New Super Mario Bros. Wii Review

System	Wii
Genre	Platformer
Players	1-4
Developer	Nintendo
Publisher	Nintendo
Release Dates	JPN - December 3, 2009 USA - November 15, 2009 EUR - November 20, 2009

Overall Score

10/10

If you took Super Mario World, added hint of the original Super Mario Bros Trilogy, topped it off with some amazing visuals and added multiplayer, what would you get? Probably a broken blender, but regardless, New Super Mario Bros Wii is all of those things. I grabbed a copy of the game from rent games online and New Super Mario Bros Wii is an old-styled Mario game, taking elements from nearly every Mario game to date in order to make a game that feels so right on the old TV you could swear you were living in the 90s, wasting away your time playing “just another strange game” as my mother would refer to it.

It’s obvious which part of this game is the main selling point for most people and that’s clearly the multiplayer, which I can safely report is absolutely fantastic. The ability to drop-in and drop-out was the cherry on top of this behemoth of a cake and is very useful if you know you invited that guy. You know, the one who always turns up late and forgets everything you asked him to bring? The only concern I have with the quick dropping in and out is if you switch character mid-game, as in swap with somebody else, the lives lost and continues used will stay on the character, meaning you could forget all your worries simply by changing to ol’ Luigi, ever the underdog. When playing co-operatively, it could cause mayhem.

But despite that, the multiplayer is an absolute laugh, especially with 4 players. I’ve already spent countless hours playing with friends, endlessly dying. The ice world was the worst, let me tell you. Oh, the ice world.

Enough of the multiplayer for now, lets move on to the actual game itself. The graphics are amazing. You haven’t seen this good-looking 2D Mario since… well, ever. It’s comparable to Super Mario Galaxy (and of course it’s upcoming sequel) in terms of lush enviroments. The characters all look as well-designed as ever, although some secrets would be preferable. I’m sick of the Toads’ annoying voices, though only a mild hinderence.

The music as well was absolutely breathtaking. It essentially steals the music from earlier Mario games and revamps it to perfection. Another nice touch was the fact that the enemies dance to the music – a Goomba might jump at a drum beat, or a Koopa might turn round and do a little dance as it slowly comes towards you. It really adds to the feel of the game.

Now, the gameplay itself. Personally, I found the controls a bit annoying. Spin jumping might seem a good use of Wiimote shaking, but when you like to constantly jump like that (like I do) then it gets tiring. Motion controls on certain objects could be a laugh, but in Single Player it all seems rather pointless. With multiplayer you can use it to assist or hinder other players, but when on your own it’s not as entertaining. Then again, such is the same for any game, and it’s only a minor quibble that I feel I have to deal with, the perfectionist snob I am.

Other than the above, the controls work fine. 1 to run, 2 to jump, A to turn into a bubble to let your team-mates do all the work, and the D-Pad to move. As it always was.

There is another gameplay problem I have, and that’s the lack of Yoshi. I know, I know, there IS Yoshi, but the level-specificness of him is just harsh. Everyone loves Yoshi, so it’s a real shame not to use him like in good ol’ Super Mario World.

But everything I’ve complained about so far have been minor problems. Tiny, tiny things that would only irritate the most easily annoyed. It’s incredibly hard to pick a game apart and pull out everything bad about it when it’s this brilliant, because there really isn’t enough bad to critisize it. Overrally, you need this game if you have a Wii. You owe it to yourself. Seriously. Even if it’s the only Wii game you buy this year, make sure it is this one. You will play it for hours, and if you can play multiplayer, then for the love of God you will play multiplayer. For hours on end. Days will go by. People will wonder where you are. And in this case, it’s a good thing.

Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10

Overall: 10/10

Screenshots