Video: These Five Mario Games Were Never Really Mario Games

Kabuni kawatte oshiki yo ! ( In the name of Turnip, i'll punish you!)
Ehrm... i mean Super Mario Bros.2 XD
Yeah, definetely based on Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic.

@Fuz i think you mean it was not not released for that reason.

The Yonoid game on NES was also a Reskin of a Japanese game for NA.

Lol no Super Mario Land 3.

What a joke list.

@Fuz : I doubt that Nintendo of America would explicitly admit why they released Super Mario Bros. 2 in the manner that they have (though I could be wrong there). From a business perspective, It was most likely withheld due to its extreme difficulty, as NoA in all likelihood did not want to risk putting fans off from a franchise still in its infancy. Even today, it is common practice for sequels, even major ones, to be glorified level packs (e.g. New Super Luigi U, a level pack, was issued a retail release). While not a level pack per se, Pokémon Black 2/White 2 can be considered a "level pack" in the sense that they recycle the same engine, assets, gameplay mechanics etc. as the previous game in the series with relatively little in the way of "new" content.

The original Doom had two level packs as full priced sequels. Doom II introduced some new monsters, a new weapon, and some new textures, while Final Doom was just a couple of Doom II level packs with no other new content (apart from a few new textures). Spear of Destiny, an earlier release also by iD Software, was essentially a glorified Wolfenstein 3D level pack sold as a full-priced sequel (with some new textures and bosses).

The script joke was hilarious! Unfortunately Mario will continue to 'get around' in all sorts of games and media, regardless of the perceived quality. Something something cdi!

Where is Super Mario Sunshine!?

Jk, it's a 3D Mario game but a terrible sequel to the all time great that is Super Mario 64.

I liked every game on that list. Including Mario Teaches Typing.

I was absolutely addicted to Tetris Attack and Yoshi's Island is one of my favorite platformers of all time.

Mario Teaches Typing is kind of low hanging fruit. Yes, it isn't one of the best Mario games but serves its purpose. It makes typing into a less boring task and is really meant to occupy children. I think there should be different criteria for an educational kids game.

I do agree the music and sound effects are atrocious if you use PC speakers, but they are beautiful if you had a suitable Sound Blaster.

I do think Interplay should have opted for silence without a sound card, though.

Well, at least unlike the other games on the list Yoshi's Island was actually a sort of spin-off of the Super Mario platformers that takes one of the star characters of Super Mario World and puts him in a roughly similar type of game that could almost be considered a side quest of the main game, a prequel even, and one of the best ever at that. And, it was clearly designed from the start to be part of the Mario universe but just with a side character playing the star role this time around. I doubt anything about it wasn't meant to be the way it was ultimately done; as in, it likely wasn't some other random game prototype that just had Mario stuff stuck on in after however long in development. I expect it was meant to be that Yoshi "side-quest" from the start, due to Yoshi's popularity at the time, and then they decided it would also be a good idea to add the "Super Mario World 2" tag just for good measure. Yoshi's Island is basically my favourite game of all time (depending on the day), so it gets a free pass from me.

Good turtle impression Alex

Hotel Mario is a real Mario game and all these games are better then them.

That thumbnail really creeps me out...

Not even going to touch Mario is Missing?

@Bobb Maybe the official name was "Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island" but even in the game cover Nintendo made clear that you have to call the game just "Yoshi's Island"

See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshi%27s_Island

By the way, your story of the game is indeed my story, too It was my first own SNES game that came with my console. Great memories.

The video is funny but the list is not good. Yoshi's Island seems more like a Mario game than Super Mario Kart in the time of there releases. And in that manner Tetris Attack is not a Mario game since there is no Mario, only Yoshis and other characters of Yoshi's Island.

That Princess Peach sprite from Mario Teaches Typing is perhaps the most atrocious thing I've ever seen...

Pretty decent turtle impression

Why didn't you mention the Mario head from Mario Teaches Typing? That thing is weird...

The reaction to Mario Teaches Typing's audio quality is identical to the reaction for Nintendo still not having shown off the NX.

