Not The Same?! Mario 2 & Doki Doki Panic

In this #YouTube #Short, I share 2 major differences between the USA Version of Super Mario Bros 2 and the game it is based on, Doki Doki Panic!

It is commonly known that, in the USA, we did not get the "real" version of Super Mario Bros 2, or SMB2. As the story goes, Howard Phillips of Nintendo America play-tested the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros 2 from the Famicom and said the game was too brutally hard. He is quoted as saying:

“As I continued to play, I found that Super Mario Bros. 2 asked me again and again to take a leap of faith and that each of those leaps resulted in my immediate death. This was not a fun game to play. It was punishment. Undeserved punishment. I put down my controller astonished that Mr. Miyamoto has chosen to design such a painful game.” - https://www.mariowiki.com/Howard_Phillips

There are 2 significant differences we're pointing out here. First, to truly complete the game, all 4 characters, Imajin, Mama, Papa, and Lina, must defeat the final boss to beat the game. Now in Japan, this was easier than in the US, as it was a Famicom Disk System game and could save right to the disk. In the USA, Super Mario Bros 2 must be defeated in one play-thru as there's no onboard save functionality. In Japan, this lead to more and more play-thrus of the game to beat it with each character, whereas in the USA it was Won and Done. Get it. Won and done, not one and done... I digress.

The second major difference in the games is how the characters navigate each level. See, none of the Doki Doki characters can run! This makes the game significantly more difficult, especially on levels where you need to jump over significant areas. Without a running start, you cannot jump nearly as far in areas. Sure, you have the Luigi and Princess Peach characters in Doki Doki panic which can jump higher and longer, but you still can't jump as far.

I love the fact that I have both games in my collection, and each has things I love over the other for different reasons, but both are classics. There are even more differences between both titles beyond just these 2, what are some of your favorite differences between Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros 2?