FWIW, the "little snowflakes falling down the black backdrop" of the North American box art are stars. They're the same stars seen on the box art of many other first-party NES titles of that era, such as Super Mario Bros.
@cra1g0s: It looks like you will still be able to do that, yes. One part of the Virtual Game Card trailer on YouTube points out a setting you'll be able to adjust to allow the console to just connect online to check if a game is valid to play on the console you're currently using.
Basically, it seems you'll be able to keep juggling two consoles the way you currently do, even after the Virtual Game Card functionality is added. The new feature is just an extra option for people who want to make use of it.
@Angelic_Lapras_King: Yeah, it's the Mega Drive games I'm most concerned about as well. I was really surprised we got those three games added last November, because the previous additions were as far back as mid-2023. I'd assumed it had essentially been abandoned by that point, so I was really happy to be proved wrong.
@Zuljaras: I would heartily recommend the Mega Man games to you. I started playing them just last year via the various Legacy Collections and NSO, and I'm absolutely loving it. 😌👍
@gcunit: "I've taken to using the Switch's video capture feature in games like Metroid - get to a boss > get pounded on > record last 30 secs > watch back to study what the boss is doing"
This, 100% for me. I've recently gotten into playing Mega Man, and I used the Switch's video capture to learn the attack pattern of the infamous Yellow Devil in Mega Man 1. It was a very effective way to learn the pattern in a pretty short span of time. 👍
Wow, that's really unexpected. I can only imagine your explanation must be right. I'd naturally assumed that the eShop would check the account for NSO validity, but surely it's got to be checking the individual console instead, as you say. 🤔 I can't think of any other explanation.
Weird that the NSO app is checking the individual account, though. That's something new I've learned.
It's great to have a Japanese account with access to NSO. I've got the Japanese game libraries (Famicom, Super Famicom, etc.) all downloaded. I hear what you're saying about complications, though: sometimes I kinda lose track of things like how primary versus non-primary console affects things as well. 😅
I think I must be missing something, though: how are you able to access the Japanese NSO libraries without a Japanese account being part of your NSO sub?
It's on the Family membership, yeah. My partner and I already had a Family membership between us, but then I created a Japanese account and added it to the family group so I could download the Famicom games library. (Japanese Super Mario Bros. 3 is absolutely my favourite version of the game!)
So yeah, I'd like to grab those Lost Levels icons for my Japanese account, too.
Wow, this is an insanely good update! Super Mario Land and Alleyway got added to NSO last month, and now this. Game Boy fans are eatin' well right now.
It's also really crazy timing for me personally, because I've been practicing Mega Man 2 on Legacy Collection recently, trying to beat easy mode without save states for the first time.
My thanks to several users in the comments here for helping educate me on Game Boy Mega Man, as a relative newcomer to the franchise. It's really helpful. 👍
It'd be a shame if that previous batch of four games is the last we'll see added to the library. In my opinion, the additions for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis have been some of the most consistently impressive across NSO.
@shonenjump86: "Haven’t heard much news about Sega Genesis games in awhile though."
June last year was the most-recent update, believe it or not. The longest gap between updates had previously been four months. We're coming up to nine months now.
Glad you elected not to say anything patronising about those players in the end, then.
It's more to do with individual tastes rather than any overarching changing of tastes, I'd say. My first Mario game was SMB1 on the NES back in the early 1990s, and yet Super Mario Odyssey is possibly my outright favourite Mario game. For me personally, Wonder is right up there with Super Mario World, which has been a big favourite of mine for a loooong time.
Thanks very much for the review. I have a physical copy pre-ordered and have been looking forward to the game since its initial reveal.
I can't help but pass comment on something in the review that caught my eye, though, and it's this phrase right here:
"anyone who’s not afraid to take things a little easy now and again"
What a sad state of affairs in gaming if there are players who experience actual fear at the prospect of dialling down their stress levels for a bit. What's there to be scared of?
