Story

Enemies & Items

Hints, Secrets, Tips, & Codes

Other Info / Errata

Interesting Links

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)

Release:
Dec. 31, 1987 (USA)

Ports/Collections:
(Doki Doki Panic - 1987)
Super Mario USA - 1992
Super Mario All-Stars & Super Mario World (SNES) - 1994
Super Mario Advance - 2001

Mario had a weird dream about a hidden world that was being taken over. When he and his friends find a cave where they're having a picnic, they enter and find the same hidden world as in Mario's dream. Then, they decide to go save it.

Mario
Luigi
Toad
Princess
Subcon
All four characters you can play as have different abilities. Mario is an all-round player. Luigi can jump way higher than anyone else, but he tends to slip almost all of the time. You may have a hard time controlling him. Toad is the fastest character. He picks things up faster than anyone else and loses no speed if he's holding an item. However, he doesn't jump very high. The Princess is slower than anyone else, and can't jump high, but she can hover in the air for about a second and a half. These are the guys you're trying to save. You won't see them until you beat the game, though.

Grass
Unripened Vegetable
Vegetable
Stop Watch
POW
Use the B button to pick up grass, which you'll find all over the place. You can find a Vegetable (ripe or not), Turtle Shell, Bob-Omb, Bomb, 1-up, Stop Watch, Magic Potion, or Coin under it. These are common under grass. They aren't ripe yet, but you can still throw them at enemies (with B) to kill them. These are uncommon under grass. They act the same as Unripened Vegetables, except that when you pick up your fifth one in a level it will be replaced with a Stop Watch. When this appears from under grass, all enemies will freeze for a few seconds. Also known as a Power Block, throw it to defeat all enemies on the screen.

Small Heart
Magic Potion
Mushroom
Coin
1-up
Grab the Small Heart, which will appear from time to time, to replenish one health. You'll find the Magic Potion under certain pieces of grass. Throw it to create a door; go through that door to enter Subspace for a few seconds. These can be found in certain places in Subspace. Pick it up to gain one maximum health until the end of the level. There are two in almost every level somewhere. These are found in Subspace as well. They are under every piece of grass for the first two times you enter Subspace. If you've collected them in a level, after the level you'll play the Bonus Chance game, where you can get more lives. The 1-up Mushroom is found under certain pieces of grass. When you get it, you'll gain one life.

Turtle Shell
Cherry
Starman
Key
Mushroom Block
The Turtle Shell can be found under certain pieces of grass. When you throw it, it will go along the platform killing everything in its way. Cherries are lying all over. Collect five for a Starman. A Starman will appear when you get five Cherries. It will make you temporarily invincible if you touch it. Use the Key to unlock a keydoor. While you're holding the key, a Phanto will follow you, so make sure to let go from time to time. Stand on top of these and grab and throw them. You can use them to form pillars to stand on or to kill enemies (especially Birdo) with.

Bomb
Brick Wall
Crystal Ball
Jar
Rocket
You'll find these under grass. Mouser also throws them. After a certain time, they will explode; you can move them to make them blow certain things up. Brick Walls block your way. They can only be destroyed with explosions; you'll usually want to use a Bomb for these. After killing Birdo (or sometimes even without having to) you will get a Crystal Ball. Grab it to open Hawkmouth, who will take you to the next level. You can enter every jar. Jars sometimes have Cobrats in them. Inside them, you may find useful things. If you find a rocket under grass, it will take you to the next part of the stage.

Hawkmouth
Sand
Quicksand
Egg
Fireball
Hawkmouth can be found at the end of every stage. Grab the Crystal Ball to open up the passageway. Take note that in Level 7-2 Hawkmouth will attack you when you grab the Crystal Ball; he takes three hits. You can dig sand by grabbing it. You'll usually have to dig through it to get things; be careful of enemies following you when you descend. Quicksand will bring you down. The slow variety is nothing to worry about, but fast quicksand will likely kill you. Birdo shoots these. You must grab them and throw them back. Be careful: if an Egg rebounds off a wall, it can still hurt you. Many things shoot fireballs. They're invincible, so avoid them.

