At 16:15 runtime, I decided to go back and knock out some Mario 2 this week. I figured it’s been way too long since I went through this game. Surprisingly, I was able to still go my classic route (using efficient warps) pretty well, only dying once in 7-2 to a naked Birdo!
Luigi
As a kid I always played through this game as Princess Toadstool because of her floating jump. Since I wanted more of a challenge, I played through the game with all the characters and – through that process – realized that Luigi is the best. I always joke about this to get a rise from people but truthfully once I learned to control him he really is the best player. Jumping and moving around is quicker once you get the timing down and there’s a few times in the run where I avoid the super jump (jumping after holding down) because of Luigi’s natural abilities.
Doing Better!
I plan to pick Mario 2 up more often in the coming months. Specifically, I want to get through level 1-2 without riding the owl. Searching YouTube, I found some videos of doing this with Luigi and thought it looked like a lot of fun.
Second, level 6-2 is tougher to get through without riding the bird but totally possible. Luigi can jump from bird to bird in this level with the proper timing. This is definitely next on my list to learn. Incorporating these two strategies to my Mario 2 gameplay will probably be as far as I go with the game in terms of learning. I don’t plan to speedrun it or anything.
Mario 2 has always been a “comfort game” for me. It brings back memories of the mid-1980’s as a young nerd, playing the game while my family would just be doing whatever. I remember being in my own world, loving the game due to its imagination and figuring out how to get through the entire game. Finding the warps on my own back then was mind-blowing and eventually I tried every single snake pipe to learn where they all were!
Good times.