Playing The Classics: The Lost Levels: Vol 1

I purchased Super Mario All-Stars for Wii recently and while I'm a bit disappointed in the overall package, one thing it's good for is Super Mario The Lost Levels. I had heard the stories... about its evil nature... but I decided it's time to play it. I never have before. Will I be frustrated? Will I be able to beat it? Time will tell. Welcome to the next installment of Playing The Classics from me, for Super Mario The Lost Levels. With the press of the Start button on my Gold Classic Controller Pro, I began my journey.

I like the musical rendition of the classic theme here on the opening menu. It's misleading... calming... until the game begins. Right off the bat I meet the Poison Mushroom. I had never known this existed until a few years back because I think it has only been in this game in the manner that it is. I avoid it so not to discover it's effects. One thing though is that these controls feel weird. I don't know what's wrong but it doesn't feel as quick as Super Mario 3 and yet it still is kind of reminiscent of Super Mario Bros. It's in a weird middle ground that I hope I eventually get used to. Not surprised, it's still level 1-1 and I died. This is gonna be fun... right? Though the game restarted me right where I died. Conveniently I died by a checkpoint. When I reached 1-2, the classic underground style stage, I almost took the whole 'ceiling' path but I realized if I'm going to play this, I'm going to play it old school as it was intended. That said, I died on a piranha plant. The issue isn't so much with the level design though. I feel like it's the controls still. If this were New Super Mario Bros. Wii... that wouldn't have happened. It makes you wonder why they didn't release a New Super Mario All-Stars with these four games in updated graphics and controls. Just think about how amazing that would have been. Think. About. It.

WTF, Pink Flying Squid!? Wow, this is something strange. Having the Bloopers when you cant simply move anywhere you want on screen is quite a change in the dynamic. It's a fresh take, even for this time in my gaming career. If these are the kind of surprises I'm in for, then I'm going to have one hell of an experience with this game. When I got to level 1-4 I found the graphics to be nice. They reminded me of Mario Is Missing, a great learning PC game from back in the day (though it was also an SNES title). I made it to Koopa and found it easy enough, this time, to send him to the lava pits of doom. I loved how his vain bastard self had a self portrait on the wall. Nice touch.

That leaves it for now. World 1 of what I assume is 8. This was tricky but not that hard. The controls seem to be a big culprit. We'll find out soon how right or wrong I am. Soon for sure. Stay tuned!

Read Part 2