Personally, I'll be glad to enjoy a bit of easy-going downtime and be taken along on an entertaining ride. Bring it on.
Nixon's role in the 1993 Mario movie was absolutely one of the (admittedly relatively few) positives of it, and remains a very memorable and charismatic performance.
It's like a throwback to the 1990s when Nintendo would still sometimes license out their IP to some ill-advised third parties! 🤣
I thought they had a much tighter grip on the reins these days, so it's brilliant to see something this hilariously bad in 2024! Maybe Hotel Mario 2 is still a possibility after all. 😂
I voted for the European box art. I'd never seen it before — in fact, I've somehow gotten to this point in time without ever having seen a square NES box — but I really like the mix of the classic black border and the original Donkey Kong illustration. It makes for a really balanced composition, I reckon.
There's something amiss with the description of the Japanese artwork in the article, though. Jumpman is not "chucking a barrel" at Donkey Kong: Donkey Kong is dropping barrels in his wake, and Jumpman is avoiding them.
And while I'm splitting hairs, that's clearly Mario in the Donkey Kong Classics artwork, not "Jumpman". He's got an "M" on his hat and everything. 😛
@Grumblevolcano: "That September 2022 Direct N64 NSO announcement sure lasted a long time".
Wow, I had forgotten that that particular Direct was so long ago. You know, I had naively assumed that the N64 games that were announced at that time would cover something like the first half of 2023, not ALL of it.
I'm not ordinarily critical of NSO as a service, but that really is a slow output.
Still waiting on Super Mario Land for Game Boy as well, approaching 10 months since the emulator launched.
And Wario Land also.
And Donkey Kong '94.
And Alleyway.
And Donkey Kong Land, perhaps?
Yet we've had Quest For Camelot in the time we've been waiting. Who was even asking for that one? 🤨
Yeah, I totally hear you, dude. The other thing that really bothers me is this idea that there's supposedly too much dialogue text in SMB Wonder. I feel like some players are salty over all these extra A-presses they're gonna have to blitz through in order to speed run the game.
Or they could just, like, you know, actually take their time a bit and enjoy the game? Take in the sights? Stop and smell the talking flowers? 😛
The reason I dislike nit-picky articles like this is that, in the broader sense, negative feedback influences future content. Nintendo puts a lot of time and effort into our games, and when fun additions get repeatedly shot down, there's the risk that they'll simply be omitted from future titles. Sometimes I feel like the nitpicking risks becoming so prevalent that, before we know it, we'll be left with nothing but some joyless, empty husk in place of a piece of entertainment media.
@BongoBongo: And so it should be, dude! Completing a game like The Lost Levels on a two-inch screen is no easy task. GG!
(Also, as the owner of an SMB Game & Watch, I see that you are a person of culture. 😌👌)
@LXP8: Tagging you just to say that I got the gold on "Don't. Touch. Anything." Another two and a half hours of attempts was enough for everything to miraculously come together.
Thanks again for sending the positivity that you did!
@LXP8 Yeah, I watched a video on YouTube where DGR Dave played the Impossible Pack. Even with his skill, I think he was shocked by the difficulty level.
I reckon you did better on Champion's Road than I did. I got the completion with all characters but only by adding extra players at the flagpole using extra controllers. I was only ever able to finish the level using Peach and her floaty jump.
You're not gonna believe this, dude, but my overarching memory of Luigi U is that fire bar level, too! 🤣
I only discovered this by accident, but if you cut really tight to the back edge of the first fire bar, you can just sprint and jump through the rest of it without having to adjust your speed in any way. Is that how you did it too?
Thanks for the kind words and encouragement about the NSMBU challenge; that's really amazing. Congrats to yourself as well for being among the minority of players who've actually finished it!
If I ever get that gold, I'll tag you right here with the news. 😛
Where can I vote for specifically the Famicom version of Super Mario Bros. 3? 😛 That's the version I like to play, because it has the original damage system (Raccoon/Fire Mario straight to small Mario with one hit).