Shyguy
Tweeter
Snifit
Ninji
Beezo
The basic enemy. Shyguys walk back and forth waiting for you to get in front of them. Pink ones will turn around at the edge of platforms. Tweeters hop along. They will hop in one direction forever. Tweeters aren't much more difficult than Shyguys, but be careful anyway. Snifits shoot bullets at you. One kind walks along, and one kind stays in one place while jumping. Ninji come in two types: one kind runs and jumps toward you and one kind just jumps in place. Beezo try to hit you by coming in droves and hoping you can't dodge them. The red kind dodge; others go in a straight line.

Hoopster
Phanto
Trouter

Pidgit
Bob-Omb
Hoopsters climb up and down vines. You can stand on them and use them as elevators - that's the only way to jump off a vine. Phanto stands guard over the key. If you grab it, you can be sure Phanto will want to chase you. Trouter jumps up from the water and tries to hurt you. You can use him as an elevator as well. Pidgits can't fly, so they use Magic Carpets. Get rid of the Pidgit, then use the magic carpet (control with the arrow keys) to glide wherever you need to go. Bob-Ombs are usually dropped by Albatosses, but can be found alone as well. They try to track you down, but explode after a while. You can use them like bombs...

Porcupo
Albatoss
Cobrat
Panser
Pokey
Porcupos are spiny creatures. Avoid them as you would fireballs. Albatosses fly around, sometimes carrying Bob-Ombs. You can ride them if you need to get somewhere. Cobrats hide in sand, quicksand, or jars, and jump out when you approach. They also can shoot bullets from their mouths. Be careful around these guys. Pansers are my least favorite enemy... They shoot fireballs upwards. Some Pansers shoot fireballs straight upwards, and some even move around. Pokey is made of four sections. If you grab the top section and throw it, Pokey will become shorter. Pokey likes to kill you when you're stuck in quicksand.

Flurry
Spark
Autobomb
Ostro
Birdo
In Level 4, Flurry will chase you as you slip along the ice. These monsters on skates are really annoying. Spark moves in a circular motion around walls, floors, and platforms. Some Sparks move faster than others. Autobomb is the favorite way for Shyguys to get around. It shoots fireballs at you. Ostro is an ostrich who bounces around carrying a Shyguy. He isn't too much trouble, and you can even ride him. Birdo appears in almost every level. He shoots eggs, fireballs, or (most commonly) both from his mouth. Grab the eggs and throw them at him.

Mouser
Tryclyde
Fryguy
Clawgrip
Wart
Mouser is the boss of Level 1 and 3. Mouser throws bombs at you; you must grab them and throw them back onto his platform, and hopefully they'll explode and hurt him. He'll take four and then five hits to die. Tryclyde is the boss of Level 2 and 6. He will shoot many fireballs at you; you must take the Mushroom Blocks and throw them at him three times to win. Fryguy is the boss of Level 4. He will fly around dropping fireballs; you must hit him with three Mushroom Blocks. Then, he will split into four small Fryguys, who will each take one Mushroom Block hit to defeat. They'll get faster with each one you kill, so do it quickly. Clawgrip is the boss of Level 5. He will throw rocks at you. What you have to do is get on top of a rock, grab it, and throw it at him five times, after which you can move on. After beating Hawkmouth (see above) you'll face Wart. He will shoot bubbles at you, which you have to dodge. The large object in the middle of the room will continuously shoot vegetables out; grab them and throw them at Wart when he has his mouth open seven times to beat the game.

Warp Locations:

1. In Level 1-3, find the magic potion to the left of the brick building. It's in one of the five grasses there. Grab it and carry it to the right, to the vase next to the brick building. Drop the potion here, and in Subspace go through the vase to Level 4.
2. In Level 3-1, go through the door to the large waterfall with the clouds. Jump down into the hole (don't worry, it won't kill you) and land on the platform, then enter the door. The tenth grass has a potion here; take it and drop it near the vase, then go through the vase in Subspace and into Level 5.
3. In Level 4-2, in the whale room, there are three three-width platforms. The first two have three grasses on each, and the third has one grass. Grab that. It will have a potion. Take it right, to the jar (you'll see it; you can make the jump from the whale's tail) and enter it in Subspace to go to Level 6.
4. In Level 5-3, climb up the ladder and grab the potion under the leftmost grass on the floor. Now, you have to jump on one of the Bob-Ombs and Super Jump (hold down 'till you flash, then press A) up to the vase. (If you want, you could choose Luigi and just get there without the enemy.) Then, enter it in Subspace to enter Level 7.

