Mushroom Kingdom II

Kingdom II
Kingdom II File:MarioSymbol.png
Universe	Mario
Appears in	SSBM
Availability	Unlockable
Tournament legality Melee Singles: Available / Banned Doubles: Available / Banned

Mushroom Kingdom II (Japanese:キノコ王国 II) is an unlockable stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It is unlocked by obtaining the Birdo Trophy. Luigi is fought when unlocked here, even if the Birdo trophy has not been obtained. It is Luigi's home stage, mostly, but Mario and Peach are also natives. In All-Star mode, this stage is played on when the player faces Dr. Mario and any of his teammates.

Contrary to what its name suggests, this stage is derived from Super Mario Bros. 2's Subcon area (specifically the version seen in the 16-bit remakes of SMB2), rather than the Mushroom Kingdom itself. It is made up of 3 sections. There are two upper platforms on either side of the stage and one lower one in the middle. The center platform is actually 2 platforms connected by a log. There is a pit on either side of the middle platform.

Logs come from the waterfall and fall into the pit. One can jump on them, but they fall rapidly. On occasion, Birdo will appear from the side of the screen and lob eggs into the fray. The eggs can be broken and sometimes have items in them. Birdo can be knocked out, but she will come back. Pidgit will fly over the center on a carpet, which one can jump on.

Origin

This stage is from Super Mario Bros. 2. In the ending cut-scene of that game it is revealed that the game took place in Mario's dream. Also, the world that Super Mario Bros. 2 takes place in isn't located in the Mushroom Kingdom, but in Subcon. Despite all this when a player selects this stage it says "Mushroom Kingdom II"; however, when a player unlocks Mushroom Kingdom II the message that comes up says: "Mushroom Kingdom II is open; it's the dream world, Subcon!" In 1986 Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in Japan. This Super Mario Bros. 2 played very close to how Super Mario Bros. played, but the game had a much higher difficulty. Nintendo of America did not like this Super Mario Bros. 2 because it was too difficult and it felt more like a modification to Super Mario Bros. rather than a sequel. So Nintendo of America looked for alternative game. The game they choose was a Japanese game named Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic and replaced the characters in the game with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach. Besides the playable characters, almost all the graphics have remained the same as it originally did. So Mushroom Kingdom II is from Super Mario Bros. 2, which is built around Doki Doki Panic.

A part of World 1-1 as seen in the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 2.

The overall design of the features of this stage (the ground, logs, waterfall, etc.) look similar to as they do in Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2. In 1993 Super Mario All-Stars was released, which was a compilation of older Mario games at the time with graphical enhancements. Two of the games that were featured was Japan's Super Mario Bros. 2 (renamed Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels) and North America's Super Mario Bros. 2. The graphics used in Mushroom Kingdom II are based on the graphical enhancement in the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 2.

This stage is based on the first area of Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2. In Doki Doki Panic the player has to jump on falling logs that go down waterfalls. In Super Mario Bros. 2 the speed at which the logs go down has been reduced. Doki Doki Panic also used logs as platforms or bridges that span over gaps. In this stage there are falling logs that go at the same speed as the logs in Super Mario Bros. 2 and there are three logs in the center of this stage that is used as a bridge. Doki Doki Panic also features an enemy named Pidgit that flies around on a carpet. The player has to get the bird-like enemy off of the carpet in order to control the carpet. (The same has to be done in Super Mario Bros. 2.) This enemy can be seen flying around on this stage and is used as a moving platform. At the end of many levels in Doki Doki Panic there would be a boss that would shoot eggs out at the player (later named "Birdo"). Birdo can be seen in this stage shooting eggs at the players. [1]

The music for this stage is the 8-bit song that first appeared in the first level of Super Mario Bros. 2 (an extended version of the theme from Doki Doki Panic. In a Super Sudden Death match, or when time is about to be up, the music will change to boss music in Doki Doki Panic (which is also featured in Super Mario Bros. 2.) [2]

Trivia

• Birdo shoots either one or three eggs across the stage. These eggs can be caught aerially, and if thrown at an opponent, do massive damage - Up to 28%. Birdo can also be knocked away with one of its own eggs, just like in the original game.
• When caught and held, Birdo's eggs are 2-D and are almost invisible unless the character holding the egg turns around.
• This is one of the only two stages to change music when time goes under 20 seconds, the other being Mushroom Kingdom.