In Mario 2, why would I want to choose anyone other than Peach?
In Mario 2, why would I want to choose anyone other than Peach?
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.
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.
Oh wow, I had no idea. I didn't even own the manual back in the day because I played it on Mario All Stars on the SNES.
Where were you with this info in the mid 1990s?
Lol!
I was wrong, there's THREE PAGES in the manual on the subject! 😅
https://www.digitpress.com/library/manuals/nes/Super Mario Bros 2.pdf
The strengths/weaknesses are ingrained in my brain from studying that manual. I thought it was common knowledge.
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.
Oh man, this would have been brutal and fun!
I think it was Famicom disk system so you could save your game?
The Steven He Asian difficulty is real?
Emotional damage
Peach is a slow runner and it takes her a long time to pick up an object.
Peach is slow as hell. Toad all day baybee
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.
Toad can dig / lift the fastest, and gets a huge run speed boost when carrying enemies, making him the speed runner’s choice in many levels.
Toad pulls roots faster, and he's my favorite
Thanks for the root-cause analysis.
Glad to have found you.
Toad seems terrible!
I pick Toad quite a lot. He's a fast little goober.
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.
TIL this game has warp zones
Yeah, they're pipes / jars / whatever. You have to find a potion, throw it so the pipe is available when you go through the door, and then go down the pipe.
Yep, world 5-3. I dimly remember being able to Luigi superjump onto the birds in 7-1 and short-circuit a bunch of that level.
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.
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
Maybe I should watch some speed runs. The others just feel terrible to use, and I can't fathom how they would be better.
You're playing on Switch so I guess that's the same as the NES release? Here's the current world record for all levels
https://www.twitch.tv/coolkid/v/948465227?sr=a
https://www.speedrun.com/smb2?h=All_Levels&x=l9kv002g
Here's a run from a GamesDoneQuick event which means the commentary will probably explain more than usual
Oh and here are the number of levels played by each character from the end of that GDQ run lol
The world record is 1, 5, 13, and 1
Speedruns can be a lot of fun to watch - the better you know the game, the more fun it can be. Some runs get freaky, but a lot of games have glitchless categories or some kind of ruleset that doesn't break the game too badly. A lot of glitches are fascinating, too.
I always loved playing as toadstool. You can't dig any faster than the toad!
Because you're my 5 year old god daughter who always wants to play as "Uwiigi".
Based
My 1 y/o tries to say "peach" and does the little arm raise when I select her.
Playing as Peach in Mario 2 was the OG "Funky Mode."
Peach's jump is OP. I loved SMB2.
The answer is that you wouldn't. Because she can float. SHE CAN FLOAT.
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.
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.
Luigi can jump really high, so I like playing as Luigi as well.
Buh-da buh-da buh-da buh-da da-buh
aeiou
the cheevos, for one