I'd vote for the NES version, but I don't want to vote against Super Mario Advance 4, because its e-Reader levels are some of the very best Mario levels I've ever played.
Yeah, unfortunately there's a graphical glitch that got added in to Sonic Origins Plus in an earlier update where there's a colour palette error on the Sonic 3 & Knuckles file select screen. If you've got a completed file with all Super Emeralds, you'll see Tails shimmering along with the circle of Chaos Emeralds in the group shot at the top of the screen. 🤦♂️
I was kinda hoping that'd get fixed with this patch, but unfortunately not. Hopefully it still might?
They didn't even fix the graphical glitch where Tails flickers on the Sonic 3 & Knuckles file select screen if you have a file with all Super Emeralds collected. 🤦♂️
@LXP8: "NSMB2's impossible pack dlc and NSMBU's challenge mode are easily the most difficult Mario content ever created. Anyone who went with a different choice simply hasn't completed those two games in their entirety."
Hard agree on NSMBU's challenge mode. (Haven't played NSMB2 at all, so can't comment there.)
One of NSMBU's coin challenges is called "Don't. Touch. Anything." It took me around 11 hours of practice to get the silver medal for it. I'm currently at something like 18 hours and still haven't upgraded to gold! I'm currently taking a break from attempts at it.
Purely for the sake of comparison, I completed Champion's Road in Super Mario 3D World the same day I unlocked it. I'm also a big Lost Levels fan and play it fairly regularly as something light-hearted. (It took some amount of practice to get to that stage, though, since I'm not an especially skilled gamer.)
So I voted for NSMBU Deluxe overall, as that also includes New Super Luigi U, which isn't exactly an easy game either.
@HeadPirate: "SMB2-J only exists in two forms; as a stand along JP release, and as part of a GBA collection in JP. You can't get in it on any virtual service. It has never seen a release outside Japan."
This is factually incorrect. As @OstianOwl points out, the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 is indeed available to play on the Switch's NSO NES app. It emulates the original Famicom Disk System ROM, with the system's game menu branding it "Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels".
"The Lost Levels" is not a separate game from Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2. The title "The Lost Levels" was first used for the SNES Super Mario All-Stars remake of the Japanese Famicom Disk System Super Mario Bros. 2 and has since been retroactively used in the West to refer to the original game. In the Japanese Super Famicom equivalent of Super Mario All-Stars, which is called Super Mario Collection, the game that is often known as "The Lost Levels" in the West is called simply Super Mario Bros. 2.
Whether the SNES/Super Famicom version is being referred to as Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels or as Super Mario Bros. 2, it's still a remake of the original Famicom Disk System game. The remake includes changes such as allowing the player to restart from the current level rather than the current world after a game over, and the removal of the requirement to complete worlds 1 to 8 eight times to access worlds A to D.
TLDR: The title "The Lost Levels" is NOT specific to only the SNES remake of the Famicom Disk System game Super Mario Bros. 2, but is in fact a title used in an official capacity by Nintendo themselves to refer to the original also.
Comments 42
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl - Ice Climber
FWIW, the "little snowflakes falling down the black backdrop" of the North American box art are stars. They're the same stars seen on the box art of many other first-party NES titles of that era, such as Super Mario Bros.
Re: Poll: So, Will You Be Checking Out Switch Online's Virtual Boy Service?
@ChromaticDracula: "How about an option for “I don’t even have a switch 2 yet.” Now, if I did, yes, I would be virtual boying quite a bit."
Just so you know, the Virtual Boy games will be available on Switch 1 as well, not just Switch 2.
Re: Nintendo Announces 'Virtual Game Cards' For Switch, Unlocking Digital Lending
@cra1g0s: It looks like you will still be able to do that, yes. One part of the Virtual Game Card trailer on YouTube points out a setting you'll be able to adjust to allow the console to just connect online to check if a game is valid to play on the console you're currently using.
