Doki Doki Panic
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Doki Doki Panic is a Japanese video game released for the Famicom Disk System about a family who plans to rescue two children. The full title is Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (夢工場：ドキドキパニック), translating to Dream Factory: Doki Doki Panic. "Doki doki" is a Japanese onomatopoeia for a rapidly beating heart, and it is commonly found in Japanese video game titles, carrying connotations of excitement and anxiety.[1] (http://www.coolslang.com/in/Japan/PeraPera.php) It is best known as the precursor to the American version of Super Mario Bros. 2.
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History
Background
The game was developed in cooperation with Fuji Television to promote their Yume Kōjō '87 event, which showcased several of Fuji TV's latest TV shows and other products at the time. The game featured the mascots of the Yume Kōjō festival (an Arabian family consisting of siblings Imazin and Rena and their parents, Papa and Mama) as its main characters. The rest of the characters, including the main villain, Mamu (Wart), were all creations by Nintendo for the game. The game takes place within a book with this Arabian setting. All four characters are playable, and the game is not completed until you play through as all four.
Even though it wasn't originally conceived as a Mario game, Shigeru Miyamoto had a larger involvement in this game than he actually did with the actual Super Mario Bros. 2 (known in the U.S. as The Lost Levels) which was released in Japan. Lost Levels was directed by Takashi Tezuka, the programmer of the original Super Mario Bros, but due to its high difficulty level, it was never released in its original form in the United States.
Remakes
In 1988, the game was localized for North America and Europe as Super Mario Bros. 2. The Yume Kōjō family in the game were replaced by Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach Toadstool, and Toad, and numerous other small changes were made. This game is also the sole reason for Luigi being taller than Mario, as the characters were made to correspond with the originals. (Before this game, both were the same height.) This game was later released in Japan as Super Mario USA in 1992, on the Famicom, as opposed to the Famicom disc add-on, which the original Doki Doki Panic appeared upon.
It should be noted that although Japan eventually got the Americanized version of Doki Doki Panic in the form of Super Mario USA, the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was never released in its original, 8-bit NES cartridge form outside of its native country. The American release closest to it in graphical terms was the 1999 Game Boy Color game Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. However, the inclusion of the so-called Lost Levels is somewhat compromised in that there are only 8 worlds, and other graphical changes were made, especially to the ground and to the mushrooms. However, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is still the closest America ever got to playing the sequel in its 8-bit form. The Lost Levels was also released as a part of the SNES title Super Mario All-Stars. This remake of the Japanese Mario 2 had improved, 16-bit graphics in a style similar to the other games included in All-Stars.
Differences between Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2
Most of the other differences between Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2 are small graphical changes, such as animation being added to the POW blocks, cherries, and vegetables for the localized version, mushrooms replacing hearts as health boosters, and the characters shrink when reduced to only one unit of health. The save feature was also taken out of the NES version of Super Mario Bros. 2, due to limitation of the NES system compared to the Famicom Disk System (battery-backup was also very expensive during those days), but it was restored in the Super Mario Collection/Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 2.
Other changes include:
- In Doki Doki Panic, one must beat the entire game once with each character to view the ending.
- In the manual that comes with the original NES cartridge for Super Mario Bros. 2, Phanto (the head that chases you around when you have a key) looks different. Nintendo inadvertently placed a screenshot of its appearance in Doki Doki Panic.
- Furthermore, Phanto begins its pursuit only after you leave its chamber, unlike Super Mario Bros. 2, in which it chases you immediately.
- Waterfalls, (especially the enormous one in level 3-1) move much quicker in Doki Doki Panic.
- Extra lives were originally representations of your character's face; 1-UP mushrooms are a feature specific to the Mario series.
- The large crow head at level entrances and exits was originally a large African tribal mask.
- Mushroom blocks were originally small African tribal masks.
- Invincibility and sub-space music is different, and some minor changes were made to other songs, to give the game an Arabian feel.
- Potions were originally an Arabian lamp.
- In Doki Doki Panic, the boss of level 5-3 is not the rock throwing crab Clawgrip (as it is in Super Mario Bros. 2), but a third Mouser.
- The Albatross beats its wings more slowly.
- Holding down "B" to run is a feature specific to the Mario series.
- When a bomb explodes, it says "BOM", as opposed to "BOMB" in Super Mario Bros. 2
- In Doki Doki Panic, cherries, grass, vines, POW blocks, bomb fuses, spikes, seas, and crystal balls are not animated.
- The slot machine minigame (which appears after you collect coins) is the same in both versions, but has a green background in DDP, as opposed to the title screen variant in SMB2.
- The story was changed for the U.S./Europe localization (see Super Mario Bros. 2 article for more information).
External links
- Super Mario Bros. 2 Madness (http://www.classicgaming.com/tmk/smb2_madness.shtml)
- Doki Doki Panic at Progressive-Boink (http://progressiveboink.com/archive/dokidokipanic.html)