15 Video Games Made To Sell You Products

The fact that the USA version of Super Mario Bros. 2 is actually a reskin of a game called Doki Doki Panic is known by everybody with even a passing interest in video games. The lesser-known and more interesting fact is that Doki Doki Panic is an advert game.

The four playable characters in Doki Doki Panic, Imajin, Mama, Lina, and Papa were made by the Japanese TV channel Fuji TV to promote their event known as Yume Kōjō '87.

Yume Kōjō '87 was essentially a technology expo that was meant to inspire the youth of Japan, Doki Doki Panic was simply a game made to coincide with the event and feature its characters.

So yeah, a game known for being reskinned into the successor to the original Super Mario Bros. was an advert game that featured the characters of a promotional event run by a Japanese news station known as Fuji TV. Unfortunately that's not as catchy as "did you know, Super Mario Bros. 2 is a reskin of a game known as Doki Doki Panic?" so nobody ever mentions it.