If Japanese SMB2 and Doki Doki Panic had came to NA?

We all know the history of the two Mario Bros 2 games for the NES/Famicom where Japan got a true sequel to Super Mario Bros 1 while we got our own version which was just Doki Doki Panic but with Mario characters.

The reason why we never got the original SMB2 was the fact that Nintendo Of America thought that the game was too much the same as the first one and that it would be very hard for players which is why they gave us a different version and even though our SMB2 wasn't the actual true sequel it still sold very well and became popular in NA.

So the question is what if NOA had changed their minds and instead released both the original SMB2 and Doki Doki Panic, would both games had done well in North America? It always seemed like a interesting thing if both games would have done well in North America during the NES era. Would any of them had done well or would any of them had flopped? Now today we can play any versions of these games but back then it was a different story.

Without a doubt SMB2 would have sold well because the first game was a smash hit.... Doki Doki Panic may have just been on of those niche titles that people bring up. Then you go "OH YEAH I REMEMBER THAT ONE".

Really good point there.

I think Nintendo made a mistake with the way they did it in the first place, but whatever.

Super Mario Brothers 2 was going to sell here no matter what, however, they would have been better off releasing the real game and allowing Doki Doki to be what it was. The American Mario Brothers 2 was such a departure from the first game it likely turned as many people away from it as the idea that Americans couldn't appreciate a true sequel; I've forgotten how many times as a younger person I heard people say they didn't like it "because it was nothing like the first one." The Legend of Zelda II argument, so to speak. Nintendo has never had a very good read on the pulse of what gamers want, but they could have made this simpler.

The fact that Super Mario Bros 2 (American) sold well isn't a testament to how good or bad a game Doki Doki is, it's a testament to how people couldn't get enough of the Super Mario Brothers. There is no way to know, but I'd bet the true sequel would have sold just as well here as it did in Japan, possibly better than the one we actually got. Nintendo out-thought themselves, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

I don't think it would have been as good if Lost Levels was released in NA. Doki as SMB2 showed a graphical leap while SMB2 would have looked exactly the same as the original. I don't think it would have done well for the brand. Not only that characters from Doki like Shy Guy and Bob Omb and Ostro/Birdo wouldn't have ended up in the stable of famous Nintendo characters if SMB2 launched instead of DokiSMB. In the end things ended up for the best the way it did.

ive heard multiple stories on Mario 2. I read somewhere that the US version of Doki was the real Mario 2--designed by Miyamoto, but was changed for some reason I forget.

lost levels was lame and although it would have sold well it would not have been as enjoyable as us mario 2 was. Lost levels was simply an expansion pack in a time before expansion packs existed.

I still remember the day I got mario 2, it was my 7th birthday and I came home from school, super excited at the prospect of a new video game for my birthday. When I came home my parents pretended to forget it was my birthday, they treated me as if it were another day and they had to leave to go out somewhere. they left the house and as their car pulled away I was so disapointed that they forgot my birthday, a few minutes later they pulled back in the driveway(they drove around the block to trick me) and came in the house with a card and super mario bros 2.

I rushed up into my room and was immediately floored by this game, the characters I loved from the first game with all new powers, throwing vegetables at enemies, the beautiful new graphics, the mysterious new villain, it was all so cool and to this day I think mario 2 (us) is one of the greatest (an most underrated) games of all time.

If I had opened up mario 2 and just got the same game as 1 with much harder levels I would have been incredibly dissapointed, and I am sure many other kids would have felt the exact same way.

If we got the lost levels instead doki doki would have faded into obscurity, which would have been a shame given what a great game it is, and I would also argue that the hype for mario 3 would not have been as great. I know I would not have been excited to play mario 3 if my last experience with the game was simply more of the same as the first.

I feel like Nintendo wanted to change these sequels, so people didn't think they were the same game.... They did this with a few other games to, just not exactly like the SMB2 / Doki Doki scenario.