New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)

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If you’ve played New Super Mario Bros. for the DS, you’ll know what to expect here. This time around you have access to a new array of power-ups and new gameplay mechanics which would only work on the Wii. Back are the fire flower, mushroom and star power-ups from previous games, and now there are the penguin suit, propeller suit and the ice flower. The ice flower works the same way as the fire flower, it just shoots ice instead and these ...
...game even more variety. The new items are a big reason why this new Mario addition is the most complete package yet.

In terms of control the wii remote works really well. There are some downsides though. The remote can be too responsive sometimes and Mario will twirl when you don’t want him too. Also, I found the wii remote not the most comfortable of controllers to hold sideways, but it wasn’t a big deal. There is no support for the ... more

Story

Oh Mario, Mario, always saving the same girl. If you’ve ever played a Mario game before you’ll know what to expect from the story. Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser, Mario gives chase through countless worlds jumping on a few Goomba heads in the process and then drops Bowser in a lake of lava at the end of the last level. We all know we don’t buy Mario games for the plot, but would it hurt Nintendo to have some story going on, you know like a movie....................... now that I think about it, maybe it would be best if Mario games had no story. Take the film for example, take Super Paper Mario with constant endless reams of text to read through, take the animated series. Forget about the story for this game, it’s a re-make of a classic and it’s as much of a blast to play now as it was back then.

Gameplay

If you’ve played New Super Mario Bros. for the DS, you’ll know what to expect here. This time around you have access to a new array of power-ups and new gameplay mechanics which would only work on the Wii. Back are the fire flower, mushroom and star power-ups from previous games, and now there are the penguin suit, propeller suit and the ice flower. The ice flower works the same way as the fire flower, it just shoots ice instead and these ice projectiles can freeze enemies. In turn you can use these frozen enemies as platforms, or you can use the blocks to throw at other enemies. The penguin suit also can shoot ice but it also lets you slide across icy floors with ease and gives you better control on the ice and underwater. The item you will be wanting most is the propeller suit however. Through a shake of the Wii remote Mario will zoom up in the air and glide down gradually. This comes in handy if you were to fall down a pit or if you need to reach a high platform. Mario can now pick up more items and use them as projectiles, such as barrels. There are also special platforms; by tilting the wii remote, the platform will tilt in unison. Yoshi also makes a welcome return as he gives the game even more variety. The new items are a big reason why this new Mario addition is the most complete package yet.

In terms of control the wii remote works really well. There are some downsides though. The remote can be too responsive sometimes and Mario will twirl when you don’t want him too. Also, I found the wii remote not the most comfortable of controllers to hold sideways, but it wasn’t a big deal. There is no support for the classic controller, but you can use the nunchuck combo is you want to.

What has people so excited about this game is the multiplayer. Up to 4 players can join in as Mario, Luigi and ......... 2 toad guys with no names. C’mon! Nintendo could have been a bit more creative. Where’s the original Toad, where’s baby Mario, where’s Diddy and Donkey Kong, where’s Daisy! Why not use some of the countless Mario characters that have graced our screens for the past 2 decades! Anyway, how does the multiplayer fare up. For the most part, well. There’s a lot of teamwork involved in this game. You can use your fellow player’s characters as a jumping boost. You can also carry other characters and spit them out using Yoshi. The camera zooms in and out as the characters get further and nearer to each other, but for the tower levels where you’re going up, this can get problematic as some characters go off screen. Also, some of your fellow players may get in the way and this is made worst the more players you have. Fortunately, all but one player can put their characters into bubbles if ever there was a tough part to get past. That feature, combined with the challenging difficulty of this game makes it accessible for all skill levels. A handy feature known as the Super Guide can be activated if a player loses too many lives. This will have a Computer controlled Luigi take over and he will complete the level for you. You can carry on with the game at any time and you will start the game where Luigi leaves off, very handy! Each level has 3 star coins to look out for, and some of these can be really hard to find. This will suit all those dedicated completists out there.

Presentation

Graphically, this is the prettiest 2D Mario experience yet, but it can’t hold a light against Super Mario Galaxy. As soon as I began the first level, I immediately realised that the Wii should be HD. I sit quite close to my 32” TV, but I did notice blur. It shouldn’t bother many people, but it did make me realise how pretty Mario games could look if they were ported to the PS3 or Xbox 360. This is one of those 2.5D games (2D, but with 3D character models and backgrounds). The effect works very well and I couldn’t think how they could make this game look any better without upgrading to HD. The game runs at a steady frame rate, Goomba land is as vivid as ever and the sound effects have been updated. They just sound more melodic and cooler; it’s a nice extra touch to the games’ pretty decent presentational features.

One real downside to this experience is the lack of any online mode. It would have been great to play with people across the world, but Nintendo decided for its most popular mascot to not have multiplayer in his first 2D outing for years. What were they thinking? There is a feature where after collecting star coins, you can spend them on hint videos to see game masters showing off their insane skills at the game and showing various secrets in the levels. This is a nice feature, but it also feels like a missed opportunity. It would’ve been fantastic if you could record you own videos of your serious skills and post them online for others to see.
Despite the games’ shortcomings, the experience is solid. The game is a blast to play and is made even more fun with multiplayer (just try not to take it too seriously when you’re playing with your mates). For those who dig Mario, you won’t be disappointed.
 

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