal momentum. In the real game you get pushed down faster instead.
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Yeah I was gonna say, Ive never heard regular SMB1 controls described as clunky
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WazzupGenius00 posted...

some of the physics for SMB1 (and Lost Levels) are messed up in the All-Stars versions. For example, when you bump a breakable block from underneath, you get pulled up into the block's space slightly, which completely kills your horizontal momentum. In the real game you get pushed down faster instead.

what are the others
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I think thats it, actually

They accidentally reversed the momentum youre supposed to get from hitting blocks
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Jakyl25 posted...

Yeah I was gonna say, Ive never heard regular SMB1 controls described as clunky

Had the same reaction.
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I love SMB1 since it basically got me into gaming, but its controls are... definitely weird if you're used to any 2D Mario since.

On-topic, Princess is generally the best overall pick for long jumps + control, but Luigi can pull off some specific useful high jumps (the most memorable of which is the warp in 5-3; other characters can get there with far more difficulty but Luigi makes it easy). If you really want to pick up a lot of things (desert digging or a few specific coin-farming locations) I'd go with Mario since he's at least a decent vertical jumper (can clear 4 blocks with a running jump). Toad's pathetic jumping makes him relatively painful to use on many stages (and the pickup speed advantage over Mario basically never matters), but he runs slightly faster than normal while carrying an item so if you're a speedrunner this matters.
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I would describe SMB1's physics as dated or just not as good as later titles

it definitely feels a bit stiffer

but it still works
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

The Bowser fights toward the end are particularly amusing, as you basically just need to eat a hit and then sprint past him to the axe in order to win.

That's why you play without powerups!

If you think that's cheap abuse the hell out of all tanuki/cape powerups that modify your descending speed. They destroy platformers.
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I always use toad in the desert areas tbh
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Punnyz posted...

I would describe SMB1's physics as dated or just not as good as later titles

it definitely feels a bit stiffer

but it still works

I realize this is a perspective that is long gone, but compared to other jumping/running games of the era (Metroid, Kid Icarus, Ice Climbers, etc.), Mario controls like a dream
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Pick Toad for every level if you want a hard hitting game full of extreme

Pick Mario for every level if you want Toad who is upgraded with ice from World 4 strapped to his feet at all times

Pick the other two if you're a coward
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Lopen posted...

Pick Toad for every level if you want a hard hitting game full of extreme

Pick Mario for every level if you want Toad who is upgraded with ice from World 4 strapped to his feet at all times

Pick the other two if you're a coward

Or self-impose Doki Doki Panic rules where the game isnt complete until youve beaten each level with all 4
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Jakyl25 posted...

Or self-impose Doki Doki Panic rules where the game isnt complete until youve beaten each level with all 4

I've done this!

Luigi's the best though.
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The other main thing different in All-Stars I guess isn't really physics: the hitboxes on piranha plants are noticeably larger than in the original. So for example in 4-1 you have to be a lot more careful if you're trying to go full speed through the level. I think I have also heard something before about backwards jumping being different? Not exactly something you do often in the game though so w/e

I don't know one way or the other on this, but I wonder if the "rage mode" behavior of Hammer Bros is still present, since it never really showed up again after the 1 and Lost Levels anyway and might have been forgotten about. You could test this yourself; just let a Hammer Bro stay on screen for a very long time and eventually it will start to chase after you instead of pacing back and forth
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Jakyl25 posted...

Punnyz posted...

I would describe SMB1's physics as dated or just not as good as later titles

it definitely feels a bit stiffer

but it still works

I realize this is a perspective that is long gone, but compared to other jumping/running games of the era (Metroid, Kid Icarus, Ice Climbers, etc.), Mario controls like a dream

Ice Climbers is the god damn worst

Metroid is okay until later in the game, yea
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wait toad is bad

I usually flipped between him and Luigi
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Toad just does not compare well to Mario at all; better jumping > overkill speed.

And Mario's not that great either tbh.
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Obviously the skills involved are different but for speed running Toad is used for more levels than anyone else
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NeoElfboy posted...

