Fridge / Super Mario Bros. 2

Fridge Brilliance

• Super Mario Bros. 2 is notable for being the only main Mario platformer where the Goomba Stomp proves to have no significant effect. The events of the game take place in Sub-Con, a world corrupted by nightmares. Being in a world where Mario's trademark attack does not hurt enemies makes this more of a nightmare for him, would it not?
• Peach and Toad aren't just playable (for once), but they actually excel at things (Toad's speed/strength, Peach's flight). What's more, Luigi is one of the best characters to use due to his high jump. Now, remember that the game takes place in a dream world. You know what this means? Mario, who usually works alone, secretly dreams of getting some decent backup.
• Peach is playable for the first time, and she struggles with doing the basic things the other characters don't like picking things up and running. Turns out a Princess who hasn't had much opportunity to do menial labor would have a harder time, and being in her royal ensemble (crown, poofy dress, heels) means she certainly isn't dressed for the occasion, either.
• On the other side of the coin, there's Toad, who picks things up quickly and runs faster even when carrying something. When you are a retainer for a Princess, you have to be able to do jobs quicky and efficiently, and working for Peach has definitely prepared Toad for this.
• Shy Guys aren't just a creation of Mario's mind, he's just subconsciously remembering them from when he saw them as a baby in Yoshi's Island.
• You've got a wildly-popular game that has strictly linear maps with ratchet scrolling, and you want to bring out^note okay, rebrand a sequel that features vertical scrolling and no ratcheting. How do you communicate that to the player right from the beginning? You drop the character from a great height (vertical scrolling) and let the sprite wrap around the sides of the screen (SMB1's rules about forward motion are off the table).
• Wart doesn't like vegetables, and it's how you beat him. Well, yeah, he's a toad! Toads are insectivores, so of course he wouldn't eat vegetables.

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