@Not_Soos Speaking of bad Peach wardrobes...
I remember long ago watching somebody play through the preschooler Mario edutainment games for the SNES.
And if I remember there were parts where random crap would pop up on the screen and players would have to click on it.
I do remember stuff coming out of Peach's dress, especially down around THAT area. ... she should probably do something about that.

You know, I think that Panel de Pon, or Puzzle League, wasn't localized with the original stuff, because they wanted to avoid Americanizing Japanese Stuff, like what DIC did to Sailor Moon, like calling "Serena" "Meatball Head!" Also, Panel de Pon's characters are just as much bait for Rule 34 material as Puyo Puyo is! I mean, how else would SEGA localize Puyo Puyo 2 as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine?

Wow,no mention of Mario Golf and Mario Tennis on the GBC or their GBA sequels? Those games are pretty much rpg golf and tennis games. Mario barely appears at all. They're still great games though.

yeah idk why its called super mario world 2

Ok. I subbed.

In a 2011 Game Developers Conference is was revealed publicly that Doki Doki Panic actually began as a Mario prototype.

The list is funny. I agree that Yoshi's Island should probably not have had Mario in the name.

I feel like your feelings on Super Mario 2 (the one we got in the here in the states) depends on what your level of knowledge at the time of its conception. For me, its just as much a Mario game as SMB3 or Mario 64. I didn't know at the time it was another game reskinned with Mario assets. It was obvious it was radically different. But I think after that and Zelda 2, I just assumed Nintendo did wacky sequels to its games

While this is true, I think if you are going to throw stones, you should throw them at how loosely the Pokemon IP is used. Like, even Pokemon GO is extremely similar to Niantic's Ingress.

Sorry, Alex- I can't subscribe as I don't have a youtube account. Last time I tried I saw a provision about not downloading youtube videos outside of youtube, or faster than youtube serves them, and I can't agree to that. Unfortunately, now that I know it's there, I can't just do the usual thing and ignore what I'm agreeing to, just pretending I am actually only agreeing to click this button/check this box because I have to do so to continue.

Taking umbrage, here. Let's stop with the Super Mario Bros. 2 defamations, already. It is now common knowledge that Dream Machine: Doki Doki Panic was a conveniently re-skinned version of a Mario game already in development, so to say that SM2 isn't a real Mario game is a complete denial of the game's history and even of its mechanics.

Also, Lost Levels (FDS) doesn't have the same graphics as SMB1, people! Just look at those clouds and bricks!

Lovely video, otherwise, though.

Alex's turtle impression 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Two words: HOTEL MARIO

Oh, I was expecting something more in-depth, maybe some games that went through a Dinosaur Planet-style rebranding. Oh well.

I was expecting other titles. You can't say that SMB2 and Yoshi's Island weren't Mario games. Spin offs yes. Not Mario games no.

Yes I know that SMB2 was Doki Doki Panic. But regardless I'm glad we got what we did. It made for three very different, very fun Mario experiences on the NES.

Mario/Tetris games are generally fun. I still have a blast playing Dr. Mario,Tetris Attack and Yoshi. I'm still hoping Nintendo will release Tetris Attack on the e-shop.

Mario Teaches Typing is perhaps the only one that can legitimately be called that. It's not really a game though. It's a teaching tool and who would you rather learn typing with as a kid? Mavis or Mario?

@Drumpler
What version of typing was featured here? I loved that game! Still have the CD and run it through DOSbox, but I've never seen that cartoon mario, just the 3D animated mariosizing head, and the sound was fine.

This would have been better as a video about games where nintendo characters were added to boost appeal.

Dinosaur planet, epic yarn, doki doki panic, smash bros, kirby avalanche, etc

@khaosklub
That would be the original DOS/Mac floppy version.

@samuelvictor
Yeah, Mario is Missing should DEFINITELY have been there.

So apparently Luigi's Mansion and Mario is Missing are Mario games despite barely showing Mario.

@samuelvictor

Mavis was freakin boring!

Ooh! That sounds interesting. Never heard of it before. :3

I cringe every time he says "Mairio" or "Yah-shi"..

