“Here’s how my self-talk went after I read this:
First: “That was just a bunch of stuff about Nintendo and the first Mario.”
Then: “Well, maybe that’s appropriate. I can’t assume others have read a dozen books about video game history.”
Finally: “Wait…who the hell HASN’T read any books on video game history and BEGINS with this one? The one about a game that is the bastard child of the Nintendo era?”
I was excited because SMB2 (which I can call it because I’ve done my reading, remember?) isn’t something that gets covered a lot. Yes, most of us know the basic story, about the American SMB2 and the Japanese version, how different they were and how odd it was.
But I swear, I just don’t need to read another book where -gasp- Mario originated as Jumpman in Donkey Kong.
The SMB2 portions were really good. I enjoyed those quite a bit. I learned some stuff, and it prompted me to pick up that one again. It’s actually kind of a great game. Compared to most games of that era, it has pretty amazing variety, feel, and look. So I suppose that’s a compliment to the book, that it got me all hot and bothered about a game I wasn’t so thrilled about as a youth.
But the rest, I just felt like it’s been covered quite often. If this is your first exposure to Nintendo history, it might make for an interesting one. If it’s not, CALL ME, because holy crap do I read way too much about this stuff and have NO ONE to talk to about it.”