How Doki Doki Panic First Spawned Iconic Mario Characters

How Doki Doki Panic First Spawned Iconic Mario Characters

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Doki Doki Panic, better known overseas as Super Mario Bros. 2, was where many Mario enemies like Pokeys, Bob-ombs, and Shy Guys got their start.

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How Doki Doki Panic First Spawned Iconic Mario Characters

At this point it’s a fairly well-known fact that the American Super Mario Bros. 2 isn’t an original game, but instead a conversion of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, a title that was being developed in-house by Nintendo at the time. The original Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 is a direct sequel to the first and is generally considered much harder and less forgiving than its predecessor. If Americans had gotten the original sequel, it was assumed they probably would have lost respect for the series overall, and so Nintendo of America decided to take Doki Doki Panic and put Mario characters in place of the Yume Kōjō festival characters.

Assets of the main characters were swapped for Mario, Toad, Luigi, and Peach, but many of the side characters that appeared were actually unchanged. Shy Guys, Ninjis, Snifits, Pokeys, and many more original enemies all originated from the original Doki Doki Panic. Even though the designs and overall feel of Super Mario Bros. 2 are radically different from many other games in the series, these minions would make their mark on history and soon find their way into spinoffs and mainline entries, like Ninji in Mario Golf: Super Rush.

Super Mario Bros. 3 would finally bring the gameplay of the franchise into line, but funnily enough, Super Mario Bros. 2 would leave a large impact on the cast of characters Mario meets in different worlds. The decision to make the second game canon was a strange one, but with so many original designs developed by a team from Nintendo, it makes sense that these characters still fit into the Mario universe to this day.

Shy Guys Originated From Doki Doki Panic

How Doki Doki Panic First Spawned Iconic Mario Characters

Shy Guys are a strange bunch – these masked figures don’t have a lot of lore behind them and haven’t really had an affiliation with Bowser or the Mushroom Kingdom. In Doki Doki Panic, they were allied with the main villain, Wart, but ever since then they have been seen as both supporting characters and antagonistic figures. For a long time, Shy Guys replaced basic enemies like Goombas in the games featuring Mario’s dinosaur companion, Yoshi – Yoshi’s Story, Yoshi’s Island, and Tetris Attack, for example. However, they have since joined the ranks in many other spinoffs like Mario Party and Paper Mario and added diversity to Mario’s companion roster.

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Their character design has kept the one aspect that’s made them special – the mask – but they’ve become less round and more dwarf-like as time has passed. In the original Super Mario Bros. 2 it was possible to stand on their heads, but over generations they’ve looked more human and lanky. The generic large Shy Guy has not made a return, but there are unique ones with jobs like chef and cowboy that still capture the spirit of the different versions.

Pokeys Started in Super Mario Bros. 2, Not Super Mario World

How Doki Doki Panic First Spawned Iconic Mario Characters

Pokeys as players know them today are most fondly remembered from Super Mario World. Their appearance in the SNES game solidified their cactus-like design and their yellow pointed heads which have mostly stayed the same since that game. However, they actually appeared in Super Mario Bros. 2 as enemies, although they do look differently than they do in the best 3D Mario games. Pokeys in the original Doki Doki Panic appear in world 2 and look green and prickly, rather than their yellow and spiky palette today.

Appearing in most every Mario platformer since, there are still design changes that have been made to the Pokeys over time. In Super Mario Sunshine and New Super Mario Bros., they have flowers on their heads allowing Mario to jump on them, and in later games in the series, they lost their pokey heads and now have just spikes on the top. However, their segmented bodies and harmful nature started on the NES and have stayed consistent throughout the years.

Mario’s Bob-ombs Look Slightly Different Now Than in the NES Games

How Doki Doki Panic First Spawned Iconic Mario Characters

Bob-ombs in Super Mario Bros. 2 serve the same function they do these days – they’re a hazard that can still sometime blow up walls when necessary. Of course, their defining feature in Doki Doki Panic is the classic “BOMB” onomatopoeia used when they explode. They also have arms, and no fuse either. Since their initial appearance Mario’s Bob-ombs have become a lot more bomb than character, only speaking on rare occasions like in Super Mario 64 and helping Bowser, Peach and Mario in Paper Mario. They have still retained the white eyes and orange feet from their original design, and always have the ability to explode brick walls, meaning not much else has changed since the 1980’s.

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Birdo is Now an Honorary Mario Secondary Character

In Super Mario Bros. 2, Birdo takes the traditional role of a miniboss, shooting eggs and fireballs out of her snout while the player tries to grab items to throw at her. Although she didn’t have much of a personality back then, her character has evolved and she’s become a mainstay of not only party and sports games but also RPGs. She’s kept the large snout and bow as her two defining features and is often paired up with Yoshi due to their similar designs. She often doesn’t make her way into the mainline Mario platformers, save for the remake of Super Mario Bros. 2 on the celebrated Game Boy Advance. More recently though, she’s shown up in Paper Mario: The Origami King as a recurring character and a performer.

If Doki Doki Panic hadn’t been remodeled for America as Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario games probably wouldn’t have as much personality as they do today. Even the main cast of characters began to develop platforming traits that would eventually be used in Super Mario 3D World and beyond. Peach’s floatiness, Luigi’s strange jump patterns, and Toad’s quick run speed were all integrated into the mainline Mario games to differentiate their playstyles. The side characters that didn’t make it into other games, like Pidgits and Tweeters, have still been referenced in collections like Super Mario All Stars and celebrations like Super Smash Brothers. While America never got a version of the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, maybe it’s better that Doki Doki Panic was ported instead – everyone now gets to experience the creative character designs that fleshed out the universe of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/mario-characters-enemies-smb2-doki-doki-panic/

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