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There are many series that have captured the hearts and minds of gamers for over 20 years. Most of them had their start on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and these series have found home on the Virtual Console for the Wii. Early in the days of video games, developers tried different approaches to some of the sequels to their originals so that they would be different from their predecessors. Three games immediately come to the minds of many gamers, especially those who played the Nintendo Entertainment System in the 80s and early 90s. They are Super Mario Bros 2, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. These three games are prime examples of the controversial sequels. These games are hotly debated by gamers on both sides. Some love these games and others absolutely hate them because of their radical departure from the originals. They are often labeled as "black sheep" by both fans and haters of these games because of their radical differences from the originals as well as successor games.




Super Mario Bros 2 was released in the United States in October, 1988. The game was originally released in Japan under the name Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic. The Super Mario Bros 2 that was released in Japan was much like the original except with a few newer baddies and tougher levels. Fearing that the game might be too difficult for American gamers, the game was not released to the US and instead replaced with Doki Doki Panic. The characters in Doki Doki Panic were replaced with Mario characters and released in the US and other parts of the world as Super Mario Bros 2. This game was re-released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in August, 1993 with updated graphics and better game play on Super Mario All-Stars, which included the Japanese game Super Mario Bros 2 under the name "Lost Levels." It was also released on the Gameboy Advance as Super Mario Advance, and included the Mario Bros arcade classic, with updated graphics, better sound effects, and a few voices. July, 2007 the game was released on the Virtual Console. This game was featured on the cover of the premiere issue of the Nintendo Power Magazine.


This game is highly controversial among gamers because it was a radical departure from the original Super Mario Bros released in 1985. There was no Bowser, and the enemies had all changed. There were a few things that were reminiscent of the original. Namely the addition of mushrooms, though they made you take more damage before dying. There was also the Star Man which made you invincible, but this came after collecting several cherries. Coins were also seen in this game and gave you more chances at the slot machines after each level to gain more lives. The POW, reminiscent of the original Mario Bros arcade, also made its way into the game. Turtle shells were also available in different parts of the game to be used as weapons against enemies by tossing it and watching it roll into enemies.


There were radical differences from this game and the original. For one, the player could choose which character they wanted to use—Mario, Luigi, Toad, and the Princess. There were few power-ups in this game. Unlike the previous SMB, this Mario game only gave the players a chance to get certain mushrooms which increased their max health. And this only lasted through the level. So, enemies had to be defeated in a different manner than jumping on them or spitting fireballs at them. Most enemies allowed you to safely jump on them, but this did not defeat them. Instead, you could pick them up and throw them at other enemies or pick up plants, which gave you vegetables to throw at the enemies. Birdos spat eggs, which you could use to throw at them, or sometimes there were mushroom like blocks that could be thrown. At the end of the game, the player faces Wart, the evil toad that was keeping the dream world under oppression. Once he was defeated, we see the people of this world rejoicing with Mario and his friends, but we then discover that it was all a dream of Mario.

This game was such a radical departure from the original SMB that fans are divided. Some, like myself, love this game and have had many hours of fun playing this game. Others have great disdain for this game because of its break with the theme introduced by the original Super Mario Bros game. Despite this departure, it was the third best selling NES game, surpassed only by SMB and SMB3, but much of that may have to do with these two games being bundled with NES consoles.

The Super Mario Bros series returned to much of the pace set by SMB, but the legacy of SMB2 did not go away. Bob-ombs made a big return in later Mario games, and other baddies including snifits and shy guys made their return. A level was also featured in the Super Smash Bros Melee game for the Gamecube, which paid tribute to SMB2. The Super Mario Bros Super Show cartoon, which ran in 1989, featured many baddies and elements from SMB2.




Zelda II was the second Legend of Zelda game for the NES. It is a direct sequel of the original Legend of Zelda game released in the US in 1987. Zelda II was released during the 1988 holiday season in the US. It was re-released on the Gamecube in 2003 on the Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition disc, which included Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask. It was released a year later on the Gameboy Advance as a direct port of the original NES game. It was also released in June, 2007 on the Virtual Console. This game was featured on the cover of the fourth issue of Nintendo Power Magazine.


Zelda II was another radical departure from the original LoZ game. The original LoZ game was a top-down 2D game, in which you explored dungeons, collected items, and defeated enemies while collecting pieces of the Triforce, in order to defeat the evil Ganon and rescue Princess Zelda. In Zelda II, Link learns of a Zelda placed under a deep sleep spell, and must return crystals to different palaces in order to break the spell on Zelda. While on his journey, Ganon's loyal minions are set out to kill him and use his blood to resurrect their fallen lord. The Triforce played no role in the game, and was only mentioned as part of the back story in the instruction booklet. The game did have a top-down over world view, but Link did not fight in the over world unless he was attacked by either bot or moblin silhouettes, which brought him into a battle with some bad guys. The enemies faced in the bots were usually easier and weaker than those encountered by the moblins. This battle takes place as 2D side scrolling action. This side scrolling is also encountered when Link enters caves, towns, palaces, and other areas he encounters during his adventure. The game also gave the player 3 lives on his quest, which was never repeated in later Zelda games. The introduction of 3 lives also meant that 1 ups were available in various parts of the game. The experience point system allowed Link to increase certain abilities—life, magic, and attack power. Like other side scrolling adventures, this game feature pits that Link could fall into, which would instantly kill him. Pits in later Zelda games, however, would only cause Link to lose a certain amount of his total health.


