‘Super Mario Bros. 2’ Is Actually ‘Doki Doki Panic’… But ‘Doki Doki Panic’ Almost Became Another Mario Game!

23 Jul ‘Super Mario Bros. 2’ Is Actually ‘Doki Doki Panic’… But ‘Doki Doki Panic’ Almost Became Another Mario Game!

Nintendo originally released Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan as an extremely difficult sequel. However, fearing that Western audiences wouldn’t be able to finish it, they shelved it in the U.S. and instead replaced it with a different game (with only minor tweaks) that had come out in Japan the year before: Doki Doki Panic.

Super Mario Panic
It all began in 1986, when Kensuke Tanabe, then 33 and newly hired by Nintendo, started developing a 2D platformer called Doki Doki Panic. The idea was directly inspired by Super Mario, but instead of progressing horizontally, players would move vertically.

The concept was to allow players to climb upward using objects and stackable blocks, or even get tossed onto higher platforms by friends. However, as Tanabe later admitted, the gameplay wasn’t engaging enough despite the gimmick. At the time, Doki Doki Panic had no characters or story—Nintendo first wanted to ensure it was fun to play (not so different from their approach today). Shigeru Miyamoto, then riding high after creating Mario, stepped in to figure out what wasn’t working.

Disappointed, Miyamoto eventually suggested that Tanabe ditch the vertical scrolling and go back to what already worked: “Do something a little more like Mario. Maybe we need to change it… As long as it’s fun, anything goes.” From that moment on, the team—already well-versed in making Super Mario games—started working on it, and it began to look more and more like an entry in the series. Still, Tanabe wasn’t convinced and decided to set the project aside to focus on other things. But that decision didn’t last long.

Today, Kensuke Tanabe is still working at Nintendo as the producer of Metroid Prime 4 and supervisor of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. Hard to believe it all started with the idea of making a vertical Mario!