Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels now on Wii U Virtual Console

The Wii U Virtual Console version of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is now available to download on the North American Wii U eShop, with a price of $4.99. This game was originally released only in Japan, where it was known as Super Mario Bros. 2. This installment in the series is pretty much like the original NES game but much, much, harder. The developers really went out of their way to ratchet up the difficulty level, and there are all sorts of tricks that await players.

Instead of having an alternating two-player mode, The Lost Levels features only a single-player mode, but gamers can choose to play as either Mario or Luigi. Mario controls pretty much like he did before, while Luigi can jump much higher and has less traction, which makes him skid after running or landing. Due to the unique abilities of each brother, certain areas will be easier or harder depending on who you choose to play as.

To give you an idea of what sort of devious tricks await you, here's a brief list of a few infamous features:

• Some mushrooms are actually Poison Mushrooms, which will harm or even kill you (if you're small).
• Some warp zones will send you backwards to earlier worlds.
• Many castles have puzzles that require you to choose the right path to proceed (just like some of the castles in the first game).
• Some land enemies now appear underwater, and vice versa.
• Many other surprises.

Again, Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels is very hard and is certainly not for everyone. Nintendo of America actually refused to release the game in North America due to the high difficulty level, and as a result, we got a reskinned version of another Nintendo game called Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic which was retitled Super Mario Bros. 2 (which explains why that game is so unlike any of the other entries in the series).

The Lost Levels was released on the Wii Virtual Console years ago, but this new version features Restore Points which will definitely come in handy and ease the ridiculous difficulty a little. You can find a gameplay video after the break (Wii Version).