Toad just does not compare well to Mario at all; better jumping > overkill speed.

I think it's the other way around.

If you want jumping you're going to pick Luigi or Princess Toadstool anyway.

Toad if you don't need cowardly jumping has tighter control and so is better than Mario whose slight jumping edge probably isn't going to help you if you can't make the jump with Toad.
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Mario is the average character and thus loses in all aspects of the game to a different character.
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The thing with Mario is I think if he was still the dude who was average, but did so in a way where he had a bit less lifting and movement speed and a bit more jumping he would actually be worth using.

I think Toadstool and Luigi overkill the ease in jumping where even a player who is only slightly good at jumps might actually have an upgrade over the sluggish lifting speed of Luigi and Princess Toadstool, which does actually matter in a lot of places.

He's too close to the Toad end though so for me at least it's pretty much always like "well, why not just use Toad" cause yeah there's not a single jump in the game that I can recall that I can easily make with Mario that I can't easily make with Toad as well.
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I wonder if there is a canon as to who beat each World
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Jakyl25 posted...

I wonder if there is a canon as to who beat each World

isn't the whole thing just a dream
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Dream canon then
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Maybe Mario being inferior to all the others in his own dream is evidence of some deep rooted inferiority complex
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Jakyl25 posted...

Maybe Mario being inferior to all the others in his own dream is evidence of some deep rooted inferiority complex

or maybe he legitimately thinks being a jack of all trades but master of none is the best thing to be because that's what he is in everything
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Jakyl25 posted...

I wonder if there is a canon as to who beat each World

fuck I was going to @ mwc about this as a joke

but at this point I'd take a canon explanation since it seems that gameplay mechanics don't totally matter for a casual playthrough
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LeonhartFour posted...

Jakyl25 posted...

I wonder if there is a canon as to who beat each World

isn't the whole thing just a dream

There's a satellaview game that suggests that while it was a dream, Subcon is a real dream world that they actually went to and defeated Wart in while they were asleep
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Cannonly, all four of the characters are beating the same level at the same time
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Lopen posted...

The thing with Mario is I think if he was still the dude who was average, but did so in a way where he had a bit less lifting and movement speed and a bit more jumping he would actually be worth using.

I think Toadstool and Luigi overkill the ease in jumping where even a player who is only slightly good at jumps might actually have an upgrade over the sluggish lifting speed of Luigi and Princess Toadstool, which does actually matter in a lot of places.

He's too close to the Toad end though so for me at least it's pretty much always like "well, why not just use Toad" cause yeah there's not a single jump in the game that I can recall that I can easily make with Mario that I can't easily make with Toad as well.

Mario can make 4-block-high jumps with a running start, something Toad (and Princess) can't do. Those come up a fair bit. It's also much easier for him to jump over Cobrats, for instance, which is notable because "desert stages" are a place where pickup speed matters a bit more than average.

On the other hand, where does Toad's speed actually matter, outside of speedruns? I honestly can't think of any coin collection Mario can't do. Mario's more than fast enough for Birdo. etc.
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In the gba version toad has the nest voice acting. His death scream lasts longer than the death jingle and its the funniest thing on earth
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I really like playing as Toad. Luigi for big jumping levels but Toad otherwise. f Mario. Princess is obviously the best but I don't like her float.
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WazzupGenius00 posted...

LeonhartFour posted...

Jakyl25 posted...

I wonder if there is a canon as to who beat each World

isn't the whole thing just a dream

There's a satellaview game that suggests that while it was a dream, Subcon is a real dream world that they actually went to and defeated Wart in while they were asleep

I mean, I guess the shy guys are coming from SOMEWHERE
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I mean, if the argument is "where does Toad's speed actually matter over Mario's" then I'm going to say "where does Mario's speed actually matter over Luigi's." The answer is "not often" in both cases.

Also Toad can get more coins for the slots if you really want a quantifiable advantage other than "controls better than Mario" which is kinda subjective.
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