My friends and I have always said that the creators of Super Mario Bros 2 were on acid when they made it. That said, it is my favorite of the series. Looking at the SMB series, 1 and 3 are pretty alike, but 2 is totally different in every way. The only thing it has in common with the others is coins and magic mushrooms (yes, I think the creators did those too).

SMB 2 is nice in that you aren't confined to just Mario, or Mario and Luigi. You can select from Mario, Luigi, Toad, or Princess Toadstool before each level. Mario is good all around, Luigi is a good jumper but is slow and his legs annoyingly flail around, Toad is the fastest, and Princess can float in the air momentarily. There is not ONE enemy in #2 that was in the others. Your boss is Wart, not good old Bowser. Apparently the creators didn't put much thought into the names of the enemies, with names like Birdo, Ostro, Phanto, and a million others ending in 'o.' However, I still think the name "Triclyde" is painfully cool. No points are tabulated, coins are only good for you to get credits for a slot machine at the end of each level where you can win extra lives. You begin each level with two "hearts," and by dropping magic potions on the ground you can try to find mushrooms behind the scenes. These mushrooms can grant you more hearts (there is a max of four for each level). These hearts look like red blobs on the left side of the screen, but I remember the guide book saying they are actually called hearts.

This game came out right when I first experienced Nintendo, and was one of the first I ever played. My uncle recorded himself beating this game three times on one videotape. Let's face it. All the games in the Super Mario Bros series rule, and everyone has their favorite. Some may even prefer the original arcade Mario Bros or Dr. Mario, but my favorite is psychedelic #2.