Continue Your Game:

If you lose all of your lives, you can continue from the beginning of the level twice. Since you can only do this twice, try to prevent this by getting lots of coins during the levels.

Weird Flying Logs (found by NMorgan):

In Level 1-1, grab a POW and carry it to the place where the logs go over the waterfall. Wait for a log to go over, then throw the POW so it hits solid ground. The log should fly into the air!

In the manual, Shyguy is spelled with no space or hyphen, while in many other games there is a space or a hyphen. On this page I've abided by the manual.
In both the manual and the credits Birdo and Ostro's names are switched. This is an error; the giveaway is that the manual says "Ostro. He thinks he is a girl and he spits eggs from his mouth. He'd rather be called 'birdetta.'"
A very nice video of the completion of this game can be found here, but you will need to download BitTorrent to get it. Don't worry, it's ad-free.
It is possible to beat the game (as shown in the above video) by just completing 10 stages. Just take Warps 1 and 3.

GameFAQs's FAQ page - http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/game/8180.html
Related Games - Super Mario All-Stars; Super Mario Advance.

Mario	Luigi	Toad	Princess	Subcon
All four characters you can play as have different abilities. Mario is an all-round player.	Luigi can jump way higher than anyone else, but he tends to slip almost all of the time. You may have a hard time controlling him.	Toad is the fastest character. He picks things up faster than anyone else and loses no speed if he's holding an item. However, he doesn't jump very high.	The Princess is slower than anyone else, and can't jump high, but she can hover in the air for about a second and a half.	These are the guys you're trying to save. You won't see them until you beat the game, though.
Grass	Unripened Vegetable	Vegetable	Stop Watch	POW
Use the B button to pick up grass, which you'll find all over the place. You can find a Vegetable (ripe or not), Turtle Shell, Bob-Omb, Bomb, 1-up, Stop Watch, Magic Potion, or Coin under it.	These are common under grass. They aren't ripe yet, but you can still throw them at enemies (with B) to kill them.	These are uncommon under grass. They act the same as Unripened Vegetables, except that when you pick up your fifth one in a level it will be replaced with a Stop Watch.	When this appears from under grass, all enemies will freeze for a few seconds.	Also known as a Power Block, throw it to defeat all enemies on the screen.
Small Heart	Magic Potion	Mushroom	Coin	1-up
Grab the Small Heart, which will appear from time to time, to replenish one health.	You'll find the Magic Potion under certain pieces of grass. Throw it to create a door; go through that door to enter Subspace for a few seconds.	These can be found in certain places in Subspace. Pick it up to gain one maximum health until the end of the level. There are two in almost every level somewhere.	These are found in Subspace as well. They are under every piece of grass for the first two times you enter Subspace. If you've collected them in a level, after the level you'll play the Bonus Chance game, where you can get more lives.	The 1-up Mushroom is found under certain pieces of grass. When you get it, you'll gain one life.
Turtle Shell	Cherry	Starman	Key	Mushroom Block
The Turtle Shell can be found under certain pieces of grass. When you throw it, it will go along the platform killing everything in its way.	Cherries are lying all over. Collect five for a Starman.	A Starman will appear when you get five Cherries. It will make you temporarily invincible if you touch it.	Use the Key to unlock a keydoor. While you're holding the key, a Phanto will follow you, so make sure to let go from time to time.	Stand on top of these and grab and throw them. You can use them to form pillars to stand on or to kill enemies (especially Birdo) with.
Bomb	Brick Wall	Crystal Ball	Jar	Rocket
You'll find these under grass. Mouser also throws them. After a certain time, they will explode; you can move them to make them blow certain things up.	Brick Walls block your way. They can only be destroyed with explosions; you'll usually want to use a Bomb for these.	After killing Birdo (or sometimes even without having to) you will get a Crystal Ball. Grab it to open Hawkmouth, who will take you to the next level.	You can enter every jar. Jars sometimes have Cobrats in them. Inside them, you may find useful things.	If you find a rocket under grass, it will take you to the next part of the stage.