Basically, it seems you'll be able to keep juggling two consoles the way you currently do, even after the Virtual Game Card functionality is added. The new feature is just an extra option for people who want to make use of it.
That's how I'm interpreting it anyway. 🤞
Re: Nintendo Confirms Removal Of Switch Online SNES Game
@Angelic_Lapras_King: Yeah, it's the Mega Drive games I'm most concerned about as well. I was really surprised we got those three games added last November, because the previous additions were as far back as mid-2023. I'd assumed it had essentially been abandoned by that point, so I was really happy to be proved wrong.
I'd like to hang on to it as long as we can.
Re: The OG Mega Man Is Getting The 'Hand-Drawn Game Guide' Treatment
@Zuljaras: I would heartily recommend the Mega Man games to you. I started playing them just last year via the various Legacy Collections and NSO, and I'm absolutely loving it. 😌👍
Re: Your 'Nintendo Switch Year In Review 2024' Stats Are Available Now
Forty-nine games and [cough] 1,067 hours.
I play a fair amount of retro games with my Expansion Pack membership, and I've also been playing a lot of Mega Man this year.
October was my lightest month at only 79 hours played. 😅
(January was 106. 😬)
Re: Soapbox: Metroid’s Mother Brain And The Rewind Dilemma
@gcunit: "I've taken to using the Switch's video capture feature in games like Metroid - get to a boss > get pounded on > record last 30 secs > watch back to study what the boss is doing"
This, 100% for me. I've recently gotten into playing Mega Man, and I used the Switch's video capture to learn the attack pattern of the infamous Yellow Devil in Mega Man 1. It was a very effective way to learn the pattern in a pretty short span of time. 👍
Re: Switch Online's Missions & Rewards Adds Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels Icons
@Teksetter:
Wow, that's really unexpected. I can only imagine your explanation must be right. I'd naturally assumed that the eShop would check the account for NSO validity, but surely it's got to be checking the individual console instead, as you say. 🤔
I can't think of any other explanation.
Weird that the NSO app is checking the individual account, though. That's something new I've learned.
Re: Switch Online's Missions & Rewards Adds Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels Icons
@Teksetter:
It's great to have a Japanese account with access to NSO. I've got the Japanese game libraries (Famicom, Super Famicom, etc.) all downloaded. I hear what you're saying about complications, though: sometimes I kinda lose track of things like how primary versus non-primary console affects things as well. 😅
I think I must be missing something, though: how are you able to access the Japanese NSO libraries without a Japanese account being part of your NSO sub?
Re: Nintendo Files Two New Lawsuits In Continued Clamp Down On Switch Piracy
@Matl:
So, only steal from approved sources, those being entities you've assessed as having sufficient funds, yeah? Gotcha. 👍
Perhaps you could apply for the role of Minister for Theft Approval with the next UK government.
Re: Switch Online's Missions & Rewards Adds Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels Icons
@Teksetter:
It's on the Family membership, yeah. My partner and I already had a Family membership between us, but then I created a Japanese account and added it to the family group so I could download the Famicom games library. (Japanese Super Mario Bros. 3 is absolutely my favourite version of the game!)
So yeah, I'd like to grab those Lost Levels icons for my Japanese account, too.
Re: Switch Online's Missions & Rewards Adds Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels Icons
YES! I love The Lost Levels, so I'm all over these.
In fact, I'm gonna get them for my Japanese account as well.
Brilliant!
Re: Unofficial 'Nintendo World Championships' Cart Smashes Kickstarter Goal
So, do you personally own the copyright to the contents of your Kickstarter product?
"No."
Who does?
"Nintendo, I guess."
Did you receive permission from Nintendo before starting your project?
"No."
Why not?
"I... didn't ask them."
The prosecution rests, your honour.
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy Library With Five More Classics
Wow, this is an insanely good update! Super Mario Land and Alleyway got added to NSO last month, and now this. Game Boy fans are eatin' well right now.
It's also really crazy timing for me personally, because I've been practicing Mega Man 2 on Legacy Collection recently, trying to beat easy mode without save states for the first time.