This game is another that is highly controversial among fans of the series. Many do not like the game because it is such a radical change from the original. It is also considered one of the hardest Zelda games ever released. Others, like myself, find this game to be great, even though it was radically different from the rest of the series. Despite this game being very different from the original, it did introduce many elements that were kept in later Zelda adventures—magic, non-player characters, towns, and Dark Link (encountered in Ocarina of Time). The palace music was featured in the side scrolling Zelda dungeon in the Super Smash Bros Melee on Gamecube. Zelda II's successor, A Link to the Past, returned to the top-down view of the original game.




Simon's Quest is the 1988 direct sequel of the 1987 NES Classic Castlevania. The game takes place 7 years after the original, and Simon is on a quest to collect various parts of Dracula to break a spell placed on him by Dracula that will eventually kill the hero Simon. This game has not been re-released on other systems (except for PC-CD as part of a Konami Collector's Series and a Tiger Handheld), nor has it made its way onto the Virtual Console, yet, although the original Castlevania and Super Castlevania IV are both available on the Virtual Console. This game was featured on the cover of the second issue of Nintendo Power Magazine.


Despite this game being a platformer side-scrolling adventure like its predecessor, this game was much more like a RPG, and was not quite linear. Although this game did require certain items to be obtained before certain areas could be accessed, the player had a choice as to which dungeons they wished to enter and obtain the pieces of Dracula. This game also had towns, which the player could restore his/her health, purchase weapons and upgrades, trade items, or get clues from townsfolk, although most were not trustworthy. Most dungeons did not include bosses, which was very different from past and future Castlevania games. Also, hearts were obtained by killing enemies and were used to purchase things instead of being consumed for item use. Day and night were also added to the game, which was indicated by a pause in the game and a text box that slowly typed. The player could not skip this text or make it speed up. This caused many to become frustrated with the day/night change sequence. Nighttime changed the music and made enemies tougher to kill.


This is another game that is both loved and hated by fans of the series. Again, it is a radical departure from the original, and the third game, Dracula's Curse, returned to much of the same format as the original. The game was also featured in a NES review by the Angry Video Game Nerd, who gave a very critical review of the game. I share many of the same frustrations of the game, despite the fact that I actually really loved this game when I was a kid, and I still do today.


These three games offered players a very different experience from their predecessors. This was not always well received by gamers. Despite this, however, these games did very well in sales and have lived on in the hearts and minds of many gamers who played them nearly 20 years ago. A whole new generation of gamers is also able to experience these games, with the exception of Simon's Quest (as of the posting of this article) on the Wii Virtual Console.

Critics of these games often cite that these games are radical departures from the rest of the series. However, they must realize that these games are merely the second in the long line of games that followed. The fate of these series was still up in the air at the time of the release of the sequels. Zelda and Castlevania were not guaranteed to last after the second game. Mario was a bit more established, since he made his debut in Donkey Kong and later sequels and other games. However, it was not sure that he would always be around. The developers were still experimenting and trying to find out what gamers wanted, without trying to just copy the original. They were also trying new things and new ways of game play. Despite the fact that developers returned, in each instance, to the way the original games were set-up in many aspects, it does not detract from the fact that these games are great classics to be enjoyed by fans of all over the world and from different generations.

This was originally posted on the NSider forum at nintendo.com. The thread was also on the Virtual Console board and not on the Legacy forum.

The original post did not include the pictures as I was not a koopa at the time of its being posted. However, I achieved that status not too long after. But since this site allows for the posting of pics, even as a cappy, then I included the pictures in this reposting. I hope you all enjoy. Thanks for reading.

A very nice thread. I probably missed it because it was on the Virtual Console board and not the Legacy Board.

I sincerely enjoyed Super Mario Bros. 2 when it came out, and as I remember, so did everyone else. After Super Mario Bros. 3 came out though, people began to criticize 2, and have been ever since. I never understood this, as the game still remains one of my favorite games on the NES.

I don't remember ever being very fond of the Adventure of Link when it came out. It was too difficult, and could get a bit boring. However, after its re-release on the VC, I came to love it. It was a terrific game that I just never appreciated before.

I never actually played Simon's Quest. In fact, I don't think I've ever played a Castlevania :P

Great thread!

Thanks for the reply. I do suggest at least playing Castlevania II and see how you like it. The music, though, was really phenomenal. I love it. It's probably one of my favorite parts of the game.

here is someone remaking one of the songs using Mario Paint
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANSGwi9XPB4

and here is AVGN's review of the game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4we8iFk-fY

I used to hate SMB 2, but now I think it has some depth that the original SMB lacked.

Very nice, very educated.

I have always been a big fan of SMB 2 but The Adventure of Link just never grew on me it just never seemed like a true zelda game.

don't forget Snakes Revenge...that sequel to Metal Gear is pretty controversial.