@samuelvictor : I used to play Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing For Kids growing up, which had a more kid-friendly aesthetic (though it was much, much too easy if memory serves).

@NTELLIGENTMAN Well, the title "Luigi's Mansion" doesn't mislead you into thinking it's a Mario game, and the title of the other one is self-explanatory as to why it's excused.

Anyway, I like the video, but I still can't believe you left out "Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3."

@YoshiAngemon DIC certainly screwed up a lot of stuff with the original dub of Sailor Moon, but "meatball head" was one of their better localizations. Hardly anybody in the West knows what an odango is, and a meatball is the closest Western alternative for the context (that being a description of Usagi's hairstyle, whereas it could've been left untranslated if referring to the actual food). It's not like they were ignoring a perfectly straight and understandable translation like rice balls being dubbed as doughnuts in the first season of the Pokémon animé.

Yoshi's Island was called Super Mario World 2 because it takes place in a land of Yoshis just like Super Mario World takes place on Dinosaur Island. The title was not chosen based on player character or game play.

@samuelvictor : Mavis Beacon was depicted as a cartoon caricature in the children's version, while she is depicted by a real African American woman in the standard editions. It astonished (and disappointed) me years later to learn that Mavis Beacon wasn't a real person at all.

I practiced on Mario Teaches typing back in the day. One grating issue with the game was if you missed one keystroke while hammering out a sentence, it penalized you with misses for each and every additional stroke until you hit the target letter.

Mario Picross is okay but I adored Picross 3D for the DS and actually imported the Japanese version of the game.

Yoshi's Island, Tetris Attack, and SMB2 are all well known games. Nobody refers to Yoshi's Island as SMW2 and since other Yoshi games already had a cult following, I think it could have stood well as just Yoshi's Island.

A few more to include in the vein of Tetris Attack might be Yoshi, Yoshi's Cookie, and Wario's Woods, all great puzzlers with Marioverse characters thrown in.

I wish we could get Tetris Attack on Virtual Console, but have to settle for eShop ports of Panel de Pon due to issues with Tetris licensing. It would be worth Nintendo's while to hack this game to remove all references to Tetris branding while leaving in the Mario chars.

For better or worse, Tetris Attack / Panel De Pon is the precursor to modern match-3 tile games such as Bejeweled or Candy Crush...

The part on Mario Teaches Typing is so misleading. I learned how to type using it, and it has full music, sound effects and a voice for Mario! Sure, it had PC speaker sound effects if you didn't have a sound card, but pretty much any "game" from 1992 is going to have that as a fall back even if it sounds like garbage. This video is what it's actually supposed to sound like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsYW_8IX09o

@Fuz

You sound a lot like me.

My favorites are in this order:

SMB3 (Game boy advance version)
SMB2 (Game boy advance version)
NSMB (DS, Wii and Wii u, love them all)
Super Mario World
SML2 (6 golden coins)
SML
SMB original

How would you order them?

@Fuz

I love all the 3d incarnations except for Sunshine.

I think my love of the Land and Land 2 comes from having it as a kid. I recently bought both games and several other games from my child hood to play on my game boy player. Its crazy, but Gameboy and GBC Games actually are decent on a 57" tv.

@Fuz Oh and one other question. have you plated the SM2 advance version on the Wii U ? In my opinion its by far the best version of SM2.

I think it's kinda unfair to say SMB2 isn't a true Mario game. Originally, before having the DDP TV Fuji characters, it was said to be considered to use Mario characters originally. Not to mention, it was made by the same people who make the Mario games, (Miyamoto, Tezuka, & Kondo) and Miyamoto regarded it during the SMB anniversary interviews. He even called it one of his favorite Mario games. Some games like 3D World even took inspiration from it.

@Fuz Mario clearly says "Mario" like one would say "Market", not "Mare" or "Air" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eptap_zvo_k

Yoshi is a little harder to understand, but someone slowed his voice down, and I think it sounds more like a "Yoe" than a "Yah"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnSeCSgoqNY

Great video. I want those Kirby and Pikmin posters.

@samuelvictor To avoid confusion, they could've called it "Yoshi's Island: The Origins of Super Mario!"