My thanks to several users in the comments here for helping educate me on Game Boy Mega Man, as a relative newcomer to the franchise. It's really helpful. 👍
Re: Random: Nintendo Of America Appears To Have Updated Its Sign
Very nice. It looks just like the Nintendo logo on the startup screen of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Switch.
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy Library With Three More Classics
YES!! PRAISE BE!!
Well, I know what I'll be playing today: Super Mario Land! I'll be going for that Game A/Game B double-completion. 😌👍
Got to play some Alleyway, too. I'd really like to get a bit better at that one. 😅
Re: Super Mario Maker Community Clears 'Trimming The Herbs' Just Days Before Wii U Online Shutdown
Just... absolutely amazing.
WOW!!! 👏👏👏👏👏
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy Advance Library Later This Week
@shonenjump86:
It'd be a shame if that previous batch of four games is the last we'll see added to the library. In my opinion, the additions for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis have been some of the most consistently impressive across NSO.
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy Advance Library Later This Week
@shonenjump86: "Haven’t heard much news about Sega Genesis games in awhile though."
June last year was the most-recent update, believe it or not. The longest gap between updates had previously been four months. We're coming up to nine months now.
Re: Super Mario Bros. Wonder Devs Show Off "Unused Wonder Effects" At GDC 2024
@nocdaes:
Glad you elected not to say anything patronising about those players in the end, then.
It's more to do with individual tastes rather than any overarching changing of tastes, I'd say. My first Mario game was SMB1 on the NES back in the early 1990s, and yet Super Mario Odyssey is possibly my outright favourite Mario game. For me personally, Wonder is right up there with Super Mario World, which has been a big favourite of mine for a loooong time.
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy & GBC Library With Three More Mario Titles
@Stuffgamer1:
The NES version of Dr. Mario is available on NSO, though, as part of the standard subscription.
Re: Hands On: We've Played Princess Peach: Showtime! - Is It Any Good?
Thanks very much for the review. I have a physical copy pre-ordered and have been looking forward to the game since its initial reveal.
I can't help but pass comment on something in the review that caught my eye, though, and it's this phrase right here:
"anyone who’s not afraid to take things a little easy now and again"
What a sad state of affairs in gaming if there are players who experience actual fear at the prospect of dialling down their stress levels for a bit. What's there to be scared of?
Personally, I'll be glad to enjoy a bit of easy-going downtime and be taken along on an entertaining ride. Bring it on.
Re: Mojo Nixon, Musician And 1993 Mario Movie Actor, Has Passed Away
Nixon's role in the 1993 Mario movie was absolutely one of the (admittedly relatively few) positives of it, and remains a very memorable and charismatic performance.
God rest. ❤️
Re: Random: Super Mario Sunshine's Mysterious Language Has Been Translated
Wow, thanks for the article, Nintendo Life! That video is fascinating. Love it. 👍👍
Re: Random: Horrific Mario Hologram Is Freaking Out CES Attendees
It's like a throwback to the 1990s when Nintendo would still sometimes license out their IP to some ill-advised third parties! 🤣
I thought they had a much tighter grip on the reins these days, so it's brilliant to see something this hilariously bad in 2024! Maybe Hotel Mario 2 is still a possibility after all. 😂
Re: Editorial: Happy Holidays, Nintendo Lifers
Merry Christmas, Nintendo Life faithful! 🤘
Best wishes for 2024.
Re: Nintendo Expands Its Switch Online N64 Library With Three More Titles
@Bolt_Strike I feel genuinely sorry for people who have such a cynical outlook. I'm thankful that I'm not one of them.
Re: Nintendo Expands Its Switch Online N64 Library With Three More Titles
@Bolt_Strike: "they're charging $50 for just N64 and GBA games."
Sega Mega Drive/Genesis says hello.
