One of the central game mechanics that differentiates Super Mario Bros. 2 from other Super Mario games is that players can select four characters – Mario, Luigi, Toad, or Princess Toadstool – and each of these characters have their unique gameplay mechanics, offering advantages and disadvantages in their stats. Another distinction is that players cannot defeat enemies by stomping on them: players need to either toss items at enemies or pick up and toss enemies at each other to defeat them.
