Verb: Refers to the act of media publishers (specifically
video game designers) altering a work slightly, typically through character, in order to make it more suitable for foreign audiences, or to cash in on an unrelated franchise.
The phrase is a
reference to Nintendo's rerelease of the Japanese NES game "Doki Doki Panic" with Mario characters as "
Super Mario bros. 2" in America; substituted because, supposedly, American distributors believed the Japanese version was too difficult, and too similar to the first Mario NES title.
Also known as "Pulling a Doki Doki Panic" or "Lost Leveling"
When sequels to foreign films that were
previously unreleased in America are brought there, a common cop out to the missing
original is
Pulling a Mario 2 on the sequel, and marketing it as the orignal.