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl - Donkey Kong
I voted for the European box art. I'd never seen it before — in fact, I've somehow gotten to this point in time without ever having seen a square NES box — but I really like the mix of the classic black border and the original Donkey Kong illustration. It makes for a really balanced composition, I reckon.
There's something amiss with the description of the Japanese artwork in the article, though. Jumpman is not "chucking a barrel" at Donkey Kong: Donkey Kong is dropping barrels in his wake, and Jumpman is avoiding them.
And while I'm splitting hairs, that's clearly Mario in the Donkey Kong Classics artwork, not "Jumpman". He's got an "M" on his hat and everything. 😛
Really enjoyed this poll. 👍
Re: Nintendo Updates Switch Online's N64 Release Schedule
@Grumblevolcano: "That September 2022 Direct N64 NSO announcement sure lasted a long time".
Wow, I had forgotten that that particular Direct was so long ago. You know, I had naively assumed that the N64 games that were announced at that time would cover something like the first half of 2023, not ALL of it.
I'm not ordinarily critical of NSO as a service, but that really is a slow output.
Still waiting on Super Mario Land for Game Boy as well, approaching 10 months since the emulator launched.
And Wario Land also.
And Donkey Kong '94.
And Alleyway.
And Donkey Kong Land, perhaps?
Yet we've had Quest For Camelot in the time we've been waiting. Who was even asking for that one? 🤨
But I've gone somewhat off-topic now, so...
Re: Switch Online's 'Missions & Rewards' Adds Super Mario RPG Icons
Got ma boi Mallow lined up now for when I start the game. 😌👍
Re: Soapbox: No, Mario Wonder's Most Annoying Character Isn't The Talking Flower
@Waluigi451:
Yeah, I totally hear you, dude. The other thing that really bothers me is this idea that there's supposedly too much dialogue text in SMB Wonder. I feel like some players are salty over all these extra A-presses they're gonna have to blitz through in order to speed run the game.
Or they could just, like, you know, actually take their time a bit and enjoy the game? Take in the sights? Stop and smell the talking flowers? 😛
Re: Soapbox: No, Mario Wonder's Most-Annoying Character Isn't The Talking Flower
@Waluigi451:
You've seen right through it, of course.
The reason I dislike nit-picky articles like this is that, in the broader sense, negative feedback influences future content. Nintendo puts a lot of time and effort into our games, and when fun additions get repeatedly shot down, there's the risk that they'll simply be omitted from future titles. Sometimes I feel like the nitpicking risks becoming so prevalent that, before we know it, we'll be left with nothing but some joyless, empty husk in place of a piece of entertainment media.
Re: Soapbox: No, Mario Wonder's Most-Annoying Character Isn't The Talking Flower
I gave up even skimming this article. Just registering my dismay at its existence. 👎
Re: Talking Point: What's The Most Difficult Mainline Mario Game?
@BongoBongo: And so it should be, dude! Completing a game like The Lost Levels on a two-inch screen is no easy task. GG!
(Also, as the owner of an SMB Game & Watch, I see that you are a person of culture. 😌👌)
@LXP8: Tagging you just to say that I got the gold on "Don't. Touch. Anything." Another two and a half hours of attempts was enough for everything to miraculously come together.
Thanks again for sending the positivity that you did!
Re: Talking Point: What's The Most Difficult Mainline Mario Game?
@LXP8 Yeah, I watched a video on YouTube where DGR Dave played the Impossible Pack. Even with his skill, I think he was shocked by the difficulty level.
I reckon you did better on Champion's Road than I did. I got the completion with all characters but only by adding extra players at the flagpole using extra controllers. I was only ever able to finish the level using Peach and her floaty jump.
You're not gonna believe this, dude, but my overarching memory of Luigi U is that fire bar level, too! 🤣
I only discovered this by accident, but if you cut really tight to the back edge of the first fire bar, you can just sprint and jump through the rest of it without having to adjust your speed in any way. Is that how you did it too?
Thanks for the kind words and encouragement about the NSMBU challenge; that's really amazing. Congrats to yourself as well for being among the minority of players who've actually finished it!
