As a kid I had the GBA remake of this game and I hated it. It wasn't anything like Super Mario World and it was weirdly hard. However, later in life I realized I missed something about Mario 2... I didn't know you could super jump. I literally thought the only way to beat level 1-3 was to play Luigi. Well, armed with this new powerful knowledge I decided to finally beat this game that gave my 10 year old self so much trouble, but this time the NES version emulated on the 3DS... because why not?
Well happy to say I came away liking this game quite a bit actually. I respect the very weird and different take on Mario, and of course it's great being to play as Peach, especially with that float ability. There are some really creative levels and ideas on display here. Being able to drop a door to some mysterious dark dimension and finding a mushroom is really awarding. I love the little mask that chases you around when you carry a key, adds so much extra tension with just one extra enemy. The levels where you have to ride on something to across big gaps are also really fun. It starts simple with a magic carpet you can control, but eventually you end up having to ride one of Birdo's eggs across a big gap. Which by the way, they get so much mileage out of the Birdo fight. The first Birdo fight is already pretty good, but the number of ways they come up with to keep the fight fresh is really impressive. That main theme too... it goes sooo hard.
That said, the game still isn't quite as good as the other Mario games. Centering the game around picking up turnips is a cute idea, but there is definitely a reason Mario 3 or Mario World didn't bring it back. It just doesn't feel as classic or fun as stomping on a Goomba. It ends up slowing the pace down quite a bit, so you can't sprint through the levels like you can in most Mario games. Also, some of the extra mechanics they add to the throwing/picking up mechanic just don't really work. Digging is really annoying, and blowing up walls with bombs is just too slow for a Mario game imo.
Overall, I enjoyed my time Mario 2. Even though it's nowhere near my favorite Mario game, it holds up surprisingly well. It's also a refreshingly unique game in a series who's last 4 games (New Super Mario Bros) are practically all the same game. It's almost as if.... this isn't actually a Mario game? Hmmm.... Meh. I'm probably just being paranoid.
Well happy to say I came away liking this game quite a bit actually. I respect the very weird and different take on Mario, and of course it's great being to play as Peach, especially with that float ability. There are some really creative levels and ideas on display here. Being able to drop a door to some mysterious dark dimension and finding a mushroom is really awarding. I love the little mask that chases you around when you carry a key, adds so much extra tension with just one extra enemy. The levels where you have to ride on something to across big gaps are also really fun. It starts simple with a magic carpet you can control, but eventually you end up having to ride one of Birdo's eggs across a big gap. Which by the way, they get so much mileage out of the Birdo fight. The first Birdo fight is already pretty good, but the number of ways they come up with to keep the fight fresh is really impressive. That main theme too... it goes sooo hard.
That said, the game still isn't quite as good as the other Mario games. Centering the game around picking up turnips is a cute idea, but there is definitely a reason Mario 3 or Mario World didn't bring it back. It just doesn't feel as classic or fun as stomping on a Goomba. It ends up slowing the pace down quite a bit, so you can't sprint through the levels like you can in most Mario games. Also, some of the extra mechanics they add to the throwing/picking up mechanic just don't really work. Digging is really annoying, and blowing up walls with bombs is just too slow for a Mario game imo.
Overall, I enjoyed my time Mario 2. Even though it's nowhere near my favorite Mario game, it holds up surprisingly well. It's also a refreshingly unique game in a series who's last 4 games (New Super Mario Bros) are practically all the same game. It's almost as if.... this isn't actually a Mario game? Hmmm.... Meh. I'm probably just being paranoid.