Hawkmouth	Sand	Quicksand	Egg	Fireball
Hawkmouth can be found at the end of every stage. Grab the Crystal Ball to open up the passageway. Take note that in Level 7-2 Hawkmouth will attack you when you grab the Crystal Ball; he takes three hits.	You can dig sand by grabbing it. You'll usually have to dig through it to get things; be careful of enemies following you when you descend.	Quicksand will bring you down. The slow variety is nothing to worry about, but fast quicksand will likely kill you.	Birdo shoots these. You must grab them and throw them back. Be careful: if an Egg rebounds off a wall, it can still hurt you.	Many things shoot fireballs. They're invincible, so avoid them.
Shyguy	Tweeter	Snifit	Ninji	Beezo
The basic enemy. Shyguys walk back and forth waiting for you to get in front of them. Pink ones will turn around at the edge of platforms.	Tweeters hop along. They will hop in one direction forever. Tweeters aren't much more difficult than Shyguys, but be careful anyway.	Snifits shoot bullets at you. One kind walks along, and one kind stays in one place while jumping.	Ninji come in two types: one kind runs and jumps toward you and one kind just jumps in place.	Beezo try to hit you by coming in droves and hoping you can't dodge them. The red kind dodge; others go in a straight line.
Hoopster	Phanto	Trouter	Pidgit	Bob-Omb
Hoopsters climb up and down vines. You can stand on them and use them as elevators - that's the only way to jump off a vine.	Phanto stands guard over the key. If you grab it, you can be sure Phanto will want to chase you.	Trouter jumps up from the water and tries to hurt you. You can use him as an elevator as well.	Pidgits can't fly, so they use Magic Carpets. Get rid of the Pidgit, then use the magic carpet (control with the arrow keys) to glide wherever you need to go.	Bob-Ombs are usually dropped by Albatosses, but can be found alone as well. They try to track you down, but explode after a while. You can use them like bombs...
Porcupo	Albatoss	Cobrat	Panser	Pokey
Porcupos are spiny creatures. Avoid them as you would fireballs.	Albatosses fly around, sometimes carrying Bob-Ombs. You can ride them if you need to get somewhere.	Cobrats hide in sand, quicksand, or jars, and jump out when you approach. They also can shoot bullets from their mouths. Be careful around these guys.	Pansers are my least favorite enemy... They shoot fireballs upwards. Some Pansers shoot fireballs straight upwards, and some even move around.	Pokey is made of four sections. If you grab the top section and throw it, Pokey will become shorter. Pokey likes to kill you when you're stuck in quicksand.
Flurry	Spark	Autobomb	Ostro	Birdo
In Level 4, Flurry will chase you as you slip along the ice. These monsters on skates are really annoying.	Spark moves in a circular motion around walls, floors, and platforms. Some Sparks move faster than others.	Autobomb is the favorite way for Shyguys to get around. It shoots fireballs at you.	Ostro is an ostrich who bounces around carrying a Shyguy. He isn't too much trouble, and you can even ride him.	Birdo appears in almost every level. He shoots eggs, fireballs, or (most commonly) both from his mouth. Grab the eggs and throw them at him.
Mouser	Tryclyde	Fryguy	Clawgrip	Wart
Mouser is the boss of Level 1 and 3. Mouser throws bombs at you; you must grab them and throw them back onto his platform, and hopefully they'll explode and hurt him. He'll take four and then five hits to die.	Tryclyde is the boss of Level 2 and 6. He will shoot many fireballs at you; you must take the Mushroom Blocks and throw them at him three times to win.	Fryguy is the boss of Level 4. He will fly around dropping fireballs; you must hit him with three Mushroom Blocks. Then, he will split into four small Fryguys, who will each take one Mushroom Block hit to defeat. They'll get faster with each one you kill, so do it quickly.	Clawgrip is the boss of Level 5. He will throw rocks at you. What you have to do is get on top of a rock, grab it, and throw it at him five times, after which you can move on.	After beating Hawkmouth (see above) you'll face Wart. He will shoot bubbles at you, which you have to dodge. The large object in the middle of the room will continuously shoot vegetables out; grab them and throw them at Wart when he has his mouth open seven times to beat the game.