If I ever get that gold, I'll tag you right here with the news. 😛
Re: Sonic Origins Plus Update Goes Live On Switch, Here's What's Included
@MirrorFate2:
I've no idea whether that graphical glitch will ever get fixed or not, unfortunately. I hope so, though.
Re: Talking Point: Which Version Of Super Mario Bros. 3 Do You Prefer?
Where can I vote for specifically the Famicom version of Super Mario Bros. 3? 😛
That's the version I like to play, because it has the original damage system (Raccoon/Fire Mario straight to small Mario with one hit).
I'd vote for the NES version, but I don't want to vote against Super Mario Advance 4, because its e-Reader levels are some of the very best Mario levels I've ever played.
Decisions... 🤔
Re: Sonic Origins Plus Update Goes Live On Switch, Here's What's Included
@MirrorFate2:
Yeah, unfortunately there's a graphical glitch that got added in to Sonic Origins Plus in an earlier update where there's a colour palette error on the Sonic 3 & Knuckles file select screen. If you've got a completed file with all Super Emeralds, you'll see Tails shimmering along with the circle of Chaos Emeralds in the group shot at the top of the screen. 🤦♂️
I was kinda hoping that'd get fixed with this patch, but unfortunately not. Hopefully it still might?
Re: Sonic Origins Plus Update Goes Live On Switch, Here's What's Included
They didn't even fix the graphical glitch where Tails flickers on the Sonic 3 & Knuckles file select screen if you have a file with all Super Emeralds collected. 🤦♂️
Re: Talking Point: What's The Most Difficult Mainline Mario Game?
@LXP8: "NSMB2's impossible pack dlc and NSMBU's challenge mode are easily the most difficult Mario content ever created. Anyone who went with a different choice simply hasn't completed those two games in their entirety."
Hard agree on NSMBU's challenge mode. (Haven't played NSMB2 at all, so can't comment there.)
One of NSMBU's coin challenges is called "Don't. Touch. Anything." It took me around 11 hours of practice to get the silver medal for it. I'm currently at something like 18 hours and still haven't upgraded to gold! I'm currently taking a break from attempts at it.
Purely for the sake of comparison, I completed Champion's Road in Super Mario 3D World the same day I unlocked it. I'm also a big Lost Levels fan and play it fairly regularly as something light-hearted. (It took some amount of practice to get to that stage, though, since I'm not an especially skilled gamer.)
So I voted for NSMBU Deluxe overall, as that also includes New Super Luigi U, which isn't exactly an easy game either.
Re: Talking Point: What's The Most Difficult Mainline Mario Game?
@HeadPirate: "SMB2-J only exists in two forms; as a stand along JP release, and as part of a GBA collection in JP. You can't get in it on any virtual service. It has never seen a release outside Japan."
This is factually incorrect. As @OstianOwl points out, the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 is indeed available to play on the Switch's NSO NES app. It emulates the original Famicom Disk System ROM, with the system's game menu branding it "Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels".
"The Lost Levels" is not a separate game from Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2. The title "The Lost Levels" was first used for the SNES Super Mario All-Stars remake of the Japanese Famicom Disk System Super Mario Bros. 2 and has since been retroactively used in the West to refer to the original game. In the Japanese Super Famicom equivalent of Super Mario All-Stars, which is called Super Mario Collection, the game that is often known as "The Lost Levels" in the West is called simply Super Mario Bros. 2.
Whether the SNES/Super Famicom version is being referred to as Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels or as Super Mario Bros. 2, it's still a remake of the original Famicom Disk System game. The remake includes changes such as allowing the player to restart from the current level rather than the current world after a game over, and the removal of the requirement to complete worlds 1 to 8 eight times to access worlds A to D.
TLDR: The title "The Lost Levels" is NOT specific to only the SNES remake of the Famicom Disk System game Super Mario Bros. 2, but is in fact a title used in an official capacity by Nintendo themselves to refer to the original also.