Just a random (almost 35 years too late) question because I’ve been replaying SMB2 on the Switch.

It seems like she’s just objectively better in every way. I don’t get why I would pick the others.

  • drcouzelis@lemmy.zip
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    1 year ago

    Oh man, I love Super Mario Bros 2! It’s one of my favorite games of all time.

    So, each character actually has very different stats.

    Luigi and Princess have obvious special jumping abilities. I think Luigi can actually jump a little farther… But both of them have significantly shorter jumps and run more slowly when carrying a vegetable, and both pick up vegetables quite slowly (especially the princess). This can be extremely detrimental on sand stages that require a lot of fast digging to get away from enemies, or picking up a block to throw at a boss before he attacks.

    Toad is the opposite. He can pick up vegetables and run with them blazingly fast, and can run and jump as high (higher?) while carrying them.

    Mario is balanced all-around.

    It’s all explained in the instruction manual with some cute drawings. Each character is really quite balanced in my opinion.

  • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The reason to has actually been removed.

    In the US version of Mario 2, all you have to do is make it to the end with any character to win. In the Japanese Doki Doki Panic on which it is based, you actually need to get to the end with all 4 characters before you’ve beaten the game.

    The different characters do have strengths and weaknesses: differences in run speed, item pickup speed, and jump mechanics (and Toad actually runs faster when he’s holding an item) but you are correct in that for purposes simply amounting to no more than getting through each level to the end, using Peach/Toadstool is the easiest.

      • taiyang@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I think you could recreate that experience a bit of you go after the retroachevments for the game (e.g. fan made achievements enforced via emulator). I think they require you beat the game 5 times, one for each character and once with a split group. Also, no damage runs and such. Difficult stuff.

        • JamesBean@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          e.g. means ‘for example.’ I think you were looking for i.e. (which means ‘in other words’ or ‘to be specific’).

          • AcornCarnage@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I think of them as “example given” and “in essence” which is close enough to remind me which to use.

      • constantokra@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        Doki doki panic is a great game and you should play it. Feels nostalgic, even if you’ve only ever played super Mario Bros 2.

  • FiddlersViridian
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    1 year ago

    That’s always been my feeling too. I think Mario can run faster, and Luigi can jump a little higher, but Peach just controls better. Who knows what kind of maniac would choose Toad.

  • radix@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    There’s a warp zone you can only reach with Luigi, IIRC (but it’s been a long time). So for one level, at least, he’s better if you want to skip ahead.

  • Die4Ever@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    If you want an overly objective answer, speedrunners use different characters for different levels because they’re faster in different ways, and I don’t think Peach is used often. As a casual player IDK lol I always just played as Peach

  • spacemanspiffy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Peach was basically my only character ever, but occasionally I would use Toad for the Ice level with all the whales since he could jump between the bees easily.

  • oddspinnaker@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    This is an excellent question and I await the responses to see if anyone used other characters.

    Peach was the character I used the most for sure.

    • The Picard Maneuver@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      I always played her back in the day too, but I remember trying the others out.

      It would’ve made a lot more sense if they were greyed out when you died with them or something, so that you’d have to pick the others.