Way back in April of 2010, Exploding Rabbit blew our minds with Super Mario Crossover, a fan-made game that put an entire team of classic NES characters from different games into the world of Super Mario Bros. Finally, my childhood dream of having Bill Rizer from Contra shoot Bowser in the face was realized.

But just in case that wasn't enough, our minds have been blown yet again with the announcement of Super Mario Crossover 2.0, which not only expands the roster, but adds new graphics from both the Super NES and the Gameboy. Check out the awesome video trailer after the cut!


Like the original Super Mario Crossover, the new one includes all the characters that were featured in the original: Whip-wielding vampire hunter Simon Belmont from Castlevania, intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran from Metroid, the mutant blasting tank Sophia III from Blaster Master, Hyrulian hero Link from The Legend of Zelda, master martial artist Ryu Hyabusa from Ninja Gaiden, shirtless soldier Bill Rizer from Contra, fighting robot Mega Man from, uh, Mega Man, and of course, Mario himself.

But for the new version, they're throwing in a few more characters. As seen in the video above, Mega Man's robot "brother" Proto Man shows up, as does his Dr. Wily-created arch-nemesis, Bass. Not to be outdone, Mario seems to have brought his own brother to the party with the addition of Luigi, complete with the extra-high jumping that he sported in Super Mario Bros. 2.

As for the levels, the game still involves playing through the eight worlds of Super Mario Bros., with the major difference being that players can now switch between (and according to Exploding Rabbit's website, mix and match) NES, Super NES and Gameboy graphics, with a few characters' sprites completely rebuilt to fit their new environments:

And even better, it's seriously fun to play.

In short, it's exactly the game I've been wanting to play for 20 years, and it just keeps getting better. Super Mario Crossover 2.0 is set to be released as a non-profit fan-made project in the first quarter of this year, so keep an eye on Exploding Rabbit to see what else they're planning on dropping in! And if anyone needs me, I'll be over there playing the game.

You know. For "research."

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