Super Mario Bros. 2 (SMB2) was originally released in the U.S. for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1988. Nintendo re-released SMB2 for the Wii's Virtual Console Service on July 2, 2007, and it is available to download for 500 Wii Points, which is $5. The game was just released for the Wii U's Virtual Console service this week, on Thursday. You can purchase it through the Wii U's eShop now for only $4.99, or you can currently get it 50% off if you buy Super Mario World at the same time.
Both the Wii and Wii U versions of SMB2 have an ESRB rating of "EVERYONE" with no content listed for parents and gamers to be aware of.
SMB2's description on the Wii U eShop says, "Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad embark on a quest together to save the day against the villainous Wart. Pick up items and throw them at your adversaries to clear levels in seven fantastical worlds. Even enemies can be picked up and tossed across the screen.
Each character has a unique set of abilities: Luigi can jump higher and farther than any of the other characters, Toad can dig extremely fast and pull items out of the ground quicker than anyone, and the princess is the only one who can jump and hover temporarily.
This unique installment in the Mario series will keep you coming back for more!"
If you own a Wii or Wii U, how many hours of game-play can you expect from Super Mario Bros. 2? How many U.S. Wii owners have game-play data reported for the game, since it released back in 2007? Brew yourself a nice, full, pot of coffee this fine day, and let's take a look at the official U.S. Nintendo Channel data for Super Mario Bros. 2!
The Brew
Super Mario Bros. 2 has approximately 256,673 U.S. Wii owners that have reported the 1,269,953 Total Hours of game-play data shown above, with about 2,142 days possibly reported.
SMB2's average reported play time is 4 Hours 57 Minutes "Per person", which averages out to be about 32 Minutes played per time that is reported through the Nintendo Channel. So basically, if you play Super Mario Bros. 2 like the average amount that just over 250,000 U.S. Wii owners have, you should expect about 5 hours of game-play from it.
For some comparison to other NES Virtual Console Mario games, SMB2's reported average play time "Per person" is about half the reported average of Super Mario Bros., and only about a third of what the reported average for Super Mario Bros. 3 is. When compared to SMB: The Lost Levels' (the real Super Mario Bros. 2, at least in Japan?) reported average though, Super Mario Bros. 2's average is slightly higher.
There is not a "professional" critic review score average on Metacritic.com or GameRanking.com for the game, but SMB2 does already have some ratings on the Wii U. The game is at a 92.63% rating based on the Wii U eShop Star ratings for the game (19 so far), when the customer Star ratings are converted to a percentage. The game has an 87.03% review score average on Amazon.com, based on 54 customer reviews there.
How much has Super Mario Bros. 2 made Nintendo off its U.S. Wii Virtual Console release? So far, the game has made Nintendo just over $1,280,000, according to the approximate number of U.S. players with data reported and the game's $5 price point.
Caffeinated Thoughts
Have I played SMB2? I have, but only on the original NES! It had been a while since I had seen any footage of the game, at least before I watched the eShop trailer for it earlier today. The theme music, though toned differently from the other Mario games, was immediately recognizable to me, and I remember enjoying this game on the NES when I was little. I don't know if I would still enjoy it as much now, but from what I remember of my time with SMB2 (probably more than 20 years ago now), it was a fun game and I liked how I could play as different characters in it.
If you haven't seen any footage from Super Mario Bros. 2, here's the trailer for the Wii U version of the game:
I never purchased the Wii Virtual Console version, but I'll probably end up buying SMB2 for our Wii U, like I did for Kirby's Adventure. I still haven't done the Wii to Wii U system transfer yet, so the 50% discount on the game does give me another reason to consider doing the transfer soon, because we already own Super Mario World.
If you have heard about the sale on Super Mario Bros. 2 on the Wii U eShop, it is a limited time offer, and you can see how Nintendo is promoting the deal on the Wii U's eShop front page in the image below:
Questions
Have any of you taken advantage of the Wii U sale on Super Mario Bros. 2 yet, or planning on doing so? If you have played the Wii U version already, but never played the game before, what do you think about it?
If you played the Wii Virtual Console version, do you know how many hours you have played the game? Also, if you're a fan of the Super Mario Bros. games in general, do you enjoy Super Mario Bros. 2, even though it is slightly different from the others (at least, from what I remember)?
If you're interested in an original copy of Super Mario Bros. 2, you can see it on Amazon.com below for a cool $350, as well as other Nintendo items:
