Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels is probably one of the first troll games ever made. It's a troll game in the sense that it takes something friendly and familiar, and completely twists it into something outright malicious and decieving. I'm sure everyone that has ever laid their hands on a video game has at least played the original Super Mario Bros. It is one of the most influentual video games EVER created, of course. And it's not because it was a more advanced video game at the time of it's release; no, it's influentual due to it's design. The game had challenge, yet forgiving enough to encourage players to continue. It rewarded exploration through finding hidden stars, power-ups, extra lives and secret warp zones. I know it's not exactly groundbreaking nowadays, but back then Super Mario Bros. defined what made a good, solid 2D platformer. This design philosophy however, does not carry over to Lost Levels.
Both the OG Super Mario Bros. and Lost Levels utilize the same game engine, with mostly the same assets, enemies, music and power-ups. Without context, some would assume that Lost Levels is just more of the previous game. This assumption is incorrect however, because the one thing that does not carry over is the design. Lost Levels does not adhere to the original game's mindset. Infact, it takes the Super Mario Bros.'s principles and flips them around. The game is often frustratingly difficult, forcing the player to memorize level layouts in order to reach the end. Exploration is actively discouraged in Lost Levels, the best example being the 3-1 Warp Zone. The game lures you in to it, with a spring that launches the player over the flag pole. Proceeding past the goal reveals a Warp Zone, one that sends you back to World 1. The game at least allows you to kill yourself in a pit, to spare yourself the time it would take to get back to this point. But the message is clear: the secrets in this game can not be trusted.
There are no holds barred here, this game is making an active effort to KILL you. Yes, in real life. It will play dirty, it will trick you. It's funny how this game introduces the Poison Mushroom to the series. What you might assume to be just a power-up, actually something that kills you. The Poison Mushroom is a good symbol for this game. There addition is otherwise, pretty tame. It's easy to dodge, and if you already know about it then you'll know not to pick it up.
While most of the assets of this game are lifted straight from SMB1, there still are some new obstacles. Poison Mushrooms, as I've mentioned, are new. There's a new spring type that launches Mario VERY HIGH. The super springs are actually pretty funny. It really sends Mario fucking flying, it takes a bit for him to fall back down. Like they're not even much of an obstacle, they let you skip sections of stages. There are Flying Bloopers in this game. Though, less of a new asset and more of the devs putting Bloopers in non-underwater stages. I am doubtful that took any additional programming. Lastly, there is the wind mechanic, which is universally disliked. It's not the worst thing ever, but there's no way to tell when the wind will start up. So, it's entirely possible it can fuck you up just from it popping up when you're least expecting it.
The new obstacles can lend to increased difficulty, but at most they're mild annoyances. The real test of skill throughout this whole game, is the platforming itself. If you aren't supposed to have faith in the level designers, then you need to put faith into Mario himself. And I think it's easy to put your faith in him, he feels great to play. But sometimes, even that isn't enough. World 2-2 has what seems to be a dead-end, straight into a bottomless pit. But no, you just need to hit some hidden blocks to reach a pipe. But don't scroll the screen too far, otherwise you won't have enough space to build up a jump. If that happens, you're only option is to jump into the pit and restart the level.
Similar story in World 8-3, except this time there are blocks that blend in with the background. There's tons of this throughout the game, trial and error bullshit that forces you to play through a stage multiple times. It's not just skill you need, but experience with the levels. Forsight is necessary. Though, there is a way to lessen the blow. In the first level, you can perform a 1up trick to get infinite lives. I would reccomend doing this, it will at least ensure you won't get a game over. Starting from the beginning of one level as opposed to the entire world is a lot more managable. It makes the game akin to something more like Super Meat Boy in that sense.
The end of this game is interesting. You see, in World 8-4, it is revealed that Bowser has a brother. His name is Bowser's Brother. Why doesn't he show up in later games? Well, it's because he gets banished to World 9, 'Fantasy World'. Later material has retconned him as 'Fake Bowser', but I reject this notion. For one, that's fucking lame. And two, where do you think the Koopalings came from? After beating the game you gain access to World 9, which is a cute little world. Not really that hard, but it's a good enough reward I'd say. Other than World 9, there's also World A, B, C and D. These four worlds are unlocked by beating the game eight times, which I did not do. I just put in a game genie code instead. It's a tall ask for what is essentially a few more levels. Some are even repeats with slight differences. They feel more like scrapped levels than a reward for beating the game eight times. Which, maybe that is what they are? Like it's just the game going "well since you're such a Lost Levels freak, here are some levels that didn't make the cut."
I can see why most would not like this game. Is it horribly designed at times? Yeah, tons of blind jumps and invisible block bullshit. But just because it's unintuitive doesn't mean it's god awful. Trial and error is often written off as a gaming cardinal sin, but I think it has it's place. And in a platformer, it fits like a glove. It feels good to finish a level that was kicking your ass, and sometimes that knowledge of knowing you CAN beat it is enough to keep pushing you forward. This game demands so much out of you, but once you pull it off you feel like a star. So despite this game's shit, I did end up enjoying it a lot. Hell, I would even consider replaying it sometime down the road.
So, do I recommend this game? In the same sense that I would recommend a game like Super Meat Boy, yes. If you do consider playing this game, do the extra life trick in the first level. Trust me, it makes the game a lot more tolerable.
