Everyone already knows the story behind the sequel of the classic Super Mario Bros. Nintendo USA took a game from Japan, splashed the name Mario on it and BOOM, we got Mario's sequel to Super Mario Bros. And while that was a good game, Americans never got a chance to play the TRUE sequel to the classic.
Japan's version played a lot more like the first, except for one obvious thing: the game was SO MANY TIMES HARDER. Granted the first game was very easy, so Nintendo decided to take it and redesign the levels to flip you a major league bird at times.
One of the big differences between the 2: the ability to play as either Mario or Luigi. Though once you choose your particular Mario brother, you are stuck with them to the end. Mario is pretty much your basic character with average jumps along with running faster than Luigi yet the game is designed with specific jumps that require precise timing to cross. Luigi on the other hand jumps a lot farther than Mario could thus making those hard jumps look easy, but he slides across the ground a lot longer than Mario when you push the D-pad in the opposite direction, which makes him a hazard in stages with a lot of pits in it. Either way, it's up to you to decide which style of game you like. Personally I like Luigi despite the sliding flaw.
Well, not until the SNES came out, this game was apart of Super Mario All-Stars as Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. That was America's first taste of the sequel. Now several years later, it is now easily downloadable via the Wii's Shop Channel. So if you like the original Mario and want another Mario game with an far greater challenge, this is the game for you.