New Super Mario Bros. Wii Review

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Platform: Wii Players: 1-4 Release: 2009 Genre: 2D Platformer Rating: 9.5 \ 10.0: Masterful

Many people enjoyed New Super Mario Bros. (me being among them),which became a millions-selling DS hit. But in some ways, this top-notch pseudo-sequel is just as good. The new story is better than its predecessor. It's Peach's birthday, and when her massive cake arrives, the Koopalings jump out of it (how they got in there, nobody knows) and carry her away. That's right-- the Koopalings, Bowser's magic wand-wielding children from Super Mario Bros. 3 and  Super Mario World (and not to mention Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga). NSMBW also brings back another element just from SMB3: Bowser's Doom Ship. But of course, since it has "new" in its title, you'd expect the game to introduce new things. It does. There are new enemies, a new world, and more. There are also new power-ups. There's the Propeller Mushroom, which allows you to burst through the sky with a shake of your Wii Remote and slow down your descent the same way; and the Penguin Suit, which appears as a waddling penguin and gives Mario a penguin transformation and allows him to spit snowballs, slide on ice and water, and more. The Ice Flower isn't new, but it has a far different effect than it did in Super Mario Galaxy, the only other game which it has appeared. Rather than temporarily turning you to ice and allowing you to create frozen paths on water and lava, it simply allows you to hurl enemy-freezing snowballs. Unfortunately, the game completely lacks the fun minigames of its predecessor, but instead features two additional modes: Coin Battle, in which opposing players must race to collect the most coins scattered throughout a stage, and Free Play, in which you compete in stages in attempt to clear the majority of them first. The game also introduces four-player cooperative play in the main mode. In some parts of the game, you're going to really need some assistance, or else it can be infuriatingly difficult. This is why the game includes a Super Guide feature. If you die eight times in the same stage, a  green block will appear where you restart from. Hitting the block will enable you to make Luigi clear the stage for you, but he doesn't uncover secrets Among other improvements are the vastly upgraded music and the new varieties of Toad houses-- like ones that only contain only Super Stars to add to your power-up inventory-- a feature of Super Mario Bros 3. Also adding to the fun is the inclusion of Yoshis! Mario's prehistoric pal is now found in some stages, and in his first appearance in a Mario side-scroller since Super Mario World. (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, SMW's 1995 Super NES pseudo-sequel, doesn't count) The game is at its best when you and three friends are all riding Yoshis simultaneously. But NSMBW scraps the homage to Toadsworth, the mustachioed and elderly Toad and Peach's butler, that was present in the original NSMB. But any of the flaws I mentioned are incredibly minor, and I can't recommend this game enough to platforming fans.  This is by far the greatest 2D platformer I've ever played.

Ups
New power-ups
New modes
Upgraded graphics and sound
Inclusion of Yoshi
Inclusion of the Koopalings
Chaotically fun multiplayer

Downs
Lack of minigames
Scrapped homage

ESRB: E Content: Comic Mischief Price: $49.99 (Retail)