Doki Doki Panic

Ah, the halcyon days of yesteryear, when the dulcet sounds of Super Mario Bros 2 filled the air as the sun waned behind the trees. Yet I remember opening an issue of Nintendo Power and discovering, in Helvetica Condensed 7pt, that Super Mario Bros 2 was actually a reskinned version of a Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic.

(Cue sound effect of record player needle scratching)

Wha-what?! Luckily, a couple publications bravely give us the whole low-down on this sorry, sordid affair. Additionally, some sites offer a side-by-side comparison and one site even provides the game itself for download.

That said, Doki Doki Panic seems to have served as inspiration for other games, including the excellent Toki Toki Boom. And you have to love the first cover of Nintendo Power, with the clay Mario.