Play Super Mario Universe II - The Adventure Resumes Online

Super Mario Universe II feels like someone dug up a secret sequel Nintendo forgot to release. The first thing you'll notice is how crisp the movement is—Mario slides, jumps, and spins with that perfect weight you remember from Super Mario World, but now there's this weird gravity-flipping mechanic in some levels that makes old-school platforming feel new again.

Instead of just fire flowers, you'll stumble on power-ups like the "Cosmic Cape" (basically a feather that messes with physics) or this bizarre alien mushroom that lets you walk on ceilings. The levels are packed with little "wait, can I actually go there?" moments—I spent half an hour poking at what looked like background scenery before realizing it was a whole hidden path.

And the music? Pure SNES magic. One track sounds like a Mario Kart rainbow road remix, all twinkly and upbeat. Bowser's final fight has this ridiculous jazz-funk theme that shouldn't work but totally does. It's the kind of game where you'll beat a level, then immediately replay it because you swear you saw something weird in the top-left corner.

If you've ever wanted to time-travel back to 1994 with a game that never existed, this is as close as it gets.