At E3 this past June, it was all but expected that Nintendo would unleash a new Super Mario Galaxy, as rumors indicated leading up to the show. But it was a very welcome surprise to see another Mario game announced for the Wii in the form of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The game promised full 4-player cooperative/competitive gameplay while also promising all new worlds for Mario to explore. Now that the game is out in stores and in gamers’ hands around the world, we decided to take a closer look at this homage to the old-school classics.

As a kid, I loved playing the Super Mario Bros. games. There was something so simple and fun about the gameplay that I would play for hours on end. The fact that each of the games offered many many secrets also added to the fun of finding them and telling your friends. I can remember watching ‘The Wizard’ and noticing the secret to finding the flutes in World 1 in Super Mario Bros. 3. It was such a cool discovery and soon I was searching around all of the levels for more flutes. I finally figured out the quickest way to get to World 8 only to be slowed down by the incredibly tough levels in the infamous ‘dark area’ before Bowser’s Castle. Those early Super Mario Bros. games offered great challenges and some of the most fun I’ve ever had playing video games.

While I was excited about the New SMB Wii announcement, I wasn’t overly excited (like I usually am about Mario games). I was able to play almost all of the demo levels at E3, but they were all multiplayer and I felt like I needed that solo experience to make it all worthwhile. Fast-forward a couple months and Nintendo finally released some details about the game’s storyline and single-player mode. I was immediately taken in by the return of the Koopa Kids (or Koopalings if you prefer) and a showcase of some unique, new levels. Now that the game is finally here, let’s get down to business and see how it stacks up.

The storyline for New Super Mario Bros. Wii is quite simple. It’s Princess Peach’s birthday and everyone, including Mario and Luigi, are at the castle to celebrate. While there, a large cake is brought in as a surprise but it turns out to be hiding all of the Koopa Kids and Bowser Jr. They quickly capture Peach inside the cake and fly off in Bowser Jr.’s airship. Mario, Luigi, and two toadstools make chase on foot—and so begins Mario’s latest adventure at World 1-1.

As a long time fan, I felt right at home when first playing World 1-1. The bricks and question mark blocks are in the same arrangement as the original and even the first goomba you see is a throwback to the first Super Mario Bros. If you’ve played any of the Mario games for the NES, you’ll catch on to the controls pretty quick. Just hold the Wii remote sideways and use the D-pad to move around, the 2 button to jump, and the 1 button to run. The game also allows for the nunchuk to be connected, but it felt weird playing a 2D side-scroller with an analog stick and the run button on the nunchuk (Z) only allows for running and you end up having to use the ‘B’ button to pick up objects. So you basically just use the Wii remote for all of your moves, then the nunchuk just for running. Needless to say I stuck with the sideways Wii remote option (with the jacket since it makes it a little easier on the hands for long gameplay sessions). Since the Wii remote has motion controls, you can shake it to make your character do the spinning jump (from Super Mario Bros. 3) and also fly in the air using the Propeller Mushroom. Also, if you hold down the run button (1) and shake the remote, it’ll pick up objects such as trampolines, lights, characters, and other objects.

Overall the gameplay is very smooth and is reminiscent of past games with a few exceptions. For one, the gameplay seems to be a little slower than past games (ie Mario can’t run as fast), but this isn’t a big problem and you’ll find you can still do some long jumps using the triple jump. Another change is the addition of the wall jump which makes levels much more varied and challenging. I think it’s a solid change and one that I hope continues with future Mario Bros. games. My only gripe with the gameplay, or more specifically the controls, is shaking to pick up objects. At times, the shaking of the Wii remote was very imprecise. I was trying to carry a trampoline to an area where I could use it to reach a Star coin. It was a little ways in ahead in the level and I had to hold on to it for awhile. While trying to get to the star coin though, it was hard to hold on to the trampoline because every time I jumped, I some how moved the Wiimote and it threw the trampoline off the edge of the boat. This may sound like it only happened once, but it happened to me a few times throughout the game—some of which at critical points that ended up causing frustration. If the game supported the Classic Controller (which would be perfect!), this would be a non-issue. But sadly, both the Gamecube and Classic Controller are not supported :(

The game features beautifully designed worlds and you’ll find yourself looking for all of the star coins and trying to find all of the secret paths in the game. Similar to games before it, New Super Mario Bros. Wii features secret paths in some areas, secret levels, and even some ways to skip ahead to other worlds like in Super Mario Bros. 3. The game also features 3 brand new items: the Penguin Suit, Ice Flower, and the Propeller Mushroom. These are joined by some classics including the Fire Flower, Tiny Mushroom, Mushroom, and Star. And don’t forget that everyone’s favorite dinosaur, Yoshi, is back in action and can now be joined by 3 other Yoshi’s at the same time if there are 4 players. With about 80 levels in the game, you’ll find plenty of reasons to keep New Super Mario Bros. Wii in your Wii this Holiday.

Multiplayer

While a couple of the previous Mario Bros. games have had 2-player modes, none of them have featured quite the bevy of multiplayer options that are in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Nintendo went all out in providing players with a rich multiplayer experience spanning each level that’s available in the single-player mode. Some games would be satisfied with creating 20 specific multiplayer stages, but Nintendo decided to let you play on any level you want in 3 different modes.

The first mode is simply adding people to the single player adventure. Simply load up your save game file and add up to 4 people to help (or hurt) your progress in the game. This can be a lot of fun if all of the players are cooperating. Bosses can be taken out much easier, and tasks that seemed daunting before can be achieved with a friend…or three. The second mode, Free-for-all, allows up to 4 players to play in any of the levels while also keeping track of how many coins are collected and overall score. This doesn’t rank you based on your performance but you can see how you stack up to your friends after playing through a few levels. The third mode, Coin Battle, is all about battling to get the highest number of coins. Each level that you play has been modified to add lots of new coins for your to collect. The player with the most coins at the end of a level receives a gold crown. You can play for as long as you want and see who ends up with the most gold crowns out of the bunch. The multiplayer is fast and fun, and makes this one of the best multiplayer games for the Wii of any genre.

Conclusion

New Super Mario Bros. Wii will rock your socks off. Long-time fans will love the game’s attention to detail with level design and in terms of difficulty, while first timers to the series will enjoy the pure fun that the Mario Bros. games have offered for years. Despite a couple issues I had with the motion controls in the game, New Super Mario Bros. Wii stands tall as one of the best in the series. With tons of items at your disposal, a large amount of new levels, and some of the best multiplayer of any Wii game; New Super Mario Bros. Wii delivers as the next must-have for Wii owners everywhere.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii gets a 9.6/10