Remember how magical being a kid was? Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy all gave us magical feelings of happiness. The world is a magical place for children. But with age, the magic eventually dies. Or does it? After playing New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS, I really started to wonder if my taste in games just wasn’t the same as it used to be. But then New Super Mario Bros. Wii came along and I felt like I was 7 years old again.

Since Super Mario World, a lot of great Mario games were released. But none of them felt like true sequels to the classics. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was a great game; and even though it claimed to be the true sequel to Super Mario World, it was a completely different game of its own. Super Mario 64 was also an amazing game, but with it being 3D and lacking so many of the elements from the classic series, it was also its own game.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii really feels like the sequel that I’ve been waiting 18 years for. It has the Koopalings, haunted houses, airships, power-ups, and well, everything you’d expect from a classic Mario title.  So let’s dive into what makes this game so good.

Gameplay

Nintendo clearly has some of the best level designers in the industry. The levels are fun and challenging at the same time. You’ll have to utilize all of Mario’s abilities if you want to complete the entire game. The most challenging aspect is definitely collecting all three star coins in every level. Some are in the craziest places and you’ll really need to use your head to find them all.

In single player mode, you will sometimes see a level on the map with a Toad calling out for help after you beat that world’s fortress. Going back to the level, you will find Toad inside one of the blocks. If you can successfully carry him to the flag pole at the end without getting him killed, he will open up a mushroom house for you to collect items.

The boss battles with the Koopalings are all unique but still feel like battles from past Mario titles. It would have been nice if they mixed things up a bit and had them transform into bigger and badder bosses after the three stomps on the head, but they’re still fun nonetheless. One of my favorite fights is with Bower Jr., where you are both in clown copters duking it out bumper car-style trying to knock each other into electricity.

Controls

The game has two control schemes. You can either turn the Wii remote sideways like an NES controller or attach the nunchuck to control your character with the analog stick. I prefer to just use the Wii remote turned sideways; so that’s the control scheme I will be referring to in this review.  Shaking the remote will make you do a spin jump, much like the” A” button did in Super Mario World. It’s simple enough, but it did cause me to die on occasion. Let’s say you’re trying to make a very precise jump onto a narrow platform with lava below you. Anxiety is kicking in and you make a running leap. As you land on the very thin piece of land, you nervously jerk the remote just a bit and end up doing a spin jump off into the lava. It doesn’t happen very often and you’ll eventually condition yourself not to move the remote too much while playing. Shaking the remote is also used for picking up other characters and some items while holding the “1” button. The motion controls are also used to control the movement of some platforms and lights.

Super Guide

Super Guide Block

One new feature that has caused a lot of controversy in the gaming community is the Super Guide. If you die 8 times on a single level, you will see a green “!” block when you restart your 9th try. Hitting it gives you the option of activating the Super Guide where the computer will take over as Luigi and plays through the level for you. You have the option to stop it at any time or take over as Luigi for the rest of the level. It’s gotten a lot of hate because “it makes the game to easy.” But personally, I think it’s rather nice for newer players. It’s not like you have to use it. I only used it once just to see what it was all about, but I still played through the level on my own afterwards. I can see more games using this feature in the future. And I’m perfectly fine with it. It’s just another one of those innovations that Nintendo is so known for.

Multiplayer

The big new gimmick of New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the multiplayer mode. Remember when you had to wait for Player 1 to die before you could get a turn? Well, they fixed it a little in Super Mario Bros. 3 by having players alternate after every level or death. But since you couldn’t return to a level after completing it, players missed out on some of their favorites. Then Super Mario World allowed you to replay finished levels if you wanted.  But New Super Mario Bros. Wii takes it up a huge notch. Now you get to play together at once in co-op play instead of waiting. And on top of that, it’s 4 players!

Player 1 is always Mario, but the other three players can choose from Luigi, Blue Toad or Yellow Toad. They all play the same way, so it doesn’t really matter who you are. The game can be a bit more challenging at times in multiplayer, but at other times, it makes things much easier. If one player dies, they come back in a bubble (much like the babies in Yoshi’s Island) that another player must touch to pop it. But you still lose your lives. If all players die at once or one dies while the others are in bubbles, you all have to restart the level. If a friend is having trouble getting through a certain area that you have no problem getting through, you can pick him up and carry him through the area. Or you can just be mean and toss them into a pit to keep them out of your hair.  Of course, if the other player shakes the remote while you’re carrying them, they will go free. And if they shake it while they’re in a bubble, it will move towards an active player much quicker to pop it.

If there was anything that could have made the multiplayer experience better, it would be an online mode. But some may argue that it would be too laggy, making it almost impossible to play. You see, the game kind of already has lag anyway. When one of your teammates dies or gets a power up, everything freezes for a second. Nothing’s worse than timing a jump just right and as soon as you press the button, someone dies. Thus freezing the game and causing your button press to not register and you falling into a pit. I’m pretty sure Nintendo programed it this way on purpose. But it’s definitely a feature we could have done without.

Power-Ups

The new power-ups are also very fun to use. I can see the ice flower returning in future installments. It really balances out with the fire flower. You can shoot ice balls at podobos (fireballs that jump out of lava) to completely eliminate them. The ice flower is also the only way (besides a starman) to kill Drybones. Just freeze them and then smash the frozen baddies to pieces. But fireballs are still the only effective weapon against Bower and his Koopalings besides your feet. In some parts of the game, you’ll need to freeze enemies to use as platforms to reach secret areas. Adding to the ice flower is the penguin suit. With it, you can slide long distances on your belly, knocking out “most” enemies in your path. It also allows you to throw ice balls!

The propeller mushroom is also a nice new addition to the series. Wearing the propeller suit allows you to fly high into the sky by just shaking the Wii remote. It’s a fun item but it’s not too great when it comes to attacking enemies. You can jump on them like normal or fly above them and press “down” to cause a little more damage than the traditional jump.

Along with other returning items like the mushroom, fire flower, 1-up mushroom and starman, are the mini mushroom; which is practically useless in this game and YOSHI! It is really nice seeing Yoshi return to the mix. But it’s a damn shame that you can only use him in a few levels. The POW blocks also make a return. Smashing one of these babies will kill all enemies on the ground and cause all coins in the air to fall.

Conclusion

With many new additions and fun ways to play added to a nice difficulty level, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a very refreshing throwback to the classic games.  It’s one of the most challenging Mario adventures I’ve played but it’s still simple enough to give you hours of fun. It would have been nice to use Yoshi more and to have online play, but that’s something I can easily overlook. With the new multiplayer mode, New Super Mario Bros. Wii also makes for a great party game. If you own a Wii, this is one game that you don’t want to miss out on.

I give it a 9/10 on the Zippy Scale.

Share

Save