The reason why this gameplay is so different from all the other Mario games is that it never was meant to be a Mario game. They didn't ship the Japanese version of SMB2 into the United States because people complained that it was too hard. Eventually they decided release a sequel in the United States but did it in a very cheap fashion. They took a totally different game that never was released in the US and altered the appearances of the characters and some of the objects so they could release it as a Super Mario game.
The game that was turned into SMB2 in the US was actually about a family who stepped into the world of a strange book to find the two missing younger children.
The game that was turned into SMB2 in the US was actually about a family who stepped into the world of a strange book to find the two missing younger children.