Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was considered for a Nintendo Power giveaway
The Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 almost made it to North America through a Nintendo Power giveaway, author Jon Irwin reveals in an upcoming book. Gail Tilden, former vice president of brand management at Nintendo of America and one of Nintendo Power’s founding editors, divulged to Irwin that she led a campaign that would allow subscribers to obtain a copy.
“We weren’t doing anything with it! [So] I worked up with my Nintendo Power agency a campaign called ‘The Lost Levels,’” Tilden said.
Just a single NES cartridge of Super Mario Bros. 2’s Japanese version was produced. The entire promotion was eventually scrapped over fear of “confusing the marketplace.” While Tilden was disappointed that the giveaway never panned out, she did admit that “it was really kind of a selfish desire to … help boost magazine subscriptions.”
All of this information comes from Irwin’s book, aptly named “Super Mario Bros. 2”. 
Aside from the Nintendo Power giveaway tidbits, Tilden touches on Yume K?j?: Doki Doki Panic – the North American version of Super Mario Bros. 2. It’s said that a request from Nintendo of America president Minoru led to the re-branding, as he was worried that the difficulty of the original Super Mario Bros. 2 would harm Nintendo’s growing popularity in America.
