3rd April 2011, 4:36 PM
(This post was last modified: 3rd April 2011, 4:47 PM by Dark Jaguar.)
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/...bros-2.ars
Wow, talk about full circle. Super Mario Bros. 2 (or Super Mario USA) as we all know was originally based on an earlier Nintendo game called Doki Doki Panic. I've made my own <a href="http://www.tcforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5548">review</a> going on about how too many dismiss it as "not a true Mario game" just because of that history, even though even as Doki Doki Panic it had a lot of Mario elements in it. Now it's come to light that Doki Doki Panic originally started as a prototype for a new Mario game. In other words, it started out as a Mario game all along and got hijacked into being Doki Doki along the way thanks to a liscensing deal in Japan.
This certainly adds an interesting new chapter to this funky game's history.
Another interesting bit of info is the original version would have been a two player co-op game, with players tossing each other around along with blocks and so on. That would have been cool! Anyone ever played the Capcom Chip and Dale game? I imagine it would have felt similar to that.
I think it would be cool if they stuck Doki Doki on the Virtual Console. They already stuck Super Mario Bros 2 (Lost Levels) Famicom version on there, and I have it. I'd certainly pick that up just to see for myself the little changes between the two versions. I don't think there'd be any language issues. They've released other Japanese games with far more Japanese text before without a problem, and I'm pretty sure the only thing I wouldn't be able to read is the title screen (hint, that's already widely known at this point). The only issue I can think of is those characters are apparently mascots for some trade fair in Japan at the time and Nintendo may need to get permission before they can release the game again.
Wow, talk about full circle. Super Mario Bros. 2 (or Super Mario USA) as we all know was originally based on an earlier Nintendo game called Doki Doki Panic. I've made my own <a href="http://www.tcforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5548">review</a> going on about how too many dismiss it as "not a true Mario game" just because of that history, even though even as Doki Doki Panic it had a lot of Mario elements in it. Now it's come to light that Doki Doki Panic originally started as a prototype for a new Mario game. In other words, it started out as a Mario game all along and got hijacked into being Doki Doki along the way thanks to a liscensing deal in Japan.
This certainly adds an interesting new chapter to this funky game's history.
Another interesting bit of info is the original version would have been a two player co-op game, with players tossing each other around along with blocks and so on. That would have been cool! Anyone ever played the Capcom Chip and Dale game? I imagine it would have felt similar to that.
I think it would be cool if they stuck Doki Doki on the Virtual Console. They already stuck Super Mario Bros 2 (Lost Levels) Famicom version on there, and I have it. I'd certainly pick that up just to see for myself the little changes between the two versions. I don't think there'd be any language issues. They've released other Japanese games with far more Japanese text before without a problem, and I'm pretty sure the only thing I wouldn't be able to read is the title screen (hint, that's already widely known at this point). The only issue I can think of is those characters are apparently mascots for some trade fair in Japan at the time and Nintendo may need to get permission